The corners of Jen’s mouth twitched, and he waited for a smile to form. “Sorry, but I have to disagree. We’ve exchanged plenty of messages and they’ve all been well written. If Brett said annoying, it’s what he meant.” The smile she was trying to hold back finally took over.
Jake nodded. “You’re going to get along well with my wife. For some reason, she never agrees with me either.”
“That’s because my sister is smart,” Sean said as he stood. “I’ll be right back.”
“How old is she?” Jen asked, ignoring all the men at the table.
“Almost two months. Natalie was born in June.”
While Mia and Jen discussed the baby, Brett turned his attention to his cousin, who at the moment was breaking a donut up into much smaller pieces for his son.
“Do you know a Phillip Young?” Brett asked.
Jake’s hands stopped, and he looked over at him. “Why?” he asked, his tone suspicious. “He’s not working on your campaign is he? Because if he is, get rid of him now.”
“No. I hired Carl Filmore. But Young is running things for Ted Smith. His name sounds familiar. I thought you might know him.”
Jake slid the paper plate toward Garrett before answering. “Sara dated him. They were together during part of Dad’s campaign.” His cousin no longer sounded suspicious. Instead he sounded pissed off. “Phillip is a slimy SOB. He plays dirty.”
If his cousin Sara had dated the man, it explained why the name sounded familiar.
“Watch yourself around him. There isn’t anything the man won’t do to get the outcome he wants,” Jake said.
He hadn’t met all the men his cousin had dated before getting married, but the man Jake described didn’t sound like someone Sara would’ve ever been attracted to. Or perhaps he didn’t know his family members as well as he thought. “Will do. Thanks for the heads-up.”
The scent of the fresh donuts and fried dough Sean set down reached Brett across the table. Neither of them had eaten before leaving his house. The scent of the grilling meat and various snacks sitting on the table now had his stomach loudly protesting its empty status. “That looks too good to pass up.” He pointed toward the fried dough Sean passed to his wife. “Jen, do you want anything?”
“Maybe one of those donuts. They look amazing.” She didn’t look up from the baby she was holding.
“I’ll be back.”
“Hey what about me?” Jake asked. “Did you ever stop to think I might be hungry?”
“You’ve got two good feet. Use them.”
Jake got up too. “I hope you know what kind of guy you’ve gotten yourself involved with, Jen.” He leaned closer to his son. “Garrett, stay with Uncle Sean. I’m going to get something for myself.”
His cousin might want a snack—Jake had always been able to eat as much as him—but Brett knew it wasn’t his only reason for accompanying him to the food tables. He had questions about Jen, because it was an unspoken rule that no one ever brought casual dates to family-only events like Allison’s engagement party tomorrow.
Jake remained silent until they got several feet from the picnic table. “How long have you known Jen?”
Fair question. He’d attended their cousin Gray’s wedding in June solo. Jake would assume they’d met since his move back to the area.
“Almost two years.” Brett joined the line waiting for homemade donuts and fried dough.
“Then she’s from Virginia? You should’ve brought her around when you came over.”
Since Jake and his wife lived in Virginia, he’d made fairly regular visits to their house while he’d been stationed down there. He’d made all those visits alone.
“No. North Smithfield. She works in Providence, not far from Derek’s office.”
He should give his cousin all the details, but it was more fun letting him try to piece it together and then correcting Jake when he got it wrong. Brett watched Jake as he mulled over the information. He’d never told anyone about the letters he and Jen had exchanged.
Finally, Jake planted his hands on his hips. “I give up. How’d you meet? Is she a friend of Leah’s?”
“No, so far she’s only been unfortunate enough to meet you and Derek.” He loved giving his family a hard time too much to resist.
“If she’s spending time with you, she can’t be too picky.”