“It won’t take long for me to tell my mom. Are you sure?”
He kisses me, then places the fork in my hand. “Yes, and eat before I feed you myself.”
He pours us each a coffee and hands them to me. We sit at his breakfast area, him not eating much compared to my plate, but I’m not shy about eating when I’m hungry.
My phone rings in my purse. I stand and swivel around to get it, but he pulls me back into his lap.
“Can we forget the outside world for one day?”
I shift around and place my arm behind his head. “That sounds like heaven.”
The call goes to my voice mail, and I wait to see if they left a message. They do, so I decide I’ll check it after we eat breakfast.
I stay seated on Gavin’s lap, feeding him some pancakes and eggs, the two of us sharing a fork. His fingers run light circles on my thighs. “A man could get used to this.”
“I hope so.”
He places a kiss on my neck, under my earlobe. “You’re even more beautiful in the morning. That just-fucked look is an extreme turn-on for me.”
I feel heat rush up my neck to my cheeks. “Okay, we need to get ready before we do end up spending all day in bed.” I slide off his lap, pick up my dish, and take it to the sink. “We should clean up first.”
He takes the plate out of my hand. “Go check your voice mail and meet me upstairs. I got this.”
My shoulders fall and I look up at him.
“Do you think I don’t already know that I won’t have your full attention if you don’t check your phone?” He chuckles.
I kiss his cheek. “You’re one in a million.”
I rush over to my phone. Searching for it in my purse, I finally feel it and pull it out.
Mom.
I rack my brain to make sure we didn’t have any campaigning event that I didn’t write down. Pressing on voice mail, I wait.
“Hey, sweetie, Hank and I were wondering if you could come over this afternoon for lunch. We’re going to ask all the kids because… um… well, if you can’t make it, just call. We’re thinking around noon. Bye.” She hangs up, and a sour feeling hits my stomach. I stand there for a bit going back over the call in my head.
Her voice was all shaky. I can tell she’s hiding something.
“Who was it?” Gavin comes back in the kitchen, probably wondering why I didn’t go upstairs. He’s resting his arm on the doorframe, sipping his coffee.
“My mom.”
Gavin holds the coffee cup at his side. “And?”
“She just called a family meeting. I mean, not in so many words, but that’s what it is.” My hands cover my stomach. “Something is wrong. I feel it in my gut.”
He walks across the room and his hand covers mine. “It could be a wedding or baby announcement. Maybe they want to take you all on a vacation. Maybe they’re selling the house.”
I shake my head. “That’s not the way this family works. We’ve had family meetings when my parents were divorcing, when we were moving up here, when she was marrying Hank, when they found out she was pregnant with Rylan… when big things are going to disrupt our lives.” I lean my head on his shoulder. “It’s bad, Gavin. I just know it.”
He draws back and takes my chin in his hand. “Do you want me to come?”
I shake my head. “No. Not yet.”
There’s hurt in his eyes before he sets down his coffee and wraps me in his arms. “I’ll be here when you’re done, okay?”
I nod, pushing away the urge to call every sibling to see if they know what the hell is going on.
All of my siblings must’ve thought the same thing because we all show up at noon on the dot.
Cade and Presley are walking through the garage when I pull up. Mandi and Chevelle are walking up the hill to the house. Jed and Molly don’t have Emilia, which speaks volumes. Adam and Lucy pull up as I exit my car, and Fisher’s truck is here, so I assume he and Allie are inside already.
It’s the limo that pulls up that makes me stop before going into my parents’ house.
Xavier exits and holds out his hand. Ugh. Giulia steps out of the limo.
“Makes me want to throw up,” Chevelle says as she waits at the top of the driveway with me.
“I can’t even watch it more than I have to.” Mandi walks inside the house with Adam and Lucy after we all kiss hello and silently ask with our eyes if anyone knows what’s going on.
“This is a family-only meeting,” I say to Xavier, crossing my arms. I don’t understand why he would bring his piece of eye candy.
Xavier doesn’t let go of Giulia’s hand. “Give me a break, we came back from Aruba for this.”
“What?” My hands drop to my sides. It’s definitely big if they called him home. “What’s going on?”
“And what do you know?” Chevelle asks.
“I don’t know anything. They called me two days ago and asked when I could get home. Here I am.”
“It was raining anyway,” Giulia snipes.
Logan and Nikki walk up the driveway, sans Noah.
“So sorry we’re cutting into your margarita time,” Chevelle says sarcastically, and we both turn around to head into the house.
I stop when I see that chairs have been brought into the family room. The hairs on my neck rise. Usually, it’s a free-for-all. You get here early, you get a seat. If not, you’re on the floor.
Hank is sitting in his favorite chair, and other than him being in pajama pants and a San Francisco Rebels sweatshirt, nothing is unusual. He doesn’t look pale or sick. Mom is trying to serve everyone drinks, and she even has snacks out on the coffee table that Xavier’s helping himself to.
“Just sit down, Marla,” Hank says in a sterner voice than he usually uses with my mom.
She sits next to Allie, who is holding Axel. For the first time ever, probably, Mom doesn’t ask to hold him. Allie and I share a look across the room.
“I’m so sorry I’m late.” A voice comes from the hallway, and we all look around the room because everyone is here. But then Clara comes to the doorway and stops.
“I thought this was family only?” Xavier says in the same tone I used outside.
“Well, your girl toy is here,” Chevelle sneers.
“I invited Clara. She’s family.” Marla waves her in. “Have a seat, sweetie.”
Cade gets up so Clara can sit next to Presley.
“Just tell us,” Jed blurts.
Mom looks at Hank. Obviously they didn’t discuss which of them should tell us.
Hank clears his throat. “As you know, I haven’t been feeling great. I’ve gone to the doctor, and we didn’t want to worry any of you, so we wanted to make sure all the tests were done before we talked to you.”
Tension fills the room as if someone just pulled a pin from a grenade. I hold my breath.
“I want to preface this by saying that I’m good and I’m going to be fine.”
“Where’s Grandma? Why isn’t she here?” Adam asks.
“Grandma’s already been told,” Hank says.
We all look at one another.
“Back to me.” Hank points at himself. “I’m sick, and I’m going to have to have surgery and some radiation.”