Page 2 of A Crane Family New Year

“They’ll be around soon enough.” Dante was currently in LA, and Brody was living in New York. Isa wasn’t wrong—they stayed busy.

Eli returned from the back of the house, arms empty, and poured himself a cup of coffee. “He’s down. Thank God.” He scrubbed a hand over his facial hair. “Babies don’t sleep, by the way.”

“So I’ve heard.” Zander offered a stiff smile, the talk of babies reminding him of Emily. She’d wanted to have two children: a boy and a girl. She’d wanted to have a lot of things. In the end, she’d passed too soon and had had none of them.

At times, he felt healed. At other times, like tonight, bitterness curled up next to him and reminded him that life hadn’t shaken out the way he’d anticipated.

“Oh! The reason you’re here.” Isa set down her mug. “Be right back.”

“How’s the new place?” Eli asked as his wife tiptoed down the hallway.

“Small.”

Eli chuckled. “Crane Hotel is always an option. Reese made a suite his home away from home for a while.”

“No, thanks. I am looking forward to curating art for Crane Hotels, but living in one is far too impersonal.”

“So was Reese at the time,” Eli deadpanned. “He and Merina are excited that you’re coming tonight. They’ve got the mansion decked out.”

“Will there be a midnight yacht ride?” Zander joked.

“I wouldn’t put it past him, but even with all his resources, my older brother can’t thaw Lake Michigan. No matter how cool of a party trick that’d be.”

Zander cleared his throat, forcing himself to ask, “Do you know if there will be any single women at the party?”

Eli’s eyebrows lifted, likely in surprise. Everyone seemed to have an internal timeline as to when Zander should begin dating again. “Uh, probably. Likely. Merina invited a lot of associates and acquaintances.”

Zander felt his jaw clench. He didn’t particularly want to kiss a woman at midnight, but he’d promised Emily that he would. He had refused to leave his house last New Year’s Eve. Instead, he’d sipped whisky, stoked a fireplace fire, and, in an inelegant moment of grief, loudly cursed her out for asking him to do such a thing.

It was the only promise she’d asked him to make, and at the time he’d been angry with her for making him make it. Now, he didn’t feel angry. More…accepting. Progress, he supposed.

“One bowtie, as promised.” Isa emerged from the corridor and handed over the strip of silk.

“Thank you. I found the tux, no problem. Where the bowtie went is beyond me. I could have purchased one, but?—”

“Don’t be silly. Eli has several, and going shopping on New Year’s Eve sounds like a nightmare.”

“Going shopping, period,” Eli grumbled. Isa set a kiss on the corner of his mouth and then lifted her coffee mug again.

“Agreed,” Zander said. Tonight would present enough challenges without making what he was wearing one of them.

This wasn’t the first time Chloe Andrews had been invited to Isa and Eli’s warehouse abode, but it was the first time she’d been asked to park on the street. Isa had mentioned a cracked foundation, and mud. Chloe had assured her that walking to the warehouse elevator from the gate was well within her skill set.

A few years ago, when Isa had been acting as personal assistant to Eli “Cranky Crane,” Chloe would have sworn she’d never personally set foot into his lair. Since then, things had changed. Cranky Crane had developed a huge soft spot for Isabella Sawyer. They’d fallen in love and had since gotten married and had a baby, for goodness’ sake. Chloe could hardly believe that her best friend-slash-associate had found love with a billionaire. Some girls had all the luck.

Not that Chloe was holding out for a billionaire. The Cranes were resident royalty, and each of the brothers had been claimed—even their father, Alex, had remarried.

Since Chloe had taken the senior management position at Sable Concierge—Isa’s company—she’d been promoted again to president. That she was president of a company was mind-blowing, and she enjoyed the pay bump. She might not be earning billions, but she’d done okay for herself and had scored Isabella’s coveted apartment above the main office.

She maneuvered down the street, looking for a place to park, and considered that as well as everything was going, her life wasn’t perfect. As much as she loved her friends and her job, she had been lonely for a while. Not that she was in a rush to get married or have a baby, but she’d settle for an end to haphazardly dating on and off like she had been for the last three years.

As of this afternoon, she might as well slot herself into the “lost cause” category. She’d officially blown it. And was here to confess. She’d only told Isa that she was stopping by but hadn’t explained why.

Now Chloe had to face her friend and admit the reason she was here, which boiled down to her being a big ole chicken. Bok! Bok!

As luck would have it—at least she still had some—a shiny black Mercedes with tinted windows pulled away from the curb just in time for her to take the primo parking place across the street from the warehouse. At least she wouldn’t have to hoof it a block. On the drive over, the wind had picked up. It was freezing outside.

She zipped her puffer coat up to her chin and pulled the dress bag from the backseat of her green Smart car. By the time the warehouse elevator door slid open, her face was red from windburn—damn her fair skin—and her teeth were chattering.

---