Page 89 of Effortless

“Uh, yeah. Can you imagine if we asked our parents to drop what they were doing for us?”

Hadley snorts. “They’d have to shuffle around a few things first then pencil us in for a few weeks later.”

“God, they suck so bad.”

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rings and Hadley lets my mom in, Cody trailing behind her.

“Brooklyn home?” Cody asks.

“In her room,” I tell him.

“See ya,” he says, beelining it in the direction Hadley shows him.

“Can I get you a glass of wine, Leah?” Hadley asks after Mom greets Logan and Trotter.

“Am I going to need it?”

I laugh. “No.”

“I’ll have one anyway. I never say no to wine.”

“She’s not lying.”

She hits me with the back of her hand. “Oh, hush.”

After she’s settled in with her wine, and our drinks refilled, Trotter explains his dream of opening an Italian restaurant. The entire time, I watch Mom’s face brighten and grow with excitement.

“I’m in,” she says as soon as he’s done talking. “However that looks, this is a fantastic idea. I can give recipes, help in the kitchen, help plan, be a financial backer. Whatever but I think this is amazing and I want to be a part of it.”

Hadley and Trotter look perplexed but happy. “This is… wow. I didn’t expect this,” Trotter admits.

“Stick with us, kids. We’ll show you what it’s like to be a part of the Lake family. You’re ours now.”

I couldn’t love my mother more than I do right now.

ChapterEighteen

Hadley

Over the next two months, life seems to go by in a blur. Between Brooklyn and Weston officially dating, Trotter and Logan moving to Red Oak, the diner, the new restaurant, Bella, and spending as much time with Cash as possible, life is good.

Better than it’s ever been.

Cash’s family, as I suspected, is absolutely wonderful. We gather for family dinner at his mom and stepdad’s house every Sunday night, Leah invited Brooklyn and me to join her, Corbin, and Naomi for a girls’ shopping trip before Brock and Naomi’s wedding, and I was included in the bachelorette party Corbin hosted for Naomi, too. It was a night at a spa in Gatlinburg they’d been to a few times before. We laughed, relaxed with spa treatments, ordered food to the suite, and had a wonderful time.

When Trotter told me he and Logan were moving to Red Oak, I was shocked. It’s a small town and he’s not a small-town guy, but he fell in love with the charm that is Red Oak. With its constant festivals for seemingly any occasion, the people and gossip he gets to hear about when he’s at the bakery or coffee shop, and the way he’s adopted Leah as his new best friend, I don’t think he’ll ever leave.

Brooklyn’s happy, too, because she has both her parents in the same town and that means she doesn’t have to split her time by going to Chicago or the guys coming here and renting a place to stay. It also means that Cash and I get more alone time than we would have otherwise.

And that alone time isn’t only spent naked. Though, a lot of it is. I never realized I had such a strong sexual appetite until Cash came back into my life. We’ve made a habit of attending the high school football games weekly, even if they’re out of town, and go on dates together, meet for lunch and make dinner together several times a week.

Brooklyn adores him.

Trotter has gotten used to Cash’s incredibly good looks and no longer swoons every time he’s around.

Kevin hasn’t warmed up to him much, but that’s just Kevin. He’s a cat and does what he wants when he wants.

All of this to say, things are more than good.

---