Chapter 15
LUKE
"Come in," Mom said the next evening. "Everyone’s already here."
Reese, Gran, and Kimberly were back from Europe, so, of course, my parents had organized a get-together at their house.
I stepped inside, following Mom to the living room. She looked fondly at Reese and Kimberly.
"Oh, I'm so glad the house is full again," she said. "I'm not used to having both my girls away."
The two of them were practically daughters to my mother. I looked around the room, focusing on Reese and Kimberly, looking for nonverbal signs of how they were really doing. Gran was near Paisley, each sitting in an armchair at the other end of the room.
My siblings and their better halves were spread around the room. Travis walked toward the girls, gesturing for me to join them. That was exactly what I planned to do, but not before I welcomed Gran. Mom ingrained manners in us.
"Hey, Gran," I said as I approached. "How are you?"
"I'm fine. I had so much fun in London. I should get out more often."
Gran was a very active woman, but it was true that she didn't travel outside the city at all. Paisley was looking eagerly at Gran, and I didn't want to interrupt the conversation they’d been having. I’d catch up with her later.
I went to my cousins and Travis next. Reese seemed relaxed, at least more so than I'd seen her in the months leading up to her trip. She looked different, but I couldn't say how. Maybe she'd done something to her hair. I was clueless when it came to these things.
I sat down in the chair opposite Travis.
"Hey, good to see you both. So, spill the beans," Travis said.
"How did it go?"
"It was really nice," Reese said. "Dad spent a lot of time with me and Gran.”
“I think becoming a father again changed something in him," Kimberly said. "Maybe he sees this as a second chance."
My cousins didn’t talk much about their relationship with their father.
When they were growing up, he worked long hours, and they barely saw him.
And after the bookstore business was sold, he moved to London.
They talked about once a month, but that was it.
Perhaps now that he had a young daughter, things would change.
"Is he planning a trip this side of the ocean any time soon?" I asked, wondering when Gran would next see her granddaughter.
"I can't imagine they'll do it soon," Kimberly said. "The baby's far too young."
"True, I didn't think about that.” We’d have to set up calls for Gran on Zoom or something so she could feel involved with the baby. "Reese, you look good."
"I feel good. I did a lot of sightseeing, and London is amazing. I mean, I've been there before, but I was seeing it with different eyes this time." The corner of Kimberly's mouth tilted up. Reese cleared her throat. “It might be because I had the company of a cool English gentleman.”
"Good for you," Travis said.
I was surprised but pleased. It was high time Reese got over that asshole.
"I didn’t think about Malcolm and all his crap at all,” she declared. "And I like English gentlemen. That accent is so attractive."
I hadn't seen her smile like this in a long time. I was happy for her.
"You know what? Accents can be cute, but deceiving," Kimberly said. "I'm done with Frenchmen. Maybe I'll move to London. That way I’ll be closer to our sister. Someone has to teach her the Maxwell ways."
I could read between the lines: Kimberly wasn’t happy. I hoped she would come back to Chicago at some point. Maybe one day she would.
"Besides, maybe you’ll go back and forth, see your Englishman," Kimberly told Reese, who just laughed.
"We are nowhere near the stage where we've made plans to visit each other. But we are keeping in touch," she added. "I’m being cautious.”
“As you should," I said.
"Yeah, I agree," Travis added.
"Anyway, I've decided that any time I want to see a guy, I’ll somehow make an impromptu family get-together happen where you all can grill him and tell me your opinion."
"I like that plan," I said.
"We like Dad's wife too. We hadn't met her the last time we were there. She's a good woman, and I think she'll make Dad happy, which is great."
“Her name is Leah, right? Did you get any more info about her?”
“Oh, yes, she’s great. She mentioned they met at a coffee shop near where she used to work, and then things blossomed from there.” Reese sounded as though they really bonded, and that made me happy. Hopefully, old wounds would mend these next years.
If my cousins liked her, then that was good enough for me. “I’m glad you all got along. That will certainly make things easier going forward.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Kimberly said. “Anyway, Hazel, our sister, completely charmed us.”
Reese looked at Travis and then at me. "So, what's new around here? I haven't heard a word about the mysterious lady in Luke's office, and I'm very suspicious."
I looked at Travis, who said nothing. I was proud of him.
Reese dropped her shoulders, apparently having anticipated some dirt.
"Oh, nothing happened? Well, that's… wait a second." She was staring at Travis intently. "You look like you're trying hard to keep a poker face. You usually spill the story."
"Oh, for fuck's sake, it's not a secret," I said. She’ll just badger me endlessly, so I might as well fess up.
Reese looked at me, then smiled at Kimberly, who asked, "Then how come we didn't hear anything about it?"
"Ladies, there’s nothing to tell. Megan is an intern in my office," I explained.
"And what's the story behind that?" Kimberly’s eyebrows practically reached her hairline.
"The story is—” I began, but Travis rudely interrupted me.
"Come on, dude. Why are you so coy about it? Can't you see I'm bursting at the seams here? Just hurry up."
Damn, he can be such an asshole.
Whatever.
"Fine. I'm involved with Megan.” I wasn’t ashamed. I just wanted to have more time before I shared the details of it all because I wanted Megan on board with everything, and we hadn’t decided on how this would play out going forward.
Because there was no question as far as I was concerned that she was mine.
Reese stared at me. “Define involved.”
“We haven’t defined it.” That was an understatement. Ever since we got back, we barely had time to email. She had a lot on her plate, but I was biding my time. I wasn’t a patient man, but I wanted to wait for the right moment.
"Oh, now we're talking," Kimberly said. "But wait, back up a few steps. We heard you two knew each other before she even started. So, you met her before she took the job?"
"Yes. At the bar across the road. We spent one night together." There, now it’s out. Honestly, it felt good to share this with my cousins. Where Declan tried to make sure we all didn’t get into too much trouble, I kept an eye on the girls.
"Wow!" Reese exclaimed, and Kimberly chuckled. "I guess there are worse ways to meet. Must have made things awkward for Megan the first day in the office."
"Yes. She almost didn’t take the job once she saw it was me and my company. But we discussed things, and all is good. The deal was, I was going to wait until her internship was over to pursue her. But that’s not working out as planned."
"Ha! Tell them the truth. You couldn't help yourself and broke the rules," Travis finished for me. "Sorry, I didn't play my part in being a cockblocker well enough."
"Do we want to know?" Kimberly asked.
"No," Travis and I said at the same time.
Reese looked positively delighted. "My, my, this does seem like a story we should know more of, but maybe another time.
Aunt Lena is already calling us to dinner.
Oh, and we've been bad. We haven't helped her at all.
Come on, let's go." She ushered us all away from the sitting area, then came up to me. I put an arm around her shoulders.
"I like this news, cousin," she said.
"You do. Why?"
"Because I think you finally understand that just because it didn't work out with Cammy, that doesn't mean that all relationships won't work."
"What are you talking about? I never thought that."
"Didn't you? I mean, let's recap. You had a short but intense relationship with Cammy.
You thought you'd end up married. You even bought property to build a house, and then it didn't work out. Since then, you haven’t done relationships.
I'm not talking about hookups. So, when can I meet Megan?
I'm at a disadvantage. Everyone else already met her.”
“No, they haven’t. Only Travis and Sam, and only because they were in the office.”
"What's troubling you? You seem serious. That's unlike you. Is it just that she's your intern?”
"That too, but she's also younger. She's at a different stage in her life. Perhaps she wants different things."
"Oh, cousin, come on. You fit with someone younger. I think that's the perfect combination."
“Maybe, but she’s nine years younger than me. She’s mature for her age, though.” I rolled my eyes. “Hell, I sound like Declan, searching for trouble when there’s nothing.”
“So don’t mess it up.”
I laughed. "I've missed you, Reese."
As we reached the table, I held out the chair for her.
"It's good to have everyone here," Mom said.
"Mom, this smells delicious." She’d made one of her favorites: beef stroganoff. She claimed it was easy to cook for so many people.
"I'm glad to be back too,” Reese said. “I’ve missed you all, and The Happy Place. By the way, the administrator told me a pipe broke on the upper level of the building.”
“I know, I took care of it,” I said. Gran’s bookshop was on the ground floor, so fortunately it didn’t impact the rest of the building.
“I’m sad the upper levels are still empty. I’ve always hoped we’ll fill up that whole building with life,” Gran replied.
“It’s a great building,” Travis said, a look of intense concentration etched on his face.
We all knew that building meant a lot to our grandmother, and because of that, it meant the world to us too.
It was in a great location for any type of business.
That was one of the reasons Reese and her idiotic ex had wanted to open a spa there.
“Anyway, I’m excited to get back in the thick of it. But I've got to say, I can't wait to go back to London," Gran remarked.
"You're already planning your trip?" Declan asked.
"When?" Tate added.
Oh, for fuck's sake, these two couldn't give it a rest. They went on and on about how Gran should be careful. True, she was older, but she was very fit.
"Why?" Gran asked, and I recognized that tone. It was far too sweet. It meant she was preparing to hand them their asses. "What are you two afraid of? That I'm too old to travel?"
"We did not say that," Tate said adamantly.
"No, but I know how you boys think. And I won’t hear any of it.”
One point for Gran. I’d definitely missed her.
During dinner, while we caught Reese and Gran up on the comings and goings of the family, I realized exactly what was bothering me.
Megan was holding back—and I suspected it wasn’t just because she was my intern.
Granted, we’d avoided being too open with each other while we were trying to keep things professional.
But since we’d failed anyway, I planned to change that.