“I have an idea.” Ty’s voice was so much calmer than the rest, but I could tell from the look on his face, he was as upset as everyone else. I felt like I was intruding on a family moment.
I whispered to Jack. “Do you want me to—”
“No,” he said, sliding his arm up my grip until he was holding my hand. “Please stay with me.”
Millie gave me a watery smile to let me know I was welcome. I moved Jack to sit back in our chairs at the six-person patio table and slid his wineglass closer to him as a hint. He took a sip.
Ty cleared his throat. “This wasn’t exactly how I wanted to announce it, but… I got a job here.”
Kirk’s face lightened into a genuine smile. He moved to hug his brother. “Hell yeah. Congrats, man. That’s the best news ever. Tell us about the job.”
Ty accepted the hug and then sat back down, glancing over at Jack before looking at his brother again. “It’s working for the LaPorte County Convention & Visitors Bureau as their tourism manager. The job is actually in Michigan City, but it’s only like twenty minutes from here.” His eyes bounced over to Jack again before returning to Kirk and Millie. “I thought maybe I could stay here for a while and pay rent. That way you’ll have help with the mortgage, help with the baby, and it will give me time to decide where I want to settle.”
Everyone was quiet while the idea sunk in.
“Or not,” Ty added quickly. “If it’s too weird or you don’t want to—”
“Oh please!” Millie cried at Kirk. I jumped in my seat which made Jack chuckle. “Kirk, this is perfect.”
“Babe, I can’t charge my own brother rent.” He looked at Ty. “Sorry, bud.”
Ty leaned forward. “Paying you for a room will be much cheaper than throwing my money away on an apartment I won’t spend much time in. Face it, I’m either going to be working overtime proving myself at the new job, or I’m going to be over here lying on your couch and eating your food anyway.”
Kirk rolled his eyes, but I could see the corner of his mouth tick up. “He’s not lying,” he muttered good-naturedly. “And I could put you to work in the garden.”
“I have a black thumb, but I’m willing to kill anything you want.”
The tension seemed to resolve for now. I assumed there’d have to be more detailed conversations about the plan later, but I was curious if there was also a way to help boost their skydiving business to help them get over the financial burden of having to buy their partner out of his share unexpectedly. I made a mental note to brainstorm ideas later in case I could think of anything that would help. It was one of the closest skydiving locations to Chicago, so they had the entire metro area to advertise to. They were planning a big jump event for the three-day weekend, and I wondered if I could somehow help spread the word to boost attendance.
Ty told Kirk he was hoping to go for a dive while he was in town this weekend, and the two of them began making plans to go up before Ty had to fly back to New York.
“Will you go with them?” I asked Jack.
His eyes widened, but before he could answer, Ty answered for him with a laugh. “Jack doesn’t jump out of perfectly good planes.”
He said it like it was a phrase Jack used often. I turned to Jack in surprise. “Really? You’re scared of something involving aviation?”
Jack ran his fingers through my hair. “Bailing out doesn’t have anything to do with aviation,” he said. “Pilots are meant to stay inside the plane.”
Kirk laughed at him. “Believe me, Teo, we’ve tried. The man’s a chicken, through and through.”
I smiled at Jack. That was the best news I’d heard all day. It made me feel less weird about my own fears. “I’m with you. I think you’d have to shoot me up with hard-core street drugs just to get my fingernails out of the fuselage.”
Jack pulled my head forward and kissed me on the forehead. “I knew there was a reason I l-liked you.” It was odd to hear him trip over the word “like,” as if even admitting he liked me in front of his family and his ex was tricky. It left me feeling unexpectedly flat. I already felt like an odd fifth wheel, and now I was fighting the urge to claim a sudden stomach problem and beg to be shown to my room for the night.
But that shrinking violet was the old Teo, the one who felt like he was waiting for his life to begin. That’s not who I wanted to be anymore. I wanted to be brave, embrace my natural love for social situations, and enjoy getting to know the person Jack thought so highly of.
“Millie, when are you due?” I asked when the subject turned toward whether or not the nursery room needed renovations too.
“Halloween,” she said, her hands automatically going to her small bump. Her smile was radiant, and it reminded me of the few times I’d caught Jack with a similar expression.
An older woman’s voice came from behind me. “Is someone talking about my first and only grandchild?”
I turned to see an older couple approaching from around the side of the house. I stood up to greet the people I assumed were Mr. and Mrs. Snyder, Jack’s parents. Despite my new resolution to be brave, my hands were trembling.
“Mom, Dad, this is Teo Parisi,” Jack said. His hand was once again on my back as a kind of steady reassurance. I appreciated it more than I expected, because I was ten times more nervous than I expected. I’d never met anyone’s parents before like this, and even though we weren’t actually dating, Jack was extremely important to me. I hoped to be in his life for a long time, even if friendship was the most we’d ever be to one another.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I said, reaching out a hand first to Mrs. Snyder. “You raised a very good man. I’m honored to know him.”
Millie put both hands in front of her mouth and turned soft eyes on Kirk. Mrs. Snyder stopped extending her hand to me and yanked me into a hug instead.
“Oh, aren’t you the sweetest thing,” she said, squeezing me tight against her soft body. She smelled like Gold Bond hand cream, the kind one of my patients at Wilton swore by. “And so handsome. Hank, look at these green eyes. I want grandchildren with these eyes.”
“Mom!” Millie cried with a laugh while Jack groaned.
“What? He looks like a model. Oh hi, Tyler. I didn’t know you were coming this weekend. It’s great to see you, hon.”
“Mrs. Snyder,” he said. “Mr. Snyder.”
Mr. Snyder spoke up. “It’s Keith and Lori. You know that. Good to see you.” He shook Ty’s hand. “And it’s very nice to meet you, Teo. Jack has been like a Chatty Cathy ever since he met you.”
After shaking his hand, I glanced up at Jack, whose ears had turned crimson. “Whatever,” he muttered. “Don’t listen to them.” He moved forward to give his parents a hug.
We made room around the table for Keith and Lori while Kirk and Jack got to work on the grill. Everyone, including Ty, was very welcoming and friendly. I wanted to hate him so much, but I couldn’t. He was cute and humble in addition to being very attentive to Millie. He made sure his sister-in-law was comfortable and didn’t lift anything. It was actually very sweet.
Dammit.