Remember how much fun you made of me when I broke out of the bachelor pack?”
“Vividly.”
“Don’t be mean to him,” Josie said. “Circumstances change. People change.”
Hunter cocked a brow at his wife. Josie didn’t back down one bit.
“Sorry, husband. You’re ganging up on poor Cole. I feel the need to take his side. Someone has to.”
“Lovely to know that I can count on you, Josie. Unlike my own blood.”
“Who said anything about sides? We’re all just having a bit of fun,” Tess said.
“At my expense.”
I looked at Josie, barely able to suppress a smile. “In their defense, I kind of deserve it. By the way, does anyone think that we spend far too much of our working lunches not working on the galas? They’re running too smoothly. Maybe we need a new challenge, don’t you think?”
There was a chorus of no. Even Skye joined in, and we all burst out laughing. Yeah, things in my family usually worked out this way. We met for one thing and got derailed by another topic that somehow just kept snowballing. But these lunches were immensely helpful to make sure we didn’t fall out of touch with each other.
It was only too easy to get caught up in the grind of daily life and speak on the phone once in a blue moon. Gathering for lunch was an excellent opportunity to butt in each other’s lives. Not everyone liked that, but I appreciated it. Sometimes you were too close to your own problems, and it helped to have the family’s perspective. We knew each other so well that nonverbal cues were enough to pick up if something wasn’t okay.
Right now, for example, Skye was telling us how she was filling her endless hours. Her tone was extra cheerful, which clued me in that she was trying to convince herself as much as us.
After she hung up, I exchanged a glance with Tess. So I hadn’t been the only one noticing Skye’s restlessness. That would translate into misery soon enough. Skye was a doer. She had this incessant need to be productive.
“What would you guys say we move these working lunches to Skye’s place?” I asked out of the blue. “She’s gonna get restless fast. I mean... I guess we’d make them working dinners, because we can’t just up and leave in the middle of the day, but maybe we can find an evening where we all have time.”
“Sure, we could do that,” Ryker said. “That way Heather and Avery could also come.”
Hunter looked at Josie, who nodded.
“We’re in. I thought Skye sounded jaded,” Hunter said. “Now, should we order lunch?”
Usually we ate as soon as the working lunch began, but this time, we’d wanted to get the gala details out of the way first. Our assistants brought a selection of food from nearby restaurants in no time.
Tess straightened up, running a hand through her hair. “By the way, I wanted to tell you something. Gala related. Gabriel Lyons wants a mediation meeting.”
“What?” I exploded. I wasn’t the only one. Hunter and Ryker were just as pissed. Tess had emailed us all with the issue last week, so they knew he was making irrational demands, but honestly, we’d never thought he would have the audacity to actually go forward with this.
“I’m gonna go and represent all of us,” Tess said. “I’ll keep you informed, but I don’t think all of us should go. Would make us seem too eager.”
“I agree,” Hunter said. “But don’t go on your own either.”
“I’ll come too,” I said.
That fucker. This was my doing. I’d brought this guy on, and now he was giving us headaches. I wanted to fix this as soon as possible.
“I’ll be there too,” Josie said.
“You think we need a lawyer for a mediation?” Tess asked.
“Better to cover our bases,” I said.
Josie nodded. “Exactly. Plus, he’ll know you’re ready for anything if you have a lawyer with you.”
“Then it’s all settled,” Tess said. “No reason to keep getting upset about this. Let’s enjoy the lunch.”
I hadn’t even touched my food. I opened the lid of the container, eating automatically. I wasn’t hungry anymore, just pissed.
In the meantime, I texted Laney.
Cole: Just heard that Skye’s been messaging you. Thanks for looking after her.
When I looked up from the phone, Tess was grinning from ear to ear.
“So, since the gala stuff is out of the way and we’re done with food, can we officially switch to giving-Cole-shit time?” she asked.
Hunter nodded. “Forgot a very important piece of information. He