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Grant sucked in a breath, his annoyance building again. “Yes, Sierra, I do.”
“I don’t think you do. Or maybe you’d try looking at Julia like that so she’d stay here with us instead of sailing off with Captain Luke and his ten-million-dollar yacht club.”
“It wasn’t a…never mind.”
“Daddy,” Sierra said with a stomp of her foot and a pleading expression, “I need Julia to stay here. I need her to tell me nice things about me so I can feel better.”
“I tell you nice things. You’re smart and capable, Sierra.”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Stop, you don’t do it like Julia does.”
She flicked her gaze over his shoulder before she flung a hand in the air with a huff. “And now Kyle’s moving in on her. This night is awful. It’s almost as bad as our vacation to Maine. Daddy, do something!”
“Fine, fine. I’ll go see what’s going on. Stay here and stay out of trouble.” Grant crossed to his son and his wife. “Hey, everything okay here?”
“Yes,” Julia said with a nod. “Alex is intent on getting rid of Lydia’s leverage as soon as possible, so with any luck, one of our problems will soon be gone.”
“We can only hope,” Grant said.
“How is Sierra holding up?”
Grant glanced behind him, finding her chatting with Ava and Alex. “She may need that reminder you promised her sooner rather than later. She’s incredibly upset that her mother brought Luke here.”
“Aren’t we all?” Kyle answered.
“I’ll talk to her,” Julia said with a nod.
“Thanks, Juls. I tried, but apparently, I don’t do it right. At least that’s what she said.”
“Can I trust you two not to get into a fight if I leave you this close together?”
“Don’t worry. We have a common enemy in the room. That automatically prevents any fights between us,” Kyle answered.
Julia stepped away from them, and Grant stepped back away from his son, afraid they would end up in an argument if he stayed.
“Whoops,” Ava said as she pressed a hand against his back and skirted around him. “Near collision.”
“Oh, sorry, I wasn’t looking,” he answered as Julia collided with Luke, spilling some of her drink onto him.
“No, your eyes seemed transfixed elsewhere,” Ava said, following the direction of his gaze.
He tore his eyes from them, trying to pretend he wasn’t the jealous husband. He didn’t want another of Julia’s friends to accuse him of being overbearing.
Ava offered him a tight-lipped smile. “That can’t be easy.”
“Uh, it’s…fine. Julia and I are married now and–”
“Her ex just walked back through the door. I can understand this isn’t an easy situation.”
He huffed out a partial laugh. “You’re right. It’s not.”
“It seems your ex-wife did this on purpose.” Guilt flashed across her features. “Oh, I’m sorry. Julia and Alex told me what’s going on.”
He pressed his lips together, hoping he could trust her.
“Don’t worry, I understand complicated situations better than you’d think.”
The cryptic remark furrowed his brow, but he forced a smile onto his face. “I wish I didn’t.”
