Jake, as well as the other male members of their family, always gave as good as he got. Brett couldn’t imagine it any other way.
“During one of my deployments, Jen’s scout troop sent us care packages. I got one with a letter from her. We started writing back and forth. Things progressed from there.” Brett stepped forward as the line moved. “We met face-to-face for the first time a few days after I saw you in Connecticut.”
“And you’re bringing her to the engagement party. We both know what that means.”
Yeah, Jen was important to him. He didn’t need his cousin to point it out to him.
“There’s only one Sherbrooke left now for you-know-who to chase after,” Jake said as they reached the front of the line. “She’ll be doubling up her efforts.”
He hadn’t seen or even thought about Richard Marshall’s daughter in years, yet he knew that was whom his cousin was referring to. For longer than anyone could remember, Richard’s youngest daughter, Tasha, had been trying to bag a male member of the Sherbrooke family. She’d even gone so far as to try to buy his cousin Derek at a bachelor auction the previous year. From what he’d heard, a little deception on his cousin’s part had thwarted her plan.
“She doesn’t stand a chance.”
“You and I know that. I don’t think Tasha does,” Jake answered after giving Mrs. Mitchell his order.
Brett followed and ordered a donut as well as a piece of the fried dough. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had any, and with it in front of him, his sweet tooth made passing on it impossible. After accepting the red-hot treat he moved down the table and poured a generous helping of cinnamon and sugar over it while his cousin waited.
“Do you think your girlfriend is ready to meet everyone tomorrow? Even Sara and Christopher are flying out for the party.”
He’d expected it to be a smaller affair, considering how last-minute it’d been. If his cousin and her husband who lived in California were attending, it might not be as small as he’d thought. Not that it mattered to him. He wanted Jen to meet everyone who was important to him.
“I think the only ones who won’t be there are Callie and Dylan. They went to visit Dylan’s father in England,” Jake said, confirming Brett’s belief.
“She survived meeting you tonight. If she can do that, she’ll be fine tomorrow.”
“Nice. Real nice. For that I’m going to take you off my Christmas card list.”
“Yeah, but your wife will put me back on, so I’m not worried.”
***
Brett followed Jen inside. They’d spent close to two hours at the block party. He’d even broken one of his personal rules and stepped on the danc
e floor. When Charlie, his cousin’s wife, finally joined them, she somehow persuaded him to ask Jen to dance. He’d only done it because he expected she’d flat-out tell him no. If he’d asked while the DJ played a popular dance hit, he knew she would’ve too. Instead he’d asked just as the guy put on a slow sappy love ballad, the kind that usually had him changing the station. Jen had considered his question for less than a second before leading him to the temporary dance floor and slipping her arms around him.
He didn’t regret their dance. It had given him a chance to hold her as close as he wanted despite the crowd. Perhaps dancing had some perks he’d overlooked in the past.
After the party, they along with Jake and his wife had gone back to Sean and Mia’s house. He wasn’t sure how long Sean had owned the house, but he knew his friend had spent a lot of time restoring the old Queen Anne-style home to its former beauty.
“When my niece was born, I thought she was big. Your friend’s daughter was like a giant compared to Bella at that age.”
He’d thought Sean’s daughter was tiny. In fact, when Sean’s wife asked if he wanted to hold the baby, he’d declined, afraid he’d somehow hurt something so little. “Natalie is big?” He hadn’t spent much time around infants, but if Jen considered Sean’s daughter big, he didn’t want to see one she considered small.
She headed toward the kitchen and the back door, Bo right at her feet. “Not big as in chubby, but she’s long. When my niece was her age she was about twenty-three inches long, which is on the taller side. Sean and Mia’s daughter was definitely longer than that.” She opened the door and Bo darted outside. “But Sean is tall and Mia is taller than average, so it makes sense.” Jen walked away from the door and back toward the living room. “After being stuck inside for so long, he’ll be out there a while.”
“My sister is going to flip when I tell her I got to meet not only Mia Troy but Prince Charming,” Jen said, using the nickname the media had given his cousin Jake numerous years ago. “She used to have a huge crush on him. She couldn’t see a magazine with his picture on the cover and not buy it.”
Brett sat down next to her and put an arm over her shoulders. “If you ever want to get Jake annoyed, call him that. He hates it. Drives him up the wall.”
“I’m surprised you don’t use it all the time then. The two of you seem to love giving each other a hard time. It reminded me of the time we spent with your other cousin and his wife in Newport.” She rested her hand on his leg. “Do you all act like that with each other?
“More or less,” he answered as he slowly worked her hair free of its braid. “We spent a lot of time together growing up. Sometimes we act more like siblings than cousins.” With her hair free, he ran his fingers through it. “You’ll see what I mean tomorrow.”
When he’d invited her along, he expected a handful of people to be there. Now that he knew better, he figured it was only fair to give her a heads-up. “Jake told me almost everyone will be on hand tomorrow. If you want to wait and meet my family members in smaller batches, I understand. Some might find meeting them all at once overwhelming.”
Jen moved away from him, and her hair slipped from between his fingers. “I’m still up for going.” She shrugged a shoulder. “But if you want to wait, I understand. This engagement party does sound like a major family event.”
He hadn’t intended to make her think he didn’t want her there. Judging by her tone of voice, that was how she’d interpreted it. Time to do some damage control. “I want you there. I only wanted to give you fair warning. Being around my family can be enough to scare a battle-hardened general into retreating. And if you changed your mind about going, I’d skip it too.”