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“That’s right,” Ava said, poking a finger at her. “I have never had anything like those. Oh, they were so good. Does Luke still make them?”
“He does,” Julia confirmed.
The spouses exchanged a glance at the opposite end of the table. “We may need to take a weekend getaway,” Ava said.
“What the better half wants, the better half gets. Happy wife, happy life, right, Big G?” He raised his drink at him.
Before Grant could answer, footsteps pounded toward the dining room. That definitely was not Worthington unless he’d changed into a pair of designer heels. Grant’s muscles stiffened as he realized Lydia must be on her way toward them.
A second later, Lydia appeared in the doorway, scanning the room. “My apologies for being late. I hadn’t realized we were entertaining.”
Grant raised their clasped hands. “We are entertaining. You are not.”
Lydia’s eyes fell on Kyle, her brows furrowing. “Doogie Houser is still here? After our conversation this morning?”
“Kyle. My name is Kyle.”
“Lydia, please. We’ve waited long enough for our meal. Sit down.”
“Aren’t you even going to introduce me?”
“Alex, Ava, this is my ex-wife, Lydia. Lydia, this is Alex Stone and his wife, Ava. They’re friends of Julia’s.”
“Julia has friends?” she asked.
Alex narrowed his eyes at Lydia. “I’m not certain many people can resist Julia’s genuine charm.”
For the first time, Grant liked the man. His biting comment was the perfect response to Lydia’s rude statement.
Lydia wrinkled her nose at the man as Worthington and the staff paraded into the room to deliver the first course.
“Sit down, Lydia. We’d all like to eat.”
“I will. But I’m waiting on my guest.”
“Guest?” Grant asked.
Lydia glanced behind her. “Yes. He should be along any moment. I’d better check.”
She pounded her way out of the room. He hoped she never came back, but those hopes were dashed seconds later when the heels stomped back toward them.
Grant braced himself for the arrival of whatever poor man had fallen for Lydia’s act. He may have to subtly warn the man over after-dinner drinks to run for his life.
As he pondered it, two dark shadows cast a pall over the table, but it was the clattering of Julia’s spoon against her soup bowl that set him on edge.
He glanced at her face first, finding it a mask of disbelief and shock. His eyebrows furrowed. Who could have given Julia that reaction?
He shifted his gaze to the door, his eyes going wide and heat washing over him.
“Hi, Julia,” the man next to Lydia said.
Despite the fancy suit and the haircut, he recognized the man easily. Luke Hawthorne. Julia’s ex-fiancé now stood in his dining room, his dark eyes set on his wife like a wolf eyeing its next meal.
Grant felt a visceral twist in his gut as the man made an unwelcome intrusion into his sanctum. Kyle’s posture stiffened, a silent sentinel, also preparing to defend his family against the ghost of Julia’s past.
The arrival of the man shattered the delicate balance he’d struck to get through this tumultuous situation. And threatened to ruin everything.
CHAPTER 16
