Page 120 of Perfect Composition

Caleb throws a piece of toast at him. “Don’t talk about one of our highest-paying clients like that.”

But his words trouble me further. “I don’t know if I can…”

Keene opens his mouth, but Carys shakes her head sharply. “We have to go. Don’t scare her away from this town,” she admonishes the men.

“All we have to do is introduce her to the wives. She’ll never leave,” Caleb reasons out.

“The wives?” Austyn asks.

“Amaryllis Events. Amaryllis Bakery. Amaryllis Designs,” Caleb ticks off.

“Oh, God, Mama. Amaryllis Designs. Emily Freeman.” Austyn shakes my arm so hard I think it’s going to fall off.

“And you can wait for Christmas,” I say firmly.

We all laugh when Austyn sighs like her world is ending. I turn to Keene and offer my hand. “Despite my earlier reaction, I’d rather know the truth. I am grateful for everything your team did to help me determine what was real.”

He shakes mine firmly. “The truth can take a while, but it’s worth it. I found that out myself. Wouldn’t you agree, Caleb?”

I offer my hand to the other man who says, “It is. And welcome to Collyer. We’ll have Cassidy reach out to have you over.”

“Cassidy?”

Caleb grins at Keene. “My wife. We’ll save the rest of the family explanations for a night you can join us for dinner.”

“Now, before Carys stopped by…”

“Intruded. You can say it, Keene. But this ishuge, Keene. We need to know.”

“And when I find for certain, you will,” he snaps.

“Keene, the kids,” Caleb warns him.

“Sorry,” Carys mutters.

“As I was starting to ask, where were you all headed to?” Keene asks.

“HomeGoods,” Austyn volunteers.

For some reason that sends the men at the table laughing in hysterics. “Listen, if any of you finds something completely heinous for under fifty dollars, buy it. Carys, I’ll discount your bill,” Keene murmurs.

“Done,” she agrees immediately.

“Keene!” Caleb starts indignantly.

“Listen, buddy, you weren’t the one caught by a blogger buying our holiday white-elephant gift. When you are, you can argue with me.”

Caleb thinks about it for a nanosecond. “Make it two.”

After we step away, Carys fills us in on the Freeman holiday tradition of HomeGoods white-elephant gift giving. We’re still laughing about the exchange when we finally manage to place our coffee orders and head back to Carys’s car.

PAIGE

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Listening is as important as talking. So much of what we process is noise and we forget to filter it out.

— Beautiful Today