I wondered if she knew about my brother and Gwen’s backstory with the singer—and how instrumental Gwen had been in healing the breach. Including the song in the reveal was a fun way to reference their shared history.
“A girl,” Emilia sighed. “What do you think?”
I watched my brother and Gwen hug it out. “There’s a lot of testosterone in this family. We were due for a change.”
None of us knew what the hell to do with a little girl, but it sure was going to be fun finding out.
20
EMILIA
Ikneeled in front of the adorable little blond boy all dressed up in a plaid bow tie and shiny black shoes. “Did you eat some cake?”
He nodded shyly.
“Me too!” I gave him a wink. “It was so yummy that I think I might have two pieces. What about you?”
His eyes lit up and he looked at his father questioningly.
“I don’t know, buddy,” Logan said with mock seriousness. “Twopieces of cake in one day? I’m not sure you can handle it.”
“Daddy, I can,” he insisted, hopping up and down excitedly.
“You can what, young man?” Oliver said as he joined our group.
“He’s angling for another slice of cake, thanks to this one,” Drew said as he pointed at me.
“Well, it’s a party, so I vote yes as well,” Oliver smiled at his grandson. “Let’s see if we can make that happen. That okay, Logan?”
He nodded then Oliver tapped a server passing by and seamlessly gave the order. When she turned to walk away, Noah skipped along behind her.
“I need to talk to that kid about strangers in vans with candy,” Logan said as he watched his son take off. “He’s such an easy target. Offer him anything sweet and he’s gone.”
A beautiful grey-haired woman in a floaty tangerine dress joined us, and I caught Oliver smiling shyly at her in a way. I didn’t blame him; she was stunning, with a willowy build, bright blue eyes, and the regal carriage of a retired runway model.
“I don’t think I’ve had the chance to introduce you all to my friend Candace Fremont,” Oliver said. “Candace, these are my sons, Logan and Drew, and Drew’s fiancée, Emilia.”
We all smiled and shook hands but I detected a chill in the air coming from Drew and Logan.
“You local?” Drew asked her.
His voice sounded clipped, like he was talking to a staff member that he had a problem with. I cringed a little, because I had a feeling I knew what was happening.
“Me? No, I live in Manhattan,” Candace answered with a kind smile despite the bad cop vibes Drew was giving off. “It’s such a wonderful change of pace to visit the West Coast. I love it here. We’ve had a run of bad weather lately in NYC, so I’m drinking in the sunshine.”
“With sunscreen, of course,” Oliver added with a laugh. He bumped a little closer to Candace and I noticed the way their arms rested lightly against one another.
Logan noticed, too. His glare was unmistakable.
“So is this who’s getting you to wear it when you go golfing?” Logan asked in a way that sounded almost accusatory. “Candace, do we have you to thank for that?”
I cringed when I saw that Drew was equally locked onto the pair, glaring.
Candace, for her part, seemed to be weathering the disapproval just fine. If anything, she looked amused. “Oh, no, I can’t take credit for that. Your father is doing an excellent job looking out for his health all on his own.Hehad to remindmeto put it on the last time we golfed.”
“And when was that?” Drew asked.
Damn. In this scenario there was no ‘good cop’, just two very grumbly brothers being deliberately rude to a stranger.
