Page 95 of Save Me

Ryleigh knew she had absolutely nothing to do with that, and yet she couldn’t help but beam with pride. “Promise me you’ll tell him that once all this hoopla dies down. I bet he’d get a kick out of it since no one knows they’re father and son.”

Beside her, Kate giggled. “I love being in on the secret!”

“And I just love seeing him look so comfortable in his element,” she said, her eyes firmly on Ryker. As if sensing her gaze, he glanced over and winked, causing her heart to flutter a little.

“Everyone’s still coming to the pub afterwards, right?” her mother asked. “We put up the signs that we’re closed for a private event.”

It hadn’t been part of the original plan for the grand opening, but somehow her mother had gotten herself involved and offered the pub. Ryker hadn’t seemed to mind and mentioned how it was a great way to keep all the guests in Laurel Bay for a bit longer. Actually, Parker Bishop—the owner of Alloro—even made gift bags for the VIP guests with discounts on spa services. So maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea.

Arianna and Will made their way through the crowd toward them. “Wow! What a turnout! This is amazing!”

“I want to say thanks, but I don’t feel like I had anything to do with it,” Ryleigh told her with a laugh.

“Oh, please. Ryker told us all about the work you’ve put into this place and it’s amazing,” her sister said before turning to Will. “We should totally take notes for the resort! I know your main cabin isn’t that big, but we could still set up stuff like Ryker did in here and then do a tent outside with tables and chairs and food!”

“Why not have it at the pub?” Kate asked.

“Ma, please,” Ari said. “The pub isn’t close to the fishing resort. The whole point of a grand opening reception is for people to actually see and explore all of it. If we tell them to leave and go to the pub…”

“Ryker’s place is around the corner. You don’t hear him complaining,” Kate said with a small pout.

Arianna shot Ryleigh a look, and she knew she needed to smooth things over.

“I think it would be awesome tocatertheir grand opening,” she suggested. “And with all the fishing brochures and packages, you can put promo stuff for the pub. Maybe some coupons or something?”

Her mother’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Ryleigh! That’s brilliant!” She kissed her cheek. “Where’s Liam? Maybe we can all sit down and talk about it right now.”

“Um…”

“Uh…” Looking around, Ryleigh couldn’t find her brother. He and Tessa had been here earlier, but maybe they were in one of the artist’s rooms.

“Actually,” Will said, “Liam and Tessa left a little while ago.”

“Oh. Kind of rude. Why didn’t they stop and say goodbye?” Ryleigh asked him.

Will looked wildly uncomfortable and she had a feeling he was going to be forced to share something he wasn’t supposed to.

“He, uh…he sort of had plans for him and Tessa tonight. Big plans. But he didn’t want to miss out on at least stopping by and…”

“Liam’s proposing tonight!” Arianna loudly whispered and then they all looked to Kate to gauge her reaction.

“Believe it or not, I already knew,” she said primly before taking a sip of her champagne.

“How…why did he tell you?” Ryleigh asked and almost cringed at how insulting that sounded.

And the look her mother gave her told her she took it that way too.

“Not all of my children keep secrets,” she said in a haughty tone.

“No, seriously,” Arianna interrupted. “Why would Liam tell you before any of us?”

“You knew,” Kate reminded her.

“Only because Will has a big mouth and can’t keep a secret!”

“Hey! That was supposed to stay between the two of us! You’re the one with the big mouth.”

She smiled up at him. “But you love me anyway.”

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