‘And you?’ Everett asked him. ‘Are you happy?’
Adam took a mouthful of his champagne, feeling the sparkling liquid tickle his throat as he swallowed. He thought of Kitty and the way she’d smiled up at him at the ocean bungalow. Of the image he’d had of her playing on the beach with their future kids. Of the way the setting sun had turned the sky orange, illuminating the side of her cheek, highlighting her beautiful face.
Blinking, he turned his eyes back to his brother, who was looking at him expectantly. ‘Happy?’ Adam asked, then nodded slowly. ‘Yeah, I’m fucking ecstatic.’
‘Congratulations.’ Cesca squeezed her tightly around the waist. ‘Your first movie. How do you feel?’
Kitty looked around Everett’s oversized living room, filled with the great and the good of Hollywood. The party spilled out into the yard, people thronging around the poolside bar. Occasionally there was a splash as an unsuspecting – and drunk – reveller managed to fall in.
‘Ask me when we’ve finished post-production,’ Kitty said, hugging her sister back. ‘I’m so glad you could make it.’
‘I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’
‘Nor would I.’ Lucy passed them both a glass of champagne she’d managed to grab from a passing waiter. ‘I’m so proud of you, Kitty. I feel like a parent whose kids have finally grown up.’
‘You always were our makeshift mum.’ Kitty squeezed Lucy’s hand, the one that wasn’t holding a champagne glass. ‘You should be proud. We’re who we are today because of you.’
‘Stop it.’ Lucy couldn’t hide the tears in her eyes, even though she was obviously trying her best. ‘You guys should be proud of yourselves. Look at you – a best-selling playwright and an up-and-coming producer. I wish Dad could be here to see this.’
‘Well at least the four of us are here.’ Juliet walked over to join them, her daughter Poppy clinging to her hand. ‘Well, five of us, I guess. How often do we all get to be in the same place?’
Kitty reached for Poppy, giving her niece a huge hug, then turned to Juliet to embrace her, too. ‘I can’t remember the last time we were all on the same continent, let alone in the same room. It makes me so happy to have you all here.’ She couldn’t help but feel warm inside, surrounded by her family.
‘You’re glowing,’ Juliet said. ‘You look fabulous.’
‘That’s because she’s in love,’ Cesca said. ‘And you guys thought Sam and I were bad. These two put us in the shade.’
‘Stop it,’ Kitty said, rolling her eyes. ‘At least our PDAs don’t make it onto TMZ.’
‘Maybe you could both tone it down,’ Lucy said, looking amused. ‘Take it easy on those of us who are single.’
Sensing the opportunity to take the spotlight from herself, Kitty grinned at her eldest sister. ‘When are you going to find a nice man and settle down, anyway?’ she asked her. ‘I’m sure Sam and Adam might have some friends you’d be interested in.’
‘If I want to get set up by my sisters, I’ll tell you,’ Lucy said. ‘But I think I can take care of my own sex life, thank you.’
‘What sex life?’ Cesca asked. ‘Inquiring minds want to know.’
‘Um, there are children here,’ Juliet pointed out, putting her hands over Poppy’s ears. ‘And by the way, if it’s anything like mine, it’s non-existent,’ she whispered, before releasing Poppy from her grasp.
Kitty sensed it was time for a change in the conversation. Licking her lips, she steeled herself to tell them her news. ‘Um, Adam and I have something to tell you.’
That got their attention. All three of her sisters turned around to stare at her. She noticed Cesca take a surreptitious glance at her left hand, as though to check if she’d got engaged.
Adam walked up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist. She rested the back of her head on his chest. Sam was with him – in the past few months they’d spent a lot of time together whenever Cesca and Sam were in LA. The four of them got on so well, it made Kitty’s heart swell.
‘Are you making an announcement without me?’ Adam whispered in her ear. He didn’t sound the least bit upset with her.
‘I’m not doing anything without you.’ Kitty smiled, tilting her head back to look up at him. ‘We’re a team, you know that.’
‘So what’s the big announcement then?’ Lucy asked. ‘Don’t leave us all in suspense.’
‘What suspense?’ Jonas walked over to them, grabbing at Kitty’s hand. She smiled down at him, squeezing his palm in her own.
‘Hey, Jonas.’ Her niece, Poppy, gave the boy an excited smile. There were two years between them, but Poppy had latched on to him as soon as she arrived at the party. Thankfully, Jonas was as patient with the little girl as he was with everybody else.
Adam reached down to ruffle Jonas’s hair. Another good thing about him being back in LA was that he got to spend a lot of time with his nephew. It wasn’t unusual for Kitty to find the two of them together, their heads almost touching as they bent down and made surreptitious plans. It gave her a glimpse into the kind of father Adam would be one day. ‘Kitty and I have a secret we want to tell you,’ Adam told him. ‘We want to tell everybody.’
‘Then it won’t be a secret.’ Jonas looked confused.