He finally looked up from his laptop with a long-suffering sigh. “Do you have work to do?”
“Yes.”
“Is it being done?”
“Emotionally? Yes.”
He leaned back slowly in his chair. “Katie, I love you. You know I do, but we need to liaise with the?—”
“Iamworking,” I protested lightly. “As a matter of fact, I just finished sending the emailliaisingwith Aurelia.”
“So what you’re really doing is chatting to your cousin-in-law and eating my snacks.”
“They’reoursnacks now,” I corrected. “We’re married.”
He sighed. “That doesn’t entitle you to all the good granola bars.”
“It absolutely does.” I smiled sweetly and took another bite. “What? You literally just said you love me. No backsies.”
He didn’t even hesitate. “Unfortunately.”
I pumped my eyebrows at me and he shook his head, going back to his laptop, but I could see the corner of his mouth twitching. Nate liked pretending I was a nuisance, but he never actually told me to leave.
If anything, he seemed calmer when I was here, like some part of him had finally unclenched now that everything was out in the open. Two weeks ago, we’d been fighting for our reputations and our marriage at the same time. Now, we were arguing over granola bars.
Progress.
A few minutes later, a knock sounded at the door and Nate groaned but looked up. “Come on in, but I swear, this better be important.” Colin Thayer appeared when the door swung open and Nate cut himself off, suddenly grinning and looking happy about the interruption. “Hey, man. I didn’t know you were coming by today.”
“Westwood,” Colin said by way of greeting, holding a hand out to Nate. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
Nate stood up and they shook hands, all firm grips and a thin veneer of professionalism. I stayed exactly where I was on the desk, watching their interaction with a slight degree of fascination.
Colin glanced at me and smiled. “Kate.”
“I could be Westwood now too,” I responded, trying and failing to keep a straight face. “How are you doing, Colin?”
He shrugged. “I’ll be better when Jane is cleared to come back to work, but I’m hanging in there.”
As he sat down, his focus shifted back to Nate. “I just came from legal. Everything looks clean on our end. Production is keeping up with the increased demand and Troy signed the extension.”
I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but Nate obviously did. He looked genuinely relieved when he nodded. “Good. That’s great, actually. Those referrals he mentioned?”
“Metaphorically lining up around the block to sign on.”
Nate exhaled a sigh that sounded like pure relief, and I realized then that whatever this was about, it was both important and was probably going to take a while. So I just sank back against my palm, not leaving but staying out of it.
The Thayers fascinated me in the way all old-money families did. There was a sort of quiet polish to them, even now, after everything they’d been through.
The Thayers’ fall from grace had been more spectacular than ours. Having the big man in charge wind up in prison had a way of doing that to a family, I supposed, but there was still a sense of legacy clinging to them like expensive cologne.
I hadn’t met the rest of the brood yet, only Colin and Jane, but if their brothers were anything like them, their family was the embodiment of resilience. I admired that.
Finally, Colin seemed to have concluded whatever update he’d been giving. He leaned back in his chair, neatly smoothing his already smooth tie. “You look a lot less miserable than you did the last time I saw you.”
Nate chuckled. “I had a lot going on the last time you saw me, not the least of which being that my brother and your sister dropped us right in the deep end from a dizzy fucking height.”
Colin shrugged. “Fair enough, but it still counts. Seriously, you actually look happy for a change.”
