her wineglass, I lifted my tumbler of whiskey and proposed a toast.
“Ugh,” Lachlan groaned and Nadia looked at him with bewilderment.
Clearing my throat, I waited until her eyes turned to me, twinkling as I began, “To new friends, to new adventures, and to an evening we might never forget.”
She bit into her bottom lip and replied, “To us.”
“To new beginnings, may they last forever,” Lachlan replied, and the three of us clinked glasses.
Throughout dinner, we got to learn about each other. She spoke of being an only child whose parents were globe hopping and how she lived in an enormous home in Atlanta, all alone. She spoke about how much she traveled, and I knew she was running. We explained to her about our younger sister, Sara, who ran our business and tried to run our lives. When we discussed our family dynamic, I paused and turned to my brother, looking for advice.
We grew up in an unorthodox family, and we always knew it was the way we wanted to live our lives. Not everyone agreed with the way my family lived, and we were used to judgements from others. It terrified me how Nadia would take it and I leaned back, softly rubbing the back of her hand as Lachlan started.
“Jameson is actually my half-brother and Sara and he share a father,” he began as they cleared our plates and offered dessert. Declining, he continued, “Our dads were cousins who fell for the same woman. We were all raised together.”
He turned to her and waited for her to connect the pieces. She swallowed the last of her wine and set the glass down as we both held her hand under the table. I could see the wheels spinning and she looked to me.
“So, you have different fathers who both . . .” her words trailed off and I released her hand, brushing my hand against her cheek.
Her blue eyes turned to mine and she looked at me for an explanation. Exhaling, I saw Lachlan place his hand on her shoulder as I nodded. “Our mother and our fathers are together. They will celebrate their thirtieth anniversary this year.”
“How . . .” She turned to Lachlan. “Together, together?” she whispered.
“Our family believes that a woman needs more than one man to take care of her, to cherish her, to love her.” His strong voice sounded into the isolated booth.
“Is this something you do all the time?” Her wounded voice sounded as her gaze turned to her lap and she released our hands.
Lachlan turned her gaze to his and replied with honesty. “We had one relationship that didn’t last long. After that, we stopped looking. But now . . .”
“Now?” she asked, and I turned her to me.
“Now we’re ready to try again.” I let my eyes stay locked on hers and she swallowed thickly before responding.
“You want to try with me?”
“More than you could ever know,” I answered honestly.
“You don’t know me. How could you say something like that?”
“I knew last night when I walked into the bar and nearly tripped over my own feet,” Lachlan responded and whispered, “Don’t you feel it?”
His hand gently took hers and I followed his lead, feeling something akin to hope blossoming for the first time in years. I knew in my heart it was her, but she had to get to that point on her own. Pushing would make her run.
“I feel it, but I don’t know how this would even work,” she replied and I took that as my opportunity.
“It works however we want it to. There aren’t any roadmaps to something like this so, let us take you out and show you what being with us means. I promise, we won’t do anything you don’t want us to.” I wiggled my eyebrows and she snickered.
Lachlan got my gaze over her head and he smiled, exhaling a deep breath as she replied, “Okay.”
I slapped some bills down on the table, much more than the bill, and tugged her out of the booth as she giggled behind her hand. My brother followed behind us as we entered the cool Memphis night. The car pulled from the lot and we quickly climbed inside and were whisked toward Beale Street.
The driver gave me his number as Lachlan helped Nadia from the car. We both wrapped our arm around her, mine over her shoulder and his around her waist as we stepped into the nightlife. Music floated through the air as we walked past street musicians,