Page 121 of Perfect Enough

“Last but not least is Uncle Dirk and Aunt Merit.”

Merit waved to me, and I waved back. We had a lovely talk at the memorial, and I was instantly taken by how kind she was.

“Their kids are Avery, who’s married to Beck, and Bradly, who’s married to Mackenzie.”

Josh looked around. “I think that’s it.”

I waved to everyone. “It’s lovely toformallymeet everyone.”

“Josh must really like you to bring you to family game night,” Rose said with a massive grin.

“Idoreally like her, so please don’t scare her away with your competitiveness.”

Rose was about to say something, but one of the twins cut her off.

“Can we start now?” Rhett asked. Or wait, was that Ryder? It was hard to tell.

A table had been set up with all the cups taped so the tops of them lined up perfectly with the surface.

“Who goes first?” someone asked, but I couldn’t tell who it was.

“How about we do youngest to oldest?” Josh suggested.

Callie declared she’d go first, since one of the littlest ones was still asleep.

“You only get one roll, Cal,” Rhett said. “Then you have to go to the back of the line.”

Callie looked confused. “What line?”

Kipton picked up Callie and held her. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Just try to roll your Oreo down the table and sink it into one of the cups.”

Callie rolled her cookie, and it quickly went off the table. Each of the kids took turns, with most of them rolling their Oreos off onto the floor. That didn’t stop any of them from eating their cookie, though. Rhett, however, got his in the lemon juice—and was not happy.

The game was hilarious, with everyone getting every cupexceptthe money cup. When it was Josh’s turn, he was so serious, I couldn’t help but start laughing. His Oreo went into the ketchup, and I nearly gagged watching him eat it.

When I glanced around the room at everyone laughing and talking, I was so glad they’d decided to have their family game night. Ty Sr. was missed and was brought up often, but I had a feeling he would have loved this. Though, my heart hurt as I caught a glimpse of Stella. She was smiling, but I saw the sadness in her eyes, and I wanted to hug her. But her strength for her family was inspiring. No wonder Josh came and spoke with her today. She was a true family matriarch. She caught me watching her and motioned for me to come sit by her.

As I sat down, she took my hand in hers and smiled at me. Her eyes held so much sadness, but there was also happiness in them as well. She leaned over and said, “Thank you for not giving up on him. I’m afraid he has that stubborn Shaw blood in him.”

Glancing at Josh who was talking to Lily, I let out a small breath. “He is truly the most amazing man I’ve ever met.”

She let out a soft laugh. “If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that phrase. They all get that from their grandfather Ty.”

Turning to look at her, I took her hand in mine and gave it a light squeeze. “They all have a bit of both of you in them.”

She quickly wiped a tear away and then laughed when Lily rolled her Oreo.

Nate clapped when Lily got her Oreo in the mustard. The last thing I expected was for her to shove it into his mouth. There was no mistaking the two of them were brother and sister.

“It’s Sophia’s turn!” Kaylee called out. “We saved the best for last.”

I walked up to the table, cracked my fingers, rolled my neck, and then got down and studied the table to find the best route to the money cup.

“Holy shit,” Nate said. “It’s like she’s one of us already.”

The room fell silent as I took my Oreo and positioned it.

“You only get one roll,” Josh taunted from the other side of the table.