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“No!” yells Brooks. I thought he was far enough away not to hear, but I guess I was wrong.
I cup my hands around my mouth to be heard. “Sorry!”
“Brooks is sensitive about his first name,” Eden fills in. “It’s best not to antagonize him.”
“Anyway, as you were saying.” I give Mark a cool smile. “Bennett isn’t actually my last name. I’m one of the Taylor clan. When my mom married Sam, she hyphenated her last name. But Brooks and I still have our father’s name.”
I am totally sick of telling people this. Not to mention the fact that Eden should be handling her boyfriend’s questions.
Mark furrows his brow like he’s trying to balance a goddamned algebraic equation. “Huh.”
“I’ve explained this to you before,” Eden murmurs to Mark. She doesn’t seem upset in the least as she smiles and brushes a speck of lint from the shoulder of his jacket. “We’re a blended family.”
“Ah. Right.” He looks bored. “Sorry, sugar dumpling.”
Sugar dumpling? Ugh. Dude is the absolute worst. I hide my reaction behind a stiff smile. Throwing Eden a look that says ‘Are you kidding me???’ I take a step back. “I’m going to say hi to everyone else.”
I veer away from them and swerve over to the next group. Savannah and Cole are there, beaming at each other. Gross. Beside them is my brother Brooks, who is dressed like a lost member of Nirvana in a black T-shirt, loose fitting blue jeans, and a red flannel shirt tied around his waist.
Brooks is staring daggers at Eden and Mark. My lips twitch. I secretly love that Brooks and Mark get along like cats and dogs. Seeing Brooks glaring in Mark’s direction tickles me.
“What, I don’t even get a hello?” I complain to Brooks and Cole.
Brooks meets my gaze, and he jerks his chin upward in greeting. “Hey.” Then he immediately goes back to scowling at Mark.
“River!” Savannah chirps. “Thanks for coming last night. I didn’t really expect you to stay until the place closed!”
The back of my neck heats. I definitely stayed because Pearl was still there and I thought there was a chance that I might get some more alone time with her. Unfortunately, I didn’t.
“I did stay kind of late. And then I had a work meeting super early today.” I see a chance to change topics and launch into it whole-heartedly. “You know, I’ve been slammed at work lately. The real estate brokerage is super busy. Plus, since Rex and Cole have been working together on the baseball training camp, I’m trying to get a resort community built to accommodate the guests that the camp will draw in.”
Cole scratches his chin. “Did you get the South Shore planning board on board with the schematics yet? You’d think they’d be all over this resort idea.”
Cole asking about the idea I have for Delta Jackson’s property gets me excited.
I nod. “Not just any resort. I want a luxurious five-star hotel, a high end eighteen-hole golf course, twenty upscale private bungalows, and a brand-new boardwalk where resort guests can find the designer brands they love. I am putting in a ton of hours to make a presentation that will knock the socks off potential investors. You and Rex are planning on raking it in with the training camp. I want to position our family at the other end to make massive amounts of money after the resort is built.”
“You mean you want to position yourself.” Cole pins me with a steely gaze. “It’s all well and good to talk a big game about how our family will profit. Just do me a favor and save that bullshit for Dad. You aren’t selling us on jack squat.”
He reaches out an arm and rubs Savannah’s lower back. Being that close with another person isn’t one of my life goals, but I am a bit jealous of how free and easy the engaged couple is with each other. It must be nice.
Savannah smiles gently, and fidgets with her huge engagement ring. “Well, I think your resort sounds fun. If Cole and I weren’t already so busy with building the training camp, I’d say that we should team up.”
“Don’t forget that we’re planning a wedding, too,” Cole chips in.
I haven’t exactly forgotten. Not only are Cole and Savannah engaged, but they are getting special treatment from my mom and Sam because they are settling down.
I’ve heard through the family grapevine that Cole is even getting his trust fund early because Sam approves of Cole settling down with Savannah. It’s extremely unfair because everyone in the family knows that our trust funds aren’t supposed to kick in until we’re forty years old. Damn. If I only had access to that trust, I would have more than enough money to play real estate roulette for a hundred years.
How do I get a piece of that action? I wonder.
“Yeah, well. Maybe I need to recruit you two to join the project. Then Sam would actually start taking it seriously.”
“What does that mean?” Cole asks.
Before I can answer, my mom’s voice cuts through the party like a hot knife through butter. “Lunch is served!” she calls, clapping her hands to call the family’s attention. “Everyone, find your seats in the dining room, please.”
I move toward the dining room slowly, letting my family filter around me to find their seats. When I get in the dining room, I move slowly. Everyone else hurries toward food.
