Back in the SUV, Jake commandeered the stereo and streamed his favorite Laurel Canyon playlist from Spotify. Through the speakers, Stephen Stills advised them to love the one they were with. “So, current impressions, Cam?”
“Bennett’s too fucking naïve to be playing with politics, though Cici seems ambitious. Heart’s in the right place, though. Nice family, like I said.” His heart clenched. So many memories stirring up lately. Seeing Bennett’s reaction to his family coming home, the twins and their mom just doing normal shit, with no clue how lucky they were to have that chance. Meeting Elena and Tina started it, resurrected pieces of his heart he’d buried five years before.
On the day he put his wife and daughter in the ground.
“You okay, brother?” Jake’s voice held the weight he’d started using on that same day whenever he suspected Camden of thinking about the past.
“Never better, brother.”
Jake side-eyed him but dropped it. “I’m going to ask Mom to invite them to her Bash, like I said. It’ll be a dry run for Roger’s upcoming announcement event at the villa. You picked out anyone else for the team I should invite, too? Well, besides Spooky.”
“Gina picked herself out.” Camden slowed as he hit a wall of traffic. “I’m thinking Costello for starters. It’ll be good to have Psychic watching our backs.”
“Spooky and Psychic. Is this a team or are we on a Netflix show?”
Camden grinned. “Your lady’s gonna be the first one on Netflix, brother.”
“Truth.” Jake grinned proudly just as “California Dreamin’” started playing. Camden knew that was one of their songs and that Rachael’s new version was taking over social media.
Having the Bennetts at Bette’s party could also be a liability. Camden wondered who else had been invited. “Anyone gonna be at the Bash we need to keep an eye on?”
Jake shrugged. “Mom keeps the invite list tight. Well, tight for her, which still means north of fifty people. Most are old friends, no one I’m worried about. The newest guests’ll be Bennett and fam. And Elena and Tina.”
Camden kept his expression neutral even as Jake watched him. What was the man expecting, for Camden to bounce in his seat like a girl at her first boyband concert? So what if his heart sped up?Stupid heart. “Figured that.”
“You gonna be able to focus on the job with her there?”
“I could ask you the same, with Rachael.”
Jake chuckled. “Fair enough, brother.”
Four
“So, this is your station,” Elena’s new boss, Julia Wittington, said as she led Elena back to the receptionist’s desk at Brant and Phillips Promotions. The desk looked clunky after seeing Julia’s spare Scandinavian furniture in her sunny office. “You can set up your little self right here. Feel free to personalize, but not where anyone can see it, okay? We want to keep everything looking professional, and nothing says ‘not professional’ like a picture of a kid with food all over its face.”
“Right. Got it, Ms. Wittington.”Well, there goes at least three photos of Tina I was planning to pin up, she thought as she sat down.
“Oh, and speaking of food, it was really, totally sweet of you to bring in your little homemade cookies,” Julia said as she leaned against the desk.
“Oh, my pleasure. I—”
Julia’s voice lowered as she cut Elena off. “But in another way, it’s kind of passive-aggressive considering how everyone here is either gluten-intolerant, or vegan, or fasting, or cleansing. You’re not in steak-and-potatoes country anymore, Elena. People are health-conscious here and you have to be aware of that.”
Seriously? Elena fought to keep her tone civil. She’d spent time and good money on making her ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ cookies and she’d meant them as a goodwill gesture to warm up her new co-workers.
“I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I made them to break the ice. You know, first day and everything. Wanted to make a good impression…” The more Elena talked, the colder Julia’s eyes turned, despite the smile plastered on her face. “They’re organic?” Elena finished, sounding totally lame to her own ears.
“So you might want to consider thinking about taking them out of the lounge and keeping them to yourself, okay? I mean,” she gave Elena a once-over, “obviously you eat them with abandon, and that’s fine, but it’s just a temptation that the rest of us don’t need.”
Oh my God, did she just fat-shame me? How much do I need this job?Too much—the healthcare benefits were by far the best out of the job offers she’d received, and that decided everything. Tina’s new insulin pump was a game-changer neither of them wanted to give up, but it was not cheap.
Swallowing her pride, Elena said, “I understand, Ms. Wittington. My daughter has type I diabetes, so I know all about special diets. I’ll get them—”
The ringing phone on her new desk cut her off. Julia pointed to it and said, “You’ll get that, first. Remember to be polite and professional.” Then she turned on her stilettos and marched back to her office.
Between the phone and a steady stream of clients coming in, Elena didn’t get to the lounge until well past noon. When she saw the plate, she smiled. Every cookie had vanished down someone’s supposedly gluten-intolerant, vegan, fasting, cleansing throat. When she got back to her desk, a yellow sticky note on her chair seat said:
Thanks for the amaze cookies! P.S. Julia ate three.
