By all accounts, he was my best friend on the planet.

At the other end of the table sat our father, and though his expression was closed, his eyes shone bright and brilliantly blue—another Bennet trademark. As was typical, his shirt was smudged with greenhouse dirt, the beds of his nails always packed with soil, no matter how well he’d washed them. His hair was the color of freshly fallen snow, and his lips quirked at the corner like they held back some secret they’d never let go of.

Their faces turned to us, coupled with a bawdy burst of noise, and before I could say hello, they were out of their seats and swarming me.

Jett hooked me around the neck and pulled me, twisting me into an awkward hold. “Hey, little brother. Had enough tofu and bikinis?”

“Never,” I said, twisting out of his grip.

Laney flung herself at me, wrapping her slender arms around my chest. “I love that he calls you little when you’re taller than all of them.”

I wrapped her up in a hug, laughing. “He’s just jealous. It’s hard being this beautiful.”

Marcus wore a sideways smile as easily as his Italian suit, offering a hand for a shake. God forbid his shirt get wrinkled. “Good to see you, kid.”

I rolled my eyes, keeping Laney in my grip with one arm when I took his hand. “You’re two years older than me.”

“That’s dog years in maturity.”

Before he could argue, Kash busted into the mix like a puppy, making a sandwich out of Laney, who squealed between us like a giggling piglet. Kash laughed into my ear, clapping my back.

“Missed you, man.”

“You missed me being your wingman,” I corrected.

“Please—if anybody was the wingman, it was me,” he said with a smirk, shoving me in the shoulder when he let me go.

Dad nodded, his sideways smile firmly in place and his hands in the pockets of his scuffed-up pants.

“Look, Mr. Bennet,” Mom said proudly. “He’s here! California’s too far. Always said it was, didn’t I?”

“Glad you’re home, son. Hopefully the lack of miles between you and your mother will serve you as well as it will her.”

“Oh, you,” she huffed playfully, swatting at his chest. “It’ll suit him just fine. It’ll suit all of them, won’t it?”

We offered our agreement to appease her, as we always did. Truth was, four out of five grown Bennet kids moving home had been born out of necessity rather than desire. Though not our own necessity—that of our mother’s.

It was the only way we were going to save the flower shop, and it would take all of us to do it.

“Come sit down, Lukie,” Laney said, pulling me toward the table. “How was your flight?”

“Long, but the flight attendant had a crush on me.”

Marcus rolled his eyes as he sat. “You think everybody has a crush on you.”

“Well, with bone structure like this, who wouldn’t?” I asked with a shrug. “Besides, I’m never turning down free drinks.”