“Good, you’re here, Leah,” she greeted.
At the sound of her mom’s voice, Leah left her overnight bag on the floor and moved away from the stairs and back toward him.
Judith approached him and smiled, causing her to resemble Leah even more.
“You must be Gavin.” Judith extended her hand toward him. “I’m Judith, Leah’s mother. I’m glad you were able to join us today.”
“Thank you for having me. It’s been a long time since I went to a Fourth of July party,” he said.
After hugging her mom, Leah stepped closer and nudged him in the side. “Or any party for that matter. I told him if he didn’t come today, I’d drag him out of the office.”
That’s what you think. “Guilty as charged,” he replied.
“Sounds like someone else we know and love,” Judith commented affectionately. “No matter. You’re here now. Are you sure you don’t want to spend the night? We have the room, Gavin.”
Yeah, on this one, no one, not even Leah, was going to get him to budge. “I appreciate the offer, but I already reserved a room at a hotel.”
“Well, if you change your mind the offer stands,” Judith commented before turning her gaze toward Leah. “If you want to bring your bag upstairs, I’ll bring Gavin outside and start introducing him to everyone.”
Like the perfect hostess, Judith kept up a steady conversation as she led him through the house and outside. Although he’d never met many of the people already gathered, thanks to the media he recognized most of them, including several of Leah’s cousins and her father, who was speaking with an older gentleman he didn’t recognize.
With her husband occupied, Judith led him over to Leah’s older brother. Although he was standing alone, Curt’s attention was focused on someone on the beach. “Curt, I’d like you to meet Gavin. He’s a friend of Leah’s.”
Sherbrooke blue eyes identical to Leah’s swung his way, and he held Gavin’s gaze for a moment before extending his hand. “Nice to see you again.”
“Excellent, you already know each other,” Judith said before she frowned, her eyes focused on something or someone across the deck. “Do you mind introducing him to everyone? Janet is waving me over. She must need something.”
Gavin spotted a woman approximately his mom’s age waving at Judith. Judging by Judith’s tone, it wasn’t the first time Janet needed something today.
“Sure,” Curt answered. It was a simple one-word answer, yet something in his voice told Gavin to be on guard.
Curt waited until his mom left before speaking again. “When I invited Leah to stay at my place this weekend, she never mentioned bringing a date to the party.”
He didn’t know if she’d intentionally left out the information or if she invited him after talking to Curt. “My coming along today was a last-minute thing,” Gavin explained.
“Last-minute? My sister?” He sounded shocked. “Leah usually plans everything out in advance.”
Gavin agreed. At least in the months he’d known her, Leah had never seemed to do anything spontaneous. “When she found out on Tuesday that I planned on working today, she invited me.”
“We spoke on Thursday.” Curt’s expression gave no hint at what he was thinking. “Are you staying the whole weekend?”
“Just tonight. We plan on driving back in the morning.”
Leah’s brother shoved his hands in his front pockets. “Think about staying another night. The two of you can stop by and visit with Taylor, Reese, and me. We’re here until Wednesday.”
He knew Taylor was Curt’s girlfriend, but he had no idea who Reese was. “Whatever your sister wants.” He’d planned to finish up the work leftover from last week when he got back to the city on Sunday, but if Leah wanted to stick around longer, he wouldn’t argue. It would give him more time with her.
“I’ll talk to her when I see her. C’mon, I’ll introduce you to Taylor. She’s helping the kids build sandcastles.”
Gavin saw several children of various ages on the beach, along with a handful of adults. He assumed some of the children were Leah’s relatives, but he didn’t think they all were. There seemed to be too many.
“Are you still living in New York?” Curt asked as they made their way across the grass and past other guests.
He nodded. “Yeah, when I’m not traveling.”
Curt laughed. “Best part about not being in the corporate world anymore.”
“Leah mentioned you left Nichols Investment back in the spring.”