Family Ties

I grinned. “Faint heart never won fair lady.”

He laughed, and Christy beamed up at me.

“You girls head inside,” Danny said as he maneuvered the big car into the garage. “Paul and I can handle the luggage.”

We climbed out of the car, and I got my first good look at Sabrina. For a moment I thought I might have to put my eyes back in my head. She looked like a brunette Christie Brinkley, only close enough to touch. I managed to recover before she noticed, but only just. I distracted myself by helping Christy out of the car.

“I’ll see you inside,” she said. “I can’t wait for you to meet everyone.”

I smiled and watched her and Sabrina walk into the house. Then I glanced at Danny, who was doing the same.

Of course, I thought, the recruiting-poster jet pilot Marine has a supermodel girlfriend.

For a moment I wondered why I kept finding myself around better-looking, more popular guys. Then again, I was probably having more sex than they were. Unfortunately, I wasn’t having any sex at the moment, and no prospect of it in the next few days.

Danny waited till the girls shut the door behind them. Then he raised the trunk lid and gestured me behind it.

“All right,” he said quickly, his voice low, “here’s the tactical situation before you roll in.” He stopped and chuckled to himself. “You probably—”

“I got it. Pilot’s kid. Remember? I speak the lingo.”

“Yeah, right, sorry. Anyway, I like you,” he said earnestly, “so I want you to stick around. Here’s what you should expect. Mom’s already on your side.

That’s about seventy-five percent of the battle right there. When you meet Dad, give him a firm handshake and make eye contact. Call him ‘sir,’ but only when Mom isn’t around.”

“Roger.”

He grinned at the word. “Right, so… You’ll figure out Harry and Marianne when you meet them tomorrow. He’s a real hotshot, like Dad.

Gonna be an admiral one day. She’s a sweetheart. You’ll love her. James and Lynne are here already. He’s pretty mellow. She’s nice enough but quiet and a bit of a fussbudget. Rich is… a good guy. But he’s disagreeable. Best word I can think of. He won’t like you, but it isn’t personal. He’s just wired different than the rest of us.”

“Got it. Your mom’s on my side. Call your dad ‘sir,’ but only when she isn’t around. Figure out the rest when I meet them.”

“Yep. That’s about it. The kids are all little versions of their parents, some more than others. Did Birdy—?”

The door from the house opened and a man’s voice said, “You guys need help?”

Danny raised his head over the lid of the trunk. He relaxed when he saw who it was.

“Mom sent me,” the man said as he joined us. He was shorter than Danny, but with the same build and the same blue eyes. He wore his dark hair short and sported a mustache. “You must be Paul,” he said as he extended his hand. “Nice to meet you. Jim Carmichael.”

“Paul Hughes. Nice to meet you.”

“The girls were organizing a search party,” Jim said to Danny.

“Right. I was just giving Paul a head start on meeting everyone.”

“So we like him?” Jim said.

“Way more than the last one.” Danny glanced at me. “Sorry to keep bringing him up, but he made an impression.”

“A bad one,” Jim agreed. He gestured at the trunk. “Lemme guess, most

of this is Birdy’s?”

“How’d you know?” Danny joked.

I pulled out my backpack and suitcase.

“Come on, dude,” Jim said to his brother, “let’s haul these inside.”

They each took a large suitcase and a smaller one.

Danny grinned at me. “Last chance to bail.”

“Are you kidding? I made it this far, didn’t I?”

“I see what you mean,” Jim said to Danny. He smiled at me. “All right.

Let’s go meet the family.”

I followed them inside, where a gaggle of pre-teen girls were waiting for us. They were brimming with curiosity but fell silent at the sight of me.

“Hi,” I said. “I’m Paul.”

“We know,” the oldest said. “You’re Aunt Birdy’s boyfriend.”

“That’s the rumor. And you’re… Virginia?” Christy had told me about her nieces and nephews on the flight, and I’d done my best to memorize everyone’s names and ages.

“How’d you know?”

“A little Birdy told me.”

She smiled prettily.

Christy moved next to me.

“And I bet you’re Amber,” I said to the next-oldest girl.

“Uh-huh. And that’s Rose and Grace.”

Grace was small and very shy, with sun-gold hair and eyes like Christy’s, while the others had sandy brown hair and darker blue eyes.

“Grace is mine,” Jim said to me. “The rest are Harry’s girls.” He tossed his chin toward the door and said to Danny, “Come on. These weigh a ton.

Let’s take ’em back.”

“Let’s go, girls,” Danny said to the gaggle. “Sabrina promised to show you her latest magazines.”

He and Jim disappeared deeper into the house with the girls in tow.

Christy gestured to her parents, so I set down my bags.

“Mom, Dad,” she said, “this is Paul. Paul, meet my mom and dad.”