Falling for Alaska by Cathryn Brown

Author:Cathryn Brown [Brown, Cathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sienna Bay Press

After dinner, the adults sat around the table and played a board game. He couldn’t remember when he’d had so much fun. People argued good-naturedly but didn’t get angry. When he stood to leave, he felt warm and fuzzy inside.

“Thank you, everyone. I appreciate the meal that Maggie and Holly prepared, and also that Jemma did not help.” Everyone laughed. “And I’m glad I won at least one round of backgammon.”

He moved toward the door. Everything felt so relaxed here. So this was normal family life. He’d seen it in movies and read about it in books, of course, but until now he hadn’t believed it existed outside of fiction. This wasn’t a fantasy world, so he imagined they got mad at each other occasionally, but he could tell they’d patch things up pretty quickly. He could definitely get used to it.

Jemma stood and Dr. Harris started to rise, but Nathaniel watched his wife put her hand on her husband’s arm and shake her head. They’d wrap up the evening as it began: in matchmaker mode.

Stepping out on the front porch, he held the door open for Jemma, and she went out onto the porch with him. She grinned and motioned him with her head away from the screen door and windows. “I told you so.”

“You have a great family. Matchmaking or not.”

“I am blessed. Why didn’t you correct my mother when she called you Nate? You winced every time she did it.”

“Ah, well, my mother raised me to be respectful. And since I probably won’t see your mother again, it was a battle I didn’t need to fight.”

“You mentioned your mom, but what about your dad?

He muttered, “My parents divorced when I was in high school.” Then he gave more information than he’d ever done before. “He was an alcoholic, and I don’t have a relationship with him.”

Startled at revealing his past, he was even more startled when Jemma gave him a brief hug before turning toward the backyard and Chloe. For just a second, he wondered if she’d thought her mother’s attempts at matchmaking had proven successful. Then he pictured the kids with their grandparents. No, they’re huggers.

When he opened the gate, Chloe raced over. He scratched beside her ears and asked, “Did you have fun?” receiving a licked hand in reply. Laughing, he clicked on her leash, and Chloe bounded around on it. “I would have thought she’d have the bounce worn out of her, but she must have been sleeping back here. Walk with me.”

As Chloe led them up the street, he swatted at the mosquitoes that had homed in on him, and Jemma turned the conversation to something safe, a visit to a glacier that she’d signed up for.

“I’ve never gone on a trip like that, but it does sound fun,” he said. “I wonder if they have room for one more.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to recapture them—particularly since Jemma had gasped. Standing in the middle of the road, he wondered what he should do.

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