She rises to her feet and offers me her hand, which I take and let her pull me up. “Come on, starving man. Let’s get you fed.”

I follow her into the kitchen, our hands linked, my heart light.

I’m going to fall so hard for this woman. And I’m going to make her fall just as hard for me too.

I can guarantee it.

Twenty-Five

Amelia

“Your young man has certainly won everyone over,” my mother says as she stops to stand beside me. We’re in the living room, festive Christmas music playing in the background, the room crowded with multiple family members. All of them smiling and laughing, many of them surrounding my guest, Isaac.

I don’t bother protesting over my mother calling Isaac my young man. Damn it, he is my young man. As in, he’s mine.

He belongs to me.

“Do you like him?” I turn to look at her, my gaze searching for any trace of disapproval. She could never be a poker player. She visibly wears her emotions so it’s always obvious how she feels.

But I see nothing but a clear gaze and a pleasant smile on Mother’s face. “He’s very nice, Amelia. Polite. Good manners. I’d guess his mother raised him properly.”

I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, watching as he sits on the couch surrounded by my aunts, who are all hanging on his every word. I can’t hear exactly what he’s telling them, but they all burst out laughing at the same time, and he’s smiling so broadly, I know I don’t have to worry.

He just has…a way about him that people can’t seem to resist. Not even my sometimes prissy and disapproving family.

“What about Dad?” I bite my lower lip, trying to ignore the worry that threatens to sweep over me, but it’s no use. I want my father’s approval so badly. He never really liked Joe, and I know why now, though I couldn’t see it back then.

“He’ll come around eventually,” Mother says, sounding mysterious.

I try not to let her answer get me down, but it makes me feel a little melancholy. And she knows it too. She can sense it with her mother skills, and instead of chastising me or telling me I’m trying to make things happen when I should give it a little more time, she pulls me into her arms instead and gives me a big hug, her hand smoothing up and down my back in comfort. Surprised by the gesture, I hug her back, squeezing her tight, needing this right now more than I even realized.

“I like him. Your aunties do too. I can tell,” Mother murmurs close to my ear. “I’m so proud of you, Amelia. I know you’ve had a rough time after your break up, and we were all so worried after it happened. If we said anything out of turn, it’s only because we were so concerned for you. I know sometimes I nag on you, but I’ve been trying to watch myself lately. We just want you to be happy.”