He nods. “Yeah, I haven’t been out and about much or anything, but even just coming into town, I saw that things are pretty different around here,” he remarks.
“Yeah, even since I got here, things have done a lot of changing,” I agreed, “I only moved here about two years ago.”
“Oh, yeah? Where did you move from?” he asks.
“Small town in Wyoming, little ways from Casper,” I explained.
“What brought you out here?” he asks me.
“My two older brothers actually live here, and my sister lives about forty-five minutes away,” I explain, “So it kind of made sense when there was a job opening near my brother’s apartment and I could crash on his couch until I found a place of my own.”
“That’s actually how we met,” Max chimes in, “I work with her oldest brother, and when we became friends, he introduced us.”
Forrest nods, then takes a bite. The three of us take a pause in conversation to dig into dinner, and immediately Max lets out a happy groan. “Mmm, this is delicious, babe,” he mumbles through a mouthful.
I stifle a giggle. “It really is, Alyson,” Forrest agrees with a much less full mouth.
I thank them and take a sip from the glass of iced tea in front of me. “So, oldest brother, of how many?” Forrest asks, wiping his mouth with his napkin.
“Seven, actually,” I laugh sheepishly, “I’m smack in the middle, two older brothers, two younger, and one older and one younger sister.”
He lifts his eyebrows. “That’s a pretty good-sized family.”
“You’re telling me,” I agree, “But I absolutely love it. I’ve got an enormous support network, you know?”
“That’s really great,” he smiles, “I don’t have any siblings, but I’ve got some close cousins.”
I think for a moment about my scores of various cousins and other relatives. My parents were by no means the weird ones in their families, and both sides are huge.
“So what do you do, Alyson?” Forrest asks as he gathers another bite onto his fork.
“I teach first grade,” I explain.
Even as he’s chewing his next mouthful, I can see his lips curl into a smile. He swallows. “Guess being a big sister was a big influence on you, huh?”
I laugh. “Yeah, pretty much, although it seemed to have the opposite effect on my older sister Jillian. After dealing with five of us under her, she said she’s done raising kids.”
“But you wanted to raise everyone’s, so you got a teaching degree,” Max quips, and he and Forrest both chuckle.
I grin and shrug, “I mean, you’re not wrong.”
Forrest takes a drink from his soda. “How long have the two of you been together?” he asks.
“Just shy of two years,” Max says.
“We started dating about a month after I moved here,” I add.
“And when’s the wedding?” he asked.
I can see a little tension in his face and know that it isn’t easy for him to be so casual, even though his tone is light. I feel a stab of guilt. From the way Max talked about Forrest, I know he could very well have been in my place if things had been just a little bit different.
“We haven’t set a date yet,” Max says, “Only thing we’ve settled on is summer or early autumn.”
“Why’s that?” Forrest asks, curious.
“Sunflowers,” I reply, my cheeks flushing, “They’re my favorite.”
He chuckles. “Hey, that’s a valid reason,” he says with a shrug, “I’ve heard of far dumber reasons to choose a wedding date.”