I wrapped my arms around Drew and hugged him tight and saw my brother standing there watching us, a soft smile on his lips as he held his phone up to his ear, surely speaking with Ann Marie.
* * *
"She said yes!"Drew shouted as we walked through the door.
"I knew it!" Mom said from where she sat on the couch. She got up and came over, wrapping her arms around me, and then Drew followed by Dad and Ann Marie.
"I just put a pot of coffee on and have some cinnamon rolls in the oven. This calls for a celebration," Mom called out, rushing into the kitchen.
"Welcome to the family, son," Dad said, smacking Drew on the back as he too followed Mom to the kitchen.
Ann Marie hugged me and then Drew before she disappeared with Zach into the kitchen, leaving us in the living room. I hung up my jacket in the closet and felt Drew slip his hands into my front pockets and kiss the back of my neck.
"Happy?" he murmured as he continued to trail kisses to the top of my shoulder.
"I am. Are you?"
"More than you'll ever know."
"All right, you two, break it up before I get sick," Zach said, coming down into the living.
Drew let out a laugh. "That so reminds me of the night of your junior prom, Lexi."
"You remember that?" I asked, somewhat shocked.
"How could I forget the first time I ever told you that you were beautiful." He leaned in and kissed me again.
"My God, man, you lay it on thick...Please stop." The three of us laughed, and we headed up to the kitchen to join the rest of the family.
Chapter 29
Drew - 2 months later
I was walkingby my receptionist’s desk on the way back to my office when Sophie stopped me. "I have a couple things I need you to sign before you leave for tonight."
"No problem, Hazel. Let me know when Sophie is back." I opened the door to my new office. The words “Junior Partner” never looked so good written under my name.
"Of course, Drew. Oh, and Alexa is on line one for you."
"Great, thank you." I pushed the door open and grabbed the phone on my desk. "Hey, sexy," I purred into the receiver.
"Mom and Dad sold the house." Lexi's strained voice came over the line, and I could tell right away that she had been crying. "Set to close in two months." I heard the sniffle as she held back tears.
I got up and closed the door to my office and went and sat back in my chair, putting my feet up on the corner of my desk and loosening my tie. "I'm sorry, sweetie."
"It's not like I didn't know it was coming. It’s just going to be hard to say good-bye, you know what I mean?"
"I do. Did you get the actual closing date? I mean, perhaps I can arrange to get some time off and we can go and spend a couple of weeks up at the house before the wedding."
"She sounded so upset, Drew, I didn't bother to ask. I'm assuming it is probably two months from today. She said she was going to go and call Zach next."
"I'll take a look at my schedule and see what I can do, okay."
"Okay. Are you going to be home soon?"
"I just have two things to wrap up, and then yes, I'll be home. How about we meet for dinner at Lorenzo's tonight?"
"That sounds wonderful. I just have this shoot to finish and I will be on my way."