Foundation for Three by Vella Day

rose. “Everything okay?”
    “That was my grandmother. It’s my parents’ thirty-fifth wedding anniversary on Saturday and she’s throwing a big to-do at the family farm.”
    “That sounds nice. As much as I love my siblings, our family wasn’t much into big gatherings.” She shrugged. “It could have something to do with the fact that both my parents were only children.”
    “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had all my cousins to get into trouble with.”
    From her enthusiastic response, she didn’t act like a farm was beneath her. “Nana said to bring a guest. I forgot about my folks’ anniversary when I accepted your dinner invitation for Saturday. Would you be interested in keeping me out of trouble there instead?” When she’d asked him in the first place he’d been so stunned that the special date had flown out of his head. They weren’t at that stage of “meet the parents” yet, but he doubted she’d draw unwarranted conclusions. Hell, they hadn’t even gone on a formal date. But he liked her. A lot. She was smart, nice, and caring. Being around thugs all day made him jaded. Zoey soothed his soul.
    “I’d love to.”
    Yes! “Pete’ll probably be coming, too.” Would that bother her to be around both of them? Or did she prefer one over the other? Thad had never worried about such things before, but something about Zoey made him want to be cautious.
    “Super. I’m looking forward to it. A farm sounds cool.”
    Thad probably should warn her what to expect. “Nana’s place is about as far from fancy as you can get. We’ll have our meal in an old barn, since it’s the only place big enough to hold everyone, and the backyard is an old junkyard.” He waited for a scowl, but none came.
    Her face lit up. “Do you think anyone would mind if I brought a camera? I love taking pictures of old things.”
    He laughed. “You can do anything you want. When on the Dalton farm, there are no rules. As for old things, that’s all there is there.”
    “I can’t wait.”
    *     *     *
    After her fun dart lesson, Zoey drove Thad to the grocery store so he could pick up some supplies. She didn’t need anything, but she enjoyed following him around while he loaded up on what looked like a month’s worth of food. Nothing fancy. Just chicken breasts, frozen fish, eggs, bread, and lunchmeat. If she’d been with Mark or Dave, they would have tossed in chips, dip, and a few six packs of beer. Nutrition wasn’t even in their vocabulary, which was odd given Dave was a dentist.
    “Do you buy stuff for Pete, too?” She was curious how two busy men managed.
    “Sometimes, but mostly we do our own thing.”
    To each his own. That was how Dave and Mark worked, too. Thad tossed some apples into the cart and a few other items, but it was always with his uninjured arm. She hoped throwing darts hadn’t set him back.
    After they checked out, he let her direct where to put the packages in her car, but insisted he place them just so in the trunk. Men .
    When she pulled in front of his home, she was impressed with its grandeur. Then she remembered this had been Pete’s family home. “Nice.”
    “It’s too big actually. It was built for a family, not two bachelors.”
    She wondered if he liked his single status. Stop analyzing . Courtney would be proud of her big sister for not digging any further for the answer. Zoey couldn’t wait to tell her that she’d accepted the dart invitation and hadn’t even balked when Thad asked her to his grandmother’s farm. Part of Zoey’s reasoning was that if his parents were anything like hers, they probably had bugged him about getting married again and about giving them grandchildren. And if he were anything like her, he’d be tired of hearing them harp. Asking her to a party would shut them up, at least for a while.
    Zoey cut the engine and jumped out. She popped the trunk and lifted two packages, one in each arm.
    Thad was by her