Page 36 of Effortless

“Last night she texted me out of nowhere and she asked if I still wanted to get together some time. I suggested tonight. I’m picking her up at six.”

“She asked you?” Brock says, not hiding the humor in his voice.

Corbin lightly punches his shoulder. “What’s that supposed to mean? Women are capable of asking out guys. We’re also capable of changing tires, voting, buying our own cars and homes, mowing the lawn…”

“Hey now, don’t get too crazy.”

She scoffs. “What is the deal with men and their lawn?”

“It’s in our DNA.”

Brock replies, “Also, just to say, we’re very aware that you’re more than capable of doing anything we can do. We’re not idiots. My point was that he’s been wanting tospend timewith Hadley since he saw her at the diner that night Brock proposed but he’s been a wuss and hasn’t done anything about it.”

“Giving her the time she needed and letting her come to me instead of pushing her was being a wuss?”

The boys are quiet, which is incredibly strange, but Corbin replies with, “And that’s exactly what our mama taught us, right? To have patience and kindness?”

“You’re getting more and more like her,” Boone comments.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Back to Hadley.”

“There’s not much to tell yet. We’re getting together tonight and no, it’s not a date. Not until she’s ready for that. I don’t know how to pursue this with her while also giving her the space she needs. Her past isn’t like ours. You heard her parents. They’re not the “have cookies on the counter waiting for you after school” type or even “attend every event your kids are a part of” type. They’re the let others raise your children and swoop in only when it’s convenient or makes them look good type. And we know that the family comes with me so this,” I gesture to all of us, “might be a little overwhelming.”

“But wanted,” Boone adds.

I take a deep breath and look at the plate in front of me on the table. “Right. I need to go slow,” I murmur.

“Slow is good,” Corbin reminds me gently. “It doesn’t mean you’re going backward. Forward slowly is perfectly fine.”

“Yup.”

“Slow is good. Stalling completely, not so good,” Boone reminds me.

“I’m not stalling and now that she’s reached out first, I’m taking it as a sign that she’s at least ready to talk and continue to get to know each other. Saying that, y’all need to relax about it because it’ll only freak her out more if you go all Lake on her and feel the need to know every detail.”

“We would do no such thing,” Brock argues.

“Uh huh. I’m saying this as a member of the Lake family who feels the need to know every detail of my family’s lives so this isn’t me pointing fingers. This is who we are. It’s messed up, sure, but it is what it is. I just need y’all to fight your instincts to become involved.”

Corbin scrunches up her nose at me. “Can we tell Mom?”

“Not yet, no. That’ll make it worse.”

She huffs and sits back in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest. “Fine. But don’t come at me when she finds out you’re seeing the one who got away and never told her.”

I point at Corbin and stand from my chair, taking my plate of goodness with me. “This. This right here is exactly what I meant. The one who got away? Really?”

“Well, isn’t she?”

“I’m going back to my office now.”

“We aren’t done discussing the bid!” Brock shouts at my back.

“Yeah, we are.”

Once in my office, I close the door behind me and take a seat at my desk, bringing my computer back to life and focus on work. Well, doing my best to focus on work.

Corbin’s mention of the one who got away continues to cycle through my head. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I do know that I’ve thought about her more times over the years than I probably should have.

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