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Following his onscreen triumph, Fernsby had laid out a spread that had every mouth watering. Today’s centerpiece was his winning vegan, gluten-free Victoria sponge.
Ava was sure it had never been done before. But Fernsby, a man with depths more profound than she could have imagined, had done it.
And now he did the honors before any of them could even tackle the rest of the gourmet banquet. “You must not be full for this tasting,” he announced. “This isn’t the end of our meal, it’s the beginning.” How proud he was of his lighter-than-air sponge.
The mini dachshund ran up to sit at Fernsby’s feet, as if he might receive a slice, or even a crumb. But Fernsby offered the first piece to Gabby, his sternest critic. Even the televised handshake would be nothing compared to Gabby’s assessment.
A hush fell over the Mavericks and Harringtons, as if they were one big family rooting for one of their own. Somehow, since January’s soccer game, Ava, her siblings, even Fernsby and T. Rex, had become Mavericks as well. They’d been accepted. Susan Spencer, standing beside her, linked fingers with Ava, as anxious for Gabby’s opinion as anyone who’d known Fernsby for the last fifteen years.
The Maverick matriarch was a tall woman. Ava topped her by only half an inch.
She felt something in their clasped hands—energy flowing between them. The synergy Dane talked about. Ava knew in her heart that this group of Mavericks, which included all the Harringtons now, would do great things together.
But now they needed Gabby’s judgment.
First, she sniffed. Then she tested the cake’s texture with a finger. Finally, she sliced into the Victoria sponge with a dessert fork, just the tip of the piece Fernsby had cut for her, and raised it to her mouth.
Ava could almost feel Fernsby vibrating.
Other than her chewing, there was no expression on Gabby’s face. Ava wanted to laugh as her sister played Fernsby to the hilt.
With another bite, she allowed a thoughtful frown to gather between her brows.
Fernsby’s fists clenched, as if he might have to throttle her if she didn’t offer her opinion soon.
Though she hadn’t finished her piece of vegan, gluten-free Victoria sponge, Gabby looked at Fernsby.
Ava defied the entire assemblage to read her sister’s expression. Gabby gave nothing away. Until finally, she said, loudly enough for everyone to hear, “I know we’ve had our differences over the years, Fernsby.” She paused dramatically, everyone wanting to scream at her to hurry up. “But I must grovel at your feet and ask you to create a Fernsby special for my cafés. It would be my greatest honor.”
Emotion flickered in Fernsby’s normally detached expression. Ava was sure, if there had been no one else to witness it, he would have picked Gabby up in his arms and whirled her around the pool deck. Instead, holding himself rigid, he intoned, “My dearest Gabrielle, I will make a Victoria sponge for you.” Then something glittered in his gray eyes. “But I also have something even bigger in mind.”
The entire Maverick group, including the two boys, Noah and Jorge—perhaps even the babies—held their collective breath.
Until Gabby couldn’t hold it a moment longer. “What? What will you make?” She took a big gulp of air.
“A butter tart.” Fernsby paused a long beat, as if waiting for Gabby to deflate. Only to blow her up again with his next words. “A butter-free butter tart.”
Gabby gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, covering the shriek that wanted to burst out.
Then Fernsby smiled. Again. Shocking Ava to her core. Again.
“It will be the most delicious tart any of you have ever tasted,” he declared with ultimate confidence.
And Gabby threw herself into Fernsby’s waiting arms.
“Oh my God. What’s happened to Fernsby?” Ava said without even thinking. “And what’s happened to my sister?”
Susan squeezed her fingers and whispered, “Synergy.”
It was so true. After all the years since they’d lost their parents, maybe even long before that, she and her family had finally found a home.
Maybe it was the Maverick synergy that had shown Dane the way to Cammie. She looked at them now, hand in hand, beaming like newlyweds. What had happened to her brother was almost too hard to believe. Not that Ava hadn’t known Dane was in love with Cammie almost from day one, especially after he went ballistic when Troy simply asked her out. But she’d truly believed her brother would never figure it out. It had taken so long that Ava had come to believe he was exactly like her, that he knew how bad relationships could be, and he wanted none of it.
Yet here he was, looking at Cammie as if he was starstruck.
And Cammie gazed up at him so adoringly that, had Ava been a different woman, she might have been moved to tears. Just the other week, she’d told Cammie she didn’t need to pay back any of her uncle’s care fees. And yet, Cammie had made a bank transfer and said she’d go on doing so until the debt was paid. She even insisted on paying Dane too.
