Page 84 of Keepsakes and Kismet

Callum glares half-heartedly.

“What, Callum? You can’t bring this in now. It’s roadkill at this point. Unpresentable. As your girlfriend, it’s my duty to eat it later by myself. And I’m not just saying this because it happens to be my favorite, either.” I close the box and bring it to the passenger side, setting it on my seat.

“You’re a real martyr, Pey.”

With the pie debacle delay, Carter catches up with us before we can walk inside.

“How are my favorite Ohio elevens doing tonight?” He walks in the middle of us and raises his arms like he’s going to slide them over our shoulders.

Callum shoves him to the side with his elbow, and Carter loses his footing and stumbles to the ground.

“Hey! That was too rough!” Carter complains.

“Good. Now you know how the pie felt.” Callum holds out his free hand to Carter, helping him off the ground.

As we get closer to the front, chaos infiltrates our ears. A little voice is crying, a timer is beeping, and piano music plays in the background.

Callum gives me a wry grin. “Apologies in advance for anything anyone might say. Or do.”

“I love the loud, actually,” I tell him. As an only child, I crave mayhem like this. It’s a big dream of mine to have a large, happy family one day.

Carter opens the door, and I nearly trip over a teary-eyed toddler. “You must be Lila,” I say, squatting down to her level.

She extends her arms. “Up.”

I glance behind me, to make sure she’s asking me—the stranger—and not one of her uncles. But Callum and Carter are bickering again, completely disengaged.

A stream of snot runs down her nose as she opens and closes her hands. “Up. Up. Up!”

“Okay, then.” I pick her up and set her on my hip. “Are you okay?”

She pats the top of her hair. “Lo hit.”

“Sorry, sweetie.” I stroke the top of her head, and she starts looping my hair around her little hand.

“Oh, I was distracted. I can take her if you want,” Callum offers, a worried expression on his face.

I shake my head gently, reassuring him that my aversion isn’t coming into play here.

Lila buries her head into my shoulder, giving off fierce “don’t detach me from this strange woman” vibes.

“Lila, do you want to come with Uncle Cal?”

“Or Uncle Carty?” Carter chimes in.

“No!” she shouts to my delight. I’m very much enjoying both her sass and her grip on me. I can’t remember the last time I held a human this small.

I soothe her back, gently patting. “Yeah, we girls are good over here, Uncle Cal.”

When I glance at Callum, his expression holds a tender sort of happiness I haven’t seen before. His hazel eyes are soft around the corners, and a sweet smile brushes his lips. It’s not hard to tell what he’s thinking, and I like the look on him.

“Hey! Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Caitlyn says, holding her arms out for Lila. “Let me grab her from you.”

Lila pulls a real “no means no” moment with how tight she squashes me, reaffirming her position of living on my hip.

“If you don’t mind, I don’t mind,” I tell her. “I love little ones.”

We walk toward the kitchen, and Callum leaves my side to put the pies on the counter. I’m quickly intercepted by Mr. Galvin. It’s only now that I realize his hazel eyes are nearly identical to his son’s. His curly grayish-auburn hair is a bit tighter than Callum’s loose waves, but just as thick.