There. That should make everyone feel better.
Simply put, Juliet, Ellie, and Willow each gained access to a lot of money and the opportunity to spend their days stretched out on the beach when they landed her brothers.
James leaned his elbows onto the table and leveled a finger at Lilah. “Who are you to talk? It’s not like you’ve ever had to work a day in your life.”
“I worked very hard on this party! Frankly, I’m kind of exhausted!” Lilah looked to the other women at the table for support. Surely, one of them would jump in and come to her rescue. They had to know she didn’t mean anything bad by what she said. The truth was the truth even if it was hard to hear.
“Did you cook this meal?” Harry lifted his eyebrows and gestured toward the plates littering the table.
“Well, no…”
“What about the cleaning, did you do that?” Ian had that smug grin on his face that sent Lilah’s blood boiling.
She ducked her chin. What did any of this matter? She was just trying to do something nice for her brothers. “No…”
“I bet she didn’t even do her own hair.” James was in full attack mode, biting off his words and shaking his head as if her party was something to be ashamed of.
“What the hell, guys? I was trying to do something nice for you.” How had they gone from having a great time, enjoying the nice evening she created for them, to everyone being mad at her for doing it? It always happened that way. Everyone was so damn touchy about everything.
“And you did do something nice for us.” James sat back and grabbed Ellie’s hand. “With Mom and Dad’s money. But then you managed to offend everyone.”
“It’s okay. I’m not offended at all.” Willow leaned forward and sought out eye contact with everyone, a wide smile on her face as she tried to defuse the situation.
“Here’s the thing, dear sister.” Just by the way Ian sat his glass down after taking a drink, Lilah knew she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “You have a lot of stuff, but you don’t have the first clue what it means to work for what you want.” He gestured around the house. “You live in Mom and Dad’s guest house. And decorated the place with their money. And drive a car they gave to you. And eat the food they cook. And buy clothes with the money they put in your account.”
Lilah frowned. “So I take advantage of being born into a wealthy family. James did, too. He didn't even work until he met Ellie. I don’t see you giving him a hard time.”
“He wasn’t busy being a condescending ass.” Harry smiled to take the sting out of his words, but there was no mistaking they were meant to hurt. Lilah opened her mouth to say she wasn’t a condescending ass and Harry held up a hand. “Plus, ever since Ellie came into his life, James has been a total rock star, hasn’t he?”
“Hell yeah, he has.” Ellie nodded emphatically. “He does the books at the café. He man's the counter when I can’t manage standing anymore. He hired more people to help in the kitchen. I don’t think of Good Beginnings as just my café anymore. I think of it as ours. James is…” She threaded her fingers with his and stared deeply into his eyes. “He’s the best.”
Lilah couldn’t care less how much hard work James had done, but she was offended her brothers didn’t think she was capable of doing the same. She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in her chair. “I can take care of myself.”
All three men broke into laughter and Juliet stared at the table, covering her mouth with her hand. Willow nodded in agreement, while Ellie looked at Lilah like she was a kid who just announced she wanted to be Superman when she grew up.
“I can!” Indignation squeaked in Lilah’s voice.
How dare they!
There she was, exhausted from creating an entire evening to celebrate their happiness and how do they thank her? By calling her lazy and spoiled?
“Okay…” James cleared his throat and Lilah didn’t like the twist of his lips. It was the look that always ended with someone in trouble when they were little. “Prove it.” He gave a curt nod. “I’m throwing down the gauntlet right now. Prove that you can take care of yourself.”
“Fine.” Lilah thrust her chin up and pursed her lips. “I’ll totally prove it.” She gave a little shrug of her shoulders. “How?”
Another bout of chuckling around the table sent a ripple of irritation rolling through her belly. How wonderful for them all that they found her so entertaining.
James met Ian and Harry’s eyes in turn, before shrugging and turning back to Lilah. “Move out of the guest house. Get a job. Pay your own bills. You know. Actually support yourself.”
Ian made a sound that was more gunshot than laughter. “Be reasonable, James. We don’t want to traumatize our dear sister.”
“You don’t think I can do it?” Lilah looked around the table at her guests who all seemed to think that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. That was bad enough, but it was the sympathy on Ellie’s face that really burned her. She looked like she felt sorry for Lilah. The woman who, just one year before, was struggling to keep the lights on in her apartment felt sorry for Lilah.
That was so not okay.
“It’s hard out there,” Ellie said. “I know better than anyone, especially now that I’ve got everything I ever wanted.” She placed a hand on her belly and smiled at James which, for some reason, made Lilah even angrier. “I don’t think you know what you’re signing up for.” Lilah made a face and Ellie hurried on. “And that’s a good thing! You should be glad you don’t know how hard it is to have to work for what you want.”
Ellie
