She joined her mom and sisters in the living room, a lovely area decorated in pale creams with gold accents. The subtle flair of wealth, sophistication, and majesty didn’t so much calm her as she sat down but forced her to acknowledge a grand effort had been made to soothe and entertain, so she should stop resisting.

“I love the redesign, Mom.” Justine sipped at the cup of tea Angela handed her, though secretly she preferred the room’s previous blue tones.

Angela glanced around, her lips pursed. Justine’s oldest sister wore her hair up in a stylish updo and looked both elegant and professional, her black business suit and white blouse pristine, her black pumps gorgeous—and expensive. To go along with her pricey attire, her icy gaze looked more black than brown, Angela never less than 99% intense about life.

She raised a perfectly sculpted brow. “The redesign is gorgeous. Would Mom have it any other way?”

The girls laughed, their mother blushing with pleasure.

The family bonding, even though it felt a little stilted, was nice.

Then Angela ruined it by opening her big, fat mouth. “Before we get involved in the wedding plans, Justine, what do you think of Cal and Nick? They couldn’t take their eyes off you all through dinner. And I happen to know they’re both single and loaded.”

Their mother perked up. “I saw that too! Oh, Justine, honey. What do you think? You do need a date to the wedding, after all.”

Freakin’ Angela.

CHAPTER 6

Xavier sat across from his sister in the dining room while their mother kept flitting back and forth from the kitchen to the table.

“Mom, sit down already.” Auggie rolled her eyes. “I told you I’d help set everything out. Come on. Take a load off.”

“You, hush. I’m nearly done.”

Xavier would have been helping, but he’d been banned from messing up her kitchen the last time he’d been over.

Their mother lived in a lovely home in Queen Anne, a two story colonial full of family memories and comfort. The house they’d grown up in, with the same large tree swing and creaky wooden floors covered by patterned runners, always felt like home, but only because their mother had made it that way.

With short, stylish, auburn hair, a trim build thanks to daily yoga and her morning walks, and a fun-loving attitude, Cynthia Hanover could always make him smile. Though she hadn’t lived like a monk since his father had passed, she seemed to take more comfort in friends, work, and hobbies than dating.

Noel not included.

He frowned, saw his sister frown, and knew they were thinking the same thing. Noel had always insisted on sitting right next to their mother at the table. But tonight, Xavier and Auggie sat across from each other, right next to their mother. Just the three of them.

He swallowed a sigh, not wanting to see his mom dating some douche again. Heck, he never seemed to like her boyfriends, though Noel had been more irritating and lasted longer than most. But he also acknowledged she might be lonely, especially because she kept spending so much time meddling with her twins’ social lives.