Page 95 of Steady Stroke
Anyone else. Huh.
“Don’t stop looking. You never know when the right guy will stumble into your path. Boston’s a big place.”
“I actually live in Wilmington. Delaware, not North Carolina.”
“I’m familiar with it. If not in Wilmington, then Philly isn’t too far away.”
“This is true. Fingers crossed anyone I meet is as adorableas you two.” David nodded, then slipped away to chat with someone else.
“He seemed nice,” Emmett said.
“Yeah.” Lincoln glanced around, and his gaze stopped at the ballroom doors. His stomach hit the floor.
“Linc?” Emmett’s head turned, too. “Oh.”
Lincoln’s parents had arrived, and they were both looking right at him.
TWENTY-ONE
Gene and Laura Westknew how to make a fucking entrance, and their sudden appearance earned a smattering of applause for the parents of the bride. Lincoln couldn’t get any of his body parts to move, not even to blink his eyes. Not until his father looked away to shake someone’s hand. His mother’s gaze lingered a moment longer, and then the spell broke. They were swallowed by well-wishers.
Emmett’s hand pressed against the small of his back, a stabilizing touch, even through his suit jacket. “You okay?”
“Don’t know yet.” He swallowed against the dryness in his throat, then took a big gulp of his drink. “Being ignored was pretty predictable, though.”
“You’re here for your sister. Remember that.”
“Yeah.” The thought didn’t quell that tiny, unacknowledged part of him that dared to hope his parents would be happy to see him. That tiny, unacknowledged part of him that was finally, permanently extinguished by their easy dismissal. Gene and Laura were strangers to him now.
The Boundses were his family.
Emmett was his family.
The bridal party finally arrived and were announced on their way inside by a disembodied voice somewhere in the room. “And making their entrance for the very first time, Mr. and Mrs. Terrance Milano.”
Lincoln clapped for his sister, who beamed all the way to the front table. Terry made a gesture and someone handed him the microphone. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m hungry. Let’s eat before anyone starts with the speeches, yeah?”
Cheers followed that announcement. Half the crowd began lining up for the buffet, while the other half tried to trounce the happy couple. Lincoln pulled Emmett into the line for food. He’d hug his sister when the throng thinned a bit.
The spread was a mix of upscale seafood and down-home comfort food. Lincoln took a piece of steamed salmon, a scoop of seared scallops, some veggies, and a small scoop of fruit salad. Emmett, he noticed, stuck to the veggies and fruit, a very light plate for what had to be a crazy upset stomach. Lincoln’s own had calmed a bit once he realized he no longer cared what his parents thought or did.
Emmett was surrounded by strangers, any of whom could be a threat, and he had to be freaking out inside.
Maybe we’ll skip the dance after all.
They found an empty table, and Lincoln wasn’t surprised when David joined them with a heaping plate of his own. He’d just taken a bite of the very tasty salmon when a female voice screeched his name.
Mercedes was barreling through the bodies between herself and him, and a surge of joy put Lincoln on his feet. He tugged his baby sister into his arms, surprised by the tears stinging his eyes and the lump in his throat.
“You came,” she said. “I’m so glad you came.”
He kissed her cheek as he pulled back. “Yeah, I came. You are so beautiful. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that a lot of people were watching them, because she angled to face the table. “This has to be Emmett. Oh my God, he’s gorgeous.”
Emmett flushed beet red. She yanked him up and into a hug, too, and the entire thing was kind of surreal. Lincoln spotted Gene and Laura a few yards away. Gene’s face was totally blank, but Laura . . . kind of looked like she wanted to cry.
“I’m so happy to meet you,” Mercedes said to Emmett. “Is my brother treating you right?”
