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“Well, if you really want a good time, make sure you drag Wyatt out onto the dancefloor later,” Ava declared.
Wyatt didn’t strike me as the dancing type, so I looked up to see his reaction. “Ava thinks everyone should dance all the time, since she’s a professional dancer.”
“Wow. Really?” I asked, my eyes returning to hers.
“Yeah.”
“She’s usually off on a tour with some celebrity musician, but when she’s not, she’s here celebrating all the important things with us,” Ivy explained.
My eyes widened. “That sounds incredible.”
A smile that felt a bit forced formed on her face. “Yeah, I love what I do.”
“Jules did an incredible job with the cake, Ivy, don’t you think?”
That question came from a newcomer to the group, who didn’t seem to notice Wyatt and me standing there. When my eyes shifted to the side, I saw the older woman who’d asked that question, along with the gentleman whose hand she was holding. Judging by their looks, I had to assume they were Wyatt’s parents, because he was the spitting image of his father, with his matching dark hair and bright blue eyes.
“She did,” Ivy answered. “I’m so proud of her.”
“I’m sure it’s going to taste just as good as it looks,” the man said.
None of them were wrong, because the cake looked spectacular.
“Mom? Dad?” Wyatt called.
Evidently, I’d guessed correctly.
Wyatt’s parents spun around, saw him standing there, and their eyes immediately shifted to me. Oddly enough, I thought I could see excitement, relief, and hope in his mother’s eyes while his dad shot me an assessing look.
When they returned their attention to their son, Wyatt said, “I’d like you to meet Rhea. Rhea, these are my parents, Malcolm and Evelyn.”
As I started to extend my hand to them, Evelyn stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. I had no choice but to hug her back. “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you, Rhea.”
Finally?
She made it sound as though Wyatt had been speaking about me for weeks now.
“Likewise.”
When she finally loosened her hold on me and stepped back beside her husband, he extended his hand to me with a smile on his face and said, “We’re glad you could make it today.”
I shook his hand, smiled back, and said, “Thank you for having me.”
“It’s no problem at all. We even saved a spot for you at our table for dinner, so we hope that’s okay.”
If there was one thing it seemed the Westwoods were good at, it was hospitality. “That sounds wonderful.”
“Speaking of dinner, it looks like they’re starting to bring out the food now,” Wyatt noted.
“Oh, perfect timing. Let’s go grab our seats.”
Dinner was wonderful. By the time we arrived at the table, Wyatt’s grandparents were there, and he’d introduced me to them. Larry and Wendy Westwood reminded me a lot of my grandparents.
I had been pleasantly surprised by the way Wyatt’s family treated me when they had no reason to be as warm and welcoming as they were.
Sure, it would have been easy to dismiss their actions as them merely doing what they needed to do to attempt to be perceived one way in order to possibly change my mind, but I didn’t think that was the case. There was far too much ease in the way they acted toward and around me, and if they’d been faking, I was sure I would have recognized that kind of deception.
Then again, maybe I was far too caught up in Wyatt to notice anything. There was so much I’d refused to notice before, and seeing it now, it was hard not to be affected.
