Despite owning a home improvement retail conglomerate and hosting a DIY TV show, Daniel Spencer was the most muscular of the bunch. Making boatloads of money had never gotten in the way of his outdoor activities, which included personally building a cabin in Lake Tahoe.
“Glad to be here.” Evan glanced at Harper and Will. “I wouldn’t miss the wedding.”
“Some of us had our doubts. But we all know it’s been a rough month.”
Rough was an understatement. Evan’s mission in Europe had been about more than visiting his subsidiaries in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Stockholm. The arms of The Collins Group, his investment corporation, reached out globally, and he believed in hiring local expertise. After all, they knew the markets, the economies, the politics, all of which affected investment decisions, and those people were the best at keeping him fully informed. He’d been determined to work himself out of the dark pit he’d fallen into when he’d learned the truth about the full extent of Whitney’s betrayal. At first, he’d fermented in that dark place, hating Whitney, hating himself for not seeing the truth. But now he refused to keep handing her that power over him, not when he’d just come home to his family again.
“It’s over now,” Evan said. “I’m moving on.”
Daniel smiled wide. “Sure you are.” But his next words belied the easy smile. “Need to talk? One on one?”
Evan drank in the laughter in the room before answering. “No.” He didn’t want to destroy the homecoming. Didn’t want to plunge back into darkness either. “I’m fine.”
Daniel nodded, and for a moment, Evan thought his friend might let it go at that. Until he added, “We’re here if you change your mind.”
Thank God for friends. They had always been there, since he was a skinny ten-year-old. They stood up for each other then and now. He knew they all thought he was better off without Whitney, that none of his friends ever really liked her. Evan was the one who’d made excuses for her behavior, who’d told himself that the Mavericks didn’t really know her.
Only to find out that he was the one who hadn’t known his wife.
Not at all.
Across the room, Susan laughed delightedly as Bob gave the punch line to his joke. They always laughed together—not at each other, but with each other. Over Bob’s shoulder, Susan finally saw Evan, her features freezing for a moment with deep motherly concern.
She whispered something to Bob, and he immediately pivoted. As if their moves were a signal to the rest of the group, the conversation fell silent.
Susan was soon enveloping Evan in a hug. He was transported back to childhood, to the heat of Susan and Bob’s kitchen, to the warmth generated by the unconditional love she and Bob showered on all the Mavericks. The Spencers had taken them in, fostered them, treated them like their own sons, giving them the same love they’d given to Daniel and his sister, Lyssa. In Susan and Bob’s house, there was always more than enough love to go around.
“I missed you, honey.”
“Missed you too,” he answered as he hugged her back, not wanting to let her go.
Bob knuckled his head, and Sebastian punched his arm lightly. “Dude, I knew you wouldn’t miss the food.”
Evan clapped his friend on the back. “It’s Matt who’s all about the food.”
Matt snorted. “Give me a break. Daniel’s the free-food king.”
As they all laughed, Evan’s heart clenched tight again. Only, this time it wasn’t out of pain—it was because he no longer had a doubt in his head or his heart or his gut that he’d been right to come home.
Noah squirmed out of Ari’s grip and launched himself at Evan. He scooped up Matt’s son, burying his face in Noah’s blond curls as the boy chattered excitedly. “I swam the pool end to end five times without stopping. It must be a whole mile.”
“You’re a superstar,” he said, giving Noah a high five before putting him back down on the floor so he could run off to play with Jeremy.
Turning to Ari, Evan asked, “Where’s your brother?” Evan had met Gideon only once, at Thanksgiving. The guy was enigmatic, having recently come back into Ari’s life after spending seven years in the military, and another nine years working construction all over the country. Evan wasn’t sure he trusted him, and he worried about Ari because of it.
“Gideon was so grateful for Harper and Will’s invitation to the wedding,” Ari replied, “but he wasn’t able to get out of work to come.” Evan knew that Daniel would have given him the time off, but he didn’t refute her.
The front door opened, and seconds later, a snow-dusted woman threw herself at him. Lyssa, Daniel’s sister, had always been a handful. She was the kid sister he’d never had, a toddler when he’d moved in with Susan and Bob a couple of years after his mother ran off. All the Mavericks felt like they’d raised her—and they would go to any length to protect her.
“You big lug. Where have you been this past month?” She smacked a hand on his chest. “I desperately needed to talk to you because—” She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial murmur. “—I hate to admit it, but I detest my job. You’re my financial wizard, so I know you’ll give me good advice.”
“I’ll help you out any way I can,” he promised.
“Thank you,” she said, giving him one of her sunny smiles as she let him go. “I definitely need a sage old man’s advice.”