a firm shake. “This guy said he had a girlfriend. Of course, nobody believed it. Looks like I just lost fifty bucks at the office.” He slapped Jason on the back. “So what’s a beautiful thing like you doing with someone who won the Ugliest Man in Ely contest three years in a row?”
I smiled and channeled my inner Kristen. “It’s purely sexual.”
Jason snorted and David howled. “Whooooaa, I like this girl!” He put an arm around his brother and knuckled his chest.
Jason beamed. “Where are the kids?”
“The kids are sick. Karen stayed with them. Colds or ear infections or something. I don’t know. They get every damn thing in that school they’re in.”
David opened the trunk and grabbed my suitcase and Jason’s backpack. Jason picked up his brother’s firewood and nodded for me to follow them to the house. Tucker seemed to know where he was. He ran right to the front door and started to whine and scratch.
“Mom’s pissed at you,” David said ahead of us, wrangling my heavy luggage like it weighed less than a gallon of milk. “You were supposed to be here hours ago.”
“We stopped in Duluth,” Jason said.
Duluth had been amazing. We’d walked along Lake Superior. It was so cool. I hadn’t realized our sightseeing came at the expense of time with his family, however. He hadn’t told me we’d been expected earlier.
David pushed open the front door and Tucker ran inside.
“Mom, they’re here!” David called out, pulling off his boots by stepping on the backs of them with his feet. Jason did the same, not putting down his firewood.
I closed the door behind us and began taking off my shoes.
A woman came around the corner. She wore an apron and a red baking mitt on her hand. Tucker followed her and danced at her feet. She had brown hair pulled into a loose bun and soft hazel eyes. She gave Jason a sweet-looking scowl. “Jason! Why didn’t you call me and tell me how late you were going to be?” she asked, looking more worried than pissed, as David had put it.
The entry of the house was a small room with coat hooks on the walls and a single step up into the hallway. Jason’s mom stood on the step with her hands on her hips, still looking up at Jason despite the elevation. She put the hand with the mitt on his shoulder as he kissed her hello. Her eyes met mine over his back and she beamed at me.
“Mom, I said we were landing at one. I told you I’d make it by dinner. And you know I never get a signal on Highway One.”
“Never mind,” she said, waving him off. “I want to meet Sloan now. I’ll deal with you later.”
Jason turned to me, amusement on his face. “Mom, this is Sloan. Sloan, this is my mom, Patricia.”
Having done his duty as far as introductions, Jason edged past his mother with his bundle of wood, leaving us to each other.
Patricia came down the step to greet me, her eyes alight. “Oh, you’re beautiful,” she said, giving me a hug. “Thank God I have another woman here this weekend. We’re outnumbered.” She held me out by the arms and smiled at me warmly. “Can you believe I never had a daughter? Just me and all these men.”
“I bet they can eat,” I said.
“Feeding them is a full-time job.” She laughed. “Come on, let’s go in. I was so excited when Jason said you were coming. I felt like I was getting a visitor just for me. The boys will be doing their own thing for most of the weekend, they always do.” She led me into the house.
The home was thoughtfully decorated, with soft area rugs over the wood floors. The living room we passed was comfortable and rustic. A fire crackled in the fireplace and a deer head was mounted above the mantel. A huge bay window overlooked a lake.
Jason and David were already in the kitchen when we got there.
A man stood over the sink doing dishes. When he looked up, I knew exactly who he was. He looked like an older version of Jason. His beard and hair were salt and pepper, but his eyes were the same clear blue as his son’s.
“Dad, this is Sloan,” Jason said. “Sloan, this is my dad, Paul.”
I was expecting a hand, but I got a hug and a kiss on the cheek instead. It took me by surprise. Jason grinned at