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Cameron’s eyes widened as he read the sheet in front of him. “Family boundaries?” he whispered. “Does our family know what those are?” he asked Greer.
She shrugged helplessly.
“Good morning, everyone. Let’s get started.”
Cameron raised his hand. “We’re not waiting for Parker?”
The square reserved for his Zoom screen was still black,and I tried not to glare at it too badly. “Nope. If you note the top of the agenda, it says seven thirty a.m. It’s now”—I glanced at my watch—”seven thirty-two, so I think we’ve waited long enough.”
Ivy smiled. “Take it away, boss. It’s your meeting.”
I’d stood at the head of the conference room dozens of times in the past few months, running meetings about distribution updates and shipping data and discussing strategy of what needed to be done when. Most of the time, my siblings sat in the chairs just like they were now—Ivy and Cameron to my left, his hand underneath the table on her leg. Greer was on my right.
Ian didn’t usually attend these meetings, but he and his wife, Harlow, sat in the middle across from Mom.
I picked up the first notecard and opened my mouth to talk.
“I like your dress, Poppy,” Adaline said through the screen. “You look really pretty.”
I blinked, looking down at the white sundress with little red flowers on it. “Oh. Thank you.”
“Did you get that in town?” Greer asked. “I might need to see if they have other colors.”
“Yes, I?—”
“You do not have the chest to fill that out,” Adaline told Greer.
Greer narrowed her eyes at the screen.
Cameron dug the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. Ivy rubbed his back with a slight smirk on her face.
I stared down at the first notecard. Point 1- Firmly address why I didn’t tell them. Do not apologize.
“Are you feeling okay, Pops?” Erik asked. He had the computer screen tilted too far away from his face and he looked like an alien.
With a smile, I nodded. “Tired today, but good, thanks, Erik.”
He leaned in closer. “Lydia wanted to know if you got that link she sent you about the baby stroller she wants to buy you.”
Ian rolled his eyes. “Adjust your monitor, old man. We’re looking straight up your nose.”
With a grimace, Erik did as instructed, glaring when Cameron let out a low snicker.
Ian opened his mouth to say something, and I nailed him with a fierce glare that shrank him back in his seat. Notecard in hand, I looked around the room and found my mom’s face first. Her smile and encouraging wink had my tense shoulders relaxing.
“Thank you for coming,” I told them. “I’ll try to keep this brief because I know everyone has a busy day ahead of them.” I smiled at my sister-in-law. “Except Harlow, who told me the longer we talked, the less she’d have to try to write today.”
Harlow raised her coffee mug in salute, earning a dry smirk from my brother at her side.
I smoothed a hand over my belly. “First and foremost, I know you’re probably all wondering why I didn’t tell you it was Jax,” I said quietly, my eyes moving to each face around the table. “It wasn’t because I was ashamed or afraid. And I never wanted to lie. But I refused to let him be the last one to know because it’s not fair. Believe me, what happened yesterday was pretty much worst-case scenario for me.”
Cameron’s jaw tensed. Ian kept his gaze down at the table. Greer shifted in her seat.
“Most importantly, I won’t apologize for not telling you,” I said. “You may not understand, but I feel really strongly about that. And you know, women have this tendency to feel like we always need to apologize, right? Even if we haven’t done anything wrong.” My pulse hammered as all my siblings watched me like an animal in an exhibit. “And I wasn’t wrongby wanting to tell him first. Even if it didn’t happen the way I’d imagined.”
Cameron cleared his throat, shoulders moving as he took a deep breath.
As soon as he was done doing thebig brother annoyed because I’m not in control right nowshifting, I held his eyes for a moment, then moved to Greer.
