by SJ McCoy
Nate gave her his best charming smile. Older women were just as easy to win over as the younger ones in his experience. “You know how cautious Lily can be. She didn’t want to introduce us until she was sure of me. I’ve been working hard to prove that I’m worthy of meeting you both.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow at him, but Lily’s mom reached up and kissed his cheek. “She can be such a silly-Lily. I can tell immediately that you’re a keeper, Nate. Is it Nate, or are you really Nathaniel?”
He had to bite back a laugh. He didn’t want to tell her that he doubted his own parents would be able to spell Nathaniel. “Just straight Nate,” he said with a smile.
“Well, Nate, you must call me Gloria. You and I are going to get along wonderfully, I can tell.”
“Let’s not stand around out here,” said Sebastian. “Come on in.”
“I’ll just get the—”
“Someone will come down for the bags,” said Lily.
He shot her a questioning look, and she rolled her eyes skyward behind her parents’ backs. Apparently, he didn’t need to worry about the bags—they had people who’d take care of that.
Gloria took his arm and started walking him up the stairs. Lily and her dad followed.
~ ~ ~
Lily took a deep, calming breath as she followed her mom and Nate up the stairs. She could only hope that this would go well.
Her dad took hold of her arm and smiled. “How have you been, Lily. You don’t get out here enough for my liking.”
She wanted to tell him they could come out to the lake to visit her whenever they wanted—the highway went both ways. “I’ve been really busy with the stables.”
He nodded. “And how is that going? Have you found a house yet?”
Lily shook her head. She knew both her parents found it incredibly distasteful that she should live in a camper. “I haven’t had time to look for anything yet.”
Her mom turned around when they reached the front door. “Perhaps Nate can help you look for something now?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you live in Summer Lake?”
“I do.”
Her mom’s smile faded a little. “I see.”
“It’s just a temporary posting for Nate, though,” Lily wanted to take the words back as soon as they were out. Why had she said that?
Her mom brightened. “And what is it that you do?”
“I work for a large developer, the Phoenix Corporation. I oversee all their new projects.”
Lily’s dad looked curious. “And they have a new project in Summer Lake?”
“They do,” said Lily. “I’ve told you about the big new development at Four Mile Creek.”
Her dad smiled. “You did. I looked it up online. There are some nice houses there. That’s where you should live, Lily.”
“If you insist on staying there,” said her mom.
“I do.”
Her dad smiled at Nate. “So, you’re the one who’s bringing life to the little town, are you? I saw that there’s going to be a shopping plaza and golf course and country club.”
Lily hated that he should approve of those things. She had very mixed feelings that things like that were coming to Summer Lake.
Nate smiled. “I can’t take the credit for it. The guys I work for, Jack Benson and Pete Hemming, are the brains of the operation. I just bring it all together. I’ve done the same in New York, Miami, and most recently Houston …”
Lily’s mom cut him off. “Pete Hemming?”
Nate nodded. “You know him?”
She nodded, and Lily’s dad spoke. “I’m sure Lily’s told you we lived at the lake ourselves for a few years. We were friends with the Hemmings.”
“We are friends with the Hemmings. They’re just not very good at keeping in touch.” Her mom looked put out.
“They’re artists, Gloria. You can’t expect them to meet your social expectations. You have to give them some slack.”
Lily sucked in a deep breath. Why couldn’t riding horses be seen in the same light as painting pictures? Why should Pete’s parents get the slack that she couldn’t get? She loved Anne and Graham; they were wonderful people, and she knew they played the “creative” card to get off the hook whenever they wanted to when it came to social expectations.
“They’re wonderful people,” said Nate.
“Do you know them well?”
“I do; they’ve been like a second set of parents to Jack and me since we were all at UT together.”
Lily hated the way her mom perked up at that. “You went to school in Austin?”
Nate nodded. “McCombs.”
Lily exchanged a puzzled look with her mom.
Her dad beamed. “Only one of the best business schools in the country,” he explained to them.
Lily was glad that Nate’s credentials met with their approval. It would make things easier, but it still left her feeling hollow inside.
“Lily!” Her sister, Rose, squealed when she came into the foyer and saw them.
Lily was grateful for the distraction. She ran to her and was glad to wrap her in a hug. “Rosie Lee. How are you? And congratulations, little sis!”
“Thank you! I’m so glad you could make it. How are you? How are the horses? How’s …” She finally let go of Lily and looked up to where Nate was standing with their parents. “Oh, my. Who’s this? Mom and Dad said you might be bringing a friend.” She grinned. “I think a few of my friends might like your friend.”
Lily watched her go to Nate and shake his hand. She wasn’t being mean or catty. It just wouldn’t occur to Rose that Nate was with Lily, that he was anything more than a friend. She loved Nate more as he introduced himself.
“You must be Rose.” He shook her hand. “Congratulations on your engagement. I’m Nate, Lily’s boyfriend.” He shot Lily a smile, and she went back to join them. Nate rested his arm across her shoulders and drew her into his side.
Rose’s cheeks turned pink. “Oh! I, err. Oh, my goodness!” She shook Nate’s hand. “It’s even better to meet you. I’m so sorry … I didn’t mean … I didn’t think ...”
“It’s okay, Rosie. You can say it. You didn’t expect me to have a boyfriend at all.” She smiled up at Nate. “And certainly not such a good-looking one.”
“Oh, Lily! I didn’t mean it like that.”
Lily knew she didn’t mean any harm, but that was almost worse. It just would never have occurred to Rose that Lily was with such a good-looking guy. “It’s okay. Let’s get past the awkward moment, shall we? Where’s Andrew?”
Rose smiled. “He’s out on the terrace. Come on. He’s been looking forward to seeing you, Lily.” She smiled at Nate. “And he’ll be so happy to meet you.”
“Yes, you kids run along,” said Lily’s mom. “We’ll be out shortly.”
“Just as soon as they’ve finished running a background check on Nate,” whispered Rose once they were out of earshot.
Lily had to laugh at the expression on Nate’s face. “Don’t worry; she’s joking.”
“Am I, though?” asked Rose with a laugh.
Lily slapped her arm. “She is!”
Chapter Ten
Nate couldn’t help the long, low whistle that escaped his lips as they walked out onto the terrace. There was a huge pool area surrounded by a stone balustrade. The view of the coastline from out here was amazing. He’d been expecting a big fancy house, but this place was something else. Lily took his arm, and they stopped as Rose went on ahead to where her fiancé was sitting.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m just fine.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “How about you?”
She nodded. “I know Mom was a bit much, but at least they were nice to you.”
“They were. And you’ve got to see it from their point of view, Lil. They love you; they want the best for you.”
She made a face.
“They do, it’s just that they have a different opinion of what’s best than you do.”
“I suppose.”
“Come on, you two,” called Rose. “Come and see Andrew!”
“You two are obviously close,” Nate said to Lily as they started over to join Rose and Andrew.
The smile on Lily’s face confirmed it, even before she spoke. “We are. Rose is the sweetest person you’ll ever meet.”
“No, that’d be you.”
She laughed. “Whatever.” She went straight to Andrew and gave him a hug. “Hey, you. It’s good to see you. I’m so glad you finally popped the question.”
Andrew seemed nice enough, in a preppy kind of way. His smile looked overly white and very expensive to Nate, but it also seemed genuine. “Thanks, Lily. It’s good to see you. I’m just glad that Rose said yes.”
Lily laughed. “There was never any question there.”
Lily didn’t seem to notice it, but Nate had to wonder about the look Andrew and Rose exchanged. If he had to guess, he’d say there’d been huge doubt at some point as to whether she’d say yes.
Andrew stood and offered his hand. “Andrew Vernon, nice to meet you.”
“Nate Evans. Nice to meet you, too.” He wanted to say ‘thanks for inviting me,’ but he was acutely aware that he hadn’t really been invited. He was just someone Lily had brought along.
Rose grinned at him and then turned to Andrew. “Nate is Lily’s boyfriend, from Summer Lake.”
Andrew’s smile faltered a little, but he recovered quickly. “Oh. I see. And what do you do there?”
Nate wanted to laugh. It was odd to him that they all wanted to know what he did for a living, as though that somehow defined, or at least identified who he was. For a moment, he was tempted to say he worked in construction. It was true, kind of, and he’d love to see the guy’s reaction. For Lily’s sake, he couldn’t let himself do it. “I’m a project manager for a large development corporation.”
Andrew nodded, seemingly at a loss for how to respond to that information.
“Andrew’s an orthopedic surgeon,” said Lily.
Nate smiled at her, knowing that impressed her as little as it did him. She apologized with her eyes, but she didn’t need to. He smiled at Andrew. “That’s awesome.” He didn’t know what else he should say. It didn’t matter; apparently, it was the right thing.
“Thank you, I love my work. I …”
Nate zoned out as Andrew droned on about the challenges and the rewards of his profession. He wouldn’t have minded so much if the guy had talked with genuine passion, but he sounded as though he was reciting an oft-repeated script written for a job interview or something.
“Come on, Lily,” said Rose. “We’ll go get some drinks.”
Lily gave him an apologetic look as she followed her sister inside. Nate bit back a rueful smile, wishing they had people to do that too.
Once they’d gone, Andrew paused his monologue. “What do you see in Lily?”
Nate did a double take. “Excuse me?”
Andrew gave him a long, measured look. “You heard me.”
“I did. I’m not sure I understand the question, though.”
“Why are you with her?”
Nate stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out where he was going with this. “Because I like her. We’ve been friends for a long time, and now we’re taking the next step.”
Andrew shook his head. “You won’t get anything by being with her, you know.”
Nate thought he understood but didn’t want to believe he was right. “I will, I already have.”
Andrew looked shocked. “What?”
“I’ve already had a lot of laughs and some great times.” Nate gave him a sarcastic smile.
Andrew looked confused. “I don’t mean that. I mean, you won’t gain financially from the family.”
“Oh! See, now that would never have occurred to me. Is that why you’re with Rose?”
Andrew sputtered. “It is not!”
“So, why are you with her?”
“Because I love her, of course.”
Nate nodded slowly. “But it didn’t occur to you that I might be with Lily because I love her?”
Andrew looked over his shoulder, then looked back at him. “Do you?”
“I do.”
He swung around at the sound of glass crashing on the floor behind him. Lily and Rose stood there staring at him opened mouthed, a tray and four glasses shattered on the floor at their feet.
It seemed the silence might go on forever until Lily broke it. “I’d better clean this up.” She turned and ran back into the house.
Shit! Nate had been trying to make a point to Andrew and Lily had heard him say that he loved her. He wasn’t sure what confused him more: the fact that he’d claimed without hesitation that he loved her or the fact that she’d dropped the tray and fled when she heard him say it. He wanted to go after her, but he had no clue where she’d gone, and he didn’t like his chances of not getting lost in the huge house.
Rose came to him and put a hand on his arm. “I guess you hadn’t told Lily that yet?”
He shook his head. “It didn’t seem as though she was too thrilled at the news either.”
Rose smiled. “I think she is; she was just shocked.”
Nate nodded. He liked Rose. “I hope you’re right.”
“I’m sorry.” Andrew gave him a trite look. “I was worried about your intentions toward her. I didn’t mean to …” he let his words trail off.
Nate nodded at him. He’d accept the apology, but he didn’t believe it. He’d thought it odd that Andrew had looked straight past him before he asked if he loved Lily. Now he understood that he’d been looking at her, making sure she’d be listening to his answer. Though he’d no doubt expected Nate to say no.
Gloria came out onto the terrace, followed by a maid who quickly cleaned up the broken glass. She came straight to Nate. “Lily is so clumsy. I don’t know how you deal with her.”
Nate’s hackles rose. She wasn’t clumsy at all. “I should go check on her,” was all he trusted himself to say.
Gloria smiled. “I’ll show you to your room. She said she needed to change.” She led him through the house. It was beautiful, but far too extravagant for Nate’s taste. “Should we be expecting the two of you to have an announcement for us soon?” she asked as they made their way up the grand staircase.
It took Nate a moment to process what she meant—an engagement announcement. How was he supposed to answer that? If he implied a yes, that might not meet with her approval, and if he implied a no, then she might wonder what his intentions were toward her daughter. He gave her his best disarming smiled and said, “I hope so, but I think it will take me a while.”
Gloria nodded, seemingly pleased by his answer. “Here you are. This is your room.”
Again, Nate was wrong-footed. He’d assumed he and Lily would be given separate rooms, but Gloria had brought him up here to see her. Did that mean this was their room? He hesitated, not sure what to do.
Lily saved him by opening the door and almost bumping into them on her way out. “Oh!”
“Nate wanted to make sure you were all right after your little accident.” Gloria gave her daughter a condescending smile. “I’ll leave you to it, but do try not to spill anything on him, will you, dear?” With that, she turned and made her way back down the stairs.
Lily turned around and went back inside the bedroom. Nate followed her cautiously. He thought he’d already upset her, and now her mom had just made her worse. He closed the door softly behind him. “Are you okay, Lil?”
She sat down on the bed and nodded. “Other than wishing we hadn’t come here? Yeah, apart from that, I’m great.”
He went and sat down on the bed beside her. “It’ll be okay. It’ll all be over by Sunday.”
She looked up at him. “I don’t think I can survive that long. And I don’t think you should have to stick around here and lie for that long either.”
“Lie? About what?” Nate couldn’t remember telling a single lie si
nce he got here. He’d thought he was doing well just being himself.
Lily blew out a sigh and stood up. “You know what! You shouldn’t have said that. You didn’t need to say that.”
“Oh.” Now he got it. She meant telling Andrew that he loved her. “It wasn’t exactly a lie, Lil.”
She gave him a skeptical look. “Don’t be ridiculous!”
Nate got to his feet. “Why was is it ridiculous?”
She looked taken aback. “You didn’t mean it?”
Nate shrugged. “I don’t know. Andrew was trying to make out that I had some ulterior motive for being with you. He was implying there was no way I could love you, and that’s not true. I could love you …”
She was wringing her hands together, watching him wide-eyed. What the fuck, he was going to go ahead and say it.
“In fact, I think I do. I’m no expert; that’s for sure. I do think it might be too soon and don’t think I know what the hell to do with it, but I do think I love you.”
She continued to stare at him, continued to wring her hands, and continued to draw out the silence.
“Say something, Lil!”
“I … I don’t know what to say.”
“Is it really so ridiculous?” It probably was. What the hell was he thinking? The trouble was he hadn’t been thinking; he’d just been reacting, going with his feelings. Right now, his overriding feeling was that he was a complete idiot.
She shook her head slowly. “It isn’t ridiculous. Not at all. What’s ridiculous is that I’ve been thinking that I love you … and …”
“You have?” His heart leaped in his chest.
She nodded. “But I kept telling myself that I couldn’t because, well, because you’re you and you don’t need that kind of pressure or commitment and because I’m me, and I’m no good at that kind of thing anyway. And, it’s waaay too soon to be using the L-word.”
He nodded. She had a point there. “Maybe it is, but we can’t take it back, can we?”
She shrugged. “Maybe we should.”
His heart sank again. “You didn’t mean it?”
“I did mean it, but I didn’t mean to say it yet—if ever, and I don’t think you did either. So how about we both take it back for now until the right time comes.”
