Page 173 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
I quickly shake my head. “It’s too soon for that. What would I even tell her?”
“Ummm, maybe try something that starts with an L and ends in OVE? Is she coming to the restaurant opening? You could tell her there. The whole family will be around.”
“Even if I did have something to tell her, I wouldn’t want to do it in front of the entire family.”
Olivia shoots me a pouty look. “Well that’s not any fun for the rest of us.”
“The rest of you don’t need to have any fun. This is my relationship.” I hold up a finger in warning. “Don’t do anything, Liv. No pressuring Lila. No making public toasts at the restaurant opening.”
“So shewillbe there?”
I sigh. I walked right into Olivia’s trap. “Yes? I think? I haven’t invited her yet. I think I’m worried being with the entire family will overwhelm her.”
The restaurant isn’t big enough to invite the entire Stonebrook staff to the opening, or else there would only be employees present, so the entire thing has turned into this sort of “invitation only” affair, at least as far as employees are concerned. Most of the people in attendance will be restaurant critics and former associates of Lennox’s from when he worked in Charlotte. But my entire family will be there. Even Flint.
On the one hand, I’d love to have Lila with me. On the other, she’s met my family while she’s keeping me from her kid like I might give him the swine flu. Would coming to the opening fit into her definition of taking things slow?
“Hasn’t she already met the entire family?” Olivia asks. “I mean, not Flint, of course, but the rest of us? I thought I was the only holdout.”
“No, you are. Or were, I guess. But inviting her feels so official.”
Olivia looks at me with all the judgment only a sister can give. “I thought you wanted official. You were just talking about how much you like her.”
“But I don’t want to pressure her into something official before she’s ready.”
“But you’re perfectly fine kissing her in every corner of the farm?”
I run a hand across my face. “I guess people are noticing?”
“And talking about nothing else. Listen. Don’t pressureher. Justinviteher. Let her decide if she wants to come or not.”
“That’s not—” I stop, because there isn’t actually anything wrong with Olivia’s suggestion. I should just invite Lila. I’m overthinking and making this too complicated. “Okay. That’s actually a reasonable suggestion.”
“Of course it is,” Olivia says through a yawn. “My brain cells haven’talldied from sleep deprivation. Just most of them.” She closes her eyes again, her head falling back onto the cushions. “Dad is completely smitten with Lila, by the way. I was over there before I came here, and he couldn’t stop talking about all the help she gave him when he was trying to name Preston Whitaker’s new apple variety.”
“Has he decided on a name?” I ask, suddenly curious.
Olivia scrunches up her face like she’s trying to remember. “Sunshine Crisp? Summer Honeysuckle? I can’t remember.” Shestretches her arms over her head, then winces and drops them back down to fold across her chest.
“You okay?”
She nods. “Milk letdown. Time for Asher to eat.”
“Wait, does it—it hurts when that happens?”
Olivia shrugs. “A little? But just for a second.”
I watch as she moves to the doorway where Lila has reappeared. They talk for a quick second before Olivia takes the baby and scoops up the diaper bag she dropped by the door when she first came in.
“I’m going to my office to nurse and pretend like I actually know what’s going on around this place,” Olivia says. She smiles at Lila. “It really was great to meet you. Thanks for your help with Asher.”
Olivia jokes about not knowing what’s going on, but she’s surprisingly involved for still being out on maternity leave. It’s an easy enough work environment for her coming and going, dropping in and contributing when she can. I’d love to have her back full-time whenever she’s ready, but now that Lila’s around, it’s been easier to balance the workload. Hopefully, Olivia will adjust her schedule to whatever works best for her and her family.
Herfamily.
A swell of emotion tightens my gut as I watch Lila walk toward me. I want that. IthinkI want that?
The same worries and doubts I had on our way home from the reunion come swirling back, just like they do whenever I think about what will come next for Lila and me.
