I sit through the speeches, barely taste my meal, and talk to my family, not even registering what they say because all I want to do is be with Lucas. Miles slips out of his seat, and my mother takes his place.
“Someone can’t take their eyes off the table next to us. And since it’s the Carras family and their friends, I think it’s Lucas you’re staring at.”
God, Mom is always so intuitive. “You can’t tell Jack!”
“Tell him what?” Her eyes crinkle in confusion. “That you have a thing for Lucas?”
“I don’t have a thing for him.”
“Rainey Noelle, you can’t lie worth a damn. You never could.” Mom laughs.
“I’m only Rainey Noelle when I’m in trouble,” I mutter.
“You’re not in trouble. I’ve just caught you in a lie. Okay, so maybe you don’t have athingfor Lucas. Maybe you’re already head over heels.”
I cough on my own saliva at her words. “I’m not—”
“Lie.” She picks up a clean fork, takes a bite of the chocolate cake at my brother’s seat, and pops it into her mouth.
“Fine,” I hiss under my breath. “But you can’t tell anyone. Especially not Dad or Jack. Or the twins.”
She places her hand over mine on the table. “If you want to talk about why it’s a secret, I’m here to listen.”
I swallow hard. “I appreciate that, Mom. But you wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me. I went through a lot before actually admitting my feelings for your father. You’d be surprised what I understand.” She turns in her seat so she’s facing me.
Looking at her, I’m struck by the resemblance, from our long, wavy, chocolate brown hair to the freckles on our nose despite us both wearing foundation. I smile, then get back to thinking and talking about Lucas.
“It’s just that professionally, I’m trying to rebuild the business from the Atwater fiasco and Lucas is helping me do that. I don’t want to be seen as unprofessional in any way.”
Mom tips her head to the side. “And you think being with Lucas is unprofessional?”
I nod. “While we’re working together, yes. But there’s also Jack. They’re best friends and business partners. Jack never let any of his friends near me that way. He threatened anyone who tried. I can’t come between them. And I don’t want to mess up their partnership.”
It’s my turn to grab a fork and dig into the cake, then shove it into my mouth so I can savor the taste. I swallow and lift a glass, taking a sip of water before putting it back down. “And there’s that old bro code saying: you don’t date your best friend’s sister.”
Mom shakes her head. “Since when do you care what your brothers think? If Jack is upset, he’ll have to get over it.”
I take another sip of water. “And Dad?” I ask.
“What does Dad have to do with anything?” she asks. Now her crinkled eyes give her an even more confused expression.
I glance across the table to where my father is deep in conversation with Hudson. “When we were younger, I remember you and Dad warning Jack to stay away from Lucas.” I keep my voice low. I don’t want anyone to overhear.
“When he first came to live with his foster family and he was getting in trouble, yes. But obviously he’s changed. He’s your brother’s partner now. The past is the past.” She shakes her head and sighs. “I see you’ve given this a lot of thought.” She reaches out and cups my face in her hand. “My sweet girl. Always the overthinker.”
“If you overthink, you can’t make mistakes.” I shrug because those words defined how I tried to behave my entire life.
Mom treats me to a soft smile. “If you overthink, you can miss out on the most wonderful things.” She taps my nose. “Give that some thought.”
“Any chance I can steal my chair back?” Miles asks.
Mom nods. She turns to me. “Remember what we talked about, Rainey. And give that yourlong thoughttreatment.”
Smiling, she rises from her seat and my brother lowers himself into the now empty chair.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
