Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“This one is here with you, Gideon?” he asked, and Beth bristled. Before she could say a word, Gideon lay a quelling hand on her thigh under the table and she held her tongue, waiting to see what he would say.
“If you mean, Beth, Dad? Then yes, she’s here with me.”
The older man’s gaze narrowed, and then he nodded, and focused his attention on Kenny, who looked horrified at the side show that their little tableau had created at her dinner.
“Now then, tell me why the fuck my only daughter is rushing into marriage with some stranger?” His scathingly dismissive gaze raked over the handsome man sitting next to Kenny. “You didn’t get her pregnant, did you, lad? Because I can easily procure a shotgun if that’s the case.”
“God, no, Daddy,” Kenny said on a moan, sounding so much like a disgruntled, embarrassed teen, that Beth felt herself warming toward the woman for the first time. “Smith and I are well-suited and we believe this will be an excellent match.”
“Sounds bloodless as fuck.”
“We’re happy,” Kenny maintained, reaching for Smith’s hand on the table next to him.
“And can’t he speak for himself? Not much of a man, is he? The little Finch lass has bigger balls than he does.”
“I can speak for myself, I was just waiting for you to run out of bluster,” the man with the dark auburn hair said urbanely. And Beth snorted. Now that the focus had shifted from her and Gideon, this dinner was proving to be entertaining as all hell.
Once the Hawthorne men stopped throwing their weight around, the evening became downright pleasant.
“If I use the wrong utensils, will the cutlery police come out and arrest me?” Beth asked the heavily pregnant, red-haired woman sitting on her left once the first course had been served. She’d been eyeing her place settings dubiously, and since Gideon was occupied chatting with the woman on his right, Beth had decided to turn elsewhere for help.
The woman laughed in delight at her question.
“You could follow my lead,” she suggested. “Or we could both be total heathens and eat every course with our soup spoons.”
“I would totally do that, but I feel like I’ve embarrassed Gideon in front of his family enough for one night. So maybe I’ll just follow your lead.”
The woman grinned.
“I’m Tina Chapman, by the way,” the woman introduced herself. “The groom-to-be’s only sister.”
“I feel like everybody here knows my name by now,” Beth said, cringing.
“It was hard to miss,” the woman said with a laugh. “Nice to meet you Elizabeth Anne Finch.”
“Oh God, just Beth, please. And it’s really nice to meet you as well. This dinner has been seriously lacking a friendly face until now.”
“Tell me about it,” Tina muttered beneath her breath. “I’m not sure what Smith is thinking, marrying into this family.”
Tina blushed abruptly, the flush of red in her face clashing unattractively with her hair. “I’m sorry, I know your date is one of them.”
“Don’t worry about it, I know exactly what you mean… I don’t know how Gideon is so normal after growing up with these people.” And wasn’t that the God’s honest truth. The longer dinner dragged on, the more she realized that Gideon truly was a breath of fresh air within his outrageously stuffy family.
Nox talked down to everyone he considered beneath him and he never thanked the servers. He never even looked up to acknowledge them when they brought him their food. Niall was an odd one. He seemed disinterested in everything and everyone. He appeared to find the conversation boring and participated only when asked a direct question. He spent most of the evening tapping away on his phone.
Kenny was trying to be a good host, but was looking increasingly frazzled. Beth felt a little sorry for her.
The Old Man, as Beth had taken to thinking of him, lorded it over everyone around him. After his initial encounter with Beth, he’d proceeded to ignore her and that suited her just fine. But she hated that he also ignored Gideon. He never again directed a question or comment toward his youngest son. But Beth noticed that his eyes frequently slid toward Gideon. He inspected his son, as if cataloguing changes, memorizing features, paying much closer attention than he ever let on. It was that hidden concern, more than anything, that Beth found endearing. The Old Man was a cantankerous, mean sod, but it was clear that he loved Gideon. And that he’d missed him.
Gideon, meanwhile, put up a good front. He laughed and joked, the life of the party as always…but Beth had his number by now. She knew that he was hurting. He was always touching her. When he wasn’t full on clinging to her hand under the table, he was stroking her arm, or brushing hair off her cheek, or running his thumb across her cheek.