Chapter Twenty Three
GABE
Grandfather's birthday was always a very subdued affair.
Most years he didn't celebrate it at all.
We always stopped by his home to drop off a gift, but he never wanted a big dinner or anything.
So I was surprised when he called a few weeks ago to say he was inviting all of his grandkids over for a dinner on his birthday.
"Sure," I said. "How big is the party going to be?"
"It's just us family, and that's already a lot of people. Your grandmother is planning the menu."
I stopped in the act of opening an email on my laptop. "Tell me she's not planning to cook herself."
"That's not a battle I'm willing to engage in." But I was. I respected Grandfather for choosing his battles, but I hadn't reached that point yet.
"Gabe, I can tell you're up to something."
"The less you know the better, Grandfather."
"All right. Whatever I don't know can't hurt me or your grandmother."
That made me laugh. He was exceptionally skilled at delegating things like that. I supposed it was one of the reasons why he'd been such a successful businessman.
"Oh, and bring that girl of yours," he added.
"I was going to anyway," I said.
As soon as I hung up, I wrote in the group chat with my brothers.
Gabe: Hey, you already got the invite for Grandfather’s birthday, I guess?
Jake: Yeah.
Gabe: So what are we doing about convincing Grandmother to use a catering company?
Colton: We're on it. The girls are planning something.
My brothers were good at this. For some reason, Grandmother treated their better halves differently than she treated us. She actually took their advice instead of brushing them off and accepted more coddling from them.
I was fiercely protective of our grandparents, and that had always been the case.
Once, soon after the scandal broke, a teacher at school made a comment that my grandparents had to have done something really bad for my father to turn out that way.
I’d gotten into a shouting match with him.
It was the first and only time I got suspended.
My protective instincts grew stronger over the years, especially in these past few months when we've had health scares with both grandparents.
I got out of the family chat and noticed a message from Diane.
Diane: Wish me luck. One of the families in the tour canceled, so I only have three tourists, but fingers crossed they enjoy it.
Three? That wasn't even enough people to actually consider it a group. She'd put four different types of smiley faces, and I knew exactly what that meant—she was trying to see the positive in this. But I knew she was worrying.
I went back to the family group, but instead of sending a message, I accidentally hit Colton's number. I was about to disconnect, but he answered.
"Hey," he said.
"I called by mistake. I wanted to write in the family chat."
"Everything all right? You sound off."
"You picked up on that?" I teased. "My, my, you are getting more in tune with the family."
"Don't be a jackass."
"Sorry, you're right. So, Diane is now starting to offer tours on her own. It's her own business, and I’m damn proud of her. Long story short, she's got her first one today, and a big group canceled. She's only got three people."
"It's always rougher in the beginning," Colton said reasonably.
"I know. But it's going to make her worry. I wonder if… No, that's stupid."
"Go on.”
"Maybe I can just pay people to join the group without her knowing."
There was a pause, and then Colton said, "That sounds something like Jake would do, not you."
I sighed. "I don't even know why my mind went there. Spending time with you is rubbing off on me." But then I had an idea. "I just thought of something better."
"What, paying off a group of kids? Jesus, Gabe."
"No. I’ll write in the family group."
"All right, I'm curious now."
After hanging up, I immediately typed a message.
Gabe: It's short notice, but do any of you have time today at 5:00 for a walking tour of the city? As a surprise for Diane.
I'd barely blinked and already five had replied with I’m in.
I could just imagine Diane's expression when she saw us. I was grateful that everyone had rallied around me.
I wrote separately in the group I had with my half brothers. We had one where we were all together but rarely wrote in there, mostly because there were so many people that it made it hard to keep track of anything. They also agreed to join us.
This is going to be fantastic.
I put the phone down afterward and got to work.
Only one person was missing—Celia.
We hadn't spoken too much since she showed up at the house. Diane had asked me not to interfere, and I'd kept my word. But I knew Diane would be happy about this, so I went down to the bar in the afternoon. There was only one hour left until the tour started, so there wasn’t much time.
"Celia, I need a word with you," I said.
"All right."
She put down the glass she was polishing as I motioned for her to come to the very end of the counter. The other two guys were gathered near the wine fridge, so they wouldn't hear us.
"Listen, Diane has her first tour today."
She nodded. "Yep. She texted that a family canceled."
"I know, and I prepared a surprise for her because… well… you know her superstition."
Celia's jaw dropped. "Wait, she told you about that?"
"Yes. My family is joining me on the tour, but I think she'd be very happy to see you."
Celia was quiet for a few seconds, just staring at me. It was bizarre.
"All right. If the boss allows me to take time off."
"The boss agrees."
"Then I will. And thank you. This means a lot to my sister. And… I didn't get the chance to apologize to you for acting that way at your house. I spoke to Diane about it but never with you."
I held up a hand. "No need to apologize. Sneaking around you wasn't our best idea."
“I mean, clearly I'd misjudged you. I might have listened a bit too closely to gossip."
I rearranged my cuff links.
Celia cleared her throat. "All right, when are we going, and who's going to cover the shift?"
"I'll call one of the guys we have on standby."
"I still can't believe we actually hire bartenders to be on standby."
"You never know when we’ll have another of those crazy nights again, and it's totally worth it. Now come on, let's go."
At 4:55 p.m., we headed toward the meeting point at the museum.
I'd parked a few streets away so Diane wouldn’t accidentally see the car, as I wanted to surprise her.
I was damn proud of her, and I wanted to make sure she knew it.
She was following her passion and taking a risk, and I admired her for it.
I saw her immediately, standing at the foot of the steps. She didn't notice me at all, as she was engrossed in conversation with the three people who'd signed up. She was carrying a yellow umbrella that said Walking Tour so other people could join.
As I stepped closer, her eyes widened at me and Celia. Then she looked over my shoulder and jerked her head back.
I followed her gaze. The rest of the family was coming, and they'd clearly arrived together. The group was complete. Only our grandparents and Ben were missing. Maddox, Leo, and Nick joined from the opposite direction. Diane was too stunned to notice them.
But then Maddox asked, "Could we join the tour?"
She whipped her head in his direction, mouth hanging open. "Yes, sure." She looked from them to me again and flashed me a heartfelt smile. "All right, I'm going to give you the itinerary, and in case anyone wants to see something different, let me know."
"Sounds good," I replied.
For the next two hours, we were on our best behavior. We wanted her to offer the actual tourists a good experience.
"Hey, I've lived in Boston my whole life. Never knew so much stuff," Meredith said.
"Same for me," Cade agreed.
"You’re an excellent guide," Natalie said, smiling from ear to ear.
"Yeah, you truly are. I'm going to leave a review for sure," one of the actual tourists added.
By the time the tour ended, it was seven o'clock. "Thank you very much," the tourists said, giving her tips. She immediately pocketed them.
After the trio left, Diane threw her arms around my neck, kissing my cheek, and then focused on the rest of the group. "This was an awesome surprise. Thank you all for coming. Sis, you’re amazing."
"It was all Gabe's idea."
"Nooo," she replied with a cheeky grin.
"He messaged us all this morning," Spencer began, "asking who could spare some time, and turns out we all could."
I knew for a fact that wasn't exactly true. At the very least, Colton and Jake usually had meetings scheduled until 6:00 p.m., but I'd appreciated that they made the effort.
Colton grinned. "I've got to tell her."
I groaned. "Man, when did you get a sense of humor?"
Zoey perked up. "I think I might have something to do with it."
"Nah," Maddox said. "I vote it's on us." He pointed at himself, Leo, and Nick. "Ever since he's been hanging around us, his sense of humor has improved massively."
Colton glared at him, determined to prove the opposite, but Maddox wasn't entirely wrong. Then he looked at Diane. "I spoke to Gabe first. He was actually thinking of hiring people to pose as tourists."
Diane's mouth hung open. "That’s… I’m not even sure what to say."
"It was just a fleeting thought," I defended.
"He was channeling me," Jake said.
"I won't even argue with that. Clearly I wasn't being myself," I replied.
Celia smiled broadly. "Dear sis, you always say you’re too awkward. But Gabe is all on board. He even remembered your superstition."
Fuck yes, I was. There was nothing awkward about her. Every part was simply amazing.
As Diane spoke with Colton, Zoey, and Celia, I went to my half brothers. "Thank you for joining us, guys. This means a great deal to Diane."
"We couldn't miss it," Nick said on a chuckle. "One of the things I never thought would happen was you being in a relationship with someone."
“Or not wincing when the word relationship comes up!" Leo added.
“We couldn’t miss your big gesture,” Maddox said, playing right off them.
"This is the big gesture?" I asked.
Maddox patted my shoulder. "You're doing good. Don't sabotage yourself."
Leo cleared his throat. "But there's another reason that I was actually glad we have the chance to meet up. It’s about Dad."
The mood between the four of us instantly shifted. By the surprise on Maddox's and Nick’s faces, it was news to them too.
“For fuck's sake. We need to find a better way to get these updates about that," Nick said. “Otherwise, the rest will guess, and we said we didn’t want to alarm everyone.”
"Let's hear it," Maddox said.
Leo sighed. “He's looking at a property in Essex. It's huge."
"How huge?" I asked.
As he gave me the specs, I did a quick calculation in my mind.
"It would be big enough for the distillery," I said.
Leo cocked a brow. “You had me looking at Stockbridge.”
"Yeah, but I'm flexible. Essex is fine, and the property is actually big enough for a distillery and a hotel," I said more to myself than to my brothers. "How's the permit situation?"
"I'll look into it. As far as I know, he's checking the same thing right now too. I should have news at Grandpa's birthday party."
"All right." I nodded. "Looking forward to hearing it."
“Now, why don’t you focus on Diane?” Leo suggested. “Or your grand gesture will end up being a bust.”
DIANE
I couldn't believe it. This afternoon was magic. I'd had a huge group, and everyone had fun. Yes, I knew that technically it was cheating, but I was taking it as a good omen nonetheless.
"Ice cream, my treat," I announced, pointing across the street at one of my favorite shops.
"Babe," Gabe said. “You don’t want to spend all your tips.”
"I insist."
"Fine." Gabe looked at the group. "It'll give us all a chance to talk about how we're going to convince Grandmother to use a catering company for Grandfather's birthday."
He then looked at me. "Want to join me and this crazy group in a few weeks for the celebration?"
I felt like my chest was expanding even more, although I didn't think that was possible. "Of course. Now, what's that about catering?"
"Leave things to us," Penny said.
Meredith nodded. "We'll talk her into it.”
“That’s our role," Zoey clarified.
"And we're damn good at it," Natalie added.
Jake kissed her cheek. "You are."
I smiled as we walked toward the ice cream shop. "Each of you has a role?" I asked Gabe.
"Yes. At least it’s true of us guys. Not sure how they roped Natalie, Penny, Zoey and Meredith into it."
"Because we're opportunistic," Cade said. "We realized they're much better at talking Grandmother into… well, letting us make life easier for her."
"We have to be careful, though," Penny said, "because she might catch on."
Gabe laughed in my ear as we stepped inside the ice cream shop. "Knowing Grandmother, she already has, but she wants to indulge you."
Once inside, everyone went to look at the display freezer, inspecting the flavors. I already knew what I wanted, so I stayed to one side. I was immediately flanked by Meredith and Natalie.
"So… we couldn't help overhearing that you'll be at the party," Natalie said.
I grinned. "I'm excited. Anything I should know? What's his name?"
"Abe. He doesn't want us to make a fuss—according to the guys," Meredith replied.
"Any advice? I appreciate the insider info."
"Honestly, Jeannie already met you, and you've got her approval," Zoey said.
I was sure I looked stunned. "I do?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. Between you and me, I think she's got serious plans for you and Gabe," Natalie said.
I laughed nervously. "Look, he and I… I mean, we're not making any long-term plans."
Meredith blinked. "Really? Hmm."
Natalie frowned, looking at Meredith. "Right."
Zoey didn’t reply at all.
I shrugged. "I mean, construction on Gabe's house will eventually finish and he’ll move out, so…"
Zoey nodded. "I see."
"I've known from the beginning that he's not into long-term relationships, so it's not like I’m expecting it or anything."
“If you’re sure…,” Zoey said.
Natalie and Meredith exchanged a glance but didn't say anything else.
"Don't you want ice cream?" I asked them.
"Sure we do. We're just letting everyone else choose first," Meredith replied.
The two of them walked to the counter, and I looked inside it too. Gabe put a hand around my waist, kissing my cheek. I leaned into him, absorbing the strength and heat of his body. I didn't even care that we were in public. Not that we were indecent or anything.
"You were amazing back there," he murmured.
"Thank you for this day. It's wonderful."
"I wanted to do something special to celebrate this milestone with you."
“You’re my favorite person right now,” I said with a smile.
He brought his mouth to my ear. "That was exactly my plan."