Page 138 of Protecting You
That was the kind of sister Alyssa had become. So distant from her family that they accepted this giant lie without question.
No doubt they’d believe the even bigger one when she and Callan announced their fake engagement.
It was…unacceptable. She didn’t have the mental space to process what it meant right now, why she’d become so distant from them, why she’d avoided them. But she knew, whatever her reasons, they were not good enough.
Help me fix it, Lord. Please, don’t let what happens in the next hour destroy these relationships.
Her plate filled with prime rib, mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, and a roll, she sat beside Callan at the table where Dad and Peri were already eating. Well, Dad was eating. Peri was talking his ear off, though he didn’t seem to mind, listening intently, responding at the proper times.
She tamped down a sharp stab of jealousy. She would have given anything to have his undivided attention when she was eight.
It didn’t surprise Alyssa when other guests started filling their plates. Once Dad did something, others naturally followed. That was the kind of man he was, the kind who didn’t need to say a word to get people to fall in line.
Mom joined them, settling in next to Dad, and then Brooklynn, Kenzie, Cici, and Delaney. Normally, her sisters would sit with friends or cousins. It seemed everyone wanted a front-row seat to the Alyssa-Callan show.
Alyssa had worried most about Dad’s reaction. She’d dated a few guys here and there, but she’d never brought any of them home to meet her family, much less to a function like this. Dad wasn’t a person who put a high value on kindness. Truth, justice, and integrity, definitely. But kindness wasn’t his strong suit.
So she’d been worried, but Dad had taken Callan’s presence in stride, almost as if he were in on the secret. Which he couldn’t possibly be, but…
But Dad always knew more than he should, so maybe, somehow…
Mom was far too kind to grill a guest at dinner. She was probably curious, but she wouldn’t want to make Callan uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, Alyssa’s sisters had no such qualms, peppering him with questions about his life and his past. Even Delaney lobbed a few his way.
Callan had transformed into hisCaleb Thompsonalias easily and talked about a past life close to reality, but just different enough from the truth.
“How did you two meet?” Brooklynn asked.
“We met years ago at a tech exhibit in DC. The details are fuzzy.” He wore a self-deprecating smile. “That’s what happens when you’re dazzled by a beautiful woman and trying to work up the nerve to ask her out.”
Alyssa laughed. “He’s exaggerating. It wasn’t like that at all.”
“Not for her.” Callan grinned, bumping her shoulder, playing it up. “When I saw her again a few months ago, I decided I was not going to let the opportunity get away a second time. I asked her out. She must’ve been drunk because she said yes.”
Dad had been talking to Peri, but he was listening. He gave Alyssa a dark look—chin lowered, eyebrows hiked.
“He’s joking, Dad.”
She expected her father to press Callan on the details, but Dad focused on Peri again.
She’d finished her lunch and three cookies—like father, like daughter—so Dad had called over a waiter to bring them coloring books and crayons. Now, they were both coloring, exclaiming over each other’s designs.
Had Dad ever colored with Alyssa?
How pathetic was it that she felt jealous?
Callan continued spinning stories, and Alyssa jumped in when she needed to.
And then Eliza, Sam’s wife, approached the table. Her baby bump was obvious, but she wasn’t so big that she looked uncomfortable. She was followed by her son, Levi, with his adorable curly blond hair, and another young woman who must be the babysitter Brooklynn had mentioned.
Eliza stopped beside Peri’s chair. “That’s a beautiful picture you have there.”
Peri grinned. “Thanks. It’s a kitten.”
“It’s very good, even better than Mr. Wright’s.”
Gavin scowled at her.
