Page 40 of If You Claim Me

“I’ll join you.” Essie bounces over to Rix.

“We’ll all join you.” Connor seems resigned to being roped into the tour he didn’t want to give. He leads the pack, the staff behind him with the coolers. I shouldn’t be surprised that he doesn’t wait for me, but the prick of disappointment is interesting.

Flip falls into step beside me. “It’s a good thing we have the Find My Friends app, huh? You could get lost in this place.”

“I hope there’s a way to send a distress signal,” I half-joke. “I wonder if there’s a map.”

“It would be helpful for sure.” Flip drops his voice. “There’s more than a million dollars just in vehicles parked out front.”

“Betty will feel a little out of place when I bring her here.”

Connor looks over his shoulder when Flip laughs, but he doesn’t fall back to walk with us.

We enter the main kitchen, which is a beautiful combination of modern and classic design, but continue through another door to a state-of-the-art industrial chef’s kitchen. This mansion was designed to hold a family, a big one, where entertaining happens frequently.

Rix is about to hyperventilate. She flits around, introducing herself to everyone while Tristan stands back and watches with a smile. The staff fall instantly in love as she helps them unpack the coolers, explaining each dish.

Once Rix is finished with the kitchen tour, we’re ushered into the formal dining room, where I ate dinner with Connor and Meems the other day. Meems is escorted in a minute later by Cedrick.

Her face lights up. “Oh, this is wonderful! It’s been ages since we’ve had a full table!”

I head toward her at the same time as Connor, and her smile widens as he gently skims my arm with his fingers. She takes one of our hands in each of hers and we both bend to kiss her cheek at the same time. Someone snaps a photo.

We guide her to the table, and Connor tries to put her at the head, but she refuses, making him take it. He looks uncomfortable, but also like he belongs there. Meems sits on his left, and I sit to his right.

There are a chorus of hellos and reintroductions.

Meems presses her hand to Connor’s cheek, her smile wide. “Now you know why I wanted you and Dred to move in here.”

“So you could throw dinner parties?”

“And so I can get to know all of your friends, dear.”

He opens his mouth, probably to say something about them beingmyfriends, but I cover his hand with mine and squeeze. “Thank you for opening your home to all of us.”

“Thank you for loving my grandson.”

My heart breaks a little at the tic in Connor’s jaw, and the reminder that none of this is real for anyone but Meems. But she’s happy, and that’s what matters.

The staff brings in platters of food, and we pass them around family style. Flip is seated to my right, watching intently as I interact with Meems, like he’s trying to piece together the reasons that brought me to this decision.

“Some of you went to the Hockey Academy with Connor, didn’t you?” Meems asks.

“Us three.” Dallas points to himself, Tristan, and Flip.

“It’s lovely that you’re all still so close after all these years, and playing on the same team.” Meems looks to Connor. “For a punishment, it certainly turned out to be a good thing for you, didn’t it, dear?”

“Hard to be a bad influence on my sisters when I wasn’t in the country,” he agrees.

Flip’s eyebrows rise. “The Hockey Academy was a punishment for you?”

“There was another program in Europe that I’d been invited to attend that summer, but my parents felt I didn’t deserve the opportunity, so they sent me to the Hockey Academy instead,” Connor explains. “If they’d known they were giving me exactly what I wanted, they would have made a different choice, I’m sure.”

I file that away with the other pieces of Connor I’ve collected.

“You didn’t belong behind a desk.” Meems pats his hand. “Now, how did all of you become friends with our Dred?”

Flip raises his hand. “I’ll take credit for that.”