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Mom laughed. “Every time I put something in the giveaway box, your father takes it out and tells me he needs it, and we can’t possibly throw it out.”
They’d lived in Chicago all their lives. When they were first married, they could afford only a cramped walk-up in a not-so-nice neighborhood. And that was putting it politely. But they’d raised her and Daniel there, done their best, and when Daniel had been eleven, they began bringing in the Mavericks, boys with not-so-happy pasts—and that was putting it mildly too. Her parents always had more than enough love to go around. Matt, Evan, Sebastian, and Will had been Daniel’s friends at school, and they’d all come to feel that Susan and Bob Spencer were more like real parents than their own. When her brothers—she never thought of them as foster brothers—had started making money in their various endeavors, the first thing they’d done was move Mom and Dad to a big house in a good suburb. Until recently, her parents had wanted to stay right there. But now that Lyssa had moved away, and with no more family ties in Chicago, her parents had decided to leave too.
“I’m so excited to see the new house for the first time.”
“Your brothers won’t let me come out and help,” her dad groused, rubbing his almost-bald head. He’d taught them everything they knew about home improvement. Daniel always credited their father for inspiring him to start Top Notch.
“You know they want to surprise both of us with the finished product, honey,” Susan reminded him. “They’re out there every weekend. Cal was there this past Saturday, as well. I heard he helped them build the deck.”
Lyssa worked to keep her expression neutral. So. Cal had flown into the area for the weekend, but hadn’t stopped by the office, or even let her know he was in town. Clearly, they needed to have their face-to-face sooner rather than later. Before things got any weirder, it was time to nip his awkwardness around her in the bud.
But while Cal might be able to avoid Lyssa, at least for these past few weeks, he couldn’t avoid her mother. Susan beckoned, and of course Cal immediately came over, making his way through the crowd of Mavericks. He gave Susan a big hug and clapped Bob on the back. All Lyssa got from him was a faint approximation of a smile.
Fortunately, her mother didn’t seem to feel any of the tension. “The boys tell me you’ve been working on the house too.” She clasped both his hands in hers. “Thank you so much. We can hardly wait to move in.”
“It was my pleasure,” Cal said politely. “Good to see you both.” Then he glanced over Bob’s shoulder. “I see Gideon gesturing at me. I’d love to catch up with both of you later, if you’ll excuse me.”
Then he took off, clearly desperate to put distance between himself and Lyssa.
As she watched him go, there was that ache around her heart again, squeezing the breath out of her.
She shoved it away, put a smile on her face, and proceeded to tell her parents all about the gala she was planning with Dane Harrington.
Chapter Eleven
This twenty-four-hour Catalina Island celebration would be the death of him.
Cal surreptitiously surveyed the name tags on the dining table’s place settings and was simultaneously thankful that Paige had put Lyssa between Kelsey and Chi, rather than next to him—while also suffering from the emptiness of all these weeks without her smile, her beautiful face, her laugh, her scent.
The ferry ride over to Catalina had been the first hurdle. He looked at each of the day’s events as additional hurdles he would have to jump before he could hurry back on the ferry and get the hell away from her again.
Not that he didn’t love the Mavericks and their parties, but standing among them, knowing what he’d done, felt worse than sticking his hand in a basket of rattlesnakes. Talking with Lyssa and her parents, he was sure he’d felt the fangs sinking into his flesh—and he deserved every poisonous bite.
The Mavericks had taken over the entire hotel. The banquet hall was decked out festively for Thanksgiving, the tables set in a big U and decorated with dried gourds, small pumpkins, and squashes along the inside edge. A parquet dance floor took up the other half of the hall, while a buffet table rested along one wall, ready for the turkeys to be carved and warming plates to receive the yams and mashed potatoes and stuffing and vegetables. Along the other wall was a full bar, including champagne, plus juice and sparkling cider for the kids.
After the ferry dropped them off, they’d checked into their rooms, and now everyone was dressed in their finery. The Mavericks wore dark suits and ties, while the women were all beautifully dressed in a variety of colors. They were each different and stunning in their own way. Charlie was the only redhead. Harper was blond, yet somehow more serious than the others. Tasha had long, midnight-black hair. Ari, the youngest, looked like a blond girl next door.
