The Heart - Kate Stewart Page 0,37
and I laughed at the spectacle before us. Dean hung his head and then nuzzled Annabelle as Dallas informed Grant no one liked a tattle. I knew that firsthand, especially since I was the one who did most of it in our youth, Dallas being the victim.
“See you tonight?” Dallas called out to me.
“Yes,” Jack and I both said in unison.
“Wait,” I said, looking back at Jack. “You’re coming to my parents?”
“Rose, I’ve been to dinner every few months for the last ten years.”
“How old are you?” I asked, no longer sure of our age difference.
“I’m thirty-seven,” he answered, matter of fact.
He was quite a bit older than I’d originally thought, although he didn’t look a day over thirty. He was blessed with good genes, and the ones he filled out were even better.
“So I guess I’ll see you there?”
“Guess so,” he said, taking his leave and giving the Martins a soft wave. He turned to me and winked before he walked to his bike. Dallas looked between us and gave me a full on smile that I pretended to ignore.
One of the things I’d always loved about my family home is that it was unpredictable. On any given day, anything could happen. My parents vowed to each other long ago to never take a day for granted, and though a good amount of days at the Whittaker house were relatively boring, a good many were filled with excitement. And the source of that excitement had always been the brainchild of my parents. Tonight was no exception. They’d decided to host a fiesta.
I walked into the beautiful, Spanish-style house my father had built years before I was born and heard hysterical laughter. I noted Jack’s bike in the drive as I shut the front door and a little jolt of something raced through me. He’d threatened to kiss me and do it well. It was kind of an asinine thing to be excited about as an adult woman, yet it was warmly welcomed by this woman. I was in dire need of sexual attention, but I already knew Jack wanted to take things slow.
I entered the kitchen to find my mother blending margaritas while Al Green sang “Love and Happiness” in the background.
“Hello,” I called out as my dad looked up at me with a grin.
“Little woman!”
I hesitated only a second before I walked toward him to give him a hug. He was a little too enthusiastic.
“And how many margaritas have you had today, sir?” I asked in jest as I pretended not to look around for Jack, who was nowhere in sight.
“Your mom may have challenged me earlier, and I may have risen to it.”
“And you may have lost your ass on that bet,” my mother piped in happily behind him as she slowed the blender. “Hey, Rose, margarita?”
“What’s with the celebration?” I said, noting my mother’s slow execution of pour before she thrust a huge salted glass of margarita in my face.
“Our son is pregnant with our fifth grandchild and our daughters are about to open a clinic to save thousands of lives. What parent wouldn’t be celebrating?” my father roared as my mother started a new batch in the blender.
“Paul!” I yelled at the top of my lungs just as he poked his head in the kitchen with a smile. “Another one?”
“Yep,” he said as I lunged at him and hugged him tightly to me.
My brother Paul was a replica of my father with strawberry blond hair and green eyes. His face was filled with pride as he looked down at me. “Can you believe it?”
“Absolutely! I’m so happy for you!” I mused then looked past him in search of his wife. “Where is she?”
“She went to pick up the twins and head home, she’s having it rough this time with sickness, but she told me to tell you to come by sometime this week.”
The concerned doctor in me spoke up. “Ah, that sucks. Are you giving her—”
My older brother rolled his eyes at me while he cut me off. “Yes, doc, we have it under control. You forget your other brother is her doctor.” My brother and his wife had a horrible time trying to conceive naturally. I could honestly claim my sister’s husband Dean was responsible for the birth of all four of my nieces and nephews. Not only had he given Dallas the gift of her children, but as a specialist, he’d helped my brother conceive his.
“Right.” I smiled at him, my chest bursting