“It’s all Christoff’s fault. Living with him means I’ve developed a much higher drama quotient than I used to have.”
“I don’t know,” Norah drawled. “He’s toned down a lot since Daniel.”
“He’s still Christoff,” Cecily insisted. “He’s just…more cheerful.”
“Speaking of celebratory toasts,” Anita said, coming back into the living room, “Reed, I heard from Marie Lanning the other day. You remember her? She’s one of my old sorority sisters. Her son Shawn and Reed were good friends back in summer camp.” Anita added, clearly for Cecily’s benefit. “Anyway, she and Doug are down on the coast now.”
Cecily’s gaze followed Reed as he grabbed up one of the cookies and bit in. “Yeah? What’s Shawn up to?”
“Living in Virginia Beach. He and his wife are expecting their first baby in February.”
“Good for them.” He took another bite of the cookie, offered it to Cecily for a nibble.
She bit in, enjoying the sweet bite of cinnamon and sugar as it melted on her tongue. Now that was a snickerdoodle.
“She was wishing you congratulations, too.”
“For what?”
“On your engagement.”
Cecily choked as the bite of cookie slid into her windpipe.
“Seems she ran into Annelise, who said she’d run into you and your fiancée in Oxford. Is there something you two want to tell us?” Her brows quirked expectantly.
Reed ignored his mother, peering closely at Cecily. “You okay?”
She coughed a few times, waving a hand until she caught her breath. “I seriously underestimated the whole Mississippi being one big small town factor,” she wheezed.
“Been tellin’ you that since you moved down here,” Norah said.
“Yes, we ran into Annelise, but I never said we were engaged,” Reed’s lips twitched as he looked back at Cecily. “I mean, we might have implied it.”
She couldn’t resist smiling back. “Okay, let’s be honest here. It’s possible that I have an overdeveloped sense of justice, and when I met the heinous hellbeast that was his ex, I decided to put her in her place.”
“By pretending you were some kind of heiress?” Anita asked.
Damn. Seemed her plan for revenge had worked even better than expected if Annelise had been running her mouth that much. Reed looked to Cecily, clearly waiting for her to telegraph whether he needed to cover or shift the conversation. That he was deferring to her on this point gave her all the warm fuzzies. He’d keep her secret, if she wanted. But if they were going to make anything of their relations
hip, his family would have to be clued in eventually.
Cecily took a breath and squared her shoulders. “Actually, that part wasn’t a lie. I’m Cecil Davenport’s granddaughter.
Grammy gaped. “Davenport? As in the philanthropist?”
Cecily actually smiled a little a that. “He’d be pleased that’s the first thing you thought of. I don’t tend to mention it—ever—because people usually get weird. But it is, occasionally, useful.”
“Well, I’d never have guessed,” Grammy said. “You’re so down-to-earth.”
“Thank you. I take that as an enormous compliment.”
“Mom,” Reed interrupted, “what exactly did you say to Mrs. Wallace?” No doubt the last thing he wanted was for the truth to be making its way back to his ex.
“I pretended I knew exactly what she was talking about and said I was getting a wonderful daughter-in-law, even if she is a Yankee. Which is, for the record, exactly what I’d have said if you were engaged.” Reed’s mom shot a pointed look in his direction.
Cecily’s cheeks heated. “I, uh, well, thank you.”
“Okay, let’s stop embarrassing the girl. It’s time for dinner,” Grammy announced.