I nod sagely. “What she said.”
“But we’re together in this,” Sebastian argues.
“Trust me.” As an afterthought, Pippa adds. “Plus, we have skills you lack, brother.”
“Yep, listen to Pippa. She’s wise.”
Sebastian pulls me closer to him and hooks his other arm around Pippa’s waist. “Well, if you manage to convince her, I’ll take you two out to dinner.”
Oh, my brother is a jokester. “Now, see, I feel like we should get more out of this than a dinner.”
“Well, whatever the two of you come up with, I’ll be glad to indulge. Just make sure my wife relaxes that day and has a good time.”
“We will,” Pippa promises. As my brother heads to the bunch of kids grouped in the center of the room, I wonder for the millionth time if he’s actually human. He runs a billion-dollar corporation, finds time to woo his wife, and raise four little souls. I’m still going with a radioactive spider bite. Possibly vampire. Though I need a good reason for why he can walk in the sun.
“Can we schedule the girls’ day after I return from Lake Tahoe?” I ask Pippa.
“Sure. How did Olivia react to you taking off for two weeks?”
“Not happy, but nothing she can do about it. I have a lot of accrued vacation time.” I shrug, heading to the buffet with my sister on my heels.
“Plus, that place is up and running mostly because of you.”
“That too.” I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I kick ass at the gallery.
“Just saying, but you should think about opening your own again. You have far more experience than the first time around. And being your own boss has its perks,” she says as I load my plate with a second serving of cake.
After graduation, I felt on top of the world. I wanted to open my own gallery. My three oldest siblings, Sebastian, Logan, and Pippa, founded a jewelry company years ago, and it was wildly successful. They gave each member of the family shares in Bennett Enterprises, regardless if we were working for them or not, so I had money to fund the dream. The gallery didn’t bring enough revenue to even pay the fixed costs. Sebastian and Logan insisted I didn’t have to close it. After all, I could use the money from Bennett Enterprises to cover the costs. But I manned up and closed it. I didn’t want to be that person who lived off her siblings’ work.
My sister Alice and my brothers Blake and Daniel are their own bosses. Neither of them work at Bennett Enterprises. Alice and Blake co-own restaurants and bars, and Daniel runs an adventure center.
Of course, they built their businesses on a cutthroat business plan. I approached the gallery with a dreamy enthusiasm, overlooking some serious flaws in the plan. I know what Pippa is saying, but this is not the moment to star
t making plans.
“This is a birthday party. No work talk. Come on, let’s find Alice and plot Ava’s downfall.”
We find our sister Alice on the L-shaped couch we’ve dragged into a corner of the room to open up the space for the party. Pippa and I barely plop our asses on the soft cushions when Daniel walks up to us.
“I’ve been meaning to ask, how did it go with Alex?” he inquires.
“Okay. The kids loved him. He was very sweet with them, patient.”
“He’s going to go to St. Anne’s again?”
I shrug. “Maybe. He’s joining the Lake Tahoe camp.”
On my right, Alice stills. On my left, Pippa leans back.
“Wow. That’s one A-lister with a lot of free time,” Daniel says.
I shrug again. “He’s not filming anything now, and he’s got some time until he starts the promo tours.”
“Let me know if you need anything,” Daniel offers, shoving his hands in his pockets and returning to the party. Meanwhile, my sisters’ gazes are skewering me.
Alice speaks first. “You know, Pippa, I have the feeling our baby sister has been holding out on us.”
“I agree. Something doesn’t add up. She’s been mentioning Alex in every sentence today.”