He paused, his eyes searching the room for the reason he felt like he needed to be redeemed. Only a handful of us knew he was looking for Mila and understood the hint of disappointment in his gaze when he didn’t find her. After taking a deep breath, he finished his toast, “I've been blessed with the opportunity to watch Vaughn grow into the incredible man he is today, and I've never seen him happier than he is when he's with Allie. She has opened his heart to love, and I will forever be grateful to her for it. In every way that matters, Vaughn is my son. When the big day comes, I’ll be gaining a daughter. And not too long after the wedding, they’ll be making me a grandfather. To the happy couple and the many years of happiness ahead of them.”
“To Vaughn and Allie!”
The room filled with congratulations from all our friends and family, but it felt like we were the only two people in the world when he whispered, “Love you, baby.”
Hearing him share his feelings with me so easily would never get old. “I love you, too.”
The next twenty minutes passed by in a blur as our guests came up to offer us their best wishes. Dane was one of the last to come over.
“Hey, guys. Great party.” He flashed us a quick smile, but then his head turned as he scanned the room. He seemed to be searching for someone, and I assumed it was his daughter since it was probably well past her bedtime.
“When I saw Maggie about five or ten minutes ago, she was headed into the kitchen in search of some chocolate chip cookies.” I patted the slight swell of my belly. “I told her she was the only guest I was willing to share them with, so she had to keep their location on the down low.”
“Maggie?” he asked, his brow wrinkling for a moment before smoothing out. “Oh, right. Thanks for letting me know.”
“Everything okay?” Vaughn asked. “You seem a little distracted.”
“Yeah, I was just looking for someone I spotted earlier.” His gaze swung back to us. “A tiny bit of a thing who barely came up to my shoulder with long, dark hair and startling blue eyes. Curves in all the right places, though. She had the kind of beauty that blows people away. But in a quiet way because she wasn’t dressed to impress like so many other actresses would be for an event like this. I wanted to talk to her, but I lost track of her in the crowd somehow. I’m assuming you guys know who I’m talking about since this whole thing is in your honor. It’s not like James would’ve invited someone you didn’t know, right?”
There was no doubt who Dane was asking about—Mila. I felt Vaughn’s body stiffen next to me. James had worked hard to keep her out of the spotlight since she moved in with him. The list of people who knew about her existence was still fairly small, and she hadn’t appeared in public with James yet. We’d all wanted her to be able to attend Vaughn’s and my engagement party, which was why it was being held at James’s house. Mila felt comfortable here, and it was easier for her to fade into the background if she felt uncomfortable or anyone questioned who she was. Like now. “Nope, I don't think we have any guests who fit that description.”
I was apparently a much better actress than my best friend had previously accused me of being because I lied straight to Dane’s face without flinching. Then I put my story-telling skills to good use and came up with a semi-likely scenario to explain her presence away so he’d stop asking questions. The poor girl was skittish enough as it was, which was completely understandable after everything she’d been through. She didn’t need my agent grilling her about acting aspirations that she didn’t even have. “Maybe she's with one of the vendors, like the florist or caterers. There’ve been so many people in and out of the house today, helping with the party. It’s impossible to keep track of them all.”
“Maybe,” Dane agreed in a doubtful tone before walking away.
Vaughn brushed a kiss over my forehead and murmured, “Thanks for covering for Mila so I didn’t have to.”
“You're welcome, honey. I know it’s been hard for you to lie to your friends who don’t know about her.”
“It is,” he sighed. “It's no fun keeping the truth from my friends, but Mila's privacy has to come first. At some point, they'll find out the whole story, and I just have to hope they'll understand.”
“Family comes first, and not all family is blood. If they don't get that, then they're not worth your friendship anyway,” I reassured him.