“You grew up here and never took a trip out to the Bayou?”

“That’s right.” I wrinkle my nose. “Are there ‘gators out there?”

“Most likely,” he says. “I promise not to toss you in with the ‘gators.”

“Gee, thanks.”

We settle into a comfortable silence, listening to satellite radio. We sing along to songs we know, and Declan shares stories about some of the musicians he’s met.

“So you used to do studio work in Memphis?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He nods. “Still do, sometimes.”

“That’s awesome, Declan.”

“I prefer to perform live.” He turns off the main road and points to his left. “There’s the inn.”

“Wow.” I’ve never seen anything like it. It looks like something out of a fairy tale. Huge oak trees form a line with a brick path between them toward a large, two-story mansion with a deep front porch and a welcoming red door. “You grew up here?”

“In the summers,” he confirms. “We stayed in the city during the school year. My youngest sister, Gabby, made it into an inn about four years ago.”

“It’s beautiful,” I murmur as he pulls in to the driveway leading to the house. There are other buildings on the property, and from what I can see, gardens bursting with a riot of color. But it’s the trees that have me transfixed. “These trees have to be hundreds of years old.” To say they’re massive is an understatement. They more than dwarf the house, and several of the long limbs are so heavy they rest on the ground.

“That they are,” he replies with a smile, parks next to a row of cars that I assume are guests of the inn, and turns me to face him. “If at any time you’re uncomfortable, or if you just want to leave, you say so and we’ll go.”

“Declan, it’s a couple of people who happen to be related to you. I’ll be fine.”

He frowns. “It might be more than a couple of people.”

“Let me guess, all of these cars don’t belong to people staying at the inn?”

He shakes his head. “Gabby doesn’t have guests on Sundays. You’ll be great. You’re used to dealing with strangers.”

Yeah, but I’m not fucking the strangers’ relative.

But rather than say anything, I smile and push out of Dec’s car. He takes my hand when he joins me and leads me around to the back of the house. “Kitchen’s back here,” he says with a smile.

The smells coming from the house are amazing. “Do they hire someone to cook?”

“Hell no. Mama and Gabby do the bulk of it, but the rest of us pitch in too.”

I didn’t know real family dinners like this existed. I thought it was made up by Hollywood and romance novelists.

I take a deep breath as Declan reaches for the door, and then suddenly I’m led into a large, beautiful kitchen that is near to bursting with people and a dog that is currently leaping, trying to get the piece of meat that a little boy is holding high for him.

“Samuel Beauregard, take Derek outside, or you’re grounded from the computer for a week!” a petite brunette yells.

“That’s Gabby,” Declan says. We still haven’t been spotted by the crowd of people. “She’s Sam’s mom. Her husband, Rhys, is the guy holding their daughter, Ailish.”

My gaze moves from the beautiful woman to her husband sitting at the breakfast bar with an adorable baby.

“You’re here!” Sam exclaims and hugs Declan around his waist. “And you brought a lady!”

The room hushes as everyone looks over at us. Declan ruffles Sam’s hair.

“I can’t get anything past you,” he says, then takes my hand and squeezes reassuringly. “I hope it’s okay that I brought a plus-one.”

“Of course it is,” Gabby says and smiles as she wipes her hands on a towel and walks over to us. “Welcome. I’m Gabby.”

“Callie,” I reply and shake her hand, certain I’ve met her before.

“I’ll introduce you to everyone,” Gabby says as she slips her arm through mine and skillfully guides me away from Declan. “This is our mama.”

“Pleasure,” I say and smile at the lovely woman with eyes the same as all of her children.

“Oh no, child, the pleasure is all mine.”

“This is my oldest brother, Beau.” Beau is sitting next to Rhys, his eyes assessing but friendly. “And my husband, Rhys, is next to him, with our little one.”

“She’s precious,” I reply and grin when Ailish leans over for me to take her, which I readily do. “Aren’t you, princess?”

“She likes you.”

“I like her too.”

“The guy with his nose buried in the redhead's hair is my brother Eli, and that’s his girlfriend, Kate. Charly’s chopping the collard greens.”

“I’d come shake your hand, but I’m a mess,” Charly says with a smile. “But it’s nice to meet you.”

“And this is Savannah, Declan’s twin sister.”

My eyes immediately find Declan’s. “Twin? That’s great. Nice to meet you, Savannah.”

“Call me Van,” she says and shakes my hand. The Boudreaux are a beautiful bunch of people, and they’re obviously surprised that Declan brought me.

“So am I the first?” I ask the room at large.

“First?” Van asks.

“The first girl that Declan has brought to family dinner.”

Beau laughs while the others simply smile. “You know him pretty well already,” Beau says.

“It was just a hunch.” I kiss the baby’s cheek and take a deep breath, enjoying her baby smell. “And you’re the most precious thing in the world.”

She grabs my cheek and giggles.

“How old is she?” I ask.

“About five months,” Gabby replies and takes her daughter from my arms. “And thanks. We think she’s pretty great.”

“My shoes!” Charly exclaims, pointing at my feet.

“Excuse me?” I glance down at my favorite red heels.

“You’re wearing my shoes!”

“I knew I recognized you!” Gabby adds with a smile. “Charly owns Head Over Heels in the Quarter.”

“The fabulous shoe store!” I nod enthusiastically. “I love that place.”

“I sold you those shoes,” Gabby says.

“Since when do you sell shoes?” Rhys asks with a frown.

“It was a long time ago,” she replies, waving him off. “And they still look amazing on you.”

“They’re my favorite.”

“I have all the new fall shoes in,” Charly says as she finishes chopping the greens. “The girls are going to come by after closing next week. You should come too.”

“Oh, I couldn’t—”

“Yes. You could,” Van says with a wink. All of the Boudreaux are bossy. But I grin and nod.

“You’re right. I could.” I glance at Declan, to make sure this doesn’t make him uncomfortable, but he just smiles and kisses my forehead as he passes by and hugs his mama.

“How can I help, Mama?”

“You always ask when it’s all done,” she says and shoos him away. “You’ve done that since you were a boy.”

“I have to warn you,” Beau says. “Declan’s not a great cook.”

I simply nod and smile as I remember having cereal in bed just yesterday morning. “I’ll take that under advisement.”

“Hey, stop trying to scare her off,” Declan says and slips his arm around my shoulders.

“It’ll take more than bad cooking to do that,” I immediately reply.

“He’s also not good at laundry,” Eli adds.

“That did it.” I move to walk out the door while everyone else laughs, but Declan catches my arm and twirls me back to him, plants his lips on mine, and right here in front of his mother, lays a kiss on me that makes my toes curl. “Okay.” I swallow. “I guess that makes up for the laundry.”

***

“That was fun,” I say as we pull away from the inn into the dark Bayou. It was surprisingly easy. As rich and intimidating as the Boudreaux family can be, I found them to be welcoming and funny.

“They liked you,” Declan says.

“It was mutual. Thanks for taking me.”

He kisses my hand and rests our hands on his thigh. “That place,” he says and points to a colorful plantation house, “is Laura. Another plantation here in the Bayou, it was one of the first built.”

“Are you giving me a tour? In the dark?”

“It’s not my fault that you women can talk for hours on end about shoes,” he says defensively.