“Well, there’s a difference, right there. Bryce hid his being an asshole, whereas Jason just laid his all out in the open for everyone to see.” So maybe he was just looking out for his sister. The way he’d barged in and spouted off suggested a kind of social awkwardness—and a decided lack of self-awareness—as if the rules of polite society were a complete mystery to him.
In which case, and all things considered, Leesa owed the man an apology.
She didn’t know what she would say or how she would say it—she could claim a fair bit of social awkwardness herself—but there was one thing she could do. She’d announced that she would fetch him some prunes. So instead, she’d serve him something a whole hell of a lot better than prunes.
Leesa sighed and shoved to her feet. She set her empty glass in the dishwasher and looked over at the fridge. Tracy had set a couple of cream puffs on a plate for her earlier. She loved those cream puffs more than was good for her. She knew the buffet had been cleared of them, and her two were the last two left in the restaurant. At least for this day.
Crow didn’t taste so bad if you scarfed it down fast enough. “Move it, Sarge. Get it over with.”
* * * *
At least no one’s staring at me anymore.
Jason raised the glass of sweet tea that one of the servers—Tracy, he thought her name was—had brought him. From what he had been able to determine in the last few minutes, this engagement party was being hosted by the Town Council. No, not council. They had another name for it. The Town Trust. Jason wasn’t sure if that was the same thing as a town council, and that, he realized, was all on him.
He’d been curious about Lusty and all these cousins he’d never known, growing up, that he’d had. His parents had known about Lusty, apparently, as had his uncles… That thought was pushed out of the way by a bigger, louder, and, in a way, far more damning thought.
He’d known, too, because Kate Benedict had visited several times when he’d been a young boy, a teen, and then as young man beginning his career. She’d come to his grandparents’ funerals—his grandmother had passed first, and his grandfather’s death hadn’t been more than a year later.
I could have asked. I could have looked.
Jason shook his head. He would have if he wasn’t a well-disciplined, focused man. He and his cousin Phillip had worked together and worked hard to build Benedict Investments into the successful mid-sized firm it was today. Their assets were solid, their clients represented a broad spectrum of investors, and the portfolios they offered to those wishing to invest moderate sums of money had been hailed as some of the best performing on the market.
None of that came by way of a fluke or fairy dust or daydreaming. Setting firm goals and striving each day toward those goals was the way a man moved forward. Focus had to be absolute, because success was never an accident. Both he and Phillip firmly believed that.
Phillip.
Fuck. I left my best friend back at the B&B! It took everything Jason had not to rub his forehead at the mild ache above his left eye. He reached, instead, into his pocket and palmed an antacid tablet, because that damn burning in his chest almost never stopped.
He popped the tab into his mouth and let it dissolve as his gaze wandered to the front door of the restaurant. That door opened, and there came the nice woman and the three men who’d greeted them at the B&B, and thank God, Phillip was with them.
He stood as Phillip approached. Another blessing was the big smile on his cousin’s face. Of all the things I’m grateful for in this life, Phil is at the top of the list. As partners and best friends, they balanced each other out perfectly.
Phillip Benedict was Mister Smooth and Laidback, compared to his own extreme A-type, in-control-of-every-damn-thing personality.
One of these days, when I have the business where I want it, I’m going to have to do something about that.
Phillip nodded to him then immediately went to Jason’s mother. “Aunt Sonja, what a wonderful surprise!” He kissed her cheek and hugged her then went over to Jason’s father, hand outstretched. He nodded to Chance and Logan, gave a quick hug to Bailey…and then his gaze landed on the woman sitting next to Jason, Kate Benedict.
“My God, Grandma Kate! I haven’t seen you in such a long time!”
Phillip bent over and gave the woman they’d always called Grandma Kate a gentle hug. She wasn’t actually their grandmother—Jason wasn’t one hundred percent certain what the exact familial relationship was. But even when he’d been a teen, she’d been old enough to have been his grandmother, and so the moniker had stuck.
“Phillip! It has been too many years. You’re looking well—and I understand the business you and Jason have built is thriving.”
“We’re pleased with it, thanks,” Phillip said. “You’re looking… good.”
He’s having the same shocked reaction to seeing the woman still alive, much less seeing she’s as vibrant as they’d ever seen her. It didn’t seem as if Kate Benedict had aged a day in years!
“Thank you. Let’s get you a chair so you can join us. I’m sure we’ll all fit if we each make just the smallest adjustment.”
Before Jason could react to her suggestion, one of the men at the next table got up and grabbed an extra chair. He placed it between Grandma Kate and Logan, and Phillip sat. After adjusting his chair, Jason sat back down, too. There had been enough room for one more person.
Phillip turned to the only family member at the large table he hadn’t acknowledged. “Alice, I understand congratulations are in order!” Phillip’s smile beamed, and for just a moment, Jason envied his cousin his easy way with people.
“Thank
