Protect Me (9 page)

It’s now or never so I slide out of the car and head towards the front door. The noise assaulting me is
the sounds of family. Sounds I’ve never really heard before nor understood. I hear laughter and children playing.
 

As I walk up the stairs, the front door opens as if the person opening the door was waiting on me.
 

“Hey, you must be Lia?” I hear as the screen door opens for me.
 

The man before me is tall and well built. He has blond hair and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. Eyes the color of the ocean reflecting off a tropical beach. He’s muscular, yet nowhere near the Popeye I-eat-all-my-spinach muscles that Nate sports. Nate. Now there’s a man who can get my blood pumping with just one passing glance from those striking blue-green eyes.
 

“I am,” I reply as I step inside the cool air, shaking off the mental images of Nate and his eyes. This house is magnificent. Not overly huge, but large enough for a family. It spews warmth and laughter. The warm walls are filled with photographs and it smells of home-cooked goodness and sugar. This place is nothing like the small house I grew up in.
 

“I’m Will,” the man says as he reaches out his hand. It’s large and warm and envelopes mine completely. “Nice to meet you finally. Mom and Avery talk about you all the time,” he added with a smile. No dimple.
 

“Avery has mentioned you as well,” I tell him as he leads me towards the back of the house.
 

“I hope you don’t mind the heat. Mom set up the kiddie pool and sprinkler for the kids so we’re all out back watching them play,” Will says as he opens the back door just off the kitchen.
 

“I don’t mind,” I say as I step back out into the August heat.
 

“Lia,” Avery says, drawing my attention towards the small pool nestled underneath a big shade tree.
 

I toss my boss a wave and head towards her. She’s squatting next to the pool, splashing the cutest little boy I’ve ever seen.
 

“This is Ryder,” Avery says with a huge, proud smile.
 

“What a sweetheart,” I say, smiling at the toddler who is splashing in the shallow water.
 

“Oh, don’t let his charming face fool you for a second. He’s one hundred percent his father. He’s bossy, pushy, and loud,” Avery says with an adoring smile. Her baby may be all of those things, but I can tell she wouldn’t change a thing about him. Or his father.
 

I laugh and splash a little water at Ryder. “Well, he sure is a cutie,” I tell her.
 

“The blond girl over in the sprinkler is Brooklyn. I think I mentioned this at the bakery, but everyone calls her Bean. And the other little guy is my nephew, Grant.”
 

I gaze over at the two kids frolicking around in the sprinkler and give them a smile.
 

“Trav, can you come over here and watch Ryder?
I want to introduce Lia to everyone,” Avery says to another impossibly tall man, relaxing in a chaise lounge.
 

The guy gets up and walks over to Avery. “This is my brother Travis,” she says.
 

“Hi, Travis,” I say, extending my hand.
 

“Pleasure, Lia. My wife, Josselyn is the brunette over there,” he says pointing to two women sitting under an umbrella table.
 

“Come on, Lia. Let’s go meet the girls,” she says as we head towards the two women.  “Thanks, Trav,” she calls over her shoulder. I turn back around to see Ryder splashing and laughing in fits of tiny giggles as he tries to soak his uncle.
 

“Ladies,” Avery starts as we approach the women at the table. “This is my newest employee, Lia Walker. Lia, this is my sister-in-law, Josselyn,” she says as she points to a stunning brunette with long brown hair and hazel eyes. Her smile is easy and warm.
 

“And this is my almost sister-in-law, Erin, who is marrying my oldest brother, Jake, in just a couple of weeks,” Avery says as she motions towards the redhead. Her curly hair is up in a high ponytail and her intense green eyes are warm and friendly.
 

“Hi,” Josselyn says and motions towards the two empty seats.
 

“Hello,” I reply, smiling at both women.
 

“So, who are you being set up with?” Erin asks with an ornery smile.
 

“Excuse me?” I ask, confused all of a sudden.
 

Avery and Josselyn laugh on either side of me.
 

“Nate or Will? I’m assuming Will since he’s here today and Nate isn’t,” Erin says with a raised eyebrow.
 

“I thought the same thing for a moment, but nope. Definitely Nate. You should have seen the smoldering glances between these two,” Avery says as she fans herself. “If there was newspaper in the kitchen, it would have burst into flames,” she adds as the other women at the table laugh.
 

“I don’t think I follow,” I reply, more confused than ever, but not able to hide it behind my full-fledged blush. Seriously, like my face just burst into those flames Avery was referring to.
 

“Well, Elizabeth has a way of meddling into our love lives and bringing us all closer together,” Josselyn says with a smile.
 

“I do not meddle, ladies,” Mrs. Steven says with a smile as she walks up from behind me. “Sometimes my children need a little ‘nudge’,” she says with a motherly smile as she pulls an extra chair up to the table. “It’s so nice to see you again, dear,” Mrs. Stevens says.
 

“Thank you for having me,” I reply with a grateful smile.
 

“My oldest boy, Jake, was in desperate need of Erin to step in and shake up his bossy, orderly little world. And Travis over there was on a crash course by working too much. He needed to see what was really
important in life. I just gave them a gentle little push,” Mrs. Stevens says with a smile.
 

Erin laughs across the table. “Well, I for one am grateful for your pushing. The wedding is less than 3 weeks away. I’m so excited,” she says with a wide grin filled with excitement.
 

“Lia, where are you from, my dear?” Mrs. Stevens asks.
 

“Oh, here and there,” I mumble without making eye contact. I hate talking about it. I don’t want to talk about it. I feel like I’m evasive and everything is a lie by omission.
 

“Well, no matter where you are from, we are just so glad that you ended up in Rivers Edge,” she adds with another warm smile. It’s the smile I imagine my mother would have.
If
my mother was a part of my life.
 

“Did you meet William?” Mrs. Stevens asks as she glances over her shoulder towards the grill. “That’s my husband, Michael, and our middle child, Will.”
 

“Yes, he let me in the house a bit ago,” I tell her.
 

“So, tell us: Will or Nate?” Josselyn asks Mrs. Stevens with both eyebrows raised to the sky.
 

“Oh, hush, my girl. I didn’t bring Lia here to set her up,” she smiles back at all the faces staring at her. My face, mind you, is still flaming red. I probably need to hop in the pool with Ryder in an attempt to cool off. Or drown myself. That might work too.
 

“You didn’t?” Avery, Josselyn, and Erin all say.
At the same time. Their faces are stunned, yet their eyes are filled with mischief.
 

My God, kill me now.
 

Mrs. Stevens laughs again. “No, I did not. I brought her here to introduce her to you ladies since she doesn’t really know anyone in town yet.”
 

The ladies all glance around the table at each other, looks of disappointment evident on their faces.
 

Hello! Sitting right here.
 

“Of course, if Lia and one of my two remaining single boys happen to hit it off, who am I to stop it?” she adds with a serious look on her face.
 

All eyes fall on me as laughter breaks out from around the table.
 

“And I’m shooting for Nate,” Mrs. Stevens adds under her breath.
 

“I think it’s the perfect time to use the restroom,” I say as I stand up, ready to make a run for the next state.
 

“It’s just past the kitchen in the hallway,” Avery says between fits of laughter.
 

Dinner proves to be a wonderful reprieve from my normal routine. Mrs. Stevens places me next to Will, but I have a feeling there is more to that. Will is very friendly, in a shy and reserved kind of way. He’s polite and generous with his smile. He’s very good looking and has a stable job. He’s everything a girl could possibly want in a man. If a woman was looking for a man, that
is. He’s, also, not Nate.
 

I can almost guarantee that Will doesn’t have any tattoos snaking up his bicep and around his back. Will doesn’t have a lone dimple in his right cheek that makes you want to stroke it with your thumb and maybe stick your tongue in the little divot. Will definitely doesn’t have those intense, all-knowing, all-consuming eyes that stare straight into your soul. No, those panty-dropping qualities belong solely to his older brother, Nate.
 

I quietly watch the dynamics of this family around the dinner table. They are loud and caring and entertaining even though they are missing three key family members. But most of all, they are supportive and loving. They are the true definition of family. Hell, if you look up family in the dictionary, you’ll probably see their group picture.
 

“Lia, so I know we just met, but I’d love it if you would join us at the wedding,” Erin says from across the table.
 

“Oh, thank you so much for the invite. I’m not sure of my plans, but I will definitely try to make it,” I reply uncomfortably as I shift in my seat.
 

“Well, if you have nothing else to do, just know you are welcome to come. I would love to have you there,” she replies with a friendly smile.
 

“Thank you,” I say, choking out the words in a quiet whispering sound.
 

It’s been so long since I’ve had friends. I had
friends in college. Not many, but a few. That was years ago. Before Garrett. Before Garrett ran them all off.
 

“How do you like working at the bakery?” Will asks, breaking me out of my sad little stroll down memory lane.
 

“I love it. I actually worked in a bakery for a few years, back in college,” I tell him.
 

“It’s one of the reasons I hired her,” Avery chimes in. “With Sandra taking a step back to care for her mother, I needed someone with experience and who wasn’t afraid to jump in with both feet. I could tell Lia was my girl about thirty seconds into the initial conversation that turned into a job interview.”
 

I blush at the compliment, concentrating hard on the peas I’m moving around on my plate. I’m not used to being paid so many compliments. Between Nate, Avery, and Mrs. Stevens, it’s almost too much for me to take.
 

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Brooklyn scoop peas from her plate and place them quickly and quietly on Travis’s plate next to her. I try hard to not smile - really, I do - but I couldn’t help the full-watt smile that breaks out. Just when I’m about to let loose the giggle I’m struggling to contain, the front door bursts open in a rush. Two of the biggest men I’ve ever seen rush inside. Cops. My breath quickens in my chest as I gasp for air, dropping my fork onto my plate with a clank. No one seems to notice, though, as all of the
attention is drawn towards the doorway. The way the entire room lights up, I realize quickly that this must be Avery’s husband and brother.
 

As the two men stroll aggressively into the dining room like they are on a mission, Brooklyn jumps up and takes off running. “Daddy!”
 

The dark haired one that I assume to be Avery’s husband, Maddox, dips down and scoops the little girl up. “Hi, princess. Are you being a good girl?” he asks before placing a big kiss on her cheek.
 

“Yep! I’m almost done eating my peas,” she tells him innocently.
 

“Good girl,” he replies, placing another kiss on her forehead, before depositing her back into her chair.
 

The tall blond walks over to Erin, bends down and places a passionate kiss on her lips. She seems stunned at first, but eases into the kiss affectionately. It doesn’t take but a few seconds and I find myself looking away with red cheeks.
 

“Get a room,” Will states from beside me.
 

“If I had time, I would,” he replies with the barest of breaks in the kiss.
 

“Lia, this is my husband, Maddox,” Avery says, just before Maddox places an equally passionate kiss on her lips.
 

“Knock it off,” the blond growls as he rises to his full six foot, three inch height.
 

“I’ve been married to her for a year and a half,
dude. We have a son. It’s time to acknowledge that we kiss,” Maddox says earning another menacing growl from the other.
 

“Ignore the testosterone in the room, Lia. That’s my oldest brother, Jake,” Avery says as Maddox tries to keep Ryder from smashing more peas in his nose.
 

“Hey. Nice to meet you, Lia. Are you here with Will?” Jake asks with a raised eyebrow, earning a slap to the stomach from Erin.
 

“No,” I reply.
 

“She’s here as my guest,” Mrs. Stevens chimes in. “She works at the bakery and I wanted her to meet the ladies,” she adds before standing and grabbing a stack of containers from the kitchen counter.
 

“Oh,” Jake says as his phone rings. “Nate,” he tells the room as he puts the phone up to his ear. “What’s up, dickhead?” he says in way of greeting.