“And the sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew.”

“Ouch. I didn’t bring body armor.”

“You’ll be okay.” Kate smoothed his sweater and picked a small thread off his shoulder. “My mother can be a little uptight sometimes.”

“Okay.”

“My dad should go easy on you since you both went to B-C.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” He smiled and leaned in for one last kiss. Then another, before catching her eyes with his.

“Thank you for doing this.” Her hand came up and stroked his face, leaving no doubt of how she felt. Whatever happened in the past, whatever she believed about him was gone now, replaced with the feeling coming from deep within him. She had his heart. It was hers, and at that moment, everything seemed possible. “They’re going to love you. Maybe not right away, but they will.”

He laughed. “Let’s do this.”

*

Richard was in the uncomfortable position of trying to have a conversation with his daughter. Laura was more guarded than ever before, and not the least bit interested anything he had to say. He tried to keep it light, asking her about the holidays, when he made the mistake of asking a question about Kate’s caveman.

“So what do you know about Mom’s guy?”

“Fishing for information, Daddy?” Laura folded her arms defensively.

“No, just curious. He looks familiar.”

“He plays for the Flyers.

Richard leaned forward, more jealous than ever. “Excuse me?”

“It’s David Burke.”

Richard slumped back in the wing back chair he’d been sitting in, stunned into silence. That changed things. He had many assets, but Richard, at nearly fifty years old, was not going to be able to compete with a pro athlete. “How in the world… that’s who got her pregnant?”

Laura looked away and bit her lower lip. She was shutting down, and cutting off his information pipeline. He’d deal with that, somehow, but it was her distance that most concerned him. At first she didn’t want to see him at all, telling Trish to send him away. But he had to give Kate’s sister credit. She got Laura to talk to him. His goal was to get her to agree to come and stay with him for a few days.

Their relationship had imploded, and he didn’t know if he was ever going to get her back completely. He wanted to think he would, but she was defensive and very protective of her mother. He’d made the mistake of underestimating not only his ex-wife, but his daughter.

Laura was his world. Regaining her trust was the most important thing, but he didn’t know how he was going to do it.

*

Kate’s family was gathered in the great room, watching a movie on TV. The tree sparkled in the corner and he remembered the night they’d decorated it. David held onto the memory to fend off the nerves balling in his stomach. He was as scared as he’d ever been. He knew how important these people were to her, and he wanted them to accept him.

All heads turned when he stepped in the room with her. Time seemed to stop; no one moved, no one seemed to breathe.

Finally, Kate’s father rose and approached him. He was a strong, solid man, maybe five-ten, and completely confident. A retired judge, he carried himself with the dignity of someone who didn’t need to worry about first impressions. “Katherine, please introduce me to your young man.”

Kate smiled like a sixteen-year-old girl, making David think she’d been through the ritual countless times. He straightened himself. These were her people, the ones who mattered to her, so David wanted to make a good impression. “Daddy, may I introduce David Burke; David, my father, Jonathan Adams.”

They shook hands as Kate’s father sized him up. David knew he had one chance to get in good with Dad, so he took everything Kate told him about her father and used it.

“Judge Adams, it’s a pleasure. You’re B-C class of ’56, correct?”

The smile that crossed her father’s face was exactly what he was going for. Common ground. Common ground broke down a lot of barriers. Pleasantries exchanged, David looked around at everyone else. It should be easier now. At least David thought so, until he looked at Kate’s mother.

She was sitting across the room in a large leather club chair. The woman was attractive, really just an older version of Kate. Her arms and legs were crossed and her foot was moving up and down frantically, but it was her face, a combination of disgust and concern that put David on alert. Nope, her mom didn’t like him at all. Great.

David looked at Kate, who’d noticed the same thing. She took a quick glance at her mother and then back at him. This wasn’t going to go well. Kate introduced him to her sister and brother-in-law, her niece and nephew. Fine, maybe a little suspect, but nothing like the chill coming off Mom. Kate walked him over to her mother and slipped her hand into his.

“David, my mother, Melinda Adams.”

“Mrs. Adams, it’s nice to meet you.” He offered his hand and she didn’t budge.

She kept her arms folded, looked at his outstretched hand, and drilled him with eyes so full of anger that David almost took a step back.

The final slap came when she rose and walked away without saying a word.

David exhaled audibly. “Wow.”

Kate turned to him. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

David shrugged, not able to respond, but Kate’s niece shed some light on the subject. “Grandma doesn’t think you’re good for Aunt Kate. She thinks you’re a player.”

Everyone turned in her direction and Trish cocked her head to one side, not quite believing what she heard. “Your grandmother called David a player?”

Alex ignored her mother’s question. “I Googled you,” she said to David. “You’re not exactly model boyfriend material.”

“Alexandra?” Trish began, “What did you tell your grandmother?”

“Nothing, she does know how to use the internet and she can read.” Alex rose, annoyed, and went to the stairs. “I’ll go talk to Grandma.”

The air was tense, and Kate decided to let her mother sit and stew for now.

Laying a hand on David’s arm, she smiled. “I’m going to make coffee.”

Trish followed. “I’ll help you.”

That left David with Kate’s father, the former judge, her brother-in-law, the congressman, and her nephew, the med school student. Were there no plumbers in this family? Jeez.

Jonathan snorted. “Coffee, great. The way Melinda’s going to go at me, I’m going to need something stronger than coffee.”

Greg Reed laughed and looked at David. “Melinda can be a bit overprotective,” he drawled. “I was going to pick up something to enhance our coffee, but I forgot. I’m regretting it.”

David laughed. “I brought a twenty-one-year-old Glenlivet with me. Will that help?”

Greg slapped him on the back as David made his way to the other end of the sofa, and Jonathan nodded approval.

“I knew I liked you.” Jonathan paused. “I hope you’ll forgive my wife.”

Greg continued for him. “Adores her girls, and who can blame her?”

“Not me,” David said. “But she looked at me like I was Jack the Ripper.”

Greg sat back and rubbed the five o’clock shadow on his chin. “Did Kate tell you about her marriage?”

“Some. Her ex sounds like a first class pri…” He censored himself. “First class jerk. Domineering, controlling.” David was painfully aware that Richard was two rooms away.

“Abusive,” Greg added. The word hit David like a stick to the head. “He’d hit her from time to time, enough to make her afraid, to get her to buckle under. Words were his preferred weapon.”

“I’d kick his ass if I could get him alone for five minutes,” David growled, feeling violence overtake his reason.

“Trish almost did. She caught him on one of his tirades. I swear she was looking for a sharp object. The things he said to Kate were horrible. She spent some time in therapy. I can tell you, when he left, the whole family cheered. Kate was terrified about losing Laura, but Richard leaving was the best thing that ever happened to her.”