“No,” Wyatt said. “She told me she had it packed away and couldn’t find it in a box when I asked for it after college.”
“Sorry,” Drake said. “Mom lied to you. Ask Jade.”
“I’m going to ask Mom. Why would I go to Jade?” he asked.
“Because it was her idea,” Noah said.
“I like your family,” Adriana said. “I missed this growing up and didn’t even have it with my friends. Not like you guys have talking back and forth all the time.”
And forty minutes later when his brothers left him with the bill he turned to her and said, “Do you still like my family? That’s twice now I’ve got hit with a big bill.”
She winced. “You said it wouldn’t happen again. I thought for sure when they sat down to join us they’d be splitting it. Though they did seem to order a lot.”
“I knew right away what was going to happen,” he said.
“Then I guess it’s just payback. You must have really gotten them good growing up.”
“In their eyes they will be paying me back the rest of my life.”
“Then maybe it’s not as much payback as their form of love. Kind of like what you do to them?”
He never thought of it that way before.
Sure, it started out being something funny he could get attention for but then turned into a habit.
Everyone in his family expected it of him now more than anything else.
Just like he expected Drake to always be chill and nothing could upset him, and Noah would always want to help people better themselves, and Jade would always be competitive and have an addiction to shopping.
These were the things about his family that he came to depend on. Something that would never change.
The question was, did he need to change to get the woman he wanted?
30
A First
“Maggie, wait up.”
Carolyn walked fast to grab Maggie Lopez before she got to her classroom. “Hi, Carolyn.”’
“Do you have a few minutes to talk?”
“Sure. I’ve been meaning to touch base with you. I think maybe we want to talk about the same thing.”
“I know we do,” she said. “My room should be empty now if you want to go there?”
“Yes,” Maggie said. “I’ve got kids in mine working on a project during their lunch period. Let me just go pop my head in so they know.”
The two of them walked down together, then she waited for Maggie to talk with her students. When she was done they made their way to her room. “So what do you think about Wyatt and Adriana?”
“I think it’s great. I never expected it to work like this when you told me about your plan. I’ve always stayed out of Adriana’s life and she needed the change moving here but it’s been hard on her too.”
“Wyatt has no clue. I mean I was upfront about what we’ve talked about. Even Garrett doesn’t know I told you what I wanted to do, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get ahead of him on this.”
Maggie laughed. “You sound like Adriana, being all competitive. I still can’t believe you and Diane and your husbands are setting the kids up and they’ve got no clue.”
She shook her head. “I thought those kids were all so smart. Well, I should be careful what I say. Jade is onto us. She said she’d keep her lips sealed as long as I didn’t think of doing it to her.”
“What is your plan there?” Maggie asked.
“My sister-in-law has something up her sleeve. When we have the summer party in Charlotte we’ll get a better idea of how it’s going to go. Anyway, back to Wyatt and Adriana. We can talk now since it’s out in the open.”
“Not at their job though?” Maggie said. “Adriana wants it kept quiet there. I can understand that too.”
“Me too,” she said. “Wyatt has dated a lot. I know I’ve talked about my youngest son in the past, but he’s not a player and he respects women when he dates them.” She’d kick any of her boy’s butts if they didn’t respect a woman.
Not only that, but she didn’t need Maggie to tell Adriana’s father anything negative about her son.
“You’ve never said much other than Wyatt liked to make people laugh and he was out for fun. Adriana needs fun in her life but...”
“No worries. I know my son. He’s having a good time, but this isn’t about fun. In the past if someone wasn’t interested in his level of commitment, he’d move on even if they might be tweaked over it. He waited for her. That’s a first. And that tells me something.”
“I hope you’re right. Do you think he’d come to dinner now? I’ve been itching to have Jose call Adriana and ask. I know they were both on call for a few weeks, but they are off now.”
“I think it’s a great idea. And I can’t wait for you to report back to me. Do you think Jose will make Wyatt squirm? I don’t think my boy has ever squirmed a day in his life when it came to a woman.”’
“Jose might. He’s still upset over everything Adriana went through. I wish I could tell you more, but I’d rather not. It’s not horrible as much as she was or is very embarrassed over it.”
Carolyn reached her hand over and laid it on her friend’s. “I wouldn’t ask. I’m sure all my kids have things in their past they wouldn’t want me to know.”
“Don’t we all,” Maggie said. “Okay, I need to get back to my room. I’ll keep you posted.”
* * *
“I don’t know, Dad,” Adriana said into the phone. “I don’t have plans tonight, but I’m not sure about Wyatt.”
Her father rarely called her at work and when she got out of the OR and saw she had a message from
