Page 8 of Always Be Mine

It was just who Mandi was and how she dealt with things. But that wasn’t her style. Then again, kissing random strangers wasn’t her style either and she’d just done that.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to do things a little differently.

She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat and deftly shifted the conversation to safer ground, her mother’s social life.

Thankfully, there were no follow-up questions about either her relationship status or what she was doing in Trickle Creek, as her mother gleefully spent the next few minutes telling Lucy all about her week.

Lucy zoned out and put the call on speakerphone. She clicked over to social media to mindlessly scroll while offering up murmurs of understanding and the occasionaloh yesandthat sounds greatwhile her mom spoke.

Social media was a bad habit Lucy couldn’t seem to shake. Looking at other people’s perfect lives, with their handsome husbands and gorgeous children posing for magazine-quality photos on the porches of their immaculate homes, only served to remind her of everything she didn’t have. And worse, what at one time she was sure she was going to have with Ross.

She was no longer delusional about the future she wasn’t going to have with Ross. She hadn’t been for quite some time. Not since the first time she’d broken up with him. Two months earlier. In her heart, she’d known that was the end of them, and she never should have even entertained the slightest idea that they could make it work.

The next photo she scrolled to confirmed that.

Ross almost never posted anything personal on his social media. Almost never. The image took her breath away.

“Mom?” She cut her off mid-story about a neighbor’s garden. “I have to go. I’m sorry. I’ll call soon.” She didn’t wait for a response before ending the call and giving the app on her phone her full attention.

Ross looked as handsome as ever. Maybe even more so. He was in a T-shirt and shorts, a combination Lucy had rarely seen him in. She knew now that was because she almost never saw him on the weekends, unless they were at work, and that didn’t count because they had kept their relationship very professional at the restaurant.

She fixated on the huge smile on his face. He was happy.

But that wasn’t what made Lucy’s heart clench. It was the fact that Ross had his arms wrapped around a beautiful blonde. His hands rested on the swell of her pregnant belly and his warm, loving smile was directed toward her.

His wife.

ChapterThree

He was almostthirty minutes late by the time Craig pulled up in front of the big house, the same house he’d grown up in, which was aptly named because it was the biggest house in Trickle Creek, situated just outside of town, high on a hill with acres of untouched forest surrounding it.

He moved quickly through the halls, to his late father’s office, stopping only to take a breath and run a hand through his hair before he pulled the heavy wooden door open.

The moment he stepped foot inside, every head turned to face him.

“Nice of you to join us.” Asher, his older brother, and the middle child of the family who always seemed to have some sort of chip on his shoulder, was the first to comment.

Craig ignored the sarcasm in his brother’s voice. No doubt Asher was nervous, as it was his turn to hear his fate as dictated by their father, who’d seen fit to teach them all lessons beyond the grave with the special stipulations he’d included in his will.

So far, Chase, their oldest sibling who’d left town the first chance he could as a teenager, had been brought back to Trickle Creek and had not only learned that despite thinking the opposite, he was in fact very much a valuable part of the family, he’d also fallen in love with Annie Darling during the six months he’d been forced to stay in town.

Craig smiled at them both as he picked his way across the room.

His big sister, Charli, had been next. She’d been forced to take an investment and double it in only six months. It had been a lesson in believing in herself, which she now very much did, as did her new fiancé, Symon Scott. They’d been best friends growing up. Everyone else could see how much they’d always loved each other. Now, fortunately, they could too.

He gave Charli a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat next to his youngest sister, Kat. She was the baby in the family, and arguably the sibling he was closest to.

“Sorry I’m late,” he whispered.

“Better late than never.” She winked at him. “I’m glad you’re here now. These things are so nerve-racking. I mean, I know our turn is coming soon but it’s the waiting that’s killing me.”

“We still have time.” He squeezed her arm. “Nothing will be?—”

“Now that we’re all here, maybe we can get started.” William Evans, the family lawyer, cleared his throat at the front of the room. Next to him sat Steven Larson, who’d been their father’s assistant and right-hand man for as long as any of them could remember. He, along with William Evans, had been instrumental in helping them through the navigating of their father’s will and dealing with what was a massive estate.

“Sorry.” Craig sat up a little and addressed the room as he apologized again. “I really am sorry I’m late.”

There were a few murmurs and nods of understanding. Asher made a grunting noise from the chair where he sat closest to their father’s desk, ready to hear his fate.

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