Page 34 of Reuniting with Lucy

“Just glad you’re here,” Jack said. “These are my parents, Phillip and Meredith McAllister. Mom, Dad, this is Lucy, my girlfriend. And my boss. It’s her coffee shop I’m remodeling. She also owns The Drip. I think you met her this morning?”

His mother’s mouth fell open, and she glared at Jack, knowing he’d played her. His father held back a laugh, and a twinge of sweet satisfaction made Jack smile.

“Yes,” his mom said, recovering quickly. “How nice to see you again.” She held out a hand, and Lucy shook it with a smile.

After some small talk about the drive and the weather, the waiter came to take their order. Dinner progressed without insult or injury. Lucy was sweet and charming and appeared to be winning over his parents. Well, at least his dad. His mother was polite, which was all he could hope for.

Every time the waiter checked on them, which seemed overly frequent, he referred to Jack’s dad as “Mr. McAllister.” Jack began to wish they’d gone to some other restaurant. He didn’t want this to be the time or place Lucy found out about his family’s business.

“Wow, they sure are polite here,” Lucy said. “They treat you like they know you. That’s good service.”

“They’re treating the boss right,” his mother said.

Lucy was a bright woman and quickly put two and two together. “Wait a second. Are you the Phillip McAllister of the Stargaze Hotels? Do you own this hotel?”

“I own all the Stargaze Hotels,” his father said, and Jack groaned.

Lucy turned to Jack, mouth agape. “Stargaze Hotels is the family business you’ve been talking about?”

Jack shrugged. His mother narrowed her eyes at Lucy. “You didn’t know?”

“I had absolutely no idea,” Lucy said, genuinely stunned. “Jack, that’s crazy. Why wouldn’t you say something?”

“I would have soon,” Jack said. “I don’t tell many people.”

She dipped her head and appeared to be biting her tongue. Great, she probably thought he either didn’t trust her with the information or didn’t plan to stick around long enough to make it worth his while to tell her. He grabbed her hand under the table, but she pulled it back and avoided his gaze.

Things got awkward after that. Lucy became reserved, his mother even smugger, and his father oblivious to it all. Everyone skipped dessert and decided to call it a night early. His parents were leaving in the morning, and Jack and Lucy had to work. He asked her to wait for him while he said good night to his parents.

She found a leather chair in the lobby and plopped down into it, saying she’d wait for a minute.

He walked his parents to the elevator bay. His mom couldn’t resist some parting advice.

“Just because she may have some money doesn’t make what I warned you about any less applicable,” she said. “Especially now that she knows.”

What Lucy now “knew” was implied—Jack’s family was stinking rich.

Jack ignored the insinuation that Lucy might be a gold digger. “You guys have a safe trip back,” he said, giving them each a quick hug.

Perhaps introducing Lucy to his parents hadn’t been the best idea, but if their relationship continued to go so well, they would have met eventually. At least now, he wouldn’t have to keep tiptoeing around what his family business was. And he could gauge Lucy’s reaction to the knowledge of his wealth. He didn’t think anything would change, but he’d also seen money make people do stupid things.

Lucy was still sitting where he’d left her. Time to face the music.

* * *

Lucy had taken the second half of dinner to process the fact that Jack’s dad was a billionaire. When Jack brought up his “family business,” she always pictured a local restaurant or a tire shop, not a vast, popular hotel chain. There were easily hundreds of Stargaze Hotels around the country.

Jack wasn’t gone long before he returned and sat in a chair next to hers.

“Hey,” he said. “Sorry about all that. My parents can be a tad much sometimes. I should have warned you.”

“You mean warned me that your family ‘business’ is actually a family ‘empire’?” she said, lifting a brow.

“Yeah, about that.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Money can make people weird sometimes, so I usually wait a while until I tell anyone. In fact, I normally don’t tell people at all.”

She understood his leeriness. Her family wasn’t rolling in billions, but they did all right, and she knew money could bring out the worst in people. The money wasn’t the issue.

“I don’t care about the money,” she said. “I care that you didn’t think you couldtrustme to know about the money.”

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