A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,76
a woman worth waiting for.” She smiled at Annie. “Now, come and sit down for lunch. I’m looking forward to getting to know you – and for you to get to know all of us. There’s a few of us, after all, but don’t worry. Take your time – I promise we don’t bite, even in shifter form.”
Annie let out a quick laugh at that – she couldn’t help it. Despite the fact she felt a little overwhelmed, she couldn’t help but like Blanche immediately, especially when she took Annie’s arm and led her across the room to the table, laden with food.
Annie’s stomach rumbled. She guessed she hadn’t realized just how hungry she was until this moment.
By the time Annie had been sat down and everyone had gone around the table, she’d felt her head was spinning a little. Not just from all the names and faces, but from the scent of the utterly delicious food laid out in front of her.
Her mouth watered as she looked it over – obviously someone here was a great cook – or maybe all of them were. Beau had told her hippogriffs tended to be pretty family-oriented, but maybe it was also a hippogriff trait to be an absolute whiz in the kitchen.
It wasn’t so much a meal as a feast: there were roasted vegetables with a creamy sauce at one end of the table, honey baked yams, pumpkin soup with green herbs sprinkled on top – and, in the center of the table, a fat, succulent ham, which Aaron was deftly carving and passing slices out to the waiting plates. There was everything except a Christmas turkey, but Annie imagined they were probably saving that for Christmas day itself.
If I can ever eat again after this, she thought, feeling mildly bewildered as Court asked her to pass her plate so she could load it up with her signature buttery mashed potatoes.
“You’ll be properly part of the family once Court’s fed you a meal,” the man sitting next to Courtney laughed, and Annie couldn’t help but smile, despite the fact all the noise of six kids and even more adults was about as far from what she was used to as could be.
She thought she had everyone’s names down – there were the kids, of course, Darla and Aaron, Court and her mate Nelson, Blanche and Beau’s father, Ed, Beau’s cousin Charlie and his mate, Jack, as well as Beau’s Aunt May and Uncle Samson.
“So, I guess we should ask how you two met,” Aunt May said, as she spooned some green bean casserole onto her plate. “Provided it’s not a secret or anything like that.” She winked.
“Oh – no, nothing like that,” Annie said, feeling a little flustered. “It… it was kind of a strange situation, I guess. A guy was being weird at the bakery I work at and Beau kind of… stepped in and took care of it.”
“That’s how all great love stories start – baked goods,” Court said wisely. “I knew Nelson was the one for me when he brought cookies to our first date. I mean, I already knew since he was my mate and all, but that sealed the deal.”
Nelson laughed. “It helped I had inside information.”
“Yeah, thanks to Darla being a blabbermouth.” Court shook her head, smiling, as her sister gave her a smile and a wink.
“C’mon, Nelson was so smitten he needed all the help he could get.”
“Well, that’s true,” Court admitted, leaning across to give Nelson a peck on the cheek.
“Oh my God, Mom, gross,” Jaime said, rolling her eyes. “Can you please not at the table?”
Annie felt her heart warming at the easy banter around the table. It seemed everyone was content to let her talk as much or as little as she liked, as well as to stuff herself full of the most truly delicious food she’d ever tasted. She was already at the point of exploding, but the ham was so delicious, the mashed potatoes so creamy, and the honey yams so sweet that she already knew she’d be asking for seconds.
“So, one thing I do want to know, if you don’t mind me asking,” Mrs. Colson – Blanche, Annie tried to remind herself – said. “You’re the first non-shifter to join our family, Annie. Did you know about the bond you shared with Beau right away?”
Beneath the table, Annie felt Beau’s hand squeeze her own, and she swallowed, squeezing back.
I knew from the moment I saw him. But that