Tristan gestured to the entrance further down the hallway that led into the dining room. Timothy moved ahead of them with Gabe and Aika.
“Is it okay if Timothy goes downstairs?” Shayna asked softly.
He smiled at her. “It’s more than okay. Benjie will keep an eye on him so he can stay down there if he wants.”
There was a ton of activity going on in the dining room, but it didn’t take long for someone to spot them. Sammi looked up from the veggies she was sorting onto a tray. Her gaze landed on Shayna then she looked at Tristan, a smile lighting up her face.
“Tristan,” she said as she came around the table, drying her fingers on a paper towel. “Who have you brought with you?”
“Shayna, this is Sammi, one of my two sisters. Sammi, this is Shayna Caron and her son, Timothy,” Tristan said then held out the container. “And this is their contribution to the evening.”
“I’m sorry it’s not much,” Shayna said as Sammi took the container and set it on the table to open the lid.
“Oh, don’t apologize,” Sammi said as she straightened. “Those chocolate covered strawberries are beautiful.”
Her gaze met Tristan’s as the hint of a grin teased her lips, making him roll his eyes at her. He hadn’t known that was what they’d made, and no doubt, he’d be on the receiving end of a few joking jabs by his sisters and sisters-in-law. It had been clear over Christmas that Makayla and Sammi had shared the texts he’d exchanged with them about the makeup and chocolate covered strawberries with the rest of the ladies in the family. Although, it had appeared that the texts hadn’t been shared with their mom.
“Look at them, Tristan.” Sammi gestured to the container. “They look quite scrumptious. Maybe you should have asked Shayna what the best sort of chocolate was to use for strawberries.” She turned to Shayna. “Before Christmas, Tristan was asking all kinds of question about makeup and the best chocolate to use for dipping strawberries.”
Shayna looked at him, her brows lifted, but it was Timothy who responded.
“Was that when you were helping me, Tristan?” the boy asked.
“Yep,” Tristan said with a nod. “I was a little out of my league when you were looking at the makeup and wanting chocolate to dip strawberries.”
“But I already knew what makeup to get her,” Timothy said, but then his brow furrowed. “Although I didn’t know about the chocolate, so it’s good you asked them about that.”
“So you bought makeup for your mom for Christmas?” Sammi asked.
Timothy nodded, a proud look on his face. “Tristan took me to the dollar store and let me pick out some things for her to use.”
“You are a wonderful son, Timothy.” Sammi gave Timothy a delighted smile. “I’m sure your mom appreciates your thoughtfulness.”
“I do,” Shayna said as she ruffled Timothy’s hair. “I really do.”
Timothy tilted his head back to look at her. “Can I go see Benjie now?”
The adults around him chuckled.
“Priorities,” Sammi said with a laugh. “He’s definitely got the right priorities.”
“Hello, Tristan, sweetheart.”
Tristan looked over as his mother reached his side and bent down enough for her to press a kiss to his cheek. “Hi, Mom. I’ve brought some friends.”
“I can see that,” his mom said, smiling at Shayna and Timothy.
He provided the introductions again, happy to see that his mom was welcoming of them—not that he’d expected anything else. When his dad arrived soon after, Tristan introduced them again, wondering as he did if he should have had a mass introduction.
“Why don’t we go downstairs now?” Tristan suggested, then he turned to his mom. “We’ll be back up in a few minutes.”
Once they’d left the room, Shayna said, “Your family is very nice.”
“Yes, they are,” Tristan agreed. “Just don’t get overwhelmed by them all. There are an awful lot of us, so don’t worry about keeping names straight. Give me a look if you need a name, and I’ll come to your rescue.”
They followed Timothy down the carpeted stairs to the rec room. There were a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms in the basement as well. It was where the older boys had stayed, claiming the rec room as their own to use to play ping pong, fooz ball, and video games. Oh, and they’d watched plenty of hockey games on the television. Tristan had usually made use of the computer that had been set up in the corner of the rec room since the others hadn’t shown as much interest in it as he had.
The ping pong and fooz tables were gone, as was the computer, but the television was bigger than ever, and it had more than one game console attached to it. There were several large comfy couches circling the television which is where Benjie and his uncle, Elliot, were engaged in a fierce game of hockey.
They both glanced over as Tristan, Shayna, and Timothy joined them. The game paused on the screen, and they turned away from it, controllers in their hands.
“Hey guys,” Tristan said. “Timothy wondered if he could hang with you. I think he might have more fun down here than he would upstairs with us.”
“Sure thing,” Elliot said as he got to his feet. He was a slender man of about Tristan’s height, and it appeared Benjie would soon be taller than both of them.
“Just make sure that you keep the games age appropriate for him,” Tristan said.
“It’s been awhile since I last beat you at Mario Kart,” Elliot said as he punched Benjie in the shoulder. “How about we give that a try?” He went to the entertainment center and switched the remotes out and turned on the other system. “Have you played before, Timothy?”
“Yes.” Timothy went around the end of the couch to join the two guys. “Not recently though.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll pick it back up in no time,” Benjie said. “Just work with me to take Elliot out, and we’ll consider it a win.”
“If Timothy needs his mom, can you please bring him up and find Shayna or me?”
Elliot nodded. “We’ll do that, but he won’t even have to go up for food. Avery and Sammi brought us down a bunch of appropriate food.”
When he gestured to the coffee table, Tristan laughed. Appropriate food apparently meant chips and soda. “Is that all you’re going to be eating?”
“No,” Elliot said as the game started up. “That’s for starters. I’ll go up and get the sandwich stuff when it’s ready for us.”
“Guess we’ll leave you to it,” Tristan said as he turned to Shayna. “Ready to go?”
She glanced to where Timothy sat between the two older boys, his gaze already on the large television where colorful cartoon characters filled the screen. Her reluctance to leave Timothy was clear on her face.
“We don’t have to go up yet if you don’t want to,” Tristan said, keeping his voice low.
She looked up at him and gave him a quick smile. “No. He’ll be fine.” Pressing a hand to her stomach. “I think I’m more worried about myself than him. I’m not usually one for crowds of people I don’t know.”
Tristan hesitated because he knew all too well how she felt. Crowds of strangers were among some of his least favorite things. He usually tried to avoid them if at all possible. Of course, the people upstairs weren’t strangers. To him.
“We can stay down here,” Tristan offered again. “Maybe they’d even let us have a turn at the video game.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t ask them to do that,” Shayna said with a laugh. “And I’m sure they’ll have more fun if we’re not here.”
“I don’t know about that. Timothy seems to like you well enough.” Tristan gave her a wink. “And Benjie and Elliot don’t seem to mind my hanging around them occasionally.”
“Still, I’m hardly going to tell Timothy I’m going to hang around down here because I’m nervous to go upstairs.” Shayna pulled her shoulders back and took a deep breath. “I have to set a good example, right? Because Timothy isn’t always comfortable with people he doesn’t know, either.”<
br />
“I promise I’ll stick close by,” Tristan said. “So whenever you’re ready.”
Shayna nodded. “Now is as good a time as any.”
Together they climbed the stairs back to the main floor. They were greeted once again by the sound of conversation, louder than when they’d gone downstairs. Tristan wanted to reassure Shayna in some way but taking her hand didn’t seem like the right thing to do, given the lack of relationship between them. Last he checked, holding hands didn’t occur between friends.
In the end, he offered her his arm, subtly, so if she chose to refuse, no one would notice. He had nothing to worry about though. Shayna slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and allowed him to lead her forward.
Almost immediately, the introductions began again.
Shayna’s nerves continued to grow as they moved down the hall toward the dining room. She knew that Tristan thought his family would be friendly and accepting, but all it would take was just one person to look askance at her for the evening to be spoiled. Just seeing the place Tristan and his family called home told her that they moved in very different circles.
Not that they lived in a world where circles existed really, but it was definitely a world where there existed those who had and those who had not. But as each person was introduced, Shayna didn’t get the feeling that they were looking down at her. In fact, they weren’t looking at her with anything but friendliness.
“Shayna?”
At the sound of her name, Shayna turned, her stomach sinking when her gaze landing on a couple of familiar faces. Though there was nothing on their faces but curiosity, she knew what they were capable of, and it made her want to go back downstairs. Not to stay with Timothy, but to grab him and ask Tristan to take them home.
“Hi, Shayna,” Noella Crawford said as she and Erin Kirkland came to where they stood. “What a surprise to see you here.”
“Yes, I’m sure it is,” Shayna said, fighting to keep her voice from betraying how she felt about running into them so unexpectedly. “I didn’t know you were friends with Tristan.”
Erin, Noella, and Tristan all smiled, but it was Erin who said, “Well, it’s not just Tristan we’re friends with. Forrest actually met Gabe first then introduced the rest of us to everyone. He’s here tonight, too. As is Tennyson with his family.”
Well, that did nothing to quell her nerves. The four of them hadn’t approved of her or her relationship with Lorne. She supposed it wouldn’t be long before they shared that opinion with Tristan and whatever good he might think of her would go out the window.
“How are you and Timothy doing these days?” Erin asked, her head tilted slightly to the side. “I’m sure he’s growing up.”
“Uh, yes,” Shayna said as she pulled her hand free of Tristan’s arm and fisted it at her waist. “He’s eight now and has proven to be quite smart.”
“So he must like school then,” Noella said.
Shayna shook her head. “Unfortunately, not very much. He’s a bit on the small side, and when you add in his smarts, it doesn’t exactly endear him to the other kids.”
Erin frowned at that. “You’d think that in this day and age, we’d be raising children who were more tolerant of those who are a bit different. I hope that my children will be that way.”
“I hope all our children will be loving and kind to others,” Noella said. “I know we’re raising them to be that way.”
Shayna had always found it interesting that Noella had married, as she’d seemed so down on the institution. She’d been the most vocal in stating her opposition of Lorne marrying Shayna, stating they would never be happy when they barely had two pennies to rub together. Part of Shayna wished that Lorne was there so that she could prove to the other woman that she was quite wrong about their chances of being happy.
“Why don’t you come sit down with us?” Erin suggested. “We can catch up on things.”
“Oh, there’s not too much to catch up on,” Shayna said, trying to dismiss the possibility of holding a conversation with two women who hadn’t thought very highly of her in the past.
“Sure there is,” Noella said as she exchanged a look with Erin before glancing at Tristan. “It’s been three years since we last saw each other.”
Of course, they’d be wondering about what had led her to being there with Tristan at an event that was clearly for family and close friends. Only she didn’t really want to discuss that with them, considering things would likely be at an end with her and Tristan soon enough anyway.
She’d been stupid to think that she could get past her…past. It had come up on their date, and now it was coming up again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Shayna had asked Tristan about coming New Year’s Eve because she’d wanted to try and erase the awkwardness of the date. She’d wanted to at least get back on the friendship footing with Tristan, but now she worried she might not ever regain that once Erin and Noella were done spilling what they thought about her. Where she’d thought she’d ring in the New Year with hope for what was to come, it now was possible that nothing would change except for a new roommate.
“Maybe we’ll come find you a bit later,” Tristan said, and Shayna felt the light touch of his hand on her back. “I still want to introduce her to Hannah and Maya.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize she hadn’t met all the family yet,” Noella said, her gaze going between Shayna and Tristan. “Well, we’d better go and get some food for Finn, James, and the kids. That’s what we were supposed to be doing when we came in here to begin with.”
Once they’d walked over to the table that was laden down with food, Tristan turned to look at her, his brow furrowed with concern. “Are you okay? I didn’t realize that I should have mentioned who besides family might be here.”
“It’s fine,” Shayna tried to reassure him. “I didn’t expect to see someone from back then here tonight. It was just a surprise.”
“Well, you don’t need to talk with them if you don’t want to. It’s not like there’s a shortage of people to talk to around here tonight. If nothing else, you can find Gabe, and he’ll happily talk your ear off.”
“Thank you,” Shayna said, though she wasn’t sure what she was thanking him for aside from being profoundly grateful that he was being so understanding. “I’m not terribly hungry but holding a plate will give me something to do with my hands.”
“In that case, let’s get some food,” Tristan said as he guided her to the table.
There were quite a few people around the table, but no one lingered. They just filled their plates and left. Shayna took in the expanse of food, spying the chocolate covered strawberries on a crystal platter, looking much finer than they had in the container she’d brought them in.
It looked as if people had been taking them, so she hoped they thought they tasted as good as she and Timothy had. They’d had a few “accidents” that hadn’t been good enough for the tray. Giggling together, they’d indulged in one of each type of chocolate.
“You don’t want anything?” Tristan asked as she stood there with an empty plate in her hand.
“I was just seeing that people had taken some of the strawberries, and I was hoping they enjoyed them. Timothy and I had a lot of fun making them.”
“I’d better get some for myself,” Tristan said. “After the teasing I’ve taken over chocolate-covered strawberries, I deserve to have a few myself.”
They fell into line behind someone who looked a lot like the man who’d met them at the door.
“Hey, Tris,” the man said. When his gaze settled on her, he smiled and said, “And you must be Shayna.”
“Yes, this is Shayna Caron. Her son, Timothy, is downstairs with Benjie and Elliot.” Tristan gestured to the man. “This is my brother, Mitch. As you probably can tell, he is the twin to Gabe, who met us at the door.”
“And if Gabe told you he was the better-looking twin, just remember that I’m the nicer one.” Mitch’s grin made him look even more lik
e his twin.
“Mitch’s wife, Belle, owns the bridal salon where Eva works.”
“Oh!” Mitch shifted to face them more fully. “You’re Eva’s new roommate?”
“Yes. She’s moving in this next week.” Shayna was both excited and worried about that. While it would be nice to have someone to help with the financial burden of the townhouse, it would take a little time to get used to having a stranger in her space. She hoped that it worked out well because she didn’t have any other options.
“I think you’ll find her to be very nice,” Mitch said. “Belle thinks really highly of her, and she’s always been friendly and helpful.”
“We’re looking forward to having her in the townhouse.” Shayna picked up a roll from the stack on the platter then followed Mitch as he moved forward.
Tristan and Mitch continued to talk as they made their way around the table. At the end of it, their plates were heaped much higher than hers. She hoped Timothy was eating decent food and not just chips, although he had had supper earlier and, for one night, maybe they should all just eat what they enjoyed.
Not long after they had filled their plates, Tristan led her along a hallway to a large room at the back of the house. It also had a Christmas tree though that one wasn’t as big as the one in the living room. While the living room had appeared to have a more formal feel and look to it, this room was definitely homier and more comfortable.
Within minutes, she found herself on a large sofa seated next to a woman with long hair and a scar on her right cheek. A little boy with dark hair and eyes leaned against her legs, picking at food on the plate she held. She turned to smile at Shayna and said, “Hi. I’m Hannah.”
“I’m Shayna.”
“Oh. Nice to meet you.” She held out a piece of cheese to the boy. “Tristan mentioned that he’d met you and your son at church.”
“Yes. He’s teaching Timothy’s Sunday School class.”
“I was surprised to hear that Tris was going to be teaching.”
“Me, too,” a dark-haired man with a friendly smile said as he bent down to scoop the little boy up into his arms, causing the toddler to shriek in delight. The man sank down to sit on the floor, settling the child on his knee. “Tris was always a quiet one. More for watching than talking.”
Reaching Her Heart: A Christian Romance (Callaghans & McFaddens Book 8) Page 23
