Nash Brothers Box Set - Carrie Aarons Page 0,54

as she holds up a picture to show Mom and me.

“That would be Keaton. It was his first Halloween, and oh, he was just as cute as a button.” Mom takes the photo, covering her smile with a hand. “You loved animals even then.”

I have to smile, too, because I was pretty freaking adorable. “I was the cutest baby of all your boys. Admit it, Ma, don’t worry, none of the rest of them are around to hear.”

“Oh, no you weren’t!” Mom shakes her head like she’s in a presidential debate. “Fletcher was the cutest baby.”

Presley howls at my mom’s diss. “Don’t worry, Keaton, you’re still the cutest baby in my eyes.”

The glare I give her has her laughing even harder. I heft the last of the china boxes down and blow the dust off them, a little getting in my eyes and causing me to squint.

Mom takes the lid off one, and the gleaming white and silver of her set blinks back at us.

“Oh, they’re gorgeous. How old are these?” Presley marvels, running a hand over one of the plates.

“They were my grandmother’s. The set dates back to the early nineteen hundreds, and I’ve tried to keep them in the best condition possible so I could pass them on.”

The way Mom is looking at Presley right now has alarm bells going off in my head.

“Now, I know I may have forced you two onto that Ferris wheel, and I’m about to jump to conclusions again.”

“Mom—” I try to cut her off.

The thing Presley gets spooked about the most? Putting down roots. And my mom is about to play right into her worst fear.

“Keaton William, don’t try to silence me. I know you two just started dating, and I know I’m an old woman who wants grandbabies and weddings and things you aren’t ready for yet. So what I’m going to say is just an offering … a starting point. I had Keaton get these boxes down because I am going to send them home with him. Him, not the both of you. They should go to my oldest daughter-in-law, which is why Keaton is inheriting them. But, that being said, I really hope that daughter-in-law can someday be you, Presley. I think you’re perfect for my son, and I see the way he looks at you. So, this china is a promise, and I hope you’ll see it as one, too.”

My lungs burn, and I’m surprised to find that I’ve been holding my breath the entire time my mother speaks. When I look to Presley, I find tears shining in her eyes and a smile on her face. Which … has to mean that she isn’t completely freaked out by my mother basically proposing marriage to her as my proxy.

“Thank you, Eliza. Truly, this is very special.”

I clear my throat. “Okay, now can you stop proposing to my girlfriend so we can empty this place out?”

That gets a laugh out of the two women, and I’m glad to have de-escalated the situation a bit.

Nothing like a mother’s guilt to send your girlfriend heading for the hills.

29

Presley

“This might be even better than the yoga class we attend here.” Penelope giggles as she tilts her chin up to salute the sun.

“Hey!” I spritz her with my spray bottle, which is the only thing keeping me hydrated out here. “I heard that yoga class was the shit.”

“Teasing.” She chuckles, sighing. “This is the best kind of day. Especially because my kids are at camp and I have a glorious eight hours to myself.” Penelope wiggles on her towel next to me.

My skin burns from the sun exposure, but it was the good kind of burn. The kind that felt purely summer, with the heat beating down on you so much you could practically feel each new freckle sprouting up on your nose.

I’m not sure who volunteered the idea of tanning by the lake at Bloomsbury Park, but it was the best suggestion any of us had had all summer. Living in the city, I had to take two subways and a train to the nearest beach. Having a place to lie out right in my own backyard was something I’d have to take advantage of more often.

“I can’t even imagine pushing a human out of my body.” Lily laughs at her best friend, sitting up on her elbows to look at Penelope.

She’s in a yellow bikini that highlights her fun-loving, cheery personality and also matches her long, curly brown hair that’s threaded