“I can’t ruin his career,” Casey says, “I can’t even skate.”
“You better do better than that.” Olivia folds her arms over her chest.
“Okay, fine.” He holds up his hands. “I’m sorry.”
“For?” Sofia asks and I know she’s getting her way. She did this whole thing to trick him. “I’m sorry for being a donkey? I’m sorry for acting like a crazy person in front of strangers? I’m sorry for buying a hockey team, even if you have no idea what the rules are?”
“Pfft,” Casey retorts, “I know the rules.”
Sofia stands straight. “How many innings?”
“Periods,” my uncle mumbles to him, trying to help him. “Three.”
“Three,” Casey says, “and they are called periods. But yes, all that. I promise I will try for real to get to know him and I promise I won’t interfere with his contract.”
“And the house we buy?” Sofia counters.
“Say no.” My uncle puts his hand in front of his mouth.
“We could all go see the house together,” my mom suggests. “I have four listings tomorrow.”
“I leave in the afternoon,” I say and then look over at Casey. “But if you want, we can look at some today.” I kiss Sofia’s head. “I meant what I said, I’ll do whatever makes her happy. I know you make her happy, so I’ll work with you.”
“Can we all agree to call a truce?” Reed says, letting out a huge sigh.
“We can all agree,” Casey replies, looking at my uncle Matthew. “Got to say.” He smirks. “It was good sparring with you. You should come down to the farm. I can teach you how to shoot.”
“You should come by my hockey arena. I can teach you to skate,” my uncle fires back, laughing. “Bought a hockey team.” He shakes his head. “Good move.”
“I need a drink,” Olivia states. “Let’s have some sweet tea.”
“Oh, I like tea,” my aunt Zara says.
The girls all get up and I see the men are all talking to each other. “Well.” I look down at Sofia. “Nice play with the bag, is it empty?”
She looks up at me and I see her smirk. “Of course it is, you thought I could pack a bag in three minutes?”
I throw my head back and laugh. “You were always mine,” I tell her, “and now I’m taking you.” I kiss her lips and wrap my arms around her.
epilogue one
Matthew
Nine Months Later
“You really think this is a good idea?” Sofia asks as I walk out of the bathroom. Running my hands through my wet hair, I look over to her standing in front of the full-length mirror. She is wearing blue shorts and a white tank top. Her skin looks like the sun just kissed it and I know the tan is from spending the last four days riding her horse.
“Absolutely not.” I shake my head. “There is not one thing I think is good about my family, and by my family I mean the whole circus, meeting your family.” I walk toward her as I bend down and kiss her lips. “When did you think I thought this was a good idea?” I then kiss her bare shoulder as she just looks at me in the mirror. “I think I even shook my head while you were talking about this at Christmastime.” From the time we had the showdown with her family, we’ve never been apart, well, except for when I’ve been on the road.
“I was drunk,” she huffs at me, “and nervous about meeting everyone. How was I supposed to know that Matthew senior would have called my grandfather? They were talking about the huge family vacation. Do you think it dawned on me that he would get so excited about our family reunion, he would think it was a good idea to be included?” I can’t help but laugh at her as she glares at me.
“I told you those two together was not a good idea, and then you throw in my uncle Max and it’s a recipe for disaster.” I put my hands on her hips, standing behind her. “You had to have known. Fuck, everyone now owns a horse. I can’t even picture them riding a horse. My father sent me a horse’s picture the other day, asking me if it was a good breed. It’s like Autotrader but for horses.”
The doorbell rings and we both look at each other. I kiss her once more on the neck before walking out and to the front door. The top half of the door is all glass, something we are going to have to change for the next time. Yesterday, I walked out in my boxers and her cousin was looking into the window. Today, it’s my father’s turn. “It’s my father,” I say over my shoulder toward the bedroom area.