Her brow furrowed. “You don’t have a favorite food?”
“No, I do. It’s Chicken Parmesan loaded with cheese. But I don’t have a mother. Or a father. I grew up in foster care.”
I smiled and went back to eating. But I could feel Carson’s eyes on me. “I’m sorry.”
Glancing at him, I fixed my expression. “For what? I’m perfectly fine.”
That was a lie. But they didn’t need to know that.
Elizabeth put her hand on my arm, her warmth seeping through my skin. “Of course you are. But if you should ever need one to tell you what to do and offer unsolicited advice, I’d be happy to be that for you.We’dbe happy to be that for you. Wouldn’t we, George?”
He smiled at what she said, then nodded. “We would. Two sons who are bloody good men. What more could a gent want?”
Tears pooled in my eyes, wishing I could keep them. Carson was so fucking lucky, but I couldn’t explain what I was feeling. So I simply agreed.
“To use George’s words, I’d be honored to have you as surrogate busybody parent.”
Elizabeth smiled and squeezed my arm. “Then no more of the formal names. We’re now Mom and Dad to you. And take out your phone. You need contact information as well.”
I laughed and reached for it.
But my joy slipped away at the text message waiting on the screen from Leland.
Swiping it open, I read them quickly.
Leland: I see you got yourself a fat American contract.
Leland: I’ll be there on Friday to close the deal. Did you think you could do it without me knowing or cutting me in?
Leland: Guess I’ll have to remind you who’s in charge.
I closed my phone as my breakfast rolled around in my stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Carson asked.
I glanced up to find all three of them staring at me with concern. I’d always handled things on my own, but bouncing it off someone else might be a good idea.
“It’s my agent from Sydney. He thinks he’s entitled to his fee, even though he did nothing to help me get signed.”
George furrowed his brow. “Sounds like he’s trying to take advantage of you.”
“Probably. I want to tell him to fuck off, but I’m not sure if he’s actually owed the money.”
Elizabeth reached over and squeezed my arm. “Do you have access to your contract with him?”
“I’m sure it’s in my email somewhere. I could search for it.”
George took a sip of his coffee, then put the cup down. “If you’d like, I can review it for you. I can’t imagine getting your attorney in Sydney to respond quickly is a possibility.”
I was embarrassed to tell them I didn’t have one. “I would appreciate it. Thank you. I can pay you, too.”
He waved his hand. “That’s unnecessary. When you find it, send it to me, and I’ll see what legalities are there. I can compare the two to make sure William is paying you enough.”
I smiled. “It’s more than enough. I’m fortunate they wanted to take a chance on me.”
Carson smiled. “If you keep up like you did at camp, you’ll get an extension for next year.”
“Good enough to take your place as captain?” I teased.
