Always With You (The Connor Family 6)

“Okay.”

“Why don’t you ask a certain broody hotel owner if he wants to join you?”

“Reid? No, he’s not into this.”

“Doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“Val, this is just so new. If I bring this up now, he’ll just think I’ll always have unreasonable expectations.”

“But you want to go with him, don’t you?” she said, smiling coyly.

“Of course, I do. I love spending time with him. He’s so... I don’t know, different than I thought. He can be broody, but he’s also fun.” I chuckled, remembering our cocktail session last week. But now was not the time to think about Reid. I had to focus on Val. I knew the next two months wouldn’t be easy. She was an active person. A few years ago, she’d had to stay at home for a few months after a car accident, and she’d taken it pretty hard.

I needed to plan a diversion for tonight, cheer her up.

First, I had to check with Carter if he already had something in mind. I sauntered to the counter under the pretense of wanting to order something for myself too and exchanged a few words with my brother-in-law.

“I did have something in mind, but I agree with you. She’ll love having the clan at the house tonight,” he said.

Did I mention that I adored Carter? He made my sister so happy.

“Perfect. I’ll set everything up.”

Lori was the planner, so I called her first, stepping to an empty corner of the coffee shop.

“Okay,” Lori said. “I’ll tell everyone else. You focus on Val.”

“Done.”

Things moved fast in our family. We mobilized quickly when one of us needed something. I was feeling victorious when I returned to the table.

“I have an announcement to make. We’re having family dinner twice this week. The clan is gathering at the house tonight.”

“What? Why? Not for me, I hope,” Val exclaimed.

“Yes, for you. You need some Connor love. Carter agreed with me.”

She turned to him, but he just shrugged, kissing her forehead. “I did.”

“But we don’t have anything for dinner. I can whip up something—”

“Hold your horses. I have it under control. Pizza, cheesecake.”

“Hailey.”

“What?”

“I feel okay.”

“I know. But an impromptu Connor get-together never hurt anyone.”

Carter and the girls were smiling, looking between us.

Val laughed. “So much for you being able to keep secrets now, huh?”

“Hey, I didn’t give Lori details. Just told her we need to lift your mood up.”

My family was always teasing me about this, and they were right. Sort of. As a kid, I’d been good at keeping my secrets, but not theirs. Even to this day, I was ashamed that I’d ruined a few surprise birthday parties (and gifts) with my big mouth. I was a work in progress, but I had made progress. I even kept to myself for a few weeks the knowledge that Jace wanted to propose to Brooke. Only a few years ago, I would have been bursting to tell my sisters. Well, I had been bursting but managed to keep myself in check. That counted, right?