Page 60 of Hellhound AU

Was I the only one who sensed a little bit of melancholy in that answer? I looked up at Rowan, and he squeezed my shoulder and smiled a little, nodding his head. Yup, Ruben definitely wanted to settle down, but he wasn’t going to admit it.

“We need more chips!” one of the twins called. (I still wasn’t sure which was which.)

Raina’s girls were sweet and spunky, and as far as teenagers went, they seemed pretty level-headed. The only ones missing from this gathering were Rowan’s parents, who were apparently in South America dealing with crooked corporations.

Ray was also currently missing, because I counted him as family, too, but he was on his way. It had taken quite a bit of persuasion to get him to agree to come. He said he was fine after the last asshole he dated, but Ray definitely hadn’t been himself since then. I thought he was probably still dealing with a lot of emotions, which was understandable. He’d dated some realassholes, but I loved that Ray never gave up on finding someone. I hoped this last guy hadn’t ruined that optimism for him.

I went out back to check on the barbecue, but before I even opened the lid, Rowan was there.

“I got this,” he said, taking the spatula I’d picked up out of my hand.

“Hey, I know how to barbecue,” I defended.

Rowan seemed to suspect that everything I cooked would be awful, which really wasn’t fair. I had been positive that those pretzels I made the other day would come out okay. I was starting to think that the crew was sabotaging me, because the baking never turned out correct.

“I know you do,” he reassured me. “You made those great steaks the other day, and you only started a small fire in the process.”

I grumbled, because the fire really hadn’t been my fault. And the steakshadturned out great, despite that little hiccup.

“Ethel just walked into the kitchen,” Rowan added, looking through the back window.

Perfect—Rowan knew I wanted to talk to her. I gave him a kiss on the lips and a quick hug before heading inside. Ethel was pouring chips into a bowl, which I had forgotten to do. Oops.

“Are they still arguing over the puzzle?” I asked.

“Probably,” she answered.

I was really trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Riley, and Ethel must have noticed me standing there awkwardly and tongue-tied.

“What is it, sweetie?” she asked.

“I just wondered if you and Riley… I mean, not that it’s really any of my business…” I trailed off.

Ethel looked at me fondly. “Of course it’s your business. We’re family, Milo. And don’t you worry about Riley. She’s just being asweetheart and flirting with an old woman in order to make her feel young again.”

I stared at Ethel. She really meant what she said, both about the family thing and about the Riley thing.

“You’re right, we are family, and I love you. But I’m not so sure you’re right about Riley. I think she may really be interested.”

Ethel stopped fussing with the appetizers and looked at me, grabbing onto my arms. “Milo, your aunt was the love of my life. She always will be.”

I stared at her. There was openness and kindness in her eyes. We’d never talked about their relationship, not really, and I suddenly wondered why.

“I should have asked more questions,” I admitted. “I should have been more supportive.”

Ethel snorted at that, turning back to the appetizers. “You were always supportive, and your aunt was a very private person. You respected that and didn’t pry. We knew you knew, and we figured if you had any questions, you’d ask them. But really, what was there to ask?”

I hummed, thinking about that. I supposed she was right. Ethel and Aunt Anabelle had been in love, and I had known and respected that. What was there to ask about?

“It was a gift,” she told me.

“What was?” I asked.

“You just accepting it. We knew you knew, but you never made a big deal out of it, and you never acted like it was strange. You gave us your total acceptance, and your aunt and I always appreciated that. So thank you, Milo.”

“Thank you for raising me,” I told Ethel.

She turned around and looked at me, and her eyes looked a little wet. “It wasalwaysmy pleasure. You were the highlight of our lives, Milo, and we always counted ourselves as blessed to have you. I still do.”