“Caden. A word in the lounge, please?” she asked, smile strained as she gripped my arm.
She pushed me toward the glass doors without waiting for an answer, and Harrison followed hot on our heels.
“There’s no way I’m missing this,” he said gleefully.
Grandfather slipped into the lounge behind us.
As soon as the door slid shut behind him, my mother rounded on me. “You’re saying you did all this for a promotion?”
My jaw worked. “It doesn’t matter now.”
Harrison gave a low whistle. “Damn, you’re more committed than I thought.”
Our mother crossed her arms with a frown, far less impressed. “Well, why haven’t you gone after Ellie yet? What are you waiting for?”
My brows rose. “You heard her. She wants nothing to do with me. It was all pretend.”
And I was the idiot who just now realized I wantedeverythingto do with her. Not the stupid promotion.
A warm chuckle rumbled from my grandfather, snapping me out of my quickly spiraling thoughts. “It wasn’t pretend.”
His knowing smile rubbed me the wrong way. I glanced at my mother, and my suspicions only grew.
“Why are you all smiling?” I scowled. “I just lied to you for a week straight. Aren’t you angry?”
Harrison shrugged. “We like Ellie.”
I fought to keep my face straight. He couldn’t be serious.
But when he didn’t laugh, I flicked my gaze to my mother and grandfather. “…You do?”
“She’s good for you,” was all the old man said.
“I admit I had my initial reservations, but it’s easy to see you two complement each other,” my mother added with a sniff. “Although she’s not who I’d expect you to hire for something like this.”
“You and me both,” I muttered.
Funny how I couldn’t imagine having hired anyone else, though.
Her mouth curved up, eyes softening. “But before yesterday, I can’t remember the last time I saw you smile—reallysmile. I’ve also never seen someone outside the family stand up to you like that. Never.”
“And we were competing again!” Harrison’s laugh boomed through the room. He knocked his shoulder into mine with a grin. “It was just like old times. Your little lie got me my brother back. How can I be mad about that?”
He was right. It’d been too long since we’d gone head-to-head like that, but this still didn’t add up.
“If you like her so much, then why’d you make her return the ring?” I asked my mother.
She looked out the windows toward the exact railing Whiskey had dropped the ring from. She rested her fingers on the strand of pearls at her collarbone. “I was giving you more time to stop her from leaving. Little did I know her feline would drop it in the ocean. It was such a beautiful ring, too.”
I stared. She’d beenhelpingme?
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Harrison shoved me toward the door, making me stagger a step before I could stop myself. “Go after her.”
I flexed my fingers. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m the last person she wants to see right now.”
“That’s not true?—”
A light tapping against the door to the deck drew our attention to Dr. Lovejoy waving cheerfully at us. She slid the door open, popping her curly mane of hair through the gap. “So sorry to interrupt, but do you have a moment, Cade?”
