“I was planning on calling Brandon to see if I can start a week early.”
As soon as she mentioned Brandon, I was already reaching to my back pocket, pulling my phone out.
She grabbed my hand, stopping me. “Don’t.”
“It’s a phone call.” What the hell was the harm?
“And I can handle this.” She pressed her lips together and brought her coffee to her mouth, glaring at me over the rim before she took a sip.
“But—”
“Don’t.”
Her words were her weapons, her distance from me her armor. Hell, I understood her need and yet my own need was unraveling. I could help her in one single text message. Five seconds of thumbs on a screen. That’s all it’d take.
“I can handle this myself.” She squeezed my wrist before letting go.
It was her soft voice that did me in. Made that pain in my chest warm every time I saw her in photos or heard about her. She shouldn’t have to. She should have a brother who was alive and parents who gave a shit.
No amount of beating my head against a wall explaining that to her would help.
I slid my phone back into my pocket and nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay?” A brow arched as she covered a yawn with her hand again. “That was easy.”
“Why are you so exhausted?”
Purple moons rimmed her lower lids in stark contrast to her alabaster skin.
“I don’t sleep well. I’m used to it.”
“Why?”
“Why the third degree this morning?”
“It’s two in the afternoon.” I grinned. It always seemed to defuse the situation and her irritation with me even when she wouldn’t admit it.
With a shake of her head, she set down her coffee. “Why are you here?”
“Because I missed you.”
This time, they flew from my mouth before I could rein them in, but that was okay. I lied enough to her.
“Hudson.”
My name came out on a sigh. I took it as a happy one. Sure, her body posture said otherwise, maybe a bit overwhelmed, but I was a glass-half-full kind of guy.
“And because I wanted you to come to dinner with me tonight.”
At that, she smirked. “Another walk around the block?”
“More like a drive out to West Des Moines. Dad has dinner on Sundays. I’d like for you to come.” She opened her mouth to say something, but I didn’t let her. “He’d like for you to be there.”
“Why?”
“Because he likes you.”
No big deal, right? To her it was. Her face paled and her fingers trembled. What was so wrong inside her mind where she had such a hard time believing people liked her? I wanted to dig into all those crevices, fill them with hugs and laughter and prove she deserved so much more than she’d ever had. Sure, she’d had money. And Josh, from how she made it sound. But had she ever had true, unconditional love?
I doubted it, and I hated it for her.
Which was why I would bust my ass to give her everything she deserved from this point forward.
Except the truth.
Next to me, Lilly brushed her hands down her thighs. After convincing her to come to Dad’s with me, I left her to her afternoon so she could get ready and when I came back to get her, she’d yanked me inside the apartment so fast my head spun.
“What do I wear?”
She was still wearing her cut-off sweat shorts and a tie-dyed, oversized, hooded sweatshirt she had on earlier.
“It’s dinner at Dad’s. Wear whatever you want.” I flipped out my hand. “Wear that for all I care.”
“I can’t do that! What will everyone else think?”
Panic raised her voice, and I went to her, pressing my hands to her cheeks. “You could show up in sweats and fresh from sleep, pajamas, or a ball gown. The only thing anyone will care about is that you’re there. I promise.”
“I should wear a dress,” she mumbled, eyes wide and round. Afraid.
That she wanted to make a good impression was endearing. Her fear over it unnecessary.
“I’m in jeans and a T-shirt, Lilly. The only thing that matters is your comfort. Okay?”
I bent down to look her in the eyes, let her see my sincerity. It took several beats of her heart before she nodded and exhaled.
“Okay. Okay. I’m okay.”
“Good.” She smelled delicious. Like white cake and vanilla frosting. My favorite. I wanted to lean in and see if she tasted as sweet, but I dropped my hands and stepped back. “Go change if you want. I’ll wait here.”
Now we were here, Lilly dressed in jeans that didn’t look faded and worn from use and in a silver tank top with sparkles along the neckline. She’d hugged a black sweater to her chest almost the entire ride and hadn’t spoken a word.
I wasn’t surprised. I knew her past. I knew how she didn’t like being in cars. Because of that, I’d made sure to drive cautiously. Add on the anxiety of dinner and I let her have her space.
“This neighborhood is so beautiful,” she said as we drove through the golf club community where Dad lived. “Did you grow up here?”
“Mostly. I think we moved out here when I was ten. Mom and Dad needing a bigger house and they wanted space for all of us to run.”
“The yards are enormous.”
“An acre of land for each lot, I think. Sucked on Halloween, though. We always begged Mom and Dad to take us to the neighborhoods where houses were closer together.”
“More candy with less work?”
“You got it.” She laughed quietly and slipped her bottom lip between her teeth. “What was your house like?”
“Huge. Cold. Probably similar to this neighborhood in all honesty, but this just feels more comforting than mine ever did.”
I bit down the urge to ask her why, but in truth, this neighborhood was beautiful even with its imperfections and occasional yards that went un-mowed for too long or leaves that didn’t get raked. Sure, we had money, and yet I doubted anyone in this neighborhood felt the need to show off how perfect they were as much as Lilly’s family had.
I pulled into the curved driveway in front of Dad’s ranch home, right behind Brandon’s Land Cruiser.
“Brandon will be here with his fiancée Jenna. She’s a nut and a bulldozer, but I think you’ll like her. If she gets to be too much, just let me know.”
“Bulldozer?”
“She’s a lawyer,” I said, as if that explained it all. “Deals in family law and she’s damn good. But that also means she thinks she’s right all the time.”
Lilly laughed. “Who else is coming?”
“Don’t know. Sometimes no one, sometimes there’s a full house. Sunday dinners are always an open invitation.”
It wasn’t entirely uncommon for someone we hadn’t seen in years to show up, but my parents had started this tradition back when I was still a teenager, letting everyone know, for however long or short they were there they’d always be welcomed.
“A few years after Mom’s death, Matt and Will came home. They were eight and ten when they were taken from their parents who couldn’t raise them and stayed with us for two months until suitable family members took them in. They showed up when they were twenty-two and twenty-four, wearing suits and large, nervous grins.” I smiled at the memory. I’d answered the door that day and while it had taken me a few seconds to remember them, they had no problems remembering me.