Enchanted Enough, page 20
“Daddy, I’m never going to forgive you for this. He’s meeting his family!”
Turning to give me a once-over, he said, “And he needed to relax a little. Your mother and I are fine, and we had the same amount of whiskey.”
It was at that moment when Merit hiccupped and giggled. “I haven’t drank that much in wong times.”
“This should be fun.” Bradly laughed.
Avery had said they’d told everyone she knew about the surprise party, so it had been changed to a welcome-to-the-family party. I thought that was pretty sweet of them.
The door opened and Brock stood there, a smile on his face. He scanned everyone quickly, then did a double take when he saw me. Of course, it could have been because I was leaning against Bradly for support.
“Jesus, what did you do to him, Dirk?” Brock asked, as he made his way out and guided me into the house.
“How was I supposed to know the kid can’t hold his liquor?” Dirk replied. We all followed Brock as he turned and headed somewhere away from all the talking.
“Because his father couldn’t hold his either!” he retorted, looking back at Dirk.
Dirk let out a roar of laughter. “Hell, that’s right! He couldn’t hold it for shit, could he?”
Brock guided me to a chair, and I sat down with a thud. He turned to Merit and asked, “Can you get him some black coffee?”
Merit laughed, then hiccupped again.
Avery sighed. “I’ll get it. She’s drunk too.”
Putting her hands on her hips, Merit said, “I am not drunk. I’m just buzzing.”
Pointing to Merit, I jumped up. “This! That! What she said.”
When I started to sway, Brock put a hand on my arm and told me to sit back down. Then he glared at Dirk. “He’s meeting the entire family, Dirk.”
“He’ll be fine. Give him some coffee and maybe ten minutes or so.”
I closed my eyes, and the voices of Dirk and Brock arguing grew distant. The last thing I heard was Bradly say, “Um…Beck’s asleep.”
The feeling of someone running their fingers gently through my hair caused me to blink my eyes open. The room wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t fully lit, either. When my sight adjusted, I saw sapphire-blue eyes looking down at me.
“Hi,” Avery whispered. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone punched me in the head a dozen or so times.”
She smiled. “That would be the shots you took with my father and mother.”
Frowning, I asked, “How are they even standing?”
“Oh, my mother’s in the kitchen drinking black coffee and contemplating if she wants to divorce my father or not.”
I laughed, then groaned. “My head is pounding.”
Avery sighed. “You can thank my father for that.”
Slowly sitting up, I drew in a deep breath and tried to get the room to stop spinning. “Why are you in here, princess? You should be out there with your family.”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Something in my chest squeezed, but in the best kind of way. I reached for her hand. “Thank you, but I’m okay.”
“Uncle Brock is furious with my father.”
I grinned as I said, “Your dad…I don’t know if I’m afraid of him, or if I think he’s the greatest fucking guy in the world.”
“I say we go with the second one.”
Avery and I both turned our heads to see Dirk standing in the doorway.
“Did you come bringing more whiskey?” Avery asked.
My stomach lurched at the mention of alcohol.
Dirk chuckled. “No, I brought him some water and Tylenol.”
I stood and met Dirk halfway. “Water sounds amazing, thank you.”
With a smirk, he asked, “How’s the head?”
“Feels like someone hit me with a wrecking ball.”
Dirk slipped his hands into his pockets. “Don’t hold your booze very well, do you?”
I shook my head and instantly regretted it. “No, sir. Never have been a big drinker.”
“Neither was your father,” Brock said, stepping into the room. “He’d get drunk after three beers. And I don’t mean a buzz, but drunk.”
Knowing that about my father made me smile. It was odd how alike we were.
“You feel like meeting the family now? Everyone has already eaten, but my mother saved you and Avery a plate.”
“I’m so sorry. This doesn’t make a very good first impression.”
Brock and Dirk laughed.
“You’re already a hero,” Avery said. “Josh and Nathan think it’s cool you showed up buzzing.”
I rolled my eyes, and even that hurt.
“The good news is,” Brock said with a wide grin, “I talked Mom out of a surprise game night. You’ll need to be fully sober for that to happen.”
When I glanced at Avery, she nodded. “What is it about game night?”
Dirk hit the side of my arm. “You’ll find out soon enough, son.”
I wasn’t sure why I liked him calling me son so much, but I did. My grandfather had called me that my entire life. But it meant something different coming from Avery’s father. Even different than when one of my uncles said it.
Uncles.
It was strange of me to think that, but it felt right.
“You ready?” Avery asked.
Finishing off the water, I nodded. “As I’ll ever be.”
Chapter Twenty-One
BECK
Avery reached for my hand as we started to leave Brock’s office. Our fingers laced together, and I couldn’t help but smile at her. I was nervous to meet the rest of the Shaw family, but knowing Avery was by my side, I felt more at ease than when I’d met my uncles.
Dirk and Brock walked ahead of us, and I could hear the voices of people growing louder as we moved through the home. Exposed log beams and wood were prominent. It was stunning.
Leaning in to speak so only Avery could hear me, I said, “This house is beautiful.”
She smiled. “It is. I would love to have a log home someday.”
Before I could reply back to her, we walked into a large family room, bigger than Stella and Ty Senior’s, and everyone turned to look at me.
“Holy…”
I let my words trail off as my eyes scanned the room. Smiling faces greeted me as I felt my heart rate pick up a bit.
Stella walked up to me and kissed me on the cheek. “How do you feel after Dirk’s little game he played on you?”
“I feel fine now, ma’am. I mean, Stella.”
She gave me a warm smile, took my other hand, and turned to the rest of her clan.
“Okay, let’s introduce you to everyone. Pay close attention, there’ll be a quiz later.”
My head snapped to look at her, and I saw the corner of her mouth twitch with a hidden smile.
“Wow!” a pretty blonde said. She stood next to Bryson Robinson, who played for the Mariners. “You look just like Uncle Beck. I mean, his pictures. You look like him from the pictures I’ve seen.”
I smiled. “So I’ve been told.”
“We’ll go from oldest to youngest,” Stella said. “Beck, you’ve already met Blayze. Brock and Lincoln’s oldest son.”
Blayze and I met in the middle of the room, and I shook his hand. “Good seeing you again.”
“Same to you. This is my wife, Georgiana, and our two sons, Ryder and Rhett.”
Both boys walked up to me. I would guess they were about two. I knelt down as one of them handed me a small stuffed moose.
“Thank you so much. I love moose, and I hope I see one while I’m here.”
Georgiana bent down as well. “This little one is Ryder.”
“That’s Rhett, Georgiana,” Blayze said. “The red socks.”
She looked at his socks and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she smiled. “This is Rhett. Rhett, this is your cousin…or is it uncle? No, it’s cousin Beck.”
I laughed. “I think it’s cousin.”
The other little boy walked over. “And you must be Ryder.”
He gave me a wide smile and handed me a stuffed bear wearing a shirt that said Montana. “Thank you! I love it.”
The little guy giggled and then threw himself into his mother’s arms. She stood, as did I.
“Yep, this is Ryder,” Georgiana said with a laugh.
Stella went on. “This is Morgan, and her husband Ryan.”
I shook Ryan’s hand. Morgan was holding a little girl about the same age as the twins.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Beck!” Morgan said, as she leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “This is our daughter, Blakley.”
I leaned in and said, “Well, aren’t you the prettiest little thing I’ve ever seen.”
Blakley giggled and buried her face into Morgan’s chest.
“Great,” Ryan said. “Already letting the handsome boys make her giggle.”
Everyone laughed as I shook Ryan’s hand. “Nice to meet all three of you.”
“Next is Hunter and his wife Kipton.”
“Good seeing you again, Hunter,” I said, turning to his wife. “It’s a pleasure, Kipton.” She was holding a baby in her arms. “This must be Callie,” I said, as I peeked at her.
“I’m impressed,” Kipton stated. “You’re going to fit right on in, Beck.”
Stella turned and pointed out the blonde who’d spoken earlier. “This is Rose. She’s Junior and Kaylee’s daughter, and her husband is Bryson.”
“It’s nice to meet you both,” I said, as I shook Bryson’s hand and Rose gave me a hug. She stood back and studied me.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to stare. It’s just…you look so much like my father and his brothers. It’s crazy.”
“I think it’s the blue eyes,” I said, feeling a touch embarrassed by all the attention. “Congratulations, by the way,” I said, as I motioned to her swollen belly.
“Thank you! I’m due in July. I heard your birthday is in July.”
“That it is,” I replied. “July fifteenth.”
“Maybe we’ll have two birthdays on the same day,” Bryson said.
“That would be cool,” I stated as I smiled at the small family.
“Next, we have Lily and her husband, Maverick.”
The same process again, with me shaking Maverick’s hand and Lily kissing me on the cheek. She was also pregnant, and due in June.
Next came Joshua, Ty Jr. and Kaylee’s son. He reminded me of his father.
“You’re like my hero, showing up to meet the family drunk! Please do that on family game night. It will make it so much funnier!”
Stella shot her grandson a warning look before turning to another teenage boy. “And last but certainly not least, is Nathan, you met him already as well.”
I shook his hand. “Good seeing you again, Nathan.”
He studied me and asked, “I never asked you, but do you ride horses?”
Nodding, I said, “I do.”
He sized me up again and then said, “Welcome to the family.”
“That’s everyone!” Stella said as she turned to face me. “Welcome home, Beck.”
She hugged me, and I heard a few sniffles in the room. When I looked up, I caught Avery watching us. She wore a soft smile on her face.
When I drew back and looked around the room, I said the only thing I could think of. “I hope I at least get a study guide before that quiz.”
Apparently, that was the right thing to say, as everyone started to laugh. Smaller conversations broke out around the room as Morgan and Ryan brought Avery and me our plates. We both sat in the family room, eating while a rotation of people stopped over to talk to me. Most of it was questions like whether or not I liked Montana so far. What did I think about the snow? When was I going back to Texas? Would I ever consider moving here?
It was all overwhelming, and I got the sense that Avery was picking up on my anxiety.
“How did you like the spaghetti casserole?” Avery asked when there was a lull in people stopping by to speak to me.
“It’s amazing,” I replied, enjoying the quick break in conversations.
I was pretty sure the entire family had stopped by to chat. It wasn’t that I minded it, I enjoyed talking to everyone. Though I thought it might’ve been better to go to their individual homes. It wouldn’t have been so crazy insane.
Avery took our plates to the kitchen and told me to stay where I was. Blayze had approached and we’d started talking about my grandfather’s ranch in Texas. He was interested in the organic farming of our hay and feed, which I’d told him about two days ago. He also wanted to know more about our supplemental feeding program. Since we didn’t get winter weather like they did here in Montana, it was a completely different beast.
“How often do you move your animals to new pastures?” Blayze asked.
“We move them about every four months to rest them.”
He nodded. “If we get a significant amount of snow, we move the cattle to a winter feeding area where we start them on hay. Winter tends to not be as busy as the spring and summer months for us. We do need to make sure we keep ice chopped up and water supplies from freezing though.”
“It’s cold in Dallas, but nothing like it is here. The cattle ranch is pretty much the same year-round with our workload, unless of course we get a winter storm, and the temperatures drop below freezing. My grandfather doesn’t really like it when I go to the ranch and always has a reason I need to be in the office.”
Blayze grinned. “You know, Beck, we could also use another hand in the business. It’s a massive cattle ranch. My father’s pretty much retired, but he’s there if we need him. Uncle Tanner’s more focused on his horses, and Uncle Ty, I think, is exhausted from years of breeding bulls. Josh and Nathan have no desire to take over anything on the ranch. I mean, there may be hope for Nathan in the future, but Josh is saying he wants to be a firefighter. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Right now, it’s basically just me and Hunter.”
I nodded and rubbed my hands over my jeans. “I’ve got a life back in Dallas, Blayze. A home, a job, my grandfather. And Mother is buried there. I can’t make that kind of decision after only being here a few days.”
“I understand. I just want you to know if you ever want a place here on the ranch, it’s yours by birth, and we’d love to have you with us.”
I smiled at him. “I’m not sure I could get used to this winter weather.”
Blayze laughed, then looked over my shoulder. “Hey, Avery.”
Turning my head, I saw Avery standing there, a smile on her face that didn’t reach her eyes. She glanced at me and said, “I need to go and help Lily with something. You’re okay here?”
Something strange passed over her face and I couldn’t tell what it was. Smiling, I replied, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She gave one quick nod then spun on her heels and walked straight over to Lily, taking her by the hand and nearly dragging her out of the family room. When I looked back at Blayze, he was looking in the same direction the girls had just gone.
He met my gaze and shrugged. “I don’t pretend to understand women.”
“Neither do I.”
It was another thirty minutes or so before I saw Avery again, this time talking to her mother. She looked serious, and her mother nodded before heading over to Stella.
“So do you?” Josh’s voice pulled me from my runaway thoughts.
I focused back on him and asked, “Do I what?”
He rolled his eyes. “Like baseball?”
With a slight laugh, I replied, “Doesn’t everyone?”
He leaned in and said, “Believe it or not, no. It’s hard to believe, but a lot of my friends like football and aren’t the least bit interested in baseball.”
“Why can’t you like both?” I asked.
“You can and I do, but according to my baseball coach, you can only be passionate about one.”
“Your baseball coach is an idiot, and you can tell him I said so.”
Josh drew his head back and regarded me for a moment. “Bryson said the same thing, and I thought for sure that he of all people would agree. He helped teach the select baseball team that Nate and I were on, but he ended up having to step away. Took up too much of his time, and with Rose having a baby soon, he wanted to be home with her more.”
“Makes sense.”
“If you ever decide to move onto the ranch and take Uncle Beck’s spot—well, I guess it’s your spot now—my sister’s an amazing designer. She designed Blayze’s house and has redecorated a ton of homes. She’ll help you out.”
My chest warmed at how even the youngest Shaw was welcoming me into the fold as if he’d known me his entire life.
“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Dirk walked over and mussed Josh’s perfectly styled hair.
“Uncle Dirk!” Josh said, trying to fix it with his fingers, but he had so much product in it that his fingers hardly got through.
“You get into your mother’s hair spray there, Josh?”
Josh shot him a dirty look before heading out of the room. My guess was that he was going to the bathroom.
“The girls are ready to head home. You’re more than welcome to stay and head home with Stella and Ty Senior, but I wanted to remind you that your rental is at our place. Bradly and Mackenzie left just a few minutes ago.”
My eyes scanned the room. “Where’s Avery?”
Dirk glanced over his shoulder. “I believe she’s in the kitchen saying goodbye to Stella.”
I nodded. “I’ll say my goodbyes really quick.”
“Let me show you how that’s done here at the Shaws’.” He put his finger and thumb into his mouth and let out a whistle so piercing, I was positive the dogs in the next county heard.
“Beck is leaving with us, say your goodbyes!”
He motioned for me to speak, and my mouth fell open.
“You’re not going to hold their attention for long, son, hurry it up.”
“Um.” I lifted my hand. “It was wonderful to meet everyone, and I hope I get to see you again before I leave.”
Goodbyes and nice to meet yous filled the room as I followed Dirk to the front. Merit and Avery were already putting their coats on. I smiled when Avery’s eyes met mine and noticed she barely returned the expression.
