Page 35 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“That’s fantastic, Sammy,” Noah said with enthusiasm. “I wish I’d been there to see them.”

Annabelle winced, aware she was the reason he’d missed his son playing.

“We have the advantage,” said a different voice, which must have belonged to his other son, Jacob. “All that soccer we had to do in England means we’re way ahead of how they play here.”

“I’m the best player on my team,” Sammy piped up.

“By far,” Jacob agreed solemnly, making Annabelle smile as she grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge in her new kitchen area. “It’s so cool that they let us play, even though we’re only here for a few weeks.”

“Yep,” Sammy said. “They’re going to miss us when we’re gone. They won’t win any games without us.”

Noah’s laughter was deep and rich, like molasses. “Sounds like we need to find you two permanent teams when you get back to Houston.”

“Totally,” Jacob said.

“Do you think they have rubbish players in Houston too?” Sammy sounded hopeful.

“Course they do,” Jacob said. “Uncle Callum says Americans don’t know how to play a real sport like soccer. That’s why they wear all that protective gear to kick a ball.”

“It might be time to remindUncle CallumweareAmericans,” Noah said drolly.

“Not me!” Sammy piped up. “Uncle Callum says that seeing as I spent half my life in England, I’m half English.”

“Yeah,” Jacob said. “But he said we have a long ways to go to be Scottish like him.”

“I’m going to try real hard to be Scottish,” Sammy said.

“Bet we’d be good at that too,” Jacob added.

Annabelle smothered a giggle as she listened to the boys. Noah was right. They did sound like the triplets.

“Right, you two, time for bed. Tell Gran to stop keeping you up so late and spoiling you.” Noah’s love for his sons was clear in his voice, and it made Annabelle’s chest ache to hear it.

“We can’t tell her not to spoil us,” Sammy said in a stage whisper—clearly, their grandmother was listening in. “Grandpa said old folk should be allowed to do what they want before they die.”

Annabelle couldn’t help the laugh that burst out. She caught Noah’s eye through the open doorway and saw he shared her amusement.

“Yeah?” he said. “Well, tell Grandpa to stop filling your head with garbage too.”

“Let an old guy have his fun,” a male voice shouted in the background, making the boys giggle.

Noah rolled his eyes. “Get to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Love you, Dad,” the boys chimed in unison.

Noah’s face softened. “Love you right back.” He ended the call, still smiling as his eyes met Annabelle’s. “They’re going to finish this visit addicted to sugar, and I’ll have to check them into rehab.”

Annabelle moved to the doorway. “Sounds like you have awesome parents.”

“I do, but these are my in-laws.” He grinned. “Seriously though, they’re pretty awesome too. Just a tad overindulgent.”

“Must have been hard for them,” Annabelle said, “losing their daughter. It’s no wonder they spoil their grandkids.”

“Yeah, I know. They’re good people. I’m lucky.” For a moment, he seemed lost in thought, and Annabelle wondered if he was thinking about his wife.

“What was she like?” she blurted out, then blushed. “Sorry. It’s none of my business. Forget I asked.”

Noah didn’t seem bothered by her asking such a personal question. “You mean my wife? I don’t mind talking about her.”