Why didn’t he use the bathroom before they made the short walk to the Cannon’s?
“You’ve got a good one here,” Shelly said to Luke, quickly grabbing a bag of Cheetos and opening with flourish. The distraction from the cupcakes worked.
“You got Cheetos for me?” Luke cooed.
“Of course,” Shelly said, pouring them into a large bowl while Marianne picked up another bag.
“We even got you the hot ones, too.”
“Aw, you do love me,” he said, stepping forward to grab a handful from the bowl. Rori froze, waiting for someone to slap his hand away or chastise him that food was not being served yet, but no one said a thing as he popped one in his mouth and chewed. “Man, I missed these.”
“Uncle Luke! Uncle Luke!” a young voice cried and Luke turned just in time to have a young girl fly into his arms.”
“Holy cow!” he said, hefting her up. “Did you grow an inch while I was gone?”
The little girl laughed and shook her head.
“Two inches?” he guessed.
“No, silly. I’m still me-sized.”
There was definitely something in the water in the Cannon household, because all the Cannon kids had a rare but somehow uniform beauty about them. Light hair, bright blue eyes, and easy smiles that gave the impression that they’d never seen a bad thing in all their days.
“I missed you so much,” Luke said, rubbing his nose against the little girl’s.
“I missed you, too! Uncle Mike won’t bounce me as high as you do. He says I’m too little to go high.”
“Is that so?” Luke said. “Well, then, I think it’s time you got bounced into the sky, don’t you?”
A grin split the little girl’s face and she nodded emphatically.
“Well, let’s go then!” Then they were off. For a moment Rori hesitated, not knowing whether or not she should follow them or stay in the kitchen and set up with the women.
“Go ahead,” Mike’s mom said, cutting into her thoughts. “Go have fun. We’ve got this.”
That settled that then, and Rori headed out to the back yard with Luke. It was larger than she’d anticipated, or maybe the use of space just made it seem that way. The perimeter had been turned into a garden where fledgling plants were just starting to poke their heads above the soil. The majority of the yard was grassed over, with a trampoline in the area farthest from the deck. The deck itself was rather substantial. It could probably fit twenty people, even with the large barbecue on the far end.
The man at the barbecue sent her the trademark Cannon smile, and Rori knew he had to be the patriarch of the group.
“Hey there,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Robert.”
“Rori,” she said, gripping his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
He chuckled. “You might just mean that after you try one my steaks.” Then he pointed toward the tramp. “I think your party went that way.”
“Thank you,” Rori said, glad not to be drawn into a conversation. For now, she was happy to duck and run as often as propriety allowed. She crossed the yard, grabbing a chair and sitting just as Mike joined the bouncing madness. He didn’t look at her as he vaulted onto the trampoline, which was good, albeit annoying.
It was Luke who should be making eye contact with her. Not Mike. Besides, Rori quickly discovered that she much preferred to use her vantage point to study the Cannons rather than to watch children being bounced to reckless heights. She’d have to speak to all of the Cannons at some point during the night, so it was best to size them up in advance.
Poor Rachel, Rori couldn’t help but think. Her kids were all the spitting image of her husband. Rachel Cannon’s dark hair and hazel eyes were nowhere to be found in the group around her anymore than the DNA of Shelly and Marianne’s brown hair seemed to make it to the next generation. It defied genetic law that all the kids should be blond, but they all looked distinctly like Cannons.
Rori had yet to match up parents with children. None of the children held still long enough for her to even make a solid count, but she was pretty sure there were eight total. And they all loved Uncle Luke and Uncle Mike, who were currently launching them to nauseating heights on the trampoline.
The party was still missing Mike’s younger sister, Kris. Maybe she was the odd duck of the genetic pool, but somehow Rori doubted it.