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Carter wraps his arm around my waist and holds me close. “You should be grateful your mother is so proud of you. You had a lot of competition for your position. You earned it fair and square.”
“Yeah, and Mom won’t shut up about it,” Fred says with a sigh.
Do I sense a hint of jealousy? Now he knows how I felt all these years when Mom bragged about Fred, his perfect college GPA, and his future as an engineer to everyone while she failed to mention a single one of my accomplishments. A little taste of Mom’s brutal medicine won’t kill him.
“Happy anniversary, you two,” Dad says, relaxing his head back against the chair. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you happier, Mia.”
My lips curl up into an appreciative grin. Dad’s right. For the first time in my adult life, I’ve finally managed to be in a relationship that greatly exceeded what I thought a partnership should be. And I’m experiencing it with the most amazing man.
“Hey, you two,” Gavin says, crossing over to us from the refreshments table. I’m sure he got sick of Luke and Ava’s incessant flirting, too. “I just heard the most amazing rumor about Michael Albrecht.” He peers down at his phone, signifying someone texted him the gossip.
“Do tell,” I say, resting my head on Carter’s broad chest.
“You know Hometown Spectacle Entertainment?” Gavin asks.
Carter furrows his brows, unimpressed. “The company that produces trashy reality shows?”
Gavin nods, grinning from ear to ear. “Apparently, he was hired as an intern there over the summer. Anunpaidinternship.”
My jaw drops, but I can’t help how pleased I am at the news. This feels like the dozenth update on Michael attempting to break back into the entertainment industry, and his attempts just keep getting sadder.
“It’s on him for ruining his own career,” I say. “At least Kristen had some sense to get a job as a bank teller.”
Carter side-eyes me as if I shouldn’t be aware of Kristen’s whereabouts.
I shrug. “What? I have my circles for gossip, too.”
“Anyway, I better get going,” Gavin says, taking a final sip from his champagne. “Mia, don’t forget we have a story producers’ meeting on Monday.”
“Aren’t you and I the only story producers forRunaway with Me?” I ask.
He nudges me on the arm. “Yeah, but isn’t it fun to pretend like there’s a bunch of us?”
I nod and playfully gesture for Gavin to head out. As he’s leaving, the doorbell rings.
“I think your parents are here,” I tell Carter.
He raises his brows. “Finally. And they’re finally ringing the doorbell now.”
I laugh under my breath. It took many months until Carter was ready to sit down with his parents and talk things through properly, and even longer until their relationship started to resemble that of parent-child. Surprisingly, it was much easier for them to bond with me, despite our dramatic first meeting.
And it’s great that they’re learning how to respect Carter’s boundaries, even though our door clearly states they can let themselves in. We hung up a sign specifically for the party.
I join Carter in heading into the foyer to open the door.
“Mom, Dad,” he says, embracing them both in a hug. “You made it.”
They both give me a hug, then Noah holds up a brown box. “Sorry we’re late. But we brought strawberry cheesecake. Your favorite.”
Carter chuckles and accepts the box from them. “That is my favorite. Thanks for remembering. James and Helen are out back if you want to say hello.”
“Of course, we do,” Charlotte says as they both step inside.
“We have to catch up with our second favorite couple from New York,” Dad adds.
“Dad, how would Uncle Martin and Aunt Evelyn feel if they heard you saying that?” I ask playfully.
“Why? They’re our first favorite,” Noah says.
