He stroked his hand over her hair and upper arm as she spoke and as the conversation slowly turned from Lori’s last two weeks to baby milestones and budding vines and movie sets and concert tours, Grayson was surprised to realize that he was enjoying being part of the large group, even if it was only temporary. The women, for the most part, were far more welcoming as they asked him questions about his farm, while her brothers continued to treat him as though he was on probation.

He couldn’t blame them for that. Not when he completely agreed that their sister was precious beyond measure.

And that she deserved nothing but the very best.

* * *

Lori was trying not to be frustrated with her brothers. It was just that they were being so unreasonable! Especially her oldest brother, Marcus, who hadn’t yet said a word to Grayson. If anyone should have something in common, it was the two of them, since they both earned their livelihoods from working with the land, and she and Nicola both had very public careers as a singer and a dancer.

She’d been glaring at Marcus all throughout lunch, trying to make it clear that she expected him to bend a little and accept the man she was in love with. But when all he did was ignore her in the most irritatingly big-brother-like way, she shoved out her chair and said, “Marcus, we need to talk.”

Grayson pushed his chair back as if he planned to come with her, but her mother quickly held out her arm and said, “Grayson, could you take a look at my vegetable bed? I’m having some trouble with my artichokes.”

Lori and Marcus had always been especially close, and she loved and respected him for all he’d done to help raise her when their father had died, but she refused to let him act like he knew what was best for her.

“I love Grayson,” she said to Marcus as soon as he walked into her childhood bedroom and closed the door. The room that had held the contents of her and Sophie’s entire world as little girls now seemed so small. And yet, it was still comforting. “You’re not even trying to get to know him.”

“You met the guy on the rebound, Lori, and you’ve only known him two weeks. Less than that. How can you actually believe you’re in love with the guy?”

“His name is Grayson,” she growled, “not the guy. And are you seriously saying that to me?” She raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t what you just described exactly what happened with you and Nicola in way less than two weeks? You didn’t tell any of us about her, either, not until you showed up at Sunday lunch and declared your love to her in front of everyone.” Lori was a foot smaller than Marcus, but that didn’t stop her from facing him down, toe to toe. “We all accepted her. We all made her feel welcome. Why can’t you do that with Grayson?”

“Because I love you and I can’t stand to see you make another mistake!” His booming voice cut through her frustration like a foghorn.

She could easily read between the lines of what he was saying: He was not only worried about her heart being broken, he was also worried about her giving up her own career and dreams for the man she’d fallen in love with.

“You and Nicola have made it work, being on the road for her music and also having to take care of the vines and your winery. Don’t you think Grayson and I can, too?”

“Even if he loves you and you love him, it’s obvious that he’s damaged, Lori. Badly. We can all see it.” He drew her into his arms. “I know how softhearted you are, that you want to take care of everyone and shower them with love. But sometimes love isn’t enough to heal a person. I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“I love you, too, big brother,” she told him as she wrapped her arms around him, “but I wouldn’t walk away from Grayson when he was hellbent on trying to make me leave, and I won’t walk away from him now, not even for you.” She drew back to give him a stern look. “So when we go back outside, I expect you to be nice.”

Of course, Marcus was just as stubborn as she was, so instead of agreeing, he said, “Tell me more about the farm.”

It wasn’t much, but it was something, so she grabbed it with both hands as she told him all about her first time in the pigpen.

* * *

Her siblings were all used to the way Lori blew and in and out of a room so fast that if you blinked you might miss it, but what they weren’t used to was seeing her with someone she was obviously very much in love with.

Especially when it was the kind of guy none of them would ever have thought to pair her up with.

After she and Grayson headed out, Smith looked around the table. “So?”

Sophie immediately jumped in with, “I like him.” Though she and Lori had had a slightly rocky couple of years, no one was surprised to see Sophie stick up for her sister. Not when they’d always been especially close to each other. “She’s never been with a guy like him before, but somehow he’s perfect for her.”

Gabe nodded grudgingly. “They did seem to be a good fit.”

But Zach was shaking his head. “Okay, so maybe he’s a good guy. And maybe he does really care about her.” All of them had been able to see that in every look, every touch, the way he’d instinctively wanted to protect her when they’d been grilling her on what had happened to her in Chicago and why she’d disappeared on them all. “But he lives on a thousand-acre farm and runs a CSA that supports an entire community. He can’t walk away from that for her.”

“Who says she’s asking him to walk away from it?” Sophie shot back, no longer the quiet little sister they’d nicknamed Nice when she was a little girl.

“Can you really see Lori living on a farm?” Ryan asked.

Marcus had stepped up to take care of all of them after their father died, but they all knew he and Lori had a special bond. “Actually,” he said, “she has always loved to help me in the vineyards.”

But Ryan was holding firm. “I’m sure being out on a farm is fun for a week or two—something different, especially after what happened in Chicago. But she’s Naughty,” he reminded them all.

“You’re right, Ryan,” Chase said. “It’s Lori we’re talking about here.” He gave them all a considering look. “She’s not like other people and never has been. So why are we all thinking her love life needs to make sense?”

Only one person hadn’t spoken up yet: their mother. They all turned to her now to see what she thought about the man her daughter had brought home today, as they had turned to her so many times before for answers.

Mary Sullivan smiled at her children and at the men and women and children who had also become a part of her family during the past two years. “Lori loves Grayson. And he loves her.”

With a few simple words and that calm smile they knew she was right: There wasn’t anything else they needed to know about Lori and Grayson’s situation. Because there was nothing they could trust in more than love.

“Now,” Mary said as she stood up, “who’s hungry for dessert?”

Summer ran back to the kitchen to help bring out the chocolate cake with extra rainbow sprinkles they’d made together. Each of the couples squeezed each other’s hands just a little tighter. They’d all been where Lori was right now, in a place that didn’t necessarily make sense, but at the same time was more right than anything else had ever been.

And love, as Mary had gently reminded them, had prevailed each and every time.

Chapter Twenty-three

“So?” Lori said to Grayson as they headed north toward her San Francisco apartment in his truck. “Did you survive my family?”

Grayson knew the clock had been ticking from the moment she’d crashed into the fence post on his driveway two weeks ago, but now it felt as though time was racing at warp speed. Days had become hours. Hours had become minutes. Too soon, they’d be left with mere seconds.

“You’ve got a great family.” His words came out a little too raw, but Lord, he was going to miss her.

“What did I tell you?” she said with a jaunty little grin. “And no one even punched you, so that was a plus.”

Sunday lunch hadn’t exactly been comfortable for him, but her family really was great.

“Believe me,” he told her, “it was close there for a while. If your sister hadn’t saved me from your brothers, I would have been a goner for sure.”

The sound of Lori’s laughter filled up all the places that had been dark and cold and empty before, and as he drank it in, he wished like hell that he’d done more joking with her and less grumbling.

Then again, she’d pushed every last one of his buttons, hadn’t she?

Lori reached for his hand and rubbed her thumb over his palm as they drove. Affection was such a simple thing for her, and now he knew where she’d learned her capacity to love: from her family.

“I’m the yellow two-story apartment on the corner,” she said, pointing half a block ahead. He found a spot just outside and grabbed her suitcase, and when she opened the door, he wasn’t surprised by the color, the energy, the exotic sculptures and paintings displayed on every possible surface. Where everything in his farmhouse was there by necessity, nothing Lori had would ever be called necessary...and yet, it all was. Because everything, from the clay figurine of dancing girls to the tribal masks hanging from the walls, made up the incredible woman that she was.

“I got this in South Africa,” she told him when she found him looking at a vibrant, brilliantly stitched wall hanging. “And this one,” she said, pointing to a painting of a young boy and girl about to kiss, “came from Paris.” He recognized city scenes from London to Sydney, all places she’d clearly danced in and would again.

The chasm between his life and hers grew deeper from moment to moment. Because that was all they had left now.

Moments.

And every one of them was precious.

Lori was holding his hand and pulling him down the hall, saying, “It shouldn’t take me long to grab some T-shirts and jeans, and then we can—” when Grayson tugged her back toward him.

He took her beautiful face in his hands and kissed her with a desperation he couldn’t control. She immediately melted into his arms, her strong body so sweetly pliant in passion. They quickly ended up against the wall, one of her legs coming up to wrap around his hips, her hands threaded into his hair.

They were just seconds from having a hot and dirty quickie in her apartment. But that wasn’t how Grayson wanted to say good-bye, damn it.

“What’s wrong?” She reached up a hand to cup his jaw. “You’ve been on edge for the whole drive.” She gave him a crooked little smile. “And not just your normal level of edge.”

He stared into her eyes, so full of life, so bright—brighter than any star in the sky. Brighter even than the sun. “I love you.”

She stroked his cheek. “I love you, too.”

Her smile this time was soft. And so sweet he nearly broke right then and there and fell to his knees to beg her to stay with him. And to never, ever leave.

“Now spit it out,” she demanded.

He hadn’t talked to her once before, hadn’t let her in. But now he knew he had to. Even if every word he said was going to rip his heart out of his chest a little further.

“We both know we’re not here so that you can pick up new clothes.”

A flash of fear passed through her eyes, but she quickly masked it with a wicked little smile. “I planned for us to tangle up my sheets, too.”

Ruthlessly shoving back the vision of stripping off her clothes and making love to her in her bright and sunny apartment, he said, “You’ve got to deal with what happened in Chicago.”

“You’re right. I do have to go.” She tilted her head back enough that she could look up into his eyes. “But while I’m gone, I don’t want to leave you on the farm by yourself.”