Meeting his father

"That's going to be Aunt Marie! Ethan, can you let her in? I'm up to my elbows here." From the kitchen. Brynne gestured to her frantic last-minute prep for dinner.

"I've got it." I gave her an air kiss and said, "Showtime, yeah?" She nodded back, looking beautiful, as always, in her long black skirt and purple top. The color was lovely on her, and since I now knew it was her fa- vorite, I had to believe in my luck that first time when I sent her the purple flowers.

All in, baby.

I opened the door to a lovely woman of whom I had no expectations other than knowing she was Brynne's great-aunt. Sister to her grandmother on her mum's side. But the person smiling at my doorstep was about as far from a grandmotherly female as you could get. With her unlined skin and dark red hair, she looked young and stylish and rather... hot for a woman who could not be above fifty-five.

"You must be Ethan that I'm hearing so much about," she said in a native tongue.

"And you must be Brynne's aunt Marie?"