He had some ink on him, and I knew one day, if he followed in his father’s footsteps, he might just end up doing more ink on his own.
Technically, he wasn’t my nephew. He was my cousin, Austin Montgomery’s, son. Leif was the oldest of his cousins, like his father, Austin. I was on the younger end of all the cousins. All of my siblings were just now having babies, and Leif was out here, an adult in his own right, taking over the world.
I just shook my head, looking at the kid that was no longer a kid.
“I didn’t know you were going to be here.” I held up my arms again. Leif gave me a hard hug, then moved back. That’s what I loved about the Montgomerys. We always hugged. No matter what. Because we were family, it didn’t matter who was watching.
“I’m shadowing Annabelle today. She’s a brilliant artist, though she just calls it math and architecture.” Leif rolled his eyes.
I grinned. “Are you going to shadow me soon then?”
I wasn’t expecting an answer, but Leif grinned, nodding quickly.
“I will. Paige is next week because I want to learn the ins and outs there, but I’m having fun shadowing as many people as I can. I’m learning as much as I can, all while in art school.”
“So you can figure out what you want to be when you grow up,” Annabelle added as she put her arm around his waist. He towered over her, looking like an actual adult, and it still startled me.
“I am a grown-up now. Watch out.” He grinned as he said it, the ring in his brow shining in the light.
I remember when I had had an eyebrow ring, had been about his age. Maybe I should do it again. I wasn’t that old. Hell, I was closer to Leif’s age than I was to Austin’s. I wasn’t hitting my dotage yet.
“Anyway, we’re out here because we wanted to see if you needed anything and because I wanted to check on you.”
I snorted at my twin. “Not subtle at all, are you?”
“I don’t have to be subtle. I’m Annabelle Montgomery-Queen. I can just be blunt.”
I snorted. “I get it. So, what are you checking on me for?” I asked, far more cautiously than I used to. Annabelle must have heard it in my voice but just smiled at me.
“Honestly, because I couldn’t get ahold of you, I wanted to make sure that you were okay.”
“I’m fine. You knew I was going to be out here.”
“And since there was no service, I worried. Sue me.” I leaned forward, kissed her on the top of the head, and Leif just shook his head.
“I know she also wants to go over architecture things for you, but she has another thing to say.”
Annabelle glared up at him. “Narc.”
Leif raised a brow. “You should just get it over with.”
Dread settled over me. “What is it? Is it the kids?”
“The kids are fine,” she whispered quickly. “Hailey and Jack are just hanging out with Mom and Dad today. They wanted grandparent day.”
I smiled at the thought of my niece and nephew. They were adorable. Little twin terrors, but then again, Annabelle and I had been the same way. We were our parents’ second set of twins. Beckett and Benjamin are older than us. Paige is the baby of the family and had always wanted to be a twin, though I don’t know what my family would have done if we’d had a third set of twins. Annabelle was the only one of us kids with twins so far, but there was always time.
It still startled me to think about everybody being parents now, while I was a divorced gay man working my ass off on projects that I should probably ask for help with more.
But there was no going back. And I needed to remember that.
“What is it then?” I asked, wondering why she was here.
“If you’re willing, I want to set you up on a blind date.”
I froze, alarm hitting me. “Annabelle, no.”
“It’s been a year, Archer. Let us have fun. You’ll like him. He’s a social media consultant that I know.”