DEC STOOD IN THE KITCHEN of Rachel’s house, peering into her refrigerator and looking for a beer. “I thought you said there was one in here,” he shouted.
“Look on the bottom shelf,” Rachel called from upstairs.
He did as ordered and found what he was looking for, the last bottle from a six-pack he’d brought over last week. Dec smiled as he twisted off the cap. Their lives were so intertwined already. Rachel’s clothes hung in his closet, his beer stayed cold in her fridge, they’d even exchanged house keys. And sharing households was helped along by the fact that they lived only three blocks apart.
Dec leaned back against the counter and took a long sip of his beer. Life was pretty damn good, he thought to himself. And from where he stood, it would only get better.
Tonight, he and Rachel would celebrate the first month of their relationship. And though it seemed like such a short time, they’d spent more hours together than most couples who’d been dating for six months. Since he’d met Rachel, Dec had taken some well deserved vacation time. Summers were always slow for Rachel, so they’d had plenty of opportunities to be together.
In truth, Dec wanted more. Living in two houses was crazy, running back and forth for clothes and cooking supplies was starting to get to him. Tonight, he planned to ask Rachel if she might consider a more permanent living arrangement. Dec didn’t care whether it was her house or his, only that they were under one roof, together.
“How do I look?” Rachel asked. She stood in the kitchen doorway, wearing a pretty celery green and white dress that left her arms and back bare. The color was perfect with her hair and eyes and complemented her pale skin.
He smiled, then crossed the room and gave her a kiss. “You look beautiful.”
“When I ask you that question, I want a straight answer,” Rachel scolded. “We always have to be honest with each other, all right? So if I ask if my butt looks big in this dress, I want you to tell me if it does.”
“Big in comparison to what. Montana? The Space Shuttle? Baby, as far as I can see, your butt doesn’t change sizes from day to day. It wasn’t too big yesterday and it’s not too big today.”
Rachel gave him a playful slap. “You’re no help.”
“Then why do you keep me around?” He grabbed her around the waist and nuzzled her neck. “Is it because you love me so much?”
Rachel drew back and looked into his eyes. “Yes,” she said.
At first, the meaning of her reply didn’t register with Dec. And then, he slowly realized what she had said. They’d carefully avoided the sentiment, even after he’d professed his love of Rachel to Marcy Ellsworth. He’d hoped that his words that night might have initiated a discussion of their feelings, but over the past few weeks, Rachel had seemed content to go on as they had been.
Meanwhile, he’d replayed the words over and over in his head, until he came to the conclusion that he’d been telling the truth. “You love me?” he asked.
“I do,” Rachel said, nodding.
“That’s good,” Dec replied, relief coloring his voice. “Because I love you, too.”
She pushed up on her toes and kissed him, a tender kiss that they both lingered over. “I’m glad we got that straight.”
“Me, too.”
They kissed for a long time, as if sealing the words they’d both spoken. There was a time when Dec wondered if he’d ever say those words to a woman. He’d wondered how he’d know when the time was right. In the end, it had been so simple. He hadn’t even thought before saying them, because he was speaking the absolute truth.
She nestled into his embrace and sighed. “I got a note today from Daniel. He decided to take a leave of absence from the university for the fall semester.”
“What about Marcy?”
“She checked into a residential psychiatric clinic and Daniel said they’re both attending daily therapy sessions. I’m sure she and Daniel will work out their problems. It must be horrible to lose a child and then to watch your marriage slip away as well.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s getting help. You know I wasn’t too keen on keeping this from the police.”
“I know,” Rachel murmured. “Thank you for that.”
He rubbed her back. “Are you almost ready to go?”
“No,” Rachel said. She slipped out of his arms and opened the refrigerator. One by one, she removed three dishes and set them on the granite island in the middle of the kitchen.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“You said we should bring a dish to dinner at your parents’ house. I wasn’t sure what to make, so I made three things. You know, this tradition of bringing food to a potential mates’ family can be found in many different cultures. In Africa, some women are also accompanied by farm animals as well.”
“Where are your animals, in the garage?”
“I’m just saying it’s very important that I make a good first impression. So, which of these do you think I should bring? There’s a peach cobbler, a Greek pasta salad and a really good sun-dried tomato spread for crackers. What do you think your mother needs?”
“You want me to pick one?” Dec asked. “Why don’t we just bring them all?”
Rachel shook her head. “No. That would appear like I’m trying too hard.”
“Trying too hard to do what?”
“To gain their approval,” Rachel said.
“Baby, you don’t need their approval. I love you. And if I love you, they’ll love you. You come preapproved. Nothing my family could ever say would change how I feel about you.” He paused and stared down at the three dishes. “Besides, you don’t know how my family eats. I think we should bring them all.”
She hitched her hands on her hips and considered his suggestion, then shrugged. “We’ll take the hors d’oeuvres and the dessert. We can have the pasta salad for lunch tomorrow.”
“Done,” Dec said. “Now, let’s go.”
The drive down to Bonnett Harbor was one Dec had made often, but it seemed to go by so quickly with Rachel in the car to talk to. As they chatted, he couldn’t help but go over in his mind how he’d tell his brothers about her. Hell, he’d been the one to issue the celibacy challenge. And he’d been the first one to break it.
He didn’t care what they said. He had Rachel and that was all that mattered. She was worth whatever punishment they decided to mete out. He’d gotten what he wanted out of the challenge, a chance to know women better, a chance to find a woman worth knowing better.
As they got closer to Bonnett Harbor, he could see Rachel was getting more nervous. “You’ll like my family,” he said.
“So, it’s your two brothers and you and your parents, right?”
“No,” Dec said. “We have four older siblings, too. Two brothers, Rory and Eddie, and two sisters, Mary Grace and Jane. And then there’s Ian, me and Marcus.”
“Seven,” Rachel said.
“We’re Irish and Catholic. Big families are kind of our thing. The four oldest are married and they all have kids, so there’ll be a lot of people there.”
“Good,” Rachel said.
When they pulled up to the Quinn house in a quiet neighborhood of Bonnett Harbor, there were children playing on the front lawn. The moment they saw Dec, they raced over to the car and hugged him. Dec introduced his nieces and nephews to Rachel, then made the two eldest carry the food into the house.
He slipped his arm around Rachel’s waist and walked inside with her. He found his mother and father in the kitchen, both of them peering into a pan of barbeque sauce. “Da, Ma?”
They turned. “Declan,” his mother said. “Come and taste this sauce. Your father says it needs to be sweeter.”
Paddy grabbed his wife and kissed her cheek. “I said you need to be sweeter.”
Emma laughed, then turned back to Declan. “So, who is this?”
Dec made the introductions and Emma immediately crossed the kitchen and held out her hand. “Rachel, I’m so glad you decided to join us.” Emma looked over at her husband and smiled. “In fact, I think it’s just wonderful that Declan decided to bring a friend today.”
