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Juno swept toward one of the middle doors and opened it as if she knew it wouldn’t be locked.
“I’m back,” she called out as she led me inside. I considered running somewhere very far away, but voices called out in response, and then there were footsteps. I didn’t have time to leave.
Alma was the first to appear, eager and smiling. She wrapped me in a hug before I could object, and then I was swept into the room. Jack was next and did the same, like I was an old friend, and then Kai, Alma’s husband, followed.
With each successive hug, I relaxed a little more, grateful that they all seemed so pleased to see me.
Jack wrapped his arm around Juno and shifted to the side, with her blocking any hope I had of retreat.
“Let me introduce you to everyone you haven’t met yet,” Jack said, although a quick glance showed me that most of the remaining people were the rest of the band.
My eyes locked with another familiar face, however. They widened as I recognized him. It was the guy from the airport who had tripped me up and then walked off without even noticing.
“This is Lukas. He’s a good friend of mine. Builds houses for the most part. Just got here as well.” Jack motioned toward him.
“I believe we were on the same flight.” Lukas stood and reached out his hand to shake mine.
“Kit here does interior design. You two should talk sometime over the week.” Juno smiled before she made her way to the kitchen.
I gulped, aware again of how sweaty my hands were, but I could barely wipe them before I needed to be polite.
Thankfully, Juno cutting across bought me a little time, but not much. As soon as Lukas had shaken my hand, he went back to his seat and left me standing, half in the room and not sure what to do now.
CHAPTER THREE
Lukas
As I looked around the room, I felt a tightening in my gut. I was fond of Jack, and I’d come to his whole wedding thing as a way of saying thank you and making sure he knew I appreciated everything he had done for me, but I barely knew anyone else. The rest seemed to all be comfortable with each other.
At least until Juno’s friend came in. She seemed as out of place as I did and was hiding it about as well. The band tried to be nice to her, as they had me, and make her feel welcome, but some friendships were just easier on people.
The band had been together a long time. There were no egos and nothing difficult to dance around.
I, on the other hand, was the boring architect who made pretty houses and could talk in brief terms about it, but too much of it easily bored people. And I hadn’t become as successful as I was without being able to read a room and know that I was boring people when I spoke.
Thankfully, the conversation was light, and no one seemed to mind if I sat on one edge of the room and listened. People were generally having a good time, talking about whatever the room wanted and relaxing with some drinks and snacks.
Kit seemed to realize this was the general idea and found herself a seat at the side of the room as well. Juno brought her a drink without asking, knowing what she usually drank.
It made me smile. They were clearly good friends. It had been a long time since I had been fortunate to have anyone in my world who paid that much attention.
Even when I paid a PA to aid me, they rarely had the level of attention to detail I needed.
Despite being more comfortable talking to Jack, when he walked away, I found my gaze drawn to Kit time and time again. Juno drew her into the conversation, and the politeness of everyone else kept her involved on some level.
It allowed me to watch. I didn’t need attention or to have people consider my opinion important. I knew who I was, and I had plenty of respect. I let my actions speak more than words.
While I’d noticed Kit on the flight over, one of the few others in first class, I hadn’t really taken her in. Until now. She came alive when Juno got her talking about a design she was working on. It lit up her eyes and made her talk faster, the passion for her work clear.
“There’s going to be a lot of people at the wedding who will be interested in working with you,” Alma said, and from the work Kit was describing, I didn’t disagree. Even I would have considered a project with her at that moment.
As soon as I thought about it, I caught hold of the suggestion and pushed it aside. I couldn’t make the mistakes I’d made in the past all over again.
Despite these thoughts, I remained hanging back until someone declared we should figure out food, and everyone started making takeout suggestions.
“Don’t you have connections with that great pizza place over on the island?” Jack asked, looking my way.
“Yeah, they’ll bring it to us if we want.” I grinned. I may not need to flex my muscles, but Jack knew every guy who was some kind of leader liked to do so when called on.
