Page 92 of Temporary Vows

He rests his glass on the rail and glares at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Typical Knox and his selective memory. He fucking well knows what I mean, but I’ll never tire of giving him reminders. “When you met Isla, you wanted her from the get-go. Let’s be realistic; you orchestrated that whole ordeal with her inheritance and her family restaurant to get her to marry you.”

He frowns, but there’s a lightness in his eyes. “That’s not what happened.”

“But it was.”

“It—” He stops himself because he knows there’s little point arguing with me.

“I’m right.”

“It was different.”

I shake my head. “No. This”—I point to myself—“this thing with Elodie and me is different. We have a mutually beneficial arrangement. And everything is on track to go as planned.”

He studies me the way he does when he's deciding whether to push. “Alright. Suit yourself. In any event, I’m glad things are on track. Is she on the way?”

“Yeah. She’ll be here in a minute.”

He lifts his glass slightly, a half-toast to nothing in particular. "Good. And the best part is Dad seems happy.”

He motions to our parents standing on the upper deck. Dad has an arm around Louise, our stepmother. They look happy. My father in particular looks more at ease. I suspect that’s because of me.

For a moment, I study him and wonder how he moved on from my mother and found love with Louise. They had an arranged marriage while my brothers and I were living in England, and by the time we returned to the States, they had my sister, Adeline. They’ve been together for years and made it work. But somewhere along the line, they became a real couple.

It’s sad. I can tell my father isn’t as high-spirited with Louise as he once was with my mother. Louise has been more of a mother to us and a wife to him than my mother could ever be.

The last time I saw my mother, she was walking out on us, pregnant with another man’s child. As distraught and disgusted as my father looked at the time, he still had that love for her in his eyes.

He’ll never admit to this, but my mother broke him in more ways than even he realized.

That’ll never be me.

I return my focus to Knox. He looks at me at the same time.

“As long as our old man’s not breathing down my neck, I’m good,” I say, taking a swig of my drink.

“Well, it seems like everything really is in order.” Knox nods. “And you haven’t heard from Jack again?”

“No. What’s he going to say to me?” I smirk. “He’s got nothing.”

“That’s true.”

“There they are,” says a soft voice across from us. It’s Isla.

The instant Knox turns and sees his wife, his face lights up and he becomes a whole new person.

Isla walks up to us with Adeline in tow. The two have been inseparable since Knox and Isla got married.

Tonight, they look like something out of a fairytale in their gowns—Isla with her platinum hair, and my sister with her fiery red.

You can just see a hint of Isla’s baby bump under her gown as she moves toward us.

“Love,” Knox says, pulling her into his arms. He hugs her for a second then does that annoying thing I’ve seen dads-to-be do by kissing her baby bump. No matter where he is or who he’s with, he does it. Unashamed and beaming with pride.

Adeline and I exchange glances and roll our eyes.

“Hey, Red,” I greet her, and she gives me a smile.