Axel reached over from the driver’s seat and clasped her hand. “It’ll be fine.”
Gunnar reached from the back seat and tenderly rubbed the back of his knuckles along her jaw line.
“Whatever you decide, sweetheart. We’ll follow your lead. And the rest of the family will too. You’re one of us now, and we all look out for our own.”
“Okay. Let’s get this over with.” She shoved open her door and got out, heading up the walkway instead of waiting for her men as she usually did.
Everyone was gathered on the back deck. Two massive stainless steel barbeque grills smoked, and the scent of venison steak and Heidi’s special marinated chicken wafted into the early evening air.
“Hey,” she said, swiping her sweaty palms on her jeans.
“There’s the lady of the hour,” Fridrik said with a grin, getting up from his Adirondack chair. He enveloped her in a bear hug and whispered in her ear, “It’ll be okay. We’ve been through this before.”
She hugged him back and said, “Thanks.”
“Quit hoggin’ the girl,” Burke said, pulling her away from Fridrik and hugging her.
She burst out laughing, probably from nerves, but she did like the attention the dads gave her. They seemed to enjoy having another female around. She returned Burke’s hearty hug. “Thanks, Dad,” she murmured quietly before he let her go and grinned at her. It was easy to love this whole family.
Her own mother and father came up to her and gave her hugs, and then she heard Axel and Gunnar come out onto the deck. They’d been sweet to give her some distance before they came along.
“So, I guess you’ve already met everyone?” Dakota asked her parents.
“Except these two,” her mother said, eyeing Axel and Gunnar. “What a group of good looking men.”
Dakota grinned. There was no arguing that point.
She turned and pointed. “Axel and Gunnar. The oldest of the boys. Axel owns the shop. Guys, these are my parents, Mary and John Tokala.” They shook hands, said the typical “nice to meet you” pleasantries.
“She speaks very highly of you,” her mother said to Axel. “Saved her life in the mountains, then gave her a job.”
“At least she’s out of that damn city,” her father grumbled. He’d hated her living in Vegas all alone.
“She’s safe here,” Axel said, and the deep meaning behind the words helped calm Dakota a bit. She was safe with him, Gunnar and the whole Falke family.
Her mother narrowed her eyes a tiny bit and looked Axel up and down with an assessing gaze that made Dakota want to squirm. The same look her mother had always given any boyfriend she dared bring home.
“So,” Dakota said, turning back to the group of men, “where’s Heidi?”
“Right here,” Heidi said, stepping out onto the porch carrying a humongous serving bowl of tossed salad. “Great timing. Food’s just about ready.” She set the salad on one of the two picnic tables near the barbeques. “Boys, go get all the stuff off the counter and bring it out. I’m not your dang slave.”
The six brothers nearly tripped over their own feet, playfully shoving at each other to get through the sliding glass door as they went to fetch the rest of the food and condiments.
Dakota’s mother laughed and picked up a bottle of beer she’d obviously been drinking earlier, while her father joined Fridrik and Burke at one end of one of the picnic tables, their conversation centered around U.S. national parks conservation and hunting regulations.
Heidi opened the grills and started piling meat onto platters. Her parents thought this dinner was a celebration get-together, an anniversary for the company, but that was just an excuse. For three months she’d been living with Axel and Gunnar, attending weekly dinners at the dads’, and helping Heidi cook meals now and then for all the boys who seemed unable to feed themselves—or at least feed themselves properly, as Heidi put it. She still couldn’t get used to the amount of food these men could consume in one sitting.
Within moments, the tables were laden with salads, chips, condiments, meat and Heidi’s homemade bread.
Axel sat on one side of her, Gunnar on the other, and her mother right across from them.
“When are you going to have the new proofs for the winter ad campaign done?” Reidar asked. He sat next to her mother.
“I only started last week,” Dakota said with a frown. “I just got the photos back yesterday.”
“Yeah?” Kelan said. “How’d I look?”
“Not as good as I did,” Torsten piped in around a bite of chicken.
“You wouldn’t even take your shirt off for the photographer,” Sindre said as he reached behind him and pulled another beer from the cooler.
Dakota bit her tongue and glanced at Axel. There would be a few shots of the brothers in the ad campaign, but it was Axel’s company, and so he was the face of it.
He winked at her. She, Axel and Gunnar had gone through the proofs the night before and chose the photos that would be used. Of course, all the brothers had looked great, but she was a bit biased. And the only one she was using with no shirt was Gunnar. By far he had the best set of abs.
“That’s your answer to everything, isn’t it?”
Torsten said as he reached across her mother’s plate to grab a bowl of chips. “Just get naked.”
“Manners please,” Heidi said, slapping Torsten’s shoulder as she walked behind them. “Sorry,” she said to Dakota’s mother, “they really weren’t raised in a barn.”
“Sorry, ma’am,” Torsten added.
Her mother laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure you had your hands full with this bunch.”
“At least they know how to sit at a table, right?”
Heidi said with a laugh then sat down on the other side of Sindre.
Her mother’s assessing gaze traveled back to her then Axel, then Gunnar. Mary smiled and lifted a fork of macaroni salad, her eyes twinkling a little.
Dakota wanted to tell Axel and Gunnar to act more like their brothers. They ate with forks, had napkins over their laps. What the hell? They didn’t do this on a normal basis. They usually were as unruly as the rest of them. As loud as the rest of them too, and tonight they barely said a word.
“Thanks for the help,” Heidi said as she dried the platter Dakota had just washed.
“No problem. The guys seem to think this is a holiday or something.” She shook her head and grinned. “Besides, the way my mother keeps staring at me is starting to make my skin itch.”
Heidi laughed. “She’s pretty sharp. She knows something’s up and Axel isn’t just your employer.”
“I know.” She sighed.
“Hey, I want you to know something.” Heidi set the platter on the island and turned back to Dakota to place her hands on her shoulders.
“What? Jeez, Heidi, I’m terrified enough as it is.”
Heidi laughed and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her hard and quick. When she pulled back she said, “I want you to know that I’m really happy you’re part of the family. I always wanted a sister, and you’re about the best one I could ever imagine.”
Tears sprang hot and fast to Dakota’s eyes even as she smiled. “Thank you. I feel the same about you. The brothers make me kind of nuts sometimes, but I love it when you and I have girl time together.”
“Need any help?”
Dakota turned toward the door to see her mother standing there, smiling.
Crap. How much had she heard?
“Nope,” Heidi said, wiping the last platter. “We’re done. But thanks.” She set it on the island and turned to the fridge, pulling out three of the good, imported beers she kept hidden in the back so her brothers didn’t get them. She handed one to Dakota and the other to Mary as she walked out of the kitchen, leaving mother and daughter alone.