How could she forget? Mallory had drilled her over bacon and eggs.
"There are two Anderson brothers," Liz recited. "David and Joe. They both married and had children. You're marrying into Joe's side of the family. Noah and Easton are twins and the oldest. Then Shane, and finally Carter. On David's side, there's Travis, Jason, Westin, and Leann, the only female. Did I get it right?"
"You got it," Mallory said with a quick thumbs up. "I won't go into their wives' names because your brain might explode, but trust me when I say that it will be a full house. Both sides of the family don't always eat together on Sunday but they are today."
"One big happy family."
"Pretty much. I'm told there are some cousins coming to the wedding that I haven't met yet. They run a different part of Anderson Industries."
"Anderson Industries," Liz repeated. When Noah had told her that he worked on a ranch she hadn't pictured him a titan of business. If anything, she'd thought he was a ranch hand of some sort. Like on television. "It sounds...big...and important."
"It is big and important."
"How big is big?"
"Big." Mallory's expression was solemn. "Just...big. Whatever you're thinking is big...it's bigger."
"That's pretty big."
"It is. And intimidating but the Andersons are a down-to-earth family. Thank goodness. I never got the vibe that they thought I wasn't good enough for their son." She giggled and slapped a hand over her mouth. "If anything, his brothers have made suggestions that he's not good enough for me. I told you he had something of a reputation when we met. He was quite the heartbreaker."
If the rest of the family looked like Carter and Noah, Liz was positive that the Andersons had broken plenty of hearts.
I don't want to talk about my heart.
"He looked like a devoted fiancé last night."
"He is. We both are. Now are you ready to meet them? Brace yourself, because there's a lot of them."
Liz came from a much smaller family. She had a sister that she talked to once a month and saw at the holidays. Her parents were divorced and her dad had remarried. There were a few cousins but she rarely saw them except on social media. Her grandparents had passed away when she was in high school. She loved her relatives. All of them. She just didn't spend much time with them. Getting together on Sundays for dinner was an alien activity. She hadn't eaten Sunday dinner with her parents even back when she'd lived with them. They'd all had their own lives.
They were climbing the front porch steps when a terrible thought occurred to Liz. Panicked, she tugged on Mallory's arm, delaying the inevitable of going inside.
"Do you think Noah told his brothers? Do you think they all know?"
Liz was mortified at the thought of everyone staring at her and knowing that she and Noah had a past. She didn't yet know what that past meant to him...if it meant anything at all.
Mallory frowned for a moment and then shook her head. "I think he probably told Carter last night, but I doubt he told everyone. The brothers are close but they don't talk over every single thing with each other. I'm guessing that he wants to talk to you first."
Talk. Yes, they needed to talk.
Except she still didn't know what to say. She'd had all morning to think about it and she hadn't made much progress.
How do you ask someone if they'd fallen in love?
9
Noah had chugged two glasses of water and almost sweat through his blue button down shirt. Nervous didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling at the moment. Liz - it was still hard to get used to calling her that - would be walking in the door any minute. He had a million questions that he wanted to ask. Would she answer any of them? Last night he'd convinced himself that he deserved to have his questions answered but in the cold light of day he wasn't so sure. They'd had one night together and she hadn't promised him anything.
Liz owed him nothing.
By the same token, he could say the same. He didn't owe her anything either, but that didn't make him want to stay silent. He was going to try and talk to her today. If only to clear the air between them. They were going to be spending time together and he didn't want his past affecting his brother's wedding.
Carter peered out of the living room window that overlooked the front yard. "Mallory and Liz are here."
Noah stepped forward but his brother blocked his path. "I know you want to speak to her, and you should, but give her some breathing room. Let her meet everyone and settle in. There will be time after dinner. You can take her out to the gazebo and talk to her privately there."
The Anderson Gazebo. It was practically an institution all its own. How many romances had been sparked in that wooden structure? Too many to count, Noah was sure. He'd done his share of kissing in it but most of that was when he was younger. Some Andersons said that the gazebo was a magical place. Easton had proposed to Dizzy there and she'd said yes. That was pretty miraculous.
I could use some magic. Any bit of help would be good.
"Fine," Noah replied with reluctance. He'd been waiting for two years but an hour or two more wouldn't make much difference. "I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable."
Carter just grinned. "She's going to feel uncomfortable until she gets used to all of us. You know that takes some time. Let her get her feet under her. We're a big family and can be overwhelming."
There was no way Noah would ever admit it but he'd thought about this moment a few times. All those what ifs. If Liz had stayed in Chicago with him that day. If they'd tried to make long distance work. If he'd introduced her to his family as his girlfriend. When he'd imagined it, it hadn't been nearly this stressful. They'd been happy and smiling and in love.
I am a huge sap.
He did, indeed, feel for Liz when she and Mallory entered the house. A barrage of people descended on them, and there was no way she was going to be able to remember all of those names, let alone match them to faces. She'd told him that she was from a small family and he'd had the idea that they were rather sedate and quiet. In other words, completely the opposite of the Anderson clan.
Carter and Mallory stood on either side of Liz, keeping the family at bay as they all introduced themselves, one after the other.
"Aren't you going to say hello to our guest?"
The question came from his mother, who was giving him a look that said she thought he was being rude. No matter how old he was, she was still his mother.
"Actually, I met her last night." Simplicity was the way to move forward here. "She ended up at my front door instead of Carter's."
"I hope you helped her find the way."
"Of course, I did, Mom. We all even had dinner together before she and Mallory left for Dizzy's place."
His mother smiled. "That's nice. I've heard wonderful things about Liz. She's quite attractive, don't you think?"
Really, Mom? You're not even subtle anymore.
Kathy Anderson only had one child left unmarried - once Carter tied the knot - and she could hardly stand it. She'd been giving him broad hints for months that had become broader and less disguised as time had gone on. Frankly, Noah expected her to sign him up for online dating any day now.
"She's incredibly attractive," Noah agreed, because...he did agree. Wholeheartedly.
"And single," his mother added.
Single? How did she know that and he didn't?
"Are you sure, Mom? How do you know?"
Sighing, Kathy nodded toward where Liz was meeting West's wife Gigi. "Because Mallory mentioned that Liz wasn't seeing anyone. We were doing the wedding reception seating chart and I asked if Liz had a plus-one. Mallory said that Liz broke up with someone a few months ago."
Leave it to Noah's mother to find out the dating status of Mallory's maid of honor.
"Are you trying to fix us up, Mom?"
A smile played on Kathy's lips. "I'm just making a comment."
The last thing Noah wanted was for his mother to play matchmaker. Not when she didn't have a
ll the facts.
"Liz is a lovely woman and I do want to get to know her better." He raised his eyebrows and gave his mother a warning look. "No interference, please."
Kathy snorted in reply. "I am not the interfering type. You're a grown man and can handle your own love life...such as it is. I'm only saying that Mallory has nothing but wonderful things to say about Liz. She's a pottery artist. Did you know that?"
This conversation had taken a surreal turn.
"I did know that."
"She makes functional pottery, meaning that they're not just for show. You can use them."
"I didn't know that."
"She's very talented. Mallory showed me some pictures from Liz's website."
He hadn't known Liz had a website but if he had, he would have already checked it out. He could practically slap his own forehead.
The internet. Christ on a crutch. He could have looked Liz up online and found out all sorts of information now that he knew her last name.
I'm as dumb as a rock.
Easton would have thought of looking Liz up last night. He'd always said he was the smarter twin, and Noah rarely argued with him about that point since he could always pull the older brother card. Seven minutes might not be much but it was enough to torture Easton for the rest of his life.
As usual, the females disappeared into the kitchen while the men sat in the living room and talked. After dinner, the roles would reverse and the men would be on cleanup duty while the women lounged and relaxed. The only difference was in the last few years the men had also taken on the additional responsibility of watching the children while the meal was being cooked. Most of the Anderson brothers had kids now, hell, even Carter and Mallory were already talking about trying for a baby quite soon.
Noah was the last man standing. Most of the time that didn't bother him in the least. He'd rather be alone than be with the wrong person. But every now and then, he had to admit that going home to his empty house was becoming less and less satisfying.
Had that all started when he'd met Liz? He didn't know for sure.
Joe Anderson slapped Carter on the back as he handed him a whiskey. "Are you ready, son? It won't be long now."
Noah's youngest brother prided himself on being a modern groom, enthusiastically taking part in the wedding planning and eschewing the old stereotypes about men being scared to tie the knot. Carter couldn't wait to be married to Mallory.
"I've been ready for months," he declared. "Mallory, too. I already feel married so the ceremony is just a formality."
"It changes things, son," Joe said solemnly. "I know you don't think things will change but they will. Those vows make it different."
"Makes it better," West replied, giving Noah a pointed stare. "It's the foundation that you can build on."
It seemed no one in the family was going to be subtle anymore.
"If you have something to say, West, you should just say it," Noah said, a relaxed smile on his face. Taking crap from his brothers and cousins was a well-known sport in the Anderson family. "It's not like you to beat around the bush."
West shrugged, handing a discarded toy car to his toddler son. "Okay, I'll be direct. You're becoming a real pain in the hindquarters, cousin."
"Hindquarters?" Noah sputtered with laughter. "That's an interesting turn of phrase. I know you haven't been hanging around the ranch lately."
West nodded toward the kids who were playing toy cars by the window. "Gigi told me that if I teach our second son the same words I taught the first one – accidentally, I might add - I'll be sleeping on the porch until Christmas. It's cold on the porch."
"Okay, I'm a pain in the...hindquarters. I'm not sure what that has to do with wedding vows."
"Marriage will mellow you out," West pronounced. "Look at Easton. He was wound tighter than an eight-day clock and headed straight to becoming Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. But then he fell in love with Dizzy and it all changed. She has him juice cleansing, mediating, and doing yoga. He's never been more serene."
Noah's twin didn't look like he appreciated being a cautionary tale. "I wasn't even close to being Scrooge. And what about you? You had a terrible reputation with women until Gigi came along."
Shane chuckled and refilled his whiskey glass. "We all had our issues."
No, they didn't.
"First of all," Noah said to no one in particular. He'd immediately noticed that no one was coming to his defense. "I don't need to mellow out. I'm relaxed and laid back. I've always been that way. Second, I don't have a bad reputation with women, and third, I don't have any issues. You all might have had issues but I don't. I'm incredibly well-adjusted and normal. For this family. Oh, and fourth, I don't appreciate being ganged up on just because Carter found a woman."
"To be fair, we always thought he'd be the last to get married," Shane said. "He was hardcore single."
"Actually, I thought Travis would be the last," Noah said turning to his cousin who had sat quietly drinking his whiskey the entire time. "Are you going to sit there and let them talk to me like this? I thought you were my friend."
Travis didn't answer immediately, unfolding his long body in the chair to stretch out his legs. "To be honest, I thought I'd be the last to get married as well so I can't argue with you there. As for you being a pain, I have to also admit that I agree with West. Lately, you've become...impatient. More tense. You weren't like that in the past but we've definitely seen a change in the last year or so. We're a little worried about you, that's all. After the wedding, you should take a vacation from the ranch."
"Maybe the last two years," Carter piped up. "I wonder what changed around that time to make you this way?"
His head swiveling toward his younger brother, Noah shot him the stare of death.
"I am not more tense," Noah denied loudly. Everyone was royally pissing him off.
His mother stuck her head out of the kitchen. "Is everything okay out here?"
Shit.
Her brows rose when they were all quiet. "Well, this is quite interesting. Do I need to come out there?"
"No," Noah answered quickly. "We're just debating something."
"Who's winning?"
"I am."
West snickered and Carter coughed, covering up his laughter. Travis, Jason, and Shane were laughing as well. Only Easton and his dad had a straight face but they were amazing actors. Easton could have taken up professional poker and won millions.
"You'll have to finish later," his mother said. "Dinner’s ready. Go wash up."
Stomping upstairs to wash his hands, Noah grumbled under his breath. He wasn't tense or cranky or anything else. He wasn't the one that had changed. They all had. He was the same easygoing guy he'd always been, and always would be.
Nothing bothered him.
Except maybe one beautiful woman on the other side of the kitchen door. He had to talk to Liz and tell her that he'd never forgotten.
Liz had grown up in a small family so gatherings this large were foreign to her. Everyone was talking at the table and although there were no angry voices it did get loud several times. It wasn't bad, it was just...different. By the end of the meal, she'd found that she actually sort of liked it. It was easy to see that the Andersons were loving and close, even if they didn't always completely agree with one another about whether it was going to rain tomorrow.
Apparently, weather was a big deal in Montana.
"The men do the cleanup," Mallory said when dinner was over. "We get to sit down and relax."
That's what Liz had been told earlier and it appeared to be true. The men immediately went to work clearing the table and the women were shooed out to the back porch with glasses of wine. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too warm and not too cool.
"Do you think the weather will cooperate for the wedding day?" Mallory asked wistfully, leaning against the porch railing. "Can we be that lucky?"
"In many cultures, rain is considered to be good luck," Dizzy replied. "It symbolizes f
ertility, cleansing, and renewal."
"It also makes big mud puddles," the woman named Aubrey said with a laugh. She was married to Travis and she was absolutely drop dead gorgeous, as was her sister Gigi, who was married to West. Liz felt like a ragamuffin next to them. "The kind that get the hem of your big white dress dirty. Let's pray for sun."
"True," Dizzy said with a giggle. "But I stand by my statement. Rain is good luck. What do you think, Liz? Rain or sun for a wedding?"
Liz didn't get the opportunity to reply. The back door swung open and Noah stood in the doorway. "Can we talk, Liz?"
All the ladies went silent. The heat rising in her cheeks, Liz cleared her throat and nodded. Words had escaped her at the moment. She'd known that they needed to talk but she hadn't thought it would be so soon.
Might as well do this. Dragging it out won't help.
She followed Noah down a tree-lined path to a lovely gazebo in the center of a clearing. They were close enough to the house that she could still see the women sitting on the back porch, but far enough away that they couldn't hear anything that was being said.
"This is pretty," Liz remarked, settling gratefully onto one of the benches. Her legs had been trembling so badly that she'd been afraid they might give out.
I'm that nervous.
And awkward.
"Our parents built it when they built the house," Noah answered, settling himself next to her. He was close enough that she could feel the heat of his body but they weren't touching. She had the strongest urge to reach out and place her hand over his. She didn't do it, however. That tension and awareness she'd felt last night was back with a vengeance, and after months of trying to feel as little as possible it was knocking her off kilter. "A lot of family history has gone down in this gazebo."
"Good or bad?"
She didn't know why she asked. She was mostly trying to make conversation.
"Mostly good." He took a deep breath, his hands gripping the wooden seat so hard that the knuckles were white. It was a relief in a way...to know he was nervous, too. "We need to talk, Lib– I mean, Liz. I don't know how you feel about–"
Dancing With Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 10) Page 6