“Okay, well,” I said, moving on. “Now I’m caught up and we’ve set the record straight, you just have to deal with my parents.”
“And later your grandmother.”
“And later my grandmother,” I confirmed. “Hopefully much, much later. Like when she’s dead.”
“She can’t be that bad.”
“Is your grandmother the woman being wrestled away from the bar right now?” Anna asked, shuffling back to the table. “Because a man who looks a bit like you is begging her to go to the office and nobody is batting an eyelid.”
I turned around and sure as shit, my grandmother was being accosted out of the bar by my father, leaving my mother apologizing profusely to the customers in the immediate area. For what it was worth, none of them were bothered in the slightest. They were all regulars and therefore, they were used to my grandmother’s scenes.
“Well, at least she didn’t come dressed in a feather boa this time,” I mused.
“What?” Anna asked.
“It’s a long story,” I replied, standing up. “I need to get back to work. What can I get you to eat?”
***
Two hours later, Grandma Rosie was safely back at home courtesy of one of our kitchen staff who had finished his shift, and the bar was resembling something that wasn’t a mosh pit. It was the lull between the dinner rush and the evening rush, and it meant we could all breathe for the next hour.
Thank God.
Kai, bless him, had stayed the entire time, even when Anna had taken his keys and said she’d pick him up later because she was bored. He was sitting at the bar with a glass of Pepsi even though I’d told him a thousand times I didn’t care if he had beer.
“I have to work tomorrow anyway,” he insisted, catching a droplet of condensation on the side of his glass with his thumb. “Besides, you’ve been staring at Sauvignon Blanc like it’s your long lost lover all night and I don’t want to make this change any harder for you.”
“Yes,” I said dryly. “Because missing wine is the issue. Not the swollen boobs or the constant tiredness or the severe aversion to coffee.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Your boobs are swollen? I didn’t notice.”
“Bullshit. You’ve been staring at them for the last thirty minutes.” I hiked my t-shirt up to cover my brand new, extra as hell cleavage to make my point.
“To be fair,” said a voice I recognized immediately. “I’d be looking at them if you weren’t my sister.”
I turned in Holley’s direction. Like me, she was on the shorter side of life, but she was a little more disciplined in the exercise department, giving her slim body a more toned look than my own. She had my original hair color—dark brown—and the same dark brown eyes as me. We were so alike that we were often mistaken for twins and given that we were in the same school year, it was an easy mistake to make.
She adjusted her wide-rimmed glasses. “Hey, Kai. How are you?”
“I’m good, Holley, thanks.” He smiled. “You?”
“Over the dewy decimal system,” she replied.
“You have a degree in library science. How can you be over that? Isn’t it like your lifeblood?” I asked, pouring a glass of her favorite red wine.
“Ha, ha, ha.” She pushed some hair from her face and gratefully accepted the wine. “Well? What’s new?”
I shot her a look. “Don’t sit there and act like you don’t know. I know Mom called you.”
“She did.” She grinned. “And she was freaking the hell out. She was demanding to know why I hadn’t told her you were in a serious relationship with Kai.”
“Oh, shit,” I whispered.
Holley waved her hand. “Don’t. I told her I had no idea what she was talking about, you were obviously single—”
“Like you are, you mean.”
“—Then she yelled at me and told me she knew it was a secret relationship. I figured out you two clearly did the dance with no pants, fucked up, and were lying to cover your ass with Grams.”
“Sounds about right,” Kai said brightly. “Did you know we’re getting married?”
Holley snorted. “Anyway, I covered for you.” She looked at me pointedly. “I apologized and told her you’d sworn me to secrecy, and that I had a missed call from you this morning that I assumed was you telling me about the baby.”
Groaning, I slumped forward onto the bar. “I’m sorry. I only found out yesterday, and Tori knew I was late, so I told her, then Kai—”
“You didn’t tell me first?” He poked me in the arm.
I swatted him away. “You were at work.”
“It’s fine,” Holley interjected. “I’m not that stupid, Ives. I figured you’d call me when you’d stopped panicking.”
It was scary how well she knew me.
“Here. I bought you something.” She dug in her purse and pulled out two small packs with ear plugs in.
“Ear plugs?” Kai picked up the one she’d pushed in his direction. “We have to be able to hear the baby, Holley.”
“I know.” She grinned, her eyes sparkling. “But you’re gonna need them in three years when I buy your kid, like, ten drum sets.”
“And you’re fired as an aunt,” I told her as our parents approached. Both Mom and Dad hugged her and kissed her cheek before turning toward Kai.
Holley and I both froze.
“Well,” Dad said. “At least my grandchild isn’t going to come out looking like Yoda with you as the father.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you saying I look like Yoda?”
“Have you seen your baby photos?”
“Mom!”
“Simon,” she scolded him, walking around to see Kai. She wrapped her arms around him into a huge hug and said, “Welcome to the family, Kai.”
Holley caught my gaze. “Welcome is a strong word,” she muttered into her wine glass.
Dad flicked her ear, and she winced, shying away and rubbing the same spot.
I agreed with her, but I stayed quiet.
That was the bonus of being the big sister; I knew when to shut up.
“Thank you, Mrs. Stuart,” Kai replied, returning my mother’s hug.
“Mrs. Stuart!” Mom laughed, pulling back and holding him at arm’s length. “I’ve been Jasmine for months, and now I’m Mrs. Stuart!”
A light flush actually colored Kai’s cheeks.
Holy wow.
Why was that hot?
“I thought it was more appropriate,” he said after a moment, ignoring my sister’s amused, shit-eating grin.
“Oh, nonsense!” Dad said, slapping him on the back. “Jasmine and Simon, please. Unless you’d like us to call you Mr. Connors?”
Kai froze.
“Oh, stop it,” I said to Dad, flicking a dishcloth in his direction. “He’s winding you up,” I added to Kai.
“Do you fish?” Dad asked, ignoring me.
“Uh, I haven’t in a while,” Kai said slowly. “But I used to go with my dad.”
“Great.” He clapped Kai on the shoulder again. “I’m going this weekend. Why don’t you and your dad join me?”