Ivory and Gabby open their mouths, but Mike cuts them off.
“Sit so we can eat,” he commands and takes his seat at one end of the table. Grant sits beside him and pulls me into the chair on his left. Ivory sits on Mike’s other side and Preston takes the chair beside hers with Miller on his other side then Gabby and Chase.
“Wait, you don’t seem surprised.” Ivory turns to her dad. “Did you know?”
“Yes, Bug. I knew,” Mike confirms.
She gapes at him. “How long have you known?”
I jump in because it’s not fair for Mike to bear the brunt of Ivory’s wrath. “Maybe we should just go inside and talk. Just the three of us.”
I’d always planned to tell Ivory and Gabby privately, and I don’t like the fact we now have an audience for this quarrel.
“Nonsense. We’re all family here,” Miller says from across the table.
“Butt out. Your talking privileges have been revoked after that stupid-ass question.”
“Aw, come on Tay Bake, I didn’t mean it.”
“Zip it,” I shush him.
“You may want to listen to her, son.” Mike takes a swig of his beer and nods at me. I’ve always loved Mike like he was my own father. It’s why his nickname is so fun for me.
“Thanks, Daddy Mike.”
His lips tip up behind the mouth of the bottle. I knew he liked when I called him that.
“Can we please go inside and talk?” I ask again.
“Fine,” Gabby says, standing and going back inside.
“What about lunch?” Miller shouts after her.
“We’ll be fast.” Ivory goes inside next.
Grant presses a kiss to my temple before helping me up. My feet are heavy as I walk through the back door and into the kitchen. Gabby and Ivory are sitting on the couch in the living room, so I squeeze down between them.
“I thought we said no more secrets,” Gabby speaks first.
Taking a deep breath, I reach for each of their hands and hold them tightly. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I did want to, but it’s complicated.”
“What’s complicated about it?” Ivory asks curiously.
“It’s a lot to unpack and a lot of history to dig up. For a long time, it hurt too much to think about, and Grant wasn’t in my life anymore, so it wasn’t worth opening old wounds.”
Ivory is quiet for a moment, before responding. “So it’s not recent then?”
“No, it’s not.”
“How long?” This from Gabby.
“Grant and I have known each other since I was 22.”
I take in their surprised expressions as Ivory quickly does the math. “That’s over ten years, Tay. How did we not know about him back then?”
“We met not long after graduation. Josh was in town and we went to the baseball game. His friend was pitching for New York and that friend happened to be Grant. You had just started law school, Gabby, and Ives you were back in Hollywood, and we were all trying to figure out our new normal since we weren’t living together.”
Gabby sighs, “We had drifted apart a little. I hated that year.”
