Thanks to Grandpa Noah’s filling the doctors in on Mary’s pre-arrival adventure, Robert took a few minutes to examine her hand. She hissed only a little when his fingers probed for damage.
“I don’t think it’s broken. But why don’t you come by sometime tomorrow and I’ll take an x-ray, just to be certain?”
“I’ll do that. Thanks, Robert.”
The Jessops headed off to join their sons Brandon, Trace, and daughter-in-law Rachel, who wasn’t working as a server tonight. The names clicked, and Mary recalled that Libby was Rachel’s daughter and the doctors Jessops’ granddaughter.
She shook her head.
“What, sweetheart?” Anthony asked.
“So many people and names and connections to try and remember.”
“Then you know how I felt when I returned to my hometown a couple of years ago.” Mary grinned as Marc, Jeremy, and April Jessop arrived. There were hugs and backslapping between the men and congratulations as well.
“I couldn’t believe how much Lusty had grown, and I didn’t know half of the people here.” Marc insisted that April sit for a moment. The private investigator rolled her eyes and then blushed.
“When are you due?” Mary asked.
“End of October,” April replied.
Mary had thought she’d asked that quietly, but apparently her question hadn’t been quiet enough. More congratulations and backslapping ensued—and applause as the word spread around the restaurant.
“We didn’t want to steal your thunder,” April said.
Mary waved her hand at that. “You certainly have not. The more good news, the better. Especially in these times.”
Mary looked up and grinned as her brother, Norm, and her cousin Will, along with their wife, Jacqui, approached. Of course, they had their twin ten-month-old sons, James and Keith, with them.
As soon as the little imps saw her, they both squealed and reached for her. Mary had said that kids weren’t her milieu, and they never had been. But something about these two—one named for her father and the other for her two uncles—well, they just got to her. The boys were fraternal, not identical twins, which certainly made telling them apart a lot easier. She scooped up Keith, and she had to blink when Anthony offered his arms to James and the little guy accepted. Anthony showed, with just that one action and the way James snuggled into him, a hint of the kind of father he would someday be.
There were hugs and congratulations and the obligatory warnings to Anthony and Toby of dire consequences, should they not treat their sister/cousin properly.
Aunt Samantha and the uncles chose the moment that group of Kendalls headed off to get themselves some seats and food to come over and offer their congratulations.
“I suppose I can now boast that I knew the moment y’all got together for the first time in my great room that this would happen.”
“Did you, Aunt Samantha?” Toby asked. They had all just sat down at the older woman’s urging. Uncle Preston snagged a chair for his wife and stood with his brothers, giving the stern appearance of being Mary’s senior protectors.
Toby slid his arm around Mary as he awaited Samantha Kendall’s response.
“You men kept taking sly looks at Mary, and she kept taking sly looks at you. I just had a hunch that y’all were made for each other.”
“I do have one question.” Mary thought the whole “be good to that woman” schtick a hoot. But it begged the question, so she asked it. “How come no one ever warns the woman to be good to her men?”
Her uncles went stoned-faced, and Mary guessed that they didn’t dare offer an answer. Aunt Samantha just patted her hand. “Because, dear, we women are good to our men by virtue of our letting them into our…presence.”
Mary waited until her aunt and the uncles had left to return to their own table. She turned her attention to Adam and Jake.
They, too, had closed up, ceding the field to their mother.
“It must have been interesting being one of five boys growing up with Samantha Kincaid Kendall for a mother.”
“Mother rules the roost with a firm, but gentle hand…mostly,” Jake said. “That is, always firm but mostly gentle.” He snickered then looked rather quickly at Ginny. She snickered, too, which made all the men at the table relax.
The door to the outside opened, and two men who were both new to Lusty, and who’d apparently become good friends, came into the restaurant. One was Mary’s cousin Christopher. The other was Cam Drake. Chris waved to his brother, William, then turned his attention to Mary.
The two came over and greeted everyone, offering congratulations. Jake had brought a couple of chairs over and invited the men to join them.
It made perfect sense the two would gravitate to each other. From what she’d heard they had a few common interests and similar points of view. But the main thing they shared, was that they were both survivors of great personal loss.
Mary was glad to see her cousin more relaxed than he’d been up north. His hug of congratulations seemed heartfelt.
“So, what do you think of Lusty so far?” she asked him.
“The weather’s good. And I’m liking the…the welcoming atmosphere.”
Cam gave a smile. “I’ve warned Chris about the summer to come.”
“It’s not summer now?” Chris asked.
“Hell, no, this is spring,” Adam said. “And a cool one it is, at that.”
Ginny shook her head, her grin wide, and then shrugged at Chris, as if to say, “What can you do?” Chris Kendall, of course, took the cousin speak in good stride.
Jake and Chris chatted for a bit about their legal partnership. Chris had thought Jake had invited him to come and work as an act of charity. “I really had no idea how much work there would be in this small town.”
“Well, appearances can be deceiving,” Jake said.
“I think that is one of the most underrated truisms of our times.”
Mary had seen the nonagenarian enter the restaurant and wave her hand in response to all the greetings she immediately received. Mary didn’t mind admitting that she felt special because that wonderful woman made her way over
