Page 48 of Long Hard Road
“Sorry!” She grabbed Ronan’s arm and started pulling him toward the house. “You are making me one of your famous margaritas before dinner, Huntley.”
A small smile formed on his lips as he looked at Harper with deep affection. Despite being significantly taller and broader than her, Ronan let Harper pull him up the porch steps. Chase followed close behind, insisting that his margaritas were better.
“I’m Evan, by the way.” The only man I hadn’t yet met stuck out his hand. “My fiancé told me all about you.”
“Oh no.” I shook his hand with a smile. “I don’t know what she told you, but Lily is a liar.”
“It was only good things.” Evan’s smile was almost as perfect as Nate’s. He winked at his brother. “Dad is going to love her. You’d better be planning on marrying her.”
“Fuck, Evan. We’ve known each other for ten days.” Nate groaned. “Saying shit like that is going to scare her away.”
His distress was adorable. “I’m not easily scared, Sullivan.”
“Good.” He surprised us both by leaning close to press a kiss to my temple. “Because I don’t want you to go anywhere, angel.”
“That’s my cue to leave.” Evan chuckled as he climbed the porch steps.
“What do you think Lily told him about me?” I bit down on my lip and looked toward the house.
“Just that you’re beautiful and amazing and out of my league,” Nate said, putting a hand on my lower back to guide me up the steps. “She wouldn’t have told him your secret. Lily would understand the need to keep your identity protected.”
I could hear the boisterous Sullivan clan talking and laughing even before Nate opened the door for me. He waited patiently for me to take in all the details after I stepped over the threshold. The Sullivan homestead was unlike any house I had ever seen. The first floor was one monstrous room with wood walls and vaulted ceilings. Everything was rustic and cozy, a perfect blend of comfort and function. A large fireplace was the centerpiece of the living room and it was flanked by two large leather couches.
To the right of a doorway was a more relaxed sitting room that had a large television mounted over a small fireplace. This room had a large sectional and several plush armchairs. I could imagine all of the Sullivans gathered in here on Christmas morning with an 8-foot Christmas tree in front of the bay window.
The room transitioned flawlessly into an equally large dining room with a table that could seat at least eighteen people. The chairs were beautifully carved and matched the table perfectly.
“This dining set is incredible,” I said, running a hand over the back of one of the chairs. “Where do you find something this beautiful in Crestwood?”
“You have your son make it.” The deep voice that answered came from an older man who was watching us from the arched opening in the wall that led to the kitchen. “Nate is quite talented, isn’t he?”
“You made this?” I gaped at Nate in awe.
This time when he blushed, his ears turned red. “Yeah. You could call it a hobby of mine.”
“This isn’t a hobby,” I argued. “This is art. This is an incredible talent.”
“I think so too.” The older man stepped into the room and held out his hand. “I’m Tom Sullivan. Proud father to this young man.” He smiled warmly at Nate. “You must be Madison. Harper and the boys were just telling me all about you.”
“My reputation precedes me.” I winced as I shook his hand. “What’s the verdict?”
“They undersold both your beauty and your charm.” His wink was just as magnetic as his smile. It was easy to see how the Sullivan brothers had all grown up to be so charismatic. They also had their dad’s good looks.
“Watch it, old man,” Nate said, stepping close to me.
“Relax, son.” Tom had a booming laugh that brought out my smile. “I’m not flirting with your girl. Bring her into the kitchen and let’s get her a drink.”
Just like that, I was part of Sunday dinner at the Sullivan homestead. Over the next couple of hours, I fell in love with that home and the people around the dinner table. Lily arrived just as we were sitting down to eat and she went out of her way to include me in the conversation. I was naturally a more quiet person, while Lily and Harper were both outgoing. I found out that they had been best friends since their college days and Lily had only recently moved to Crestwood and started dating Evan.
That was hard to believe when seeing them together. Evan didn’t stop staring at her through most of the meal and Lily blushed whenever he smiled at her or called her sweetheart. The Sullivan men apparently had a thing for using affectionate endearments for their women.
After dinner, I was surprised when the brothers were the ones to jump up and start clearing the table. I had just assumed that the Sullivan family followed a more traditional view of housework where the women were expected to cook and clean while the men handled the physical labor.
Harper explained that when their mom was alive, she always did the cooking and Tom did the cleaning. After she died, Tom and Harper had taken up the cooking and the boys had taken over cleaning duties. That had stuck over the years even though everyone contributed to family meals now. Since Lily and Harper had made the pies that we’d had for dessert, they were off the hook for the clean-up work.
“My boys weren’t raised to marry a mother figure,” Tom explained. “They can cook, clean, and do their own laundry. I made sure of that.”
“And I can change my own oil and swing a hammer,” Harper added proudly. “But my brothers are so overbearing that they never let me.”