Fall by Winter

“Oh, absolutely,” Kelly said. “But I wanna include Matt somehow. I thought about the dessert first, but he prefers the cooking.”

Matt would love that, I was sure. And it was sweet of Kelly to put that faith in his boy.

“If you’re going casual, he could be in charge of appetizers and welcome drinks,” I suggested. Because William and Kelly were down-to-earth and low-key; I couldn’t imagine them going with anything remotely extravagant. “It might take some pressure off Adam and his staff too, if Matt created his own little pre-menu, so to speak.”

“Pre-menu,” Kelly mused, nodding slowly. “I like it. I’ll run it by him, def—” He was cut off by the sound of laughter, and I couldn’t fucking believe it.

“I am the worst snoop!” I shot up from my seat and grabbed my phone. “You distracted my sneakiness with wedding talk.” I fired off a playful glare at a chuckling Kelly before I hurried out into the hallway.

“I could help Matt too,” Aurora offered.

Kelly groaned under his breath. “You’re killing me, sweetheart. Don’t tell your dad you’re not over your crush.”

I stifled my laughter and pressed an ear to the garage door.

It was quiet for now, so I opened my phone to read Brady’s response. Two of them, actually.

Oh, so you’re public now? Cool.

Combination of things. 1) I’m not as clueless as Rory and Dad. 2) Call me an entrepreneur. I’m always looking for business ventures, and that means I gotta stay alert. As soon as I figured it out, I told Rory and evidently just became five bucks richer. 3) Two condoms were missing from my nightstand. 4) Uncle Mason can’t stop looking at your ass, which I forgive him for because he drives that sweet Jaguar, and I kinda wanna borrow it next time I have a date in town. 5) You look at Mason like all girls look at me. Brady out.

There were so many things wrong with that text, and I couldn’t help but grimace. He was such a boy. Except for the fact that he was sharp-eyed. However… Condoms missing? Fucking Christ. It looked like I was going to speak to Aurora as soon as she came to me next week, because Mason and I certainly hadn’t borrowed condoms from my son.

I typed out a quick response as I heard William say something about why Mason came back to Camassia.

A lot to unpack there, son. We can talk about this next time you come home, but for now, I have to ask. A few weeks ago, you and Matt made us dinner, and you specifically told me to invite Mason. Was that to impress him so he’d let you borrow his car? There is a right and a wrong answer here.

I tried to decipher the words exchanged between Mason and William.

“…can’t lie, Will. I picked Camassia to follow my gut and pursue Lis, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t serious about wanting to reconnect with you,” Mason was saying. “When raising Tristan and working all hours of the day took up most of my time, it was easier to ignore that I missed having our family together. Well, you and me, at least. But as Tristan got older, it was unsettling and frustrating to spend my free time with in-laws I couldn’t stand. Or our folks. So, if Lis hadn’t been in the picture, I would’ve ended up in the area anyway—probably Vancouver.”

I waited for William’s answer, but instead, Mason spoke again.

“I’m done feeling unsettled. We’re not young anymore, and I wanna sit back and enjoy my family. I want traditions, vacations, and grandkids.”

I smiled widely, drumming my fingertips against my lips.

“I’d prefer to wait another ten years for grandkids of my own, but the rest…” William trailed off. “My only regret is that I didn’t reach out to you myself, Mason. I’m very sorry.”

My cramps decided to ruin the lovely moment by flowing down into my stomach, but I was still incredibly blissful. We were really doing this. All of us. We would make it work. One big happy family of old partners and new, kids and grandkids. Though, I would have to agree with William. Brady and Aurora could wait. I had Tristan who could give me more cute babies to spoil rotten.

“We’re here now, aren’t we?” Mason said with a smile in his voice. “I just gotta convince Lis to work less, and then I’ll be good.”

I smothered my mirth. He’d hinted at that before, and it was on my mind. I didn’t want to fill my child-free evenings with extra work anymore. When Mason and I moved in together, maybe I could even go down to seventy-five percent. It was what he would aim for once he returned to work. He was just waiting for the “right headhunter.”

“Is that all?” William drawled.