by Lara Swann
All that will come.
Right now, I just need to get through it and wait for the shock to wear off.
After that, I can think.
And work out what the hell I’m going to do with all this.
Chapter Nine
Liam
I turn up at Kelsey’s family barbecue with no idea what to expect, hoping that it really is as open as Kelsey promised.
Part of me had hoped to walk with her, but when I knocked at her door before we left there was no answer, so I guess she went early to help set up. That was almost enough to make me hesitate - but if I had, I’m pretty sure my very excited little girl would have dragged me here anyway. As it is, she practically skipped the entire way, grinning at me and chattering about a game she wants to tell Katy and Lily about.
The sound of music and buzz of conversation hits me from several houses down, providing reassuring guidance to the right place - and as we approach, I see people gathered in the yard that wraps around the side of the property and extends further into the back.
Someone toward this side notices us, looking up and waving before nudging another person behind her - then Kelsey is running out from behind the group, waving as well.
“Hey! You came!” She grins as she comes up to me.
“Of course we did.” I say as if there had never been any doubt at all, and she laughs.
“Come on over, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
“Hi Kelsey!” Maya says, jumping up on her toes slightly as Kelsey reaches down and squeezes her shoulder.
“Hey Maya, how’ve you been?”
“Good! Are Katy and Lily here?”
“Uhuh, let’s see if we can find them, hm?”
Maya nods enthusiastically and I smile at Kelsey as she leads me around the side of the house and to the main gathering at the back. There are pennants fluttering across the decking of the house and hung between some of the trees in the yard, and I wonder whether they’re always there or if Kelsey’s family take their barbecues a little more seriously than I thought. There are two grills set up with a large group gathered around them, and two long tables laden with food, cutlery and condiments.
“Wow.” I say, as I look around at everything available and all the people. “I guess you really did mean that half the town would turn up.”
She follows my gaze, then gives me a slightly crooked smile. “Well, I did, but…so far, this is mostly my family.”
I blink. “What…all of them?”
There are at least three or four groups of people clustered around.
“Yeah, families get pretty big out here.” She grins, then reaches forward to take the box in my arms. “C’mon, let me take that, and then I’ll introduce you.”
I glance down, having almost forgotten I was carrying it as I hand it over.
“I brought dessert.” I say, slightly redundantly as I give her a lop-sided smile.
“Of course you did.” She grins back. “We might have been counting on that.”
I laugh. “Good thing I actually showed up then, huh?”
“I might have sent Katy and Lily to track you down if you hadn’t.”
Ooh. She’s a devious one.
She places the box on one of the few remaining places on the tables, then turns and grabs my arm as she leads me over to the group of people gathered around the grill.
“Okay, so this is Mark - my brother - and his wife Jenny.” She says, as they both look up and wave. “They’re Katy and Lily’s parents. And next to them are Naomi and Elizabeth, my sisters, with Dad over there by that grill holding Beth’s little girl Amy, and—”
“—and there will be a test on all this later.” Jenny interrupts just as I’m wondering how on earth I’m going to remember everyone, giving me a teasing grin.
Kelsey’s smile turns wry as she glances between me and all the people, before shrugging, pausing in her introductions.
“Yeah, well, maybe I’ll let everyone introduce themselves.” She says, giving me an amused look before gesturing in my direction to introduce me. I get the feeling they already know who I am - this is that sort of town - but I guess this is Kelsey trying to make me feel welcome, and I can’t deny I appreciate it. “Everyone, this is Liam, from next door. He runs the cupcake store in town—”
“The muffin man!”
I look down to see a little boy at my feet, beaming up at me as he yells.
“The muffin man?” I ask, raising one eyebrow at him and making him laugh.
“The muffin man!” He says again, his little fists pumping above his head before he falls over with laughter.
“Heyy, Jackson…”
One of Kelsey’s sisters - I didn’t quite catch which one she was, but she looks like the older of the two - comes over toward him, but she’s obviously barely holding back her own laughter as she looks up at me, her eyes crinkling with amusement.
“You’ve got to admit, you kind of walked into that one.”
It’s not until she mildly hums the refrain to the kid that I get it - and then I groan, even though I can feel the amusement rippling through me too.
“Umm, whoops…that might have been my fault.” Kelsey admits, and I send her a sideways glance, somewhere between curious and despairing.
She was talking about me?
Then again, I’m sure that’s not unusual around here. But still…
“I hope that doesn’t catch on.” I murmur, but I’m almost laughing myself.
“Um, no, of course not.” Kelsey says, with the kind of reassurance that only makes you immediately suspicious. “Anyway, let’s get you something to eat, shall we? The grill is just over here…”
Yeah. Not suspicious at all.
Just how many people has the ‘muffin man’ thing gone around already?
I shake my head, my lips still twisted with amusement as I take in the warm, inviting group of people around me.
“It’s great to meet you all.” I say. “And this is my daughter…”
I look down at where Maya was standing just a few moments ago, then crane my neck around to see that she’s already taken off toward Katy and Lily on the other side of the yard. I guess she got bored of all the grown-up talk delaying things.
“Oh, huh…well, that was my daughter. Maya.” I add, and Mark laughs next to me.
“Well, if she can keep my two out of trouble for more than five minutes, she’s welcome to run off whenever she likes.”
The way his eyes sparkle at me makes me smile and I immediately feel a whole lot more comfortable. I’ve always felt slightly uneasy around family groups with their various unknown dynamics - and despite Kelsey’s reassurances, I still wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t be intruding - but now that I’m here, it doesn’t feel like that at all.
“I have a feeling she’s only going to make it worse.”
“Probably true - they’re always worse in numbers.” Mark gives me a wry smile of his own.
“Hey you, those are your daughters you’re talking about.” Jenny interjects, with a roll of her eyes at Mark.
“Yeah, exactly. Should’ve known they were gonna be trouble, coming from me and all.”
She laughs, hooking one arm through his and leaning in. “Guess that’s true. So next time they ask the most awkward questions in front of my grandmother, that probably makes it your fault, right? You can deal with it.”
Mark laughs, leaning down to kiss the top of her head as I grin at them.
“Katy and Lily do that too?”
“Yeah.” He grimaces. “I swear they know it too - I’ve caught the grin Katy gives Lily just as her poor Mom is squirming with embarrassment.”
“I think it’s a little girl thing.” Jenny says.
“At least, that’s what we’re hoping.” Elizabeth adds, looking up from where she’s playing with Jackson on the floor with a sly smile of her own. “I only have one of those to deal with. Hopefully the two boys will be a little easier—”
Mark snorts. “Yeah,
good luck with that. I was a little boy, remember? If all the girls are doing is asking awkward questions, well at least that’s not going to scare you to death. The things boys think might be a good idea, on the other hand…”
Elizabeth groans.
“Shh.” Jenny says in an exaggerated tone. “I’m trying to convince Beth that it’s going to get better once they all start walking and get a bit more independent.”
She’s laughing though, with a fond look at the other woman as she helps her up from the ground.
“C’mon, talking of - let’s go check on Kieran.” Jenny suggests. “I can’t hear the baby monitor at all out here.”
Elizabeth releases Jackson to run around into someone else’s arms and nods, giving us an amused glance as she takes Jenny’s arm and they head back into the house.
“All credit to you, though, dealing with it all yourself.” Mark shakes his head at me. “I’m not sure what I’d do without Jenny here to wrangle them with me - half the time I have no idea what the two of them are talking about.”
I get a flicker of uncertainty at the comment - a gut-reaction at the reminder of my single parenthood - but there doesn’t seem to be anything more behind it, none of the curiosity I might have expected. Not sympathy, either - just a genuine respect in his voice. I’m not quite sure what to make of that, so I slide past it instead.
“I usually don’t have any idea what Maya is saying, either.” I match his wry smile. “That’s half the reason I opened the cupcake store - thought maybe that way, at least, she’d feel like I was listening to some of her fantasies and stories.”
Mark’s smile deepens and he tilts his head at me. “I can see why Jenny likes the store so much. It’s been a real hit around here…I should probably stop by sometime, see what all the fuss is about.”
“Yeah, oddly enough, I don’t get that many guys come in.” My lips quirk with amusement and he laughs.
“Strange, that. Well, I’m sure I could bring a few friends—”
“Noo…no, no, no, no.” Kelsey’s other sister interjects from the table, glancing over at us. “Jenny would be devastated. C’mon, Mark, us girls need some place to go where we can talk about you all in peace.”
“Isn’t that just about any time you get together?” He mutters, but so that she can hear it, and she sticks her tongue out at him before looking at me.
“What would we have to do to get you to put a ‘girls only’ sign up outside, hmm?” She makes a show of batting her eyes at me and I just laugh.
“There’s no way I’m leaving you all in there with only Maya to serve you.” I say, with exaggerated despair. “She has no idea about prices or business at all.”
“Oh, you’d be welcome, of course.” She gives me a sultry look, winking deliberately.
“A sign like that would only tempt us.” Mark says, raising one eyebrow at her. “We’re the bad-boy rule-breaking types, remember?”
“Uhuh.” She makes an unimpressed sound that I think has probably been perfected over years of being the younger sister.
“Well, I brought the cupcakes with me.” I tell Mark. “So at least you can try them here, even if the women-folk of your family are going to make the store off-limits.”
His eyes light up. “Oh, really? Well…maybe we should go and investigate those now…make sure everything is in order. I’ve heard good things about those cupcakes.”
“Before lunch?”
He gives a shifty glance around, before lowering his voice dramatically. “If we can do it without any of the kids seeing…hey, there have to be some perks of being an adult.”
I laugh, but let him lead me over to the table and commandeer a few cupcakes - true to his word, disappearing around the side of the house to eat them out of the sight of any of the children running around. We talk about the kids for a while longer and the conversation leads on from there, feeling easy and natural and making me wonder why I was so hesitant about coming today.
When we eventually join the others again, it’s just more of the same, and I find myself actually relaxing and enjoying myself. Everyone I talk to is fun and interesting and warm.
It turns out that Kelsey’s family is, well, as friendly as her. Crazy, right?
I’m actually so caught up in conversation and getting to know her sisters and brother and other myriad relatives that it takes me a while to realize she’s disappeared - and that actually, apart from when she welcomed and introduced us, sticking around until our own conversation hit a natural rapport, I haven’t seen her or spoken to her at all.
When I mention her disappearance to one of her sisters - Naomi, I finally learned the name - the other woman just laughs.
“Oh, yeah. She’s spent most of the day going through Dad’s old records in his study - some important work thing of hers, or something.” Naomi just shrugs, giving me a helpless expression. “We tried to tell her she was missing all the fun, but she just stole a burger and went right back to it. That’s Kelsey, though. What can you do?”
She grins at me, and I nod back like I know anything about her at all.
Some important work thing? On a Sunday?
“You could probably go find her, if you like.” She suggests. “It’s just down the hall on the right. Could always take her a cupcake - she might look up for a couple of minutes for that.”
I consider it for a moment, more tempted than I probably should be to go and find Kelsey alone in her study, but shake my head.
“Probably best not to disturb her.”
Still…she was the one who invited me…and she seemed really excited about the barbecue, too. Is it really as usual for her as Naomi’s implying to bail on a family event like this? They all seem to be all about family.
“More for us then.” Naomi grins, taking another cupcake. “These are delicious, by the way.”
“Thanks.” I smile, though I’m strangely disappointed that Kelsey hasn’t come out to try one yet. Maya insisted on bringing Fairy Princess Surprise, the one-time-special that’s become a standard part of our menu ever since Kelsey told her how much she liked it.
I hope she actually does like it that much. I really need to explain to Maya that it’s okay if she wants to try a different flavor sometime.
“Are you going to have a cupcake stall at the Summer Fair in a couple of weeks?”
I look up from my own food - savory, at the moment, after that cupcake with Mark before lunch even started almost finished me off - and it takes me a moment to remember what she’s talking about. Ashton’s Summer Fair. I don’t really have any idea what it’s like, but from the excitement of the people who’ve mentioned it to me so far, it seems like a big deal here.
“No.” I shake my head. “It’s the first one we’ll have been to - I think Maya and I are just going to go along and explore, see what it’s like. I’ll think about any of that next year, but for this one…I’ve promised her we won’t be working.”
That only makes Naomi smile more.
“That sounds perfect.” She says with real enthusiasm, then gestures behind her. “We’ll all be there, of course. The kids love it - and, well, the grown-up kids too. You should see how many times Mark insists on riding the bumper cars.”
“Are you talking about me?” Mark’s voice comes from behind her and she jumps before turning to grin at him.
“You know it.” She nudges him with her elbow and he shakes his head at me.
“Little sisters. Be glad you’re not stuck with one.”
“Hey, I’m wonderful. You always said so.”
“Uhuh. You have Andrew these days - I’ll leave him to tell you that now.”
She pouts, but her cheeks flush slightly and it makes me smile as I catch the look she sends in another man’s direction. I don’t miss the ring on her finger, either. For all her light-hearted flirting - which seems to be a thing all the women in this family do without thinking - it’s obvious she’s very much in love.
I redirect the conversation back to the Summer F
air, their gentle bickering making something inside me feel a little strange, and get all the tips for my first time there with Maya instead. Eventually, I move to actually check on the little girl who’s totally ignored me the whole time she’s been here - and I’m surprised when a voice appears at my shoulder.
“So, my family haven’t scared you off yet?”
I turn to see Kelsey falling into step with me, a familiar amusement on her face.
“No, quite the opposite.” I smile, glancing around at the different groups in the late afternoon sun. “You were right - they all seem like wonderful people.”
She smiles back at me, looking genuinely pleased for a moment before she glances away again. I cock my head, curious. I’m not used to seeing her quiet.
“They seemed to scare you off, though.” I comment, my tone light.
She glances back to me and her face flushes slightly for a moment before she shrugs.
“Oh, yeah, sorry, I’ve just…got something on my mind at the moment, that’s all.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
She shakes her head, looking off into the distance again, and I frown as I wonder if there really is something wrong.
“It’s just a work thing.” She finally sighs. “I’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”
“Okay.” I nod, but I’m not sure I mean it.
“I’m glad you came, though.” She adds, sending a small smile my way - one that reaches her eyes this time, too. “I hope you’ve been okay…I did actually mean to come back out hours ago, I just…got a little sidetracked.”
“I’ve been fine. More than fine.” I reassure her. I’m not some kid who needs supervision, after all, and it’s not her job to look after me. “I’m glad I came too - it’s been…really nice.”
I look around again, seeing some of the now-familiar faces engaged in energetic conversation or easy laughter…or, in the case of Beth and at least one of her children, curled up in a swing chair and fast asleep.
“It’s a little strange, too, you know. I’m not used to big families - and especially not like this, where everyone seems to get on so well.”
“Ah, we have our moments.” She starts, but then tilts her head toward me as if hearing more than I actually said. Which I’m not quite sure I want her to do - but it’s something I’ve started getting used to around her. “But yeah, I get what you mean. I guess in those big cities, people grow up a little differently.”