Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100873 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 504(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“Mum and Dad invited us all to dinner,” Jake said, coming up alongside his wife with Danny next to him and Catie on Jules’s side. “But they said they understand if you two are tired after the weekend.”
“It’d be great to see them,” Catie said, cutting Danny off before he could squirrel out of it; whatever was going on, he needed to be around his family, not hiding off in a hole somewhere.
He shot her a pointed look but kept his mouth shut. She’d known he would. Danny wasn’t the kind of person to make anyone around him feel bad. Even during their frenemy wars, he’d never once picked on anything that would make her feel actually bad. It was more about ramping up the annoyance and the aggravation.
Catie had responded in kind. Actually hurting Danny had never been the point. And now…
Things twisted inside her at the idea that he was in pain.
Well, she thought with stubborn determination, he’d get over his silence—or she’d make him. He’d lured her with cookies, hadn’t he? She’d lure him out with bait just as good.
* * *
The elder Eseras had managed to gather the entire gang for this family dinner. Which meant Catie ended up being jumped on by her big sister and cuddled to within an inch of her life.
Grinning so hard that her face ached, Catie said, “It’s only been a week since you last saw me, Issie,” but she didn’t mind the affection. At all. Her sister’s arms were the most familiar anchor in her life.
After Ísa had satisfied herself that Catie was still in one piece, Catie found herself being wrapped up in Sailor’s strong arms. Yeah, okay, she still had a little bit of a crush on her brother-in-law—in a strictly platonic way. He was the epitome of a protective big brother in how he treated her; Catie let him get away with it because he’d earned the right over years of love and care and steadfast support of her dreams.
Sailor had driven her to countless out-of-town meets over the years, been so openly proud of her at them that people who didn’t know who he was had assumed he must be her brother rather than her brother-in-law.
It was some five minutes later, after more hugs from various members of the clan, that Catie was able to make her way to the corner armchair where Charlotte sat, nursing her newborn. Seraphina Pippa Bishop was her and Gabe’s first child and the newest member of the clan.
“Catie.” Charlotte’s smile was as sweet as always as she reached up an arm to hug Catie even as she cradled Seraphina with the other. When her spectacles slid down her nose, Catie nudged them back up with a finger.
“Look at her.” Catie touched one plump baby cheek just as the baby unlatched and smiled a gummy smile at her. “Don’t tell me that’s gas. I want to pretend she’s smiling at me.”
Laughing, Charlotte burped the baby, then handed her over to Catie to cuddle. The first time one of the family had handed her a baby, Catie had been sure she was about to pass out from terror. They were so tiny and fragile, babies. But she was an old hand at it now, had even once babysat the whole brood in tandem with Danny.
They’d fed Emmaline, Esme, and Connor, plus two other small members of the wider clan, far too much sugar and takeout, watched cartoons on repeat, and had a grand old time. The kids begged to be babysat by them again, so Catie figured she was doing a good job on the auntie front.
“Where’s Gabe?” Catie hadn’t spotted the eldest Bishop brother.
“We somehow forgot Sephie’s diaper bag—he’s gone back to grab it.” Charlotte laughed, her entire face aglow with love. “He’s also planning on making a ten-step checklist for leaving the house with a baby.”
“Ha! I can just see him doing that.” Gabriel Bishop didn’t own half the city by accident.
While Charlotte took the opportunity to pop off to the bathroom, Catie carried Seraphina over to Danny. “Look, she’s smiling at me. I’m the favorite.”
“You wish,” he said and scooped the baby out of her arms without missing a beat. “Hey there, angel. I think you grew an inch while I was gone. You’ll be a grown-up by the time of my birthday dinner next week.”
As he smiled at the baby, Catie examined him. He looked better already, joy suffusing his face. Good. Being with his family was helping, but she knew that was only a temporary fix. She’d have to get him alone to get to the root of this.
The front door opened, Gabriel wandering in with the diaper bag in one hand just as Charlotte returned from the bathroom. Intercepting her, Gabriel kissed her until she blushed and told him to “Behave,” though she had her hand pressed to his pectoral muscle and was kind of petting him.