“Nice to be here.”
“Someone has been keeping secrets from her sister.”
“It’s a relatively new development,” Ella said, leaning into Gavin because she could.
“I’ll expect a full report at work tomorrow, if not before.”
“I see how this is going to be,” Gavin said, his tone inflected with amusement.
“You have no idea,” Charley said before moving on to greet her parents.
“She scares me,” Gavin whispered.
“She scares all of us.”
That made him laugh, and Ella discovered that she quite liked the sound of laughter coming from him when he was usually so somber. He hadn’t had a lot to laugh about lately. She would make sure he had plenty to laugh about going forward.
Elmer Stillman came in, his face red from the chill of the mid-November air, his smile stretching from ear to ear as usual. No one loved Sunday dinner more than Ella’s grandfather did. The tradition had begun with him and his wife, Sarah, and their daughter Molly had carried it on after her mother died.
“I brought wine,” Elmer said. “One of every kind.”
Molly greeted her father with a kiss to his cheek. “Thanks, Dad.”
“Hey, Gramps,” Ella said, returning his hug and kiss. “How are you?”
“I’m wonderful, and you?” He eyed Gavin suspiciously, and that was when Ella knew for certain that he too was fully aware of her ongoing affection for Gavin.
“I’m fantastic.”
“Gavin.” Elmer extended his hand.
Gavin shook hands with him. “Mr. Stillman.”
“Elmer. ‘Mr. Stillman’ makes me feel old.”
“We can’t have that,” Gavin said.
“No, we can’t. Nice to have you here.”
“Nice to be here.”
Ella’s aunt Hannah and cousin Grayson Coleman came into the kitchen next. Hannah closely resembled Ella’s mother, but Aunt Hannah wore an air of bitterness about her that anyone who knew her well could plainly see. According to Molly, Hannah had never gotten over the heartbreak of her husband leaving her alone to raise eight children. Who could blame her?
Grayson was as handsome and polished as ever. His dark blond hair was neatly trimmed, and he wore a white dress shirt under a navy V-neck sweater that looked like cashmere. He’d done well for himself as a lawyer in Boston, but Ella wondered if he was truly happy.
He hugged her and shook Gavin’s hand. “Long time no see, Gavin.”
“We missed you at Will’s wedding,” Ella said.
“I hated to miss it,” Gray said. “I was in Europe for work, and there was no way I could get out of it. They didn’t give us much of a heads-up before they got married.”
“No, they didn’t.”
“Speak of the devils,” Gavin said as the newlyweds came in wearing the big smiles that never seemed to dim now that they were officially married. They were so, so happy.
Ella adored her new sister-in-law, who fit right in with the Abbotts like they’d known her forever.
After they greeted Will and Cameron, Nolan came over to them and shook hands with Gavin. “What brings you to dinner?”
Gavin nodded his head toward Ella. “I was invited.”
Nolan looked from Gavin to Ella and then back to Gavin again. “Oh. Oh! Wow, well, that’s cool.”
Ella laughed at her new brother-in-law’s lightbulb moment.
“Hey, did you get the invite to Dylan’s wedding in Turks later this month?” Nolan asked Gavin.
“Yeah, I got it. Are you going?”
“I don’t think we should, but Hannah wants to go.”
“She’s not even six months pregnant, Nolan,” Ella said. “She can still travel for a couple of months yet.”
“But is it safe? What if something happens while we’re there?”
Ella pinched her lips together to keep from laughing in his face.
Nolan scowled at her. “I can see you trying not to laugh.”
“Take your wife to the Caribbean, Nolan. Have a second honeymoon. Your lives are about to get crazy. Take the time for yourselves while you can.”
“What she said,” Gavin said, pointing to Ella.