Best Man With Benefits (McCade Brothers 3)

Colt, to his credit, didn’t allow a ripple of annoyance to disrupt his relaxed expression. “Yes, Mother.”

She patted his cheek. “Good.” Then she turned to exchange cheek kisses with her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “You look beautiful, as always, Susan,” Kady said.

“You’re too kind, sweetheart.” She eyed Kady’s dark-blue tank dress and canvas sandals. “I wish I was still at the age where I could throw on any old thing and not worry about how I looked, but alas, those days are gone.”

Kady gave her a thanks…I think smile and linked arms with Colt. “We need to go meet with the wedding planner. See you both at the rehearsal?”

“Of course,” her mom said. Sophie nodded, and refrained from adding, If I don’t drink myself into a coma at lunch.

Then they were making their escape, and her mom turned to her, smiled, and hugged her. “Sophie.”

“Hi, Mom.”

Her baggy, long-sleeved T-shirt hid most of her weight loss, but as soon as her mother wrapped her arms around her, she noticed the difference. She straightened and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. “My Lord, look at you! You’ve finally outgrown your baby fat.”

She tried to take a lesson from Colt and Kady and let her mother’s condescending comment roll off, but failed. She refused to go the old Sophie route and not stick up for herself. Instead she sat, pulled her chair to the table, and said, “I didn’t ‘outgrow’ anything, Mom. I decided to lose some weight, so I changed my lifestyle and eating habits in order to accomplish the goal.”

“Well.” Her mom settled herself in the chair on the opposite side of the table and in a move Sophie recognized as force of habit, discreetly scoped the room to collect any admiring glances. “Congratulations, honey. Whatever you did worked.” She turned back to Sophie. “I wish you wouldn’t hide all your progress under”—she wrinkled her nose and gestured to Sophie’s outfit—“sloppy, shapeless clothes. You know a shirt like that, with your chest, just makes you look like a tent.” With that, she opened her menu.

Dismissed. Sophie picked up her menu and nearly gave voice to the “yes, Mother” hovering on the tip of her tongue, but new Sophie issued a firm no. She put the menu down. “This shirt is comfortable, and I went for some exercise before I came here. I wasn’t actually planning on competing in the

Miss America pageant this afternoon.”

Her mom looked up from the menu, brows high. “Of course not, sweetheart. I’m just saying—”

“Mom, I know what you’re saying, because you’ve been saying it for years. Trust me, you’re relentless on the topic of what’s wrong with me. It used to hurt my feelings. Now it just annoys me. Stop picking me apart.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t pick you apart.”

“Come on. I’ve never measured up to your standards. What I’m suddenly realizing is I never will, because they’re impossible. Even if I were a supermodel, you’d still find fault. You’re not happy unless you’re criticizing.”

“That’s ridiculous, Sophie.” Her mother sounded genuinely shocked by the accusation. “I do not constantly criticize you.”

“I lost twenty pounds, and after one quick pat on the back, you immediately told me I’m dressed all wrong. There’s no satisfying you. You’ve done this my entire life.”

Her mom opened her mouth to issue an automatic denial, but paused to replay her remarks. Then she had the good grace to blush. “All right, yes, I might be a tad quick to point out when I see room for improvement.” She dropped her palms to the table. “I don’t do it to criticize or pick you apart. Believe it or not, I’m trying to be helpful. I’d like to think I’ve taught you and Colt the importance of personal presentation. You never know who you’ll run into when you’re out and about, and you always want to make a good impression.”

“Why, Mom?”

“What do you mean, why? So you don’t end up alone.”

The words hung in the air between them as the irony sank in. Her mother frowned. “You know what I’m trying to say. Of course you need to fall in love with someone—someone who truly suits you so you don’t end up middle-aged and divorced, like your parents…”

And there it was, the exasperating, messed-up truth. She sighed and shook her head. “Mom, I’m not going to end up alone because I wore sweats to the grocery store or had a hair out of place.”

“I know. I know you’re right.” She reached across the table, squeezed Sophie’s arm, and offered a weak smile. “And I’m sorry if I made you feel like you never measured up to my standards. I don’t feel that way. You are lovely, sweetheart, inside and out, and I am awfully proud of you. Hurtful or annoying as my efforts have been, ultimately, I just want my kids to be happy.”

Colt was there. Crazy in love and confident enough in that love to embark on a journey he’d never anticipated taking. In two short days he’d pledge himself to Kady, for better or worse, till death did them part…and when Colt made a pledge, he honored it. She thought about all the recent changes in her life—new outlook, new job, and best of all, Logan—and couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Don’t worry, Mom. I think you’ll get your wish.”

Chapter Twelve

Under the hum of conversation at the rehearsal dinner, Kady said, “I think Sophie got lucky last night.”

Logan nearly coughed up the bite he’d just swallowed. Colt slapped him on the back and shot his bride-to-be a horrified look. “We’re back to that? Seriously?”

“Yes, we’re back to that.” Kady aimed an exasperated look right back at Colt. “Don’t tell me you bought the I-was-at-the-gym-this-morning line she handed us earlier. That was a lie if I ever heard one. Besides, look at her.”

Three sets of eyes shifted to the opposite end of the table. Past Reed and Julie, sitting so close they might as well have been sharing a chair. Past Christine and Tyler, equally lost in their own private world. Past the empty chair Regan had occupied until it had become obvious Brock would not be joining them for the post-rehearsal dinner. Past Tyler and Kady’s mom and dad, beaming at each other like newlyweds. At the very end, Sophie sat between her parents, smiling and nodding at something her father was saying.