Chapter 4
four
. . .
Lila
To say that the Reynolds’ house was like something out of a movie, would be an understatement. They were better than a movie. Five rock star children with huge personalities and parents who were just as amazing.
We were seated at the enormous farmhouse table they’d had since I was a kid. There was food and drinks and laughter. Everyone talked at the same time, but somehow, they were all able to keep up. It had always been this way when we were growing up.
This was the family everyone wanted to be born into.
The Kennedys of Cottonwood Cove.
They were all gorgeous and smart and funny.
Confident and cool.
And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’d daydreamed more than once when I was a kid about what it would be like to have a family like this.
Cage was the oldest, and he’d always been a bit broodier than the rest. A little more serious than his siblings.
He’d been raising Gracie on his own since he’d had a one-night stand with some supermodel in Los Angeles, where he’d been attending vet school.
The woman didn’t want to keep the baby, and Cage agreed to raise her on his own.
He’d moved back to Cottonwood Cove to have the support of his family, and it was easy to see how much they all adored his little girl.
Chocolate eyes the size of saucers and two little light brown buns on top of her head that were bursting with curls. She was adorable, and I didn’t miss the way she’d moved onto Hugh’s lap when we sat down to eat.
Finn was next in line, and he’d been working as an actor since he’d graduated from college.
He’d been the star of a soap opera the last few years, but apparently, he’d been cast in some upcoming Netflix production that was being filmed at the old Scott Ranch not far from Cottonwood Cove.
Everyone in town was thrilled about it, and having a local guy who’d grown up here starring in it, made it even more amazing.
It sounded kind of like a twist on my favorite show, Yellowstone, and his family was talking about this being his breakout role.
“Yeah, I’m not holding my breath. We’ll see how it goes.
Sometimes they don’t make it the whole way through production, so I’m taking it one day at a time.
” Finn shrugged and then winked at me, which earned him a growl from Hugh.
The table erupted in laughter as they were always giving one another a hard time.
“It was a wink. Take it down a notch, big guy,” Finn said with a smirk on his face.
“Yeah. It always starts with a wink.” Hugh forked a carrot and held it up for Gracie to take a bite. My ovaries nearly exploded at the sight of this big bear of a man holding this little angel on his lap and feeding her like it was nothing out of the norm.
“Georgia, would you please do something about your shirt? You know how I feel about bras hanging out at the table,” Alana said, which made everyone chuckle again.
“It’s not even really a bra, Mom,” Georgia groaned. “It’s more of a fashion statement. I mean, when you’re the president of the Itty-Bitty Titty Committee, you don’t need the support. But a little black lace can add a little something-something to a white tank top, you know?”
“What’s a titty?” Gracie tipped her head back to look at Hugh, and Cage hissed something under his breath.
“Ah, fabulous question. What is a titty, Georgia?” Hugh asked, with a wicked grin on his face.
“Can we please not say titty around my daughter?” Cage grumped.
“Why? More than half of the people at this table have them,” Brinkley said over her laughter. She was the second youngest in the family. Hugh was the middle child, and he appeared to be close to every single one of his siblings. They’d always been a tight family.
Brinkley was a sports journalist, who lived in San Francisco, which was a two-hour drive from here.
“Do I have a titty?” Gracie asked in the sweetest voice, still looking up at Hugh like he set the sun.
Alana gasped. Her husband, Bradford, barked out a laugh, Cage rubbed his temples as if he were exhausted by the conversation, and Finn’s fist came down on the table as he laughed so hard it made everyone else do the same.
“This is all Aunt Georgia’s fault, isn’t it? She and her fashion bra trend has caused quite the commotion.” Hugh tried to hide his grin and stroked the little girl’s hair away from her face.
“Will you get me a bra, too, Uncle Hughey?” Gracie asked, placing one hand on his cheek.
“There’s a lot I’d do for you, sweet girl, but I pray to God that bra shopping is not one of them.”
Even Cage laughed now before raising a brow and looking at his daughter. “Okay, that’s enough about that.”
“Daddy doesn’t like titties?” she asked, and even I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Laughter bellowed around the room, and Alana covered her face with both hands, but it was easy to see her head shaking with muffled laughter, even if she was trying to hide it.
“I assure you, your daddy does not have a problem with titties.” Georgia took a sip from her wine glass and smirked.
“I have to agree with that one,” Brinkley said, agreeing with her younger sister.
“Girls. That’s enough.” Alana shook her head and dabbed at her eyes as she pulled herself together.
Hugh looked over at me. “Welcome to Sunday dinner, where nothing is off limits.”
I loved every second of it. The banter and the arguing and the love. It was impossible to miss.
“So, Lila, how long are you going to be here for?” Bradford asked me. “I hear you’re helping out Hugh quite a bit down at the restaurant. We’re grateful for that because he’s working way too much.”
“I’m planning to stay through the summer. I’ll head back to Chicago around the first of September.”
“Are you still running?” he asked. “I know there was some talk about you training for the Olympics.”
I nodded. I’d been approached by several coaches, and a lot of people thought I would want to continue racing after college, but I didn’t. I’d achieved what I’d set out to do, and it was time to walk away. “Nope. I was more than ready to be done. I want to start living a normal life, I guess.”
Hugh glanced over, and my gaze locked with his. There was so much empathy there, it comforted me. Not many people understood how much time and energy went into training at the collegiate level. The pressure. The expectations. The discipline and the determination it took to get there.
I was exhausted.
“I think that’s wonderful. You’ve been working hard your entire life. It’s time to just… live, right?” Alana asked, her green eyes that matched Hugh’s sparkled as she looked at me.
“I think so, yes.”
“Well, Lila, you know if you want to start living, I’m your girl. I live that YOLO life, and I have zero regrets,” Georgia said, her blonde hair falling around her shoulders.
“What’s a YOLO life?” Bradford asked, and I didn’t miss the way he looked at his youngest child with absolute adoration.
“It means you only live once, and if most of us lived our lives the way Georgie does, we wouldn’t have jobs or roofs over our heads.
” Brinkley raised a brow at her sister. They looked nothing alike.
Hugh and Brinkley looked more like their father with their dark coloring, and Finn and Cage had lighter brown hair while Georgia was the blondest of all the Reynolds kids, just like her mother.
“Hey, jobs and roofs are overrated if you ask me. Life is short; you need to enjoy it. Everything always works out, so carpe diem, bitches,” Georgia sang out.
“What’s bitches?” Gracie asked.
“Do not repeat that word, Gracie. For God’s sake, Georgie, can you not control yourself around a kid and watch what you say?
” Cage hissed at his sister. “And for the record, you don’t have to worry because your parents support you.
Not everyone has that luxury. The real world is not all sunshine and rainbows. ”
Georgia groaned. “The real world is what you make it. I choose to start my days with positivity and joy. So, you and your attitude can suck it, Cage. Our parents supported you, too, and then you went off to be a big fancy doctor, so I’d hardly say life has been unfair to you.”
“First off, I’m a veterinarian in Cottonwood Cove, which means I’m dealing with crazy animal people in this town, and there’s nothing fancy about that. But yes, I had a plan when I was in school. You need to figure out what you want to do. You graduate in six months.”
My eyes were bouncing between them, and I was completely fascinated.
Hugh barked out a laugh. “All right… let’s call a truce. She doesn’t have to have it all figured out tonight.”
“Agreed. And she does have parents who have a pretty good track record at raising capable children,” Bradford said, raising a brow at his oldest son.
Cage nodded. “I love you, Georgie. I just worry about you. You know I want the best for you.”
“Daddy loves Aunt Georgie,” Gracie said, and she clapped her hands together.
Hugh leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
“I love you, too, but you worry too much.” Georgia seemed completely unfazed.
This family even argued without anyone getting offended. It had always been this way.
Drama in my house growing up usually led to physical fights with my father and brother, police visits, arrests, worry, and sleepless nights.
This was refreshing.
“So, Lila, I’m doing this article on a retired professional football player, and he was saying that the toughest part about walking away from his sport is that he’ll miss the high of game day.
He said it’s tough when so much of your identity is wrapped up in what you did in your sport versus who you are. Was it hard for you to walk away?”
I thought it over. “I think my situation is a little different.”
Hugh’s gaze locked with mine, and he studied me. “How so?”