After the parade, he thanked Lauryn and Ryder for sharing their curb space, then directed the girls toward the park—where they spent almost an hour in line to have their faces painted before they went to get ice cream. As they made their way toward a cluster of picnic tables, his gaze avidly searched the crowd for a familiar face. He saw plenty of people he knew, but not the one person he most wanted to see.
They succeeded in snagging a picnic table in the shade—a minor miracle—and Charlotte and Emily mostly managed to finish their snacks before they melted. Hanna wasn’t nearly as successful, and by the time she’d given up on the soggy remnants of her cone, she was covered nose to chin with chocolate ice cream.
“Apparently you’ve got a lot to learn,” Tristyn teased as she set her cousin Andrew’s youngest daughter, Lilly, onto the bench with her ice-cream cone and offered Josh a container of wet wipes.
He hadn’t seen her approach, but his initial jolt of surprise was quickly supplanted by pleasure. And the pleasure grew as his gaze skimmed over her, from the ponytail on top of her head to the skimpy tank top that molded to her curves and short shorts that highlighted her mile-long legs.
“The first rule of child care,” she continued, “is never go anywhere without wet wipes.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he promised, gratefully removing a disposable cloth from the container and clumsily attempting to remove the sticky residue from his niece’s face and hands. He glanced up at Tristyn. “Where’s your boyfriend?”
He was hoping she would object to the label, but she only said, “He’s helping set up the tables.”
Then, in a not-so-subtle attempt to change the topic of conversation, she turned her attention to his nieces to ask, “Did you guys see the parade?”
They responded enthusiastically and in great detail, their words spilling over one another so that he wondered how Tristyn could understand anything they were saying. As he continued to clean up Hanna, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Emily had stood up on the bench and was wiggling around.
“What are you doing?” he asked, horror dawning along with comprehension.
“I got ice cream on my shorts,” she told him, attempting to push the offending garment over her hips.
“Well, you can’t just take them off,” he admonished.
“But they’re sticky.”
The glint of amusement in Tristyn’s deep green eyes had him fighting to contain his own smile.
“Let’s see if I can help you get rid of the sticky,” Tristyn offered, taking a wipe from the container and scrubbing at the drip on Emily’s shorts.
Josh appreciated her help. He’d quickly discovered that taking care of three little girls was a lot more work than he’d anticipated—and gave him a whole new respect for his sister. He’d also realized that sharing the responsibility with someone else—with Tristyn—made it not just easier but more enjoyable. He continued to wipe ice cream from Hanna’s hands and face while Tristyn cleaned Emily’s shorts and Lilly sat quietly eating her ice cream.
“There you go,” Tristyn told Emily.
The little girl frowned at the wet spot.
“They’ll dry in just a few minutes,” Josh promised, anticipating her complaint. “Probably less in this heat.”
“Look, Unca Josh,” Hanna implored. “Bawoons!”
He turned to follow the direction her finger was pointing and saw a couple of clowns making balloon animals for the kids who had gathered around.
With a sigh of resignation, he returned the container of wipes to Tristyn. “When are the fireworks?” he asked wearily.
She laughed softly. “Not for hours and hours yet.”
“Do you want to come with us to get balloon animals?”
“Sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all. “But I promised Rachel I would bring Lilly right back after she had her ice cream.”
“I guess I’ll see you later then,” he said, letting Hanna tug him away from the bench.
“No doubt,” she agreed.
After the girls each had a balloon animal in hand, Josh steered them toward the Garretts’ usual picnic spot.
His best friend’s family had expanded over the past several years, as Daniel and his brothers and cousins all got married and started families of their own. Now there were kids ranging in age from nine months to twelve years, and his nieces were immediately accepted into the fold.
Although Charlotte was a few years younger than Maura and Dylan, they were letting her hang out with them; Emily was playing on a nearby climbing structure with Kylie and Oliver; and Hanna had apparently become new best friends with Jacob and Zachary. The family wasn’t finished expanding yet, either. Ryan’s wife, Harper, was about six weeks away from her due date and, as he’d learned a few hours earlier, Tristyn’s sister Lauryn was scheduled to add to her family around Christmas.
In fact, looking around at the various couples and groups, he realized that Tristyn was the only one of Daniel’s cousins who wasn’t yet married—and he wondered if the guy she was with planned to change that.
Marco had introduced Josh to Rafe when he arrived, which was how he’d learned that Tristyn’s date was also Marco’s cousin and the head chef at Valentino’s II.
“So you’re the reason that Tristyn canceled our plans last night,” Rafe commented, as he shook Josh’s hand.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said, as Marco moved away to help his wife set up a portable play yard for their boys.
“No need to be,” the other man assured him. “She explained the situation, and I know she’d never walk away from a friend in need of help.”
Though Josh couldn’t deny the accuracy of the description, it still grated on his nerves that Rafe was so dismissive of the time Tristyn had spent with him. It was as if the guy was so secure in his relationship with her, he had no worries about his girlfriend hanging out with another man. Admittedly, she’d been hanging out with another man and three kids, but still.
“There you are,” Tristyn said, a smile lighting her face as she made her way toward them. And for just a second, Josh thought she was talking to him. Then she linked her arm through Rafe’s, effectively dispelling that notion. “Your nonna’s looking for you.”
“And I’m hiding from her,” Rafe admitted. “It’s my day off and I don’t want to talk about tweaking any of my recipes or any other restaurant business today.”
“Then let’s take a walk before dinner,” she suggested, leading him away. “I saw your aunt brought cannoli, which means that I need to get a head start on burning off the extra calories.”
Not wanting to watch them wander off together, Josh purposely turned in the other direction.
* * *
Josh spent some time hanging out with Daniel and Kenna and their kids; chatted with Harper about her return to WNCC—the local television station for which she now produced the morning show—and her plans for juggling her promotion with a new baby; and congratulated Braden and Cassie on their recent engagement. All the while, he kept a close eye on his three nieces, who were more than happy with their new friends. When the food was finally set out—the selection covering most of two picnic tables—everyone dropped what they were doing to get in line. Since Josh hadn’t brought anything to contribute to the potluck, he bought a couple platters of burgers and sausages from the Fireman’s Picnic—another Fourth of July tradition, which brought together the local