The moment she received Paige and Evan’s invitation, Lyssa knew Cal would finally be forced to face her. Paige had said the guest list was just family since it was Thanksgiving and Paige’s birthday.
And Cal was family.
Lyssa felt totally fine about everything now. No one knew what they’d done, and no one ever would. She could maintain her equilibrium. She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t even hurt anymore.
Instead, she was wholly focused on moving forward. And right now, the entirety of her life was her job. She didn’t want to leave the foundation, so that meant she and Cal had to efficiently and unemotionally clear up any garbage left in the aftermath of their very short affair. It was her one big goal for the weekend—to tidy up loose ends with Cal, put the past in the past, and move on.
Then Cal could stop running away and get back to San Francisco where he belonged. There was so much to do at the foundation, so much she still had to learn.
And if, in the middle of the night, her heart sometimes felt a little weak, and her body sometimes felt a little needy, and all she could think about were his kisses and his touch and his mouth on her…well, she’d forgive herself those tiny lapses and trust she would soon forget. One day, she vowed, their hours on the plane together would be nothing but a distant memory.
But as she stepped out of the limo Daniel had rented for them at LAX and saw Cal on the Catalina Island ferry dock, despite her vows to be strong and relaxed and determinedly positive, an ache closed around her heart.
Daniel and Evan had flown everyone down from San Francisco—her parents, who’d come in from Chicago, the brothers, their ladies, plus the immediate family. Of course, Tasha was with Daniel. But Lyssa noted the absence of Tasha’s brother Drew. She wondered if he’d been invited. He was a bit of a black sheep, but he’d been a tremendous help to her with the foundation.
Charlie’s mother, Francine, had decorated her walker with cardboard cutouts of turkeys, pumpkins, squash, and horns of plenty. She was a doll. In her eighties and suffering from debilitating arthritis that never got her down, she walked a mile every day. She was an inspiration.
Paige was very pregnant now. She didn’t have just a baby bump but a watermelon, and she also looked super happy, especially since Evan’s mother had come too, along with the twins. Tony and Kelsey were Lyssa’s age, which was ten years younger than Evan. His mom, brother, and sister had come back into Evan’s life only a year ago. Having been separated from his mother when he was a kid, he hadn’t even known about the twins. But it was all good now.
Gideon had Rosie and the adorable little Jorge with him. Chi had come too. Rosie, Ari, and Chi were best friends dating all the way back to their time in foster care together.
Jorge and Noah, and Harper’s brother, Jeremy, too, were bouncing around Lyssa’s parents, happy to see Grandpa and Grandma. Jeremy was a wonderful big kid, and Jorge and Noah adored him.
And then there was Cal.
He was gorgeous. The well-built body, his beautiful face, that kissable mouth.
Get yourself under control, she thought, her teeth gritted as she worked to regain her equanimity before she came face to face with him.
Kelsey, her sun-streaked chestnut hair pulled back in a ponytail, found her in the crowd of Mavericks. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen you.” She gave Lyssa the biggest, warmest hug.
“I’ve been really busy at the foundation. But it’s amazing work, and I love it.” And, if Lyssa was being completely honest, she would have to admit she’d been working extra hard to prove to herself that she was totally over her afternoon with Cal on the plane. As if to say, See, I’m not heartbroken. I feel totally fine!
Then Chi, Rosie, and Ari were rushing to hug her too. Of course, Noah and Jorge couldn’t be left out.
Lyssa tried to swing Noah into her arms the way she usually did. “Wow, you’re getting so big, I can barely pick you up anymore.”
At six and three-quarters—because Noah wanted to make sure he got credit for every quarter year of age—he was growing like a weed.
Giving Jorge a big hug, she smiled at Rosie and Ari. “They grow so fast.”
“And they eat like elephants,” Rosie said, her hair the same dark, curly silk of Jorge’s.
The boys made trumpeting noises and whooped around. Those two never slowed down.
“How’s prep for the gallery show going?” All of them were so excited that Rosie had a show at the end of January at a huge San Francisco art gallery. No one could have been more thrilled than Gideon, who absolutely adored everything about Rosie.
She’d worked as an accountant, but she was an amazing artist, her paintings beautifully detailed. Having quit her job at the end of September, Rosie was now painting full time, which was why she and Gideon hadn’t yet set a wedding date.
“I’ve got the whole first floor of the gallery to fill.” Rosie’s eyes were wide, as if she thought the feat was impossible. But she would do it. “I want to show a bunch of new paintings as well as works from over the years.”
Lyssa hugged her tight. “I’m so happy for you.”
A few moments later, the ferry began boarding. Lyssa couldn’t tell whether it was on purpose or by accident, but no matter where she was, Cal seemed to be on the exact opposite side of the group.
Evan had rented a room for all of them on the ferry’s top deck. Though it was chilly outside with the wind off the ocean, the big room was warm, with all-around windows for a great view. They snacked on finger food, champagne, and hot chocolate. Making her way to her mom and dad, she gave them big hugs.
“I haven’t seen you for so long, honey. It feels like years.”
Susan and Bob were both in their late fifties. Lyssa had always considered her mom beautiful—tall and slim, her hair a lovely silver she’d never dyed. And her father looked hearty and healthy, his smile wide. The back operation her brothers had paid for a few years ago had given him a new lease on life.
“I’ve only been gone a few months, Mom.” But she knew how her mother felt. In Chicago, they had seen each other all the time.
“I know. But I miss my little girl.” She cupped Lyssa’s cheeks. “I can hardly wait until we move to California. The house will be ready for us in only a few weeks, or so I’m told.”
Her dad threw his arm about Lyssa. “Your mom’s been going through everything around the house. I can’t believe all the stuff she’s throwing out. You’d think we were pack rats.”
Mom laughed. “Every time I put something in the giveaway box, your father takes it out and tells me he needs it, and we can’t possibly throw it out.”
They’d lived in Chicago all their lives. When they were first married, they could afford only a cramped walk-up in a not-so-nice neighborhood. And that was putting it politely. But they’d raised her and Daniel there, done their best, and when Daniel had been eleven, they began bringing in the Mavericks, boys with not-so-happy pasts—and that was putting it mildly too. Her parents always had more than enough love to go around. Matt, Evan, Sebastian, and Will had been Daniel’s friends at school, and they’d all come to feel that Susan and Bob Spencer were more like real parents than their own. When her brothers—she never thought of them as foster brothers—had started making money in their various endeavors, the first thing they’d done was move Mom and Dad to a big house in a good suburb. Until recently, her parents had wanted to stay right there. But now that Lyssa had moved away, and with no more family ties in Chicago, her parents had decided to leave too.
“I’m so excited to see the new house for the first time.”
“Your brothers won’t let me come out and help,” her dad groused, rubbing his almost-bald head. He’d taught them everything they knew about home improvement. Daniel always credited their father for inspiring him to start Top Notch.
“You know they want to surprise both of us with the finished product, honey,” Susan reminded him. “They’re out there every weekend. Cal was there this past Saturday, as well. I heard he helped them build the deck.”
Lyssa worked to keep her expression neutral. So. Cal had flown into the area for the weekend, but hadn’t stopped by the office, or even let her know he was in town. Clearly, they needed to have their face-to-face sooner rather than later. Before things got any weirder, it was time to nip his awkwardness around her in the bud.
But while Cal might be able to avoid Lyssa, at least for these past few weeks, he couldn’t avoid her mother. Susan beckoned, and of course Cal immediately came over, making his way through the crowd of Mavericks. He gave Susan a big hug and clapped Bob on the back. All Lyssa got from him was a faint approximation of a smile.
Fortunately, her mother didn’t seem to feel any of the tension. “The boys tell me you’ve been working on the house too.” She clasped both his hands in hers. “Thank you so much. We can hardly wait to move in.”
“It was my pleasure,” Cal said politely. “Good to see you both.” Then he glanced over Bob’s shoulder. “I see Gideon gesturing at me. I’d love to catch up with both of you later, if you’ll excuse me.”
Then he took off, clearly desperate to put distance between himself and Lyssa.
As she watched him go, there was that ache around her heart again, squeezing the breath out of her.
She shoved it away, put a smile on her face, and proceeded to tell her parents all about the gala she was planning with Dane Harrington.