“That’s not how I heard it.Jan said you were out there in heels, wrestling support poles across the pier while lightning struck all around.”
“Jan might have exaggerated slightly.”
“Jan never exaggerates.”Mona gestured to the table.“Sit, sit.Let’s eat before everything gets cold.”
Bryan held out a chair for Cassidy, earning a surprised smile that made his pulse kick up for no good reason.This was a working dinner, a professional collaboration.Nothing more.
Except his mother had made all his favorite dishes, and Lucy kept shooting him knowing looks, and Cassidy fit into the chaos of his family like she’d always been there.
“This is incredible,” Cassidy said after her first taste of the clam chowder.“Mrs.Lucas, this is the best chowder I’ve ever had.”
“Mona, please.And thank you, dear.It’s my grandmother’s recipe.She taught me when I was just a young girl.”His mother ladled more into Cassidy’s bowl despite her protests.“Bryan says you’re from the city.Do you cook?”
“Not really.I’m usually too busy working to make real meals.”Cassidy paused, then added more quietly, “Or I was.Before.”
Lucy, bless her complete lack of filter, immediately asked, “Before what?”
“Lucy,” Bryan warned.
“It’s okay.”Cassidy set down her spoon and met Lucy’s curious gaze.“I had a bit of a...problem...at work.During a big presentation.Basically fell apart.My company put me on a mandatory sabbatical to recover.”
The admission hung in the air.Bryan’s mother and sister exchanged glances, and he braced himself for awkward sympathy or, worse, pity.
Instead, his mom reached over and patted Cassidy’s hand.
“Good,” she said firmly.“Any company that works someone until they collapse should be ashamed of themselves.And any woman brave enough to admit she needs a break deserves respect, not judgment.”
Cassidy’s eyes went suspiciously bright.“Thank you.”
“Now eat.You’re too thin.When’s the last time you had a proper meal?”
Bryan watched Cassidy eat, genuinely enjoying the meal.She asked Mona about the grouper seasoning, laughed at Lucy’s stories about tourist mishaps at the harbor, and somehow made his overbearing family seem almost normal.
“So,” Lucy said as his mom brought out the key lime pie, “what do you think of our brother?”
Bryan nearly choked on his water.“Lucy.”
“What?I’m just asking.You two are working together.I want to know if he’s being a stubborn pain in the...”
His mom shot Lucy a stern look.
“A pain at committee meetings like he is at family dinners.”
“He’s been wonderful,” Cassidy said.“Passionate about the festival, protective of the town’s history, willing to compromise when it matters.”
“That doesn’t sound like Bryan at all.”Lucy grinned.“Are we talking about the same person?”
“Okay, that’s enough.”Bryan pointed his fork at his sister.“You’re supposed to make me look good, not destroy my reputation.”
“Your reputation can handle it.”
They stayed long past the tasting, talking and laughing while Mona kept refilling plates and Lucy told increasingly embarrassing stories about his childhood.Cassidy fit into the conversation like she’d known them for years instead of hours, asking questions and sharing her own stories about growing up in a small town in Indiana with a mom who worked part-time to help pay the bills.
“She sounds like a good mom,” his mother said.
Cassidy frowned.“She is, though I spent most of my adult life trying to prove I was nothing like her.”She pushed her pie around her plate.“She chose a simple life in a small town.I chose corporate ambition in the city.I thought I was so much smarter, so much more successful.”
“And now?”he asked quietly.
