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Merritt was about to reply when Gus said, “Adelia introduced us.”
His mother looked at him blankly. “And?”
“And we liked each other.”
Merritt softly elbowed him, and he looked over at her. He obviously hadn’t remembered what they talked about on the plane.
“Oh … we started talking and hit it off.”
Merritt squeezed Gus’s hand as if to say he should leave it to her. “Adelia made dinner for us and our friends, Whitney and Giovanni, and we got to talking, and when everyone went home, we took a walk down to the beach and sat there talking all night.” She looked into his eyes, doing her best to pretend the moments in this story were actually real. “When the sun came up, he kissed me for the first time, and we’ve been together ever since.”
Gus stared at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
She turned her attention back to Harriet and Skylar, both holding a hand over their heart.
“You guys!” Skylar fanned her face with her hands to hold back tears. “That’s so sweet. It really was love at first sight.”
Merritt almost laughed at that but held it in. Not even close to love at first sight. But they didn’t need to know that.
“It was for me,” Gus said. “She sort of came out of nowhere.”
She shot him a look, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
He softly pressed his lips to her cheek before whispering a thank you into her ear. She didn’t want it to affect her in any way, but her skin tingled when he pulled away.
“Good evening, family.” Ephraim Schultz entered the room then, walking straight over to his wife to greet her with a kiss.
Merritt could immediately see the family resemblances. Gus and Skylar both shared many of their father’s facial features, while Skylar appeared the most like him with her dark hair and deep brown eyes.
“Sorry I’m so late.” He took his seat at the head of the table and looked over at Merritt then Gus. “Welcome home, Augustus.”
“Hey, Dad.” Gus put his arm around her. “I’d like you to meet my wife, Merritt.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Merritt. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to welcome you.”
“Oh, that’s all right. It’s nice to meet you too. I’m looking forward to getting to know you all better.” She could feel Gus’s tension again. It was almost tangible.
“I understand you own your own business,” Ephraim said.
She nodded. “Yes, I started an organic cosmetics company.”
“Skylar says you’ve made quite a name for yourself.”
“I’ve done pretty well so far.” Merritt smiled at Skylar, who was beaming with pride. Adelia hadn’t been kidding about Skylar being a fan of her products. “I’m getting ready to expand in the coming year.”
His face lit up. “That’s very exciting. The cosmetics industry is a booming market. May I ask about your sales projections?”
“Perhaps we should save all this business talk for another time, Ephraim,” Harriet said.
He nodded. “You’re right.” He looked at Merritt. “I get very excited when it comes to numbers.”
She smiled. “So do I.”
He winked and took a bite of his dinner.
“Speaking of numbers, I’ve been keeping up on the company’s financials while I’ve been away,” Gus said, despite his mother’s request not to talk business.
“Have you?” His father’s brow lifted.