Page 92

“Hi, Mrs. Lennox.”
“You can call me Genevive, dear.”
“Thank you.”
“It's a pleasure to meet you.” The woman gave me a hug that surprised me. It took a while for me to let go of the girl's hands and reciprocate.
“It's my pleasure.”
“It's so nice to see my son with such a beautiful and kind woman.” She stroked my cheek as she looked at me. “My granddaughters spoke very highly of you.”
“I'm glad.”
“Let's go in, dear.” The man gestured for us to pass.
“Of course.”
“Welcome.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Lennox.”
He just smiled at me, but it seemed sincere. Thomas's family's receptiveness soon made me feel less tense about being in front of them. I was thinking that they might look down on me and judge me for my humble origins, but that wasn't the case. My boyfriend was right, the fact that he and the twins liked me seemed enough to make me welcome.
“So that's the saint?” another man asked as he appeared in front of me. He looked a lot like Thomas, but he wore a full beard that was well-groomed, unlike my boyfriend's goatee.
“Saint?” I raised an eyebrow in surprise at the comment.
“Tyler...” Genevive reproached him.
“Only a saint could deal with my older brother.”
“Funny.” Thomas closed his face.
“I'm Judge Tyler Lennox, Helena.” He extended his hand to me.
“I bet she doesn't care about that,” grumbled the younger sister.
“I'm just introducing myself, prosecutor.”
“We're not in court, Tyler.” She twisted her lips.
“Good,” said Thomas.
“Come and have a look.” Anne pulled my hand, and I let myself be dragged by the girl, escaping the family presentation.
She only stopped dragging me when we were in front of the coffee table in the huge, beautifully decorated living room. As stunning as that house was, I wondered if it didn't seem terribly empty when the children were away.
As it was always me and my grandmother, I wasn't used to a big family, let alone all that luxury. Every day that I spent around Thomas made me more certain that the two of us belonged to completely different worlds. I just hoped, over time, this wouldn't become a problem.
“Sit down!” Anne pointed to the fluffy carpet.
But before I could settle down, their grandmother approached.
“Girls, let's have lunch first, then you can play with Helena.”
“Ah...” they muttered in protest.
“There's bonbon pie for dessert.”