said.
“Thanks for the advice. I know just what to do with it,” Rhys said.
His mother held up both hands. “Not another word from any of you. Charlie is my guest, and I won’t have any of you making her feel uncomfortable. Which means we all need to stop talking about her while she’s out of the room, for starters. Honestly, you’d think you were all raised by wolves the way you behave sometimes.”
“Thank you,” Rhys said, crossing his arms over his chest, very satisfied that she’d set his brothers and sisters straight.
“That includes you, Rhys. Back off a little and give the poor woman some breathing room,” his mother said.
Rhys opened his mouth to respond, but his father passed him a basket of garlic bread.
“Make yourself useful.”
Rhys bit his tongue, but only because he was very aware that Charlie could enter the room again at any second. The last thing he wanted was for her to think they’d all been talking about her. Even though they had.
His movements stiff, he placed the basket of bread in the center of the table. When he turned away, he caught Becky studying him with an arrested, intent light in her eyes. He raised his eyebrows in silent question.
She shrugged. “I’ve never seen you like this about a woman before.”
“I’ve never gotten a woman pregnant before, either.”
Becky studied him a moment longer before nodding and reaching for her wineglass. Rhys moved closer to the door so that he’d be the first person Charlie saw when she returned to the room.
He didn’t care what his mother or sister said. He wasn’t abandoning her to their curiosity and interest, well-intentioned or not.
Stop being such a coward. Wash your hands and go out there and get to know the people who are going to become your child’s family.
Charlie didn’t budge from her perch on the toilet lid. She hadn’t really needed to go to the bathroom—she’d needed a moment alone to get a grip on her nerves.
Rhys had filled her in on his family, but nothing could have prepared her for stepping into a roomful of tall, good-looking, confident Walkers, all of whom had started dissecting her with their eyes the moment she came through the door. If she’d thought about it, she might have anticipated that Rhys’s family would be like him—dark haired and brown eyed, very attractive, with more than their fair share of charisma—but she hadn’t. She’d been too busy being amused by his very obvious nervousness because it had made her feel that much better about her own nerves.
They’re just people. No different from you.
It was true, but it was also a lie. She might be able to fake a reasonable facsimile of social ease, but she would never have the natural, bone-deep confidence that the Walkers all seemed to have been born with. Maybe it was genetic. Or maybe it was something their parents had instilled in them in their formative years. It didn’t really matter, either way. She simply needed to get over this sense of intimidation and get her ass back to the kitchen where it belonged.
Hands on her knees, she pushed herself to her feet and crossed to the vanity. She washed her hands and tidied her ponytail before straightening her shirt unnecessarily.
Stop stalling, you big chicken.
She left the bathroom and walked the few steps to the kitchen door. Rhys was standing just inside the room, a frown on his face as he watched his brothers and sisters. His gaze swung toward her as he heard her footsteps and the frown faded from his face. He stepped closer and touched her arm as she entered the room.
“How’re you coping? Need me to napalm the curtains yet?” he asked quietly.
His hand felt very warm on her arm, even through the fabric of her shirt. She looked into his deep brown eyes and was warmed in a different way by the very real concern she saw there.
“I’m fine.”
He gave her a reassuring squeeze before dropping his hand to his side. She resumed her seat at the table and allowed herself to be drawn into a discussion about the pros and cons of the high Australian dollar between Tim, Rhys’s oldest brother, and Meg, his sister-in-law. It wasn’t long before more opinions were being offered and soon there were at least three competing conversations on the same topic swirling around her. Somehow she managed to follow all three. Rhys’s siblings had strong opinions and weren’t afraid to offer them up and stand