Page 41 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“Not the last one,” he said.

“Have you been cyberstalking my aunt?”

He shrugged. “She’s kind of famous, and I like her movies. I thought it might be nice to have her at our wedding.”

She was about to threaten him with bodily harm if he so much as dared contact her aunt when two little boys in pajamas ran by with a harried redhead chasing after them. “Sorry,” she said as she brushed past them.

“Heather?”

“Hey, Lila. It’s been a while.” There was a crash, and she cringed. “I’d better get them before they wreck the restaurant.”

Lila took in her white shirt and black slacks. “Are you working?”

She nodded. “We’re short-staffed. A couple servers handed in their notice today, and I volunteered to come in, but I couldn’t get anyone to look after the boys.”

“You go do what you need to. I’ll look after the boys.”

“But it’s your dinner with the family. I don’t want to impose.”

“She’s right, Lila. I’m sure someone else—”

“Go. We’ll be fine,” she said to Heather, cutting off David.

Heather glanced from David to Lila and then smiled, handing Lila a blue quilted bag. “This should keep them busy. Thanks, I really appreciate it.”

“This is ridiculous,” David said when Heather rushed off and Lila hurried to the back of the restaurant, following the boys’ giggles.

“No, David, this is what my family does. And right now, I’d suggest you don’t argue with me since you and your family’s business are obviously the reason we’re short-staffed.”

“You can’t seriously be blaming me that their staff chose to leave here for Windemere?”

She turned to face him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Come on, Lila. Look around,” he said, gesturing at the empty tables. “The restaurant is—”

She raised her hand, cutting him off before he said anything else. Before the words swirling around in her brain shot out of her mouth. She was seconds away from calling off the wedding, but she knew better than to react when she was emotional. She had the baby to think of.

“Join your family, David. I’ll be there in a minute.” She continued walking, following the sound of Heather’s twins. She stopped short at the sight of Luke, sitting at the table across from theirs with his family, Heather’s boys on his lap.

Behind her, David huffed an irritated breath. “I nearly walked into you. What are you— Oh, good, you don’t need to look after the boys. They look happy enough with that guy.”

Luke was entertaining them with the salt and pepper shakers. “That guy is my client,” she said, and headed for his table. David hesitated and then turned and walked away. Lila said hi to the five members of the Hollingsworth family and crouched in front of Luke.

“Thanks for rounding them up.” She smiled at the boys. They had their mother’s curly red hair, their adorable faces sprinkled with freckles. “I can take them off your hands now. Let you get back to your dinner with your family.”

“Don’t worry about it. Go and enjoy your dinner with yours.” He nodded at the table at the back of the restaurant, where her father was now talking to David and his father and brother. James looked as if he needed rescuing, but at that moment, Lila didn’t trust herself not to make a scene.

“Besides, we’re having fun, aren’t we, guys?” Luke said.

“Yep.” The boys nodded with impish grins as they poured salt and pepper in Luke’s water glass.

“Don’t worry about my grandson, Lila. I’m sure he prefers the boys’ conversation to ours,” Ruth said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“Maybe if my granny and aunties would quit trying to manage my love life, I’d enjoy their conversation more.”

“Do you hear that? The poor boy thinks his dating life counts as a love life,” Ruth said to her sisters and sisters-in-law.

The four of them laughed, clearly enjoying themselves at Luke’s expense. And it was just as clear that they adored him. Which Lila knew from her experience with her own family didn’t make their interference any easier to deal with.

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