“I’m sure all of you have heard that Rex Haverbrook is engaged and getting married in a couple of weeks.”
“Oh, boy, are you heartbroken?” Rafe’s voice is teasing, but I can tell from the concerned look on his face that my big brother is worried.
For all of his moaning and groaning, I know that Rafe would do anything for me. He’s always been an overprotective big brother. He just doesn’t know that I know about all the times he stuck up for me in school.
“No, I’m not heartbroken. Far from it.” I hold my head up high and burst into a wide smile.
I channel my inner Viola Davis fromHow to Get Away with Murder. I channel my inner Meryl Streep fromSophie’s Choice. And then I desperately try to recall every memory of Kate Hudson fromHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. My fingers play with my hair nervously, and then I look down in a demure fashion, like I’m giddy but nervous to speak. I tilt my head up, pretending Steven Spielberg himself is directing me, and then I look each one of them in the eye and blink rapidly. The goal is to tear up in happiness, but unfortunately for me, my skills aren’t that profound.
“Do you have an eyelash stuck or something?” Rafe leans forward. “You need to stop wearing so much eye junk.”
“I do not have an eyelash stuck.”Calm down, Mia. Do not go off on your brother. I offer him a sweet smile instead. “I am in love.”
“You, what?” He starts coughing and spits out a piece of the cookie he was chewing. “With who?”
“I have been waiting to tell everyone the news, and we’ve decided that it’s best to let everyone know now.” I lick my lips.
Everyone is staring at me intently now.
“I don’t want anyone to be upset that we’ve been keeping this secret.”
“Oh shit, you’re not sleeping with Captain Smitty Johnson, are you?” Rafe cackles and slams his hand down on the table. “I knew you were desperate for love, but you can do better than him, sis. He’s, like, sixty-five.” He grins at me. “I suppose it’s because Ocean’s Calling is right there near your book truck, isn’t it? Did he promise you a free boat ride to see the dolphins and you couldn’t resist?”
He laughs like he thinks his joke is funny, and I want to go off on him and his single status, but now is not the time to be sidetracked.
“Very funny, Rafe.” I look down my nose at him, and he just rolls his eyes in response. “My boyfriend—and, yes, I saidboyfriendbecause we have been official for about a year now. Well, my boyfriend and I want everyone to know about our love because he will be at the wedding.” I’d have to remember to tell Luke that we’d been dating for a year. All of these small details would bring us down if we weren’t on the same page.
“You’re bringing some random dude to the Haverbrook wedding? Yikes.” Rafe stands up. “Look, if you want an internet date, that is up to you, but I’m sure everyone at this table can agree that we don’t want to meet your cyber boyfriend?—”
“Everyone knows him,” I cut him off. I am done with Rafe and my demure act. It’s getting me nowhere fast. “Luke and I want the world to know about our love and our relationship. It is finally time for everyone to know that we are soulmates.”
“Luke?” Rafe’s jaw drops in shock, and on the inside, I’m screaming in delight. “Like Luke Haverbrook, your best friend?”
“No, Luke Skywalker fromStar Wars.” I giggle and then look over at my grandparents, who look absolutely delighted. “Does anyone else have anything to say, or is Rafe going to dominate the conversation?”
“Me, dominate anything in this family?” He chuckles loudly, as if that could never be a possibility—which, to be fair, may be true. But Ican’t help it that I am the baby of the family and much more dramatic than he is. “But seriously, sis, when did this happen? Luke hasn’t even been back on the island in years.”
“As far as you know.”
I give him a small wink, and he frowns. My stomach twists slightly because I know that frown. It’s the frown of him thinking deeply. Overanalyzing and trying to figure out facts of the situation and then parse them into a manner that makes sense to him. It’s why he’s such a good vet. But at this moment, I don’t want him thinking too hard about what I said.
“Grandma, Grandpa, are you happy for me? Grams, I know that Bitsy is your best friend. Will she hate the fact that we’re dating, or will she be happy?”
“I can’t speak for Bitsy,” Grams says slowly as she studies my face. “But I do think she will be intrigued to find out more. I had no clue you were seeing Luke, my dear. What caused you to reveal this new status of your relationship with us tonight?”
“We just thought it was time,” I say dreamily. “We got the invitations, with some fairly rude notes about dating statuses, and we decided to let everyone know that we’d been secretly dating and falling desperately in love.”
“How did this happen?” My mother looks happy but confused. “I’m just so surprised you never let anything slip. You’ve been such a good actress. I truly didn’t even suspect that you were seeing anyone. You let nothing slip that you were dating at all.”
“Yeah, you’re constantly bitching about not finding any good guys.” Rafe stares at me. “Just last week at Cocktails & Chaos, I heard you telling Juniper that you were thinking of leaving the island to meet a man.” He raises an eyebrow. “And Cal and I were teasing you, and you said that …”
“Well, I was just pretending, Rafe.” Since when has he listened to my conversations that closely? “And if you were paying closer attention, you’d know that Juni and I were actually talking about how we wanted to go traveling.”
“Why don’t you and Luke go traveling then? He has loads of money.” Rafe is annoying me. “And what’s the plan? Is he moving back to Coconut Beach, or are you planning on moving to New York?”
“Hmm?” Shit, I didn’t anticipate that question.
“How often have you guys seen each other in the last year?” mygrandma asks. “Bitsy will feel saddened to hear that Luke has been on the island and hasn’t been in touch to see her.”
