Third Time's a Charm (27 page)

Butch nodded, his face solemn. “Yes, we did.”

“Mama made us,” Cody added.

She looked at Ryan, fighting a smile. “Well, I can hardly wait to see what it is.”

Her right hand clutched by Cody, she extended her left toward Butch. Ryan jumped ahead to open the door as the boys pulled her into the house. For a moment, he paused before following them inside. When was the last time he’d brought a girl home to meet his family? Not since high school, when Mom insisted he bring his prom date by so she could take pictures of them all dressed up. Funny. Here he was, a grown man, and he felt as nervous as he had that night. Maybe more.

Tori stepped into a small living room so crowded there appeared to be barely enough space to turn around. At second glance, she realized the impression was overemphasized because of all the
stuff
that took up every available space. Not a single inch of the room’s perimeter had been left bare, and every tabletop proudly displayed a collection of knickknacks. She spied a cluster of Precious Moment figurines crowding the shelves of a display case in one corner, and an assortment of what looked like porcelain bells covering a lace-covered tabletop next to it. The walls held more stuff than a Cracker Barrel: china plates mounted in metal frames, a collection of thimbles, family photos, elaborate needlework, even a couple of decorative crisscrossed swords. At least, she hoped they were decorative. The two little boys who clasped her hands shouldn’t be allowed within five miles of a real weapon.

Two women stood in the center of the room, greeting her with broad smiles. The familiar one, Ryan’s sister-in-law Loralee, stepped forward and grabbed her in a friendly hug. Surprised, Tori released the boys’ hands and returned the embrace, a little awkwardly over Loralee’s large baby bump.

“It’s so good to see you again.” The redhead’s voice gushed with pleasure. “Though we had to practically take a cattle prod to Ryan to get him to ask you. We were beginning to think he was ashamed of us or something.”

Tori caught a quick glimpse of Ryan’s mortified face before he schooled his features.

“No, it was totally my fault,” she told Loralee. “I’ve been so busy at work lately I barely have time to visit my own family. And trust me, my sisters let me hear about it too.”

A flicker of gratitude warmed Ryan’s eyes as he stepped forward and gently rescued her from Loralee’s enthusiastic grasp with a hand on her arm. He gestured toward the other woman. “Tori, this is my mother, Tammy Adams.”

She was younger than Tori expected. She must have been pretty young when she had Ryan’s brother, much younger than Mom when she gave birth to Allie. Tammy’s face was smooth, with creases only around her eyes. Curly hair, prematurely more gray than brown, flowed across her shoulders, a few of the front strands caught back in a barrette at the base of her skull. The hand that grasped Tori’s was strong, and rougher than most of the men at the office. She peered at Tori with eyes the exact color of Ryan’s.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Adams.” Tori tried not to squirm under the gaze that searched her face. She was being evaluated, and experienced an irrational bout of insecurity. What would Ryan’s family think of her? And why did it matter, all of a sudden?

After a moment that seemed to stretch to awkward lengths, a smile curled the edges of her lips. “We don’t stand on ceremony here. Everybody calls me Tammy.”

Tori released the breath she’d unconsciously been holding.

“Everybody except Ryan and me, else she’d skin us alive.”

The tall man who had been standing behind Loralee and Tammy stepped forward and put his arm around Loralee’s shoulders. The grin he directed toward her looked so familiar that Tori glanced at Ryan for a comparison. No doubt who this was.

“You’ve got to be Ryan’s brother.” Tori held out a hand, which he pressed more than shook.

“I guess I’ve
got
to be, whether I want to or not.” He delivered his good-natured jibe with a chuckle aimed in Ryan’s direction.

A movement in the corner drew her attention. A man she hadn’t noticed rose from a recliner. Without a doubt, Ryan’s father. With a keen gaze that Tori would bet didn’t miss much, he studied her features in the two steps that brought him to his wife’s side. If Ryan had inherited his mother’s light brown eyes, everything else came from his dad. The strong nose, the firm chin, the warm smile. And especially his muscular build, the unconscious confidence with which he moved. Warmth engulfed Tori’s hand, and his friendly blue eyes put her immediately at ease.

“The name’s Walter, but you can call me Pop like everybody else.”

“Thank you.” Tori let her smile circle the room. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Lookie here, Miss Tori.”

The older boy, Butch, dove through the empty space between Loralee and Walt, and came back with a brightly wrapped package. He thrust it into her hands, all of his oversized teeth visible in an eager display. “This is your present. Open it.”

Cody leaped into the tiny space in the center of the adults and bounced up and down. “Yeah, open it.”

Loralee issued a stern command. “Boys, y’all better settle down, y’hear? Let Miss Tori catch her breath a minute.”

Tammy put her hands on Cody’s shoulders and pulled him close for a hug that also served to still the bouncing. “That’s right. She hasn’t even had a chance to sit down yet.”

The room was so small there wasn’t room for everyone to have a chair, but apparently they were used to it. Pop returned to his recliner, and Tammy perched on the arm. Ryan led Tori to the couch, and Loralee settled beside them on the third cushion. The boys and Walt all three dropped onto the floor in the doorway that led into another room, where Tori glimpsed a dining room table. They all stared at her, obviously waiting for her to open the present. Ryan looked completely at ease, and even more handsome than usual leaning back with one arm draped across the sofa behind her and the other resting casually along the padded arm. How easy it would be to lean backward and settle into the inviting space beneath his arm. Instead, Tori sat on the edge of the cushion, knees together, the gift in her lap.

Loralee tapped the box with a finger. “Sorry it’s in Christmas wrap. I thought I had some other paper, but . . .” She shrugged.

“No, this is great.” Tori held the box up and admired the Santa Claus paper and shiny red bow. “Christmas in June.”

“Well, ain’t you gonna open it?” Cody asked.

“Right now?”

He and Butch nodded eagerly. She turned the box on its end to find the seam, and slipped a fingernail beneath the folded paper. Despite her care, green paper came away with the tape. She unfolded that end, and turned to the other.

Pop’s voice cut the silence. “Good Lord, she opens presents like a girl.”

His good-natured teasing eased her tension-tight muscles. Tori grinned up at him. “I was trying to be ladylike.”

His lips twitched. “Honey, that’s just a waste of good manners. We’re plain old country folks here.”

“Well, in that case, this is how we do it at my house on Christmas morning.”

She grabbed the edge and jerked. The paper gave a satisfying
rrrrrriippp
, and both boys laughed with high-pitched voices as she uncovered a generic white box. When the paper was off, she wadded it into a ball and tossed it sideways into Ryan’s lap with a playful glance. She lifted the lid, fairly certain she knew what lay inside. Yes, a new pink shirt to replace the one they’d ruined. She lifted it out and held it up in front of her. Cotton instead of silk, and cheaply made. Not something she’d be able to wear to work, but the gesture was what mattered. This shirt probably cost them at least fifteen dollars, an enormous amount for a couple of boys.

“Oh, how pretty!” She gave the pair her deepest dimple grin. “And it’s pink, my favorite color.”

“Is it the right size?” Loralee asked.

Tori checked the tag. Small. “It’s perfect.”

Cody preened, and Butch knee-walked across the floor to kneel in front of her. “It’s the same as the one the other day, ain’t it?”

“
Isn’t
it,” Ryan corrected.

The boy rolled his eyes. “Isn’t it?”

“It’s not exactly the same,” Tori told him. His face fell, until she continued. “This one is better, because it came from you.”

He sank back onto his feet, a grin splitting his face.

Tammy stood and dusted her hands across the thighs of her jeans. “Who feels like a piece of pie?”

Two boys both jumped up to thrust their hands high into the air.

“Me!”

“Me too!”

Loralee scooted her rear toward the front of the cushion and grabbed the sofa arm to heft herself up. “I’ll help.”

“Me too.” Tori stood and turned to offer a hand to the pregnant redhead, who gave her a grateful smile.

Tori followed Tammy and Loralee from the room, aware of Ryan’s eyes fixed on her as she left. They wound around a table in a dining room nearly as crowded as the living room, and into a kitchen not much bigger. The appliances looked old, almost as old as Gram’s, but everything sparkled with cleanliness and the faint odor of bleach mingled with the scent of coffee and the sweet smell of something sugary and recently baked. On the counter rested two pies with fluffy meringue piled high and beautifully browned.

“Oh, those are gorgeous,” Tori said.

Pride illuminated Tammy’s face. “Thank you. Sometimes my meringues don’t come out at all, but this time they did.”

“Don’t listen to her.” Loralee’s lips twisted. “Her meringues never flop. She’s the best cook in the county.”

Tammy didn’t deny it. She slid open a drawer and pulled out a big knife and a pie server. “Loralee, you want to get those plates down? And Tori, you’ll find some napkins over there by the refrigerator.”

Tori went to the counter as directed, the last of her uneasiness dissolving as she pitched in to help. She felt just like she did at home in Gram’s kitchen with her family.

When Tammy sliced into a pie and lifted out the first piece, Tori exclaimed, “It’s lemon! That’s my absolute favorite dessert.”

Tammy didn’t say anything, but her smile took on a satisfied curve as she sliced a second piece. Tori and Loralee delivered pieces of pie and mugs of coffee to the men in the living room. The boys, who apparently couldn’t be trusted not to make a mess, were seated at opposite ends of the dining room table with hardly any protest. Settling on the sofa beside Ryan, Tori devoured the gigantic slice of pie Tammy cut for her. She’d never tell Gram in a million years, but it was the best lemon meringue pie she had ever tasted.

When she’d scraped the last crumb from the plate, she leaned back with a loud sigh. “I feel like a Thanksgiving turkey, stuffed to the gills. That was amazing, Tammy. Better than any I’ve ever had, and I’m something of a connoisseur of lemon meringue pie.”

“I told you she was the best cook in the county.” Loralee swallowed her last bite and leaned back beside Tori. She balanced the plate on her pregnant belly, exactly the same way Allie used to do.

“She is.” Pop gave Tammy a familiar pat on the knee.

Tammy inclined her head in acceptance of the compliments being showered on her. Then she fixed her eye on Ryan. “I make a pretty good peach cobbler too.”

Her look was full of hidden meaning. Tori glanced at Ryan, curious, but he didn’t explain. Instead, he hefted himself to his feet and held a hand out toward her.

“Come on. I promised you an introduction to some pigs.”

Tori shook her head. “Let me help clean up first.”

“No, we can handle that.” Loralee took the empty plate from her hands. “You go walk off that pie.”

Tori opened her mouth to protest, but Tammy stopped her. “Next time you come, we’ll put you to work. But you’re our guest this time.”

Ryan stood in front of her, his hand inviting.

“Well, okay. If you’re sure.” When she took his hand, a delicious tingle tickled her palm. From the way he held her eyes, he felt the sensation too. Nor did he release her when she stood, but held on as he guided her to the door. Tori knew his family watched them leave and probably whispered about their clasped hands the minute the door closed behind them. Funny, but she didn’t care. She was too busy enjoying the feeling of her hand engulfed in Ryan’s.

Outside, he led her around the house to the back. The dog, Shep, bounded out of the flower bed where he’d been napping earlier and joined them briefly, then raced ahead and leaped over the white picket fence with seemingly little effort.

Amazed, Tori pointed after the animal with her free hand. “Did you see that? He cleared that fence with six inches to spare.”

Ryan nodded. “I told you he was mostly border collie. We figure the rest of him is terrier or something that jumps. That dog bounces like a kangaroo.”

He led her through a gate. Beyond the fence lay two barns, one on either side of a dirt path like the driveway that led from the street to the house. The barn on the right was painted white, with wide doors. The one on the left was a double-decker structure with a steep, pitched roof. Openings punctuated the wide, flat planks, the inside lined with racks.

“A tobacco barn.” Tori glanced at him to see if he was impressed that she recognized it.