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Jonah reached for a second roll. “Yeah, what other special projects have you been working on,Reed?”
My limbs locked up, and I set my fork down. Jonah had asked it so suggestively that, of course, my Dad quirked a frown in his direction.
“Got something special on the line?” Dad asked, taking another bite of jambalaya.
Reed cleared his throat, his gaze sliding to me, then he fiddled with his napkin in his lap. “Actually, I did just finish a project I’d like to tell you about.”
“No, Reed,” I interrupted, “I’ll tell them.”
My Dad’s frown deepened, and my Mom’s gaze popped up from her salad. Neither said a word, and my brothers were suddenly no longer eating. Except for Justin. He just kept shoveling even though I was obviously about to make a huge announcement.
“I bought the old Romero insurance office on Main Street. And I traded cooking and cleaning with Reed for his help in renovating it into my studio. It’s finished, and it’s beautiful. I’m opening for summer classes next month.”
I spit it out fast so no one could say anything otherwise. I felt like I was going to vomit while waiting for Dad to unfreeze and say something.
His frown slid to Reed. “You did this, Reed? When you knew we didn’t want her taking a risk on this business so soon?”
There was no doubt my father was fuming, his face flushed with anger. My mom patted his arm.
“Yes, sir,” said Reed without flinching a muscle, holding Dad’s frowning gaze.
“I thought you’d respect me more than that.”
“It wasn’t that I didn’t respect you, Mr. Jimmy. It’s that I respected Anna’s wishes more.”
Those intense blue eyes swiveled to me, and there was no doubt he had feelings for me by the way he looked at me. I couldn’t breathe as I stared back at him.
“I’d do anything for Anna,” he said, the entire room deadly silent. Even Justin. “She’s smart and capable and she knows what she’s doing. I believe in her, even if y’all don’t.” He took my hand that was resting on the table and laced our fingers together, smiling so wide I couldn’t help but love him even more. “Whatever Anna wants, I’m going to support her.” Then he turned his gaze to my parents. “Because I love her.”
That’s when I finally decided to be brave enough to look at the shocked and blank faces of my parents and brothers. Surprisingly, it was Jessie who broke the vacuum-like silence first.
“I told you.” He nudged Jonah next to him. “You owe me a hundred bucks.”
Reed and I both turned to Jonah, who made a disgusted face.
“Fucking hell, Reed. You lost me a hundred bucks!”
“Language, Jonah,” Mom warned before hopping up out of her chair and running to Reed’s chair to hug him from behind. She squished her cheek to his. “I’m so happy to finally hear this, sweetheart.”
Dad’s frown had morphed into a tilted smile. He sighed. “I’m not happy about this studio business yet, but I’m happy as hell to hear you finally wised up about Anna.”
“Still makes me a little sick,” said Justin, shoving food in his mouth.
My pulse pounded in my throat as I tried to absorb what they were saying. “Wait a minute!” All eyes came to me. “You mean to tell me that you’ve always thought Reed and I had a thing for each other?”
Jessie scoffed. “Like it wasn’t obvious.”
Reed tilted his head back and laughed so hard I couldn’t help but join him. Then he turned and kissed my cheek. “Guess we had nothing to worry about after all.”
I leaned forward to whisper in his ear, “Not until we tell them I’m moving in with you.”
“Disgusting! Not at the table,” yelled Jonah, lobbing a napkin across the table.
“Jonah, don’t throw things at the table, dear,” Mom fussed. “Now, let’s all finish our meal while it’s hot. After dinner, Anna can tell us about her new studio.”
Leave it to Mom to smooth things over like all was right with the world. When I glanced at Reed next to me, smiling, I honestly felt that it was.
After dinner, Reed was helping me clean the dishes in the kitchen when Jonah strolled in and planted himself next to the sink.
