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“We agree on that.”
I rise on my tiptoes, giving him a quick peck on his lips. “We just had a couple’s fight.”
He grins at this. “We didn’t do too bad.”
Opening the car door, he gestures for me to enter it.
“By the way, the neurologist said he can see Grams tomorrow evening,” he says a few minutes later while we’re speeding through the city.
“That’s great.” I finally convinced Grams that it’d be good to get another opinion on her medication. “Thank you.” Needing to switch to a lighter topic, I ask, “Who’s going to be at Pippa’s house?”
“My entire family. Even Summer. She’s been in Italy the past couple of months, but she’s back now. Worked for a museum there. ”
“Sebastian’s wife and Logan’s fiancée and Pippa’s husband will also be there?”
“Exactly.”
“So, what was that about matchmaking?”
Max doesn’t miss a beat. “Mom wanted grandchildren for a while. Since none of us kids were in serious relationships, she took the reins into her own hands. Didn’t really work out. Eventually Pippa took over from Mom, and she was surprisingly successful.”
“Who plotted to bring Pippa and her husband together?”
Max gives me a startled look. “How do you know anyone did?”
“Just a hunch. I know your family. Meddling isn’t a one-sided activity.”
“Sebastian’s wife, Ava, and Logan’s fiancée, Nadine. I think Alice was involved too.”
“I see those girls fit right in with the Bennett clan. Can’t wait to meet them.”
We fall into companionable silence, and I can’t help smiling as I remember the family dynamics and how I always wanted to be part of the clan. I loved Grams, but there was something undeniably magical about the large, loud, and lovely family.
When I snap out of my memories, we’ve veered left into a quiet residential area in San Francisco. I’ve never been here before, but I can see the appeal this has for families. The streets are large and lined with thick, old trees, which cast a comfortable shade while still allowing in plenty of sunlight.
“They just moved in here last week.” Max fills me in. “It took forever for them to find a house. Here we are.”
Wow. Pippa and Eric Callahan’s house is a thing of beauty. Spanning two levels, with a warm brown roof on top, it seems plucked out of a fairy tale. The house is huge though, a U-shaped building surrounded by a garden so large one could fit half the clinic inside.
“Why is it so large?” I ask as we walk up to the front door. “Eric has just one daughter, right?”
Max told me Eric was a widower and single dad to a daughter when Pippa met him.
“Yeah, but I think they are planning on having even more kids after the twins,” Max says with a fake shiver.
“You afraid of kids, Max Bennett?” I tease.
“Not exactly, but three sound like a handful already.”
The front door opens before we have a chance to knock, and Jenna Bennett greets us. She looks every bit the woman I remember, plus a few wrinkles and white strands of hair. Her eyes haven’t lost any of their kindness, nor has her smile.
“Max, thank you so much for bringing this lovely girl today.”
She pays no further attention to her son, instead pulling me into one of those bear hugs I fondly remember. She smells like flowers and honey, and I could stay in the circle of her arms forever.
“It’s so good to see you again, Emilia.” She lets go of me, patting my shoulders. “I can’t tell you how many times I wondered what became of your family after you moved away.”
I had thought of the Bennetts often enough after I left. To know Mrs. Bennett also thought about us warms me on the inside.
