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This was everything he had been working toward, and it was finally happening. He didn’t want to appear too eager, but he was also ready to jump up and high five William!
Okay, probably not a great idea, so…reel that shit in.
“You have no idea how honored I am, William,” he said, amazed at how calm he sounded. “My goal has been to climb the ladder at Montgomerys and go as far as you felt I could. It means a lot that you have the faith in me to promote me to the next level. I had no idea something like this would happen so soon.”
William looked very pleased. “I saw something in you from the very first day, Noah. And when you joined me and my family for Christmas three years ago, I had the opportunity to get to know you, and it just solidified my belief that you were a valuable addition to our team. I look forward to seeing great things from you.”
“Thank you.” And then he smiled so hard his face hurt. “I feel like we need to celebrate, but…”
“I’ve got you covered,” William said with amusement. “I’ve got a bottle of champagne waiting just in case you accepted the offer.” He paused. “You are accepting it, aren’t you?” Then he laughed.
“I thought that was obvious!” Noah said with a laugh of his own.
In the distance, he heard a door open and close and figured it was Robert Montgomery. Last he’d heard, he was staying here with William.
“Come on! I ordered some lunch for us. We’ll eat and toast to your promotion.”
“Is it wrong that I really like the sound of that?” Noah asked as he got up and followed William from the room. There were dozens of questions he wanted to ask—like when was this all going to officially start and what office was he going to get—but he figured that could wait until they were in the office on Monday.
But the wait was going to kill him.
“Hang on, I forgot my drink in the family room,” he said before turning around to get it. He’d gone all of two steps when he heard William talking to someone.
A female someone.
Oh, God…
“I knew you’d get us yummy stuff for lunch, but I wanted to get us yummy stuff to snack on while we watch a movie,” she was saying.
Watch a movie…? What?
Noah grabbed his drink and did his best to look casual as he walked back into the dining room. Lily’s wide-eyed expression told him she was just as surprised to see him as he was to see her.
“Noah, um…hey,” she said a bit stiffly before looking at her grandfather. “You didn’t mention that Noah was joining us. I thought we were just hanging out—you know…just the two of us.”
Ouch.
“That was the original plan, but then I had come to an important decision about work and I wanted the chance to talk to Noah before we got back to the office on Monday. I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal since the two of you know each other and you’ve both dined with me before,” he said with a soft laugh. “Besides, the more the merrier, right?”
“I guess so,” she said with a tight smile.
“Let me grab the platters from the refrigerator,” William said, but Lily cut him off.
“Why don’t you sit and relax while Noah and I grab everything?” she suggested and Noah knew it wasn’t just about fussing over him because of his health. “We’ll be right back!”
“Take your time,” he replied as he sat down and pulled out his phone. “I’m just going to give Robert a call and make sure he made it home okay.”
“Great!” And as she walked out of the room, she motioned for Noah to follow her. She didn’t stop in the kitchen; she went farther away to the family room before spinning around. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call and give me a heads up?” she whispered.
“I texted you multiple times and you didn’t respond!” he said in an equally hushed tone. “Then I drove past the guesthouse to warn you, but your car wasn’t there! What else was I supposed to do?”
“I forgot to charge my phone when I got home this morning. I slept for a few hours and when I got up, I had the idea about going to the bakery. On my way out the door, I grabbed my phone and charged it in the car.”
“You could have done that on your way home this morning.”
She frowned at him. “Yeah, I know! But I didn’t! I didn’t even look at it; otherwise I would have seen your texts and made an excuse not to come!”
Rolling his eyes, he huffed. “Seriously? You can’t even be in the same room as me when you’re around your family?”
