Seeing the look on Luke’s face, when they entered their dining room, was Reid’s biggest reward. He looked absolutely radiant seeing Holden and the kids, Emma, Bob, Kim and Katie… hold on…who was that?
Without knowing it, Luke solved the mystery.
“Uncle Seth! What are you doing here?”
The man got up and the way Luke hugged him was a good sign. Whoever this uncle Seth was, Luke felt comfortable with him. And for some reason, Reid did too. Right away. His face, his whole demeanor was pleasant, calm and familiar. They shook hands and Seth smiled.
“I hope you don’t mind me crashing your party,” his low voice sounded sincere, “But I surprised Emma this afternoon and well…to be honest… I just wanted to meet you.”
Reid chuckled. Yep, he liked this Snyder. “You’re very welcome. I’m afraid I’m still trying to find my way through the Snyder Family Tree, so I’m not sure…”
“Which one I am,” Seth grinned. “No problem. Sit next to me and I’ll tell you more than you ever wanted to know about this family.”
“Sounds like a plan, but I won’t be sitting much, I’m afraid. I arranged with Emma that I would help with the serving.”
“I know, but you’ve been overruled. Faith and Katie volunteered, so you can sit down and enjoy the food…”
“That’s even a better plan,” Reid smiled at his Serving Saviors and sat next to Seth. Luke was already seated on his other side and they exchanged smiles.
Luke’s hand found Reid’s upper leg and squeezed it softly.
“This is so great,” his whisper sounded blissful and Reid put his hand over Luke’s.
“I’m glad.”
Although he had Luke’s happiness in mind, arranging all this, Reid had to admit he was enjoying himself more than expected. Seth turned out to be a very pleasant sparring partner. He was intelligent, to the point and a great storyteller. Everybody was hanging on his words and Reid wasn’t surprised to learn that Seth was a writer and ‘in the neighborhood’ to deliver some lectures. He understood why people would pay money to listen to this guy.
After the main course, the kitchen genius and her two little helpers disappeared to prepare dessert and Seth turned to Luke.
“So tell me, talented nephew of mine, how is your writing getting along?”
Surprised by Reid’s visible confusion, he shifted his attention to the man next to him. “You didn’t know?”
“Nope,” Reid looked at Luke, “Not a word.”
Luke lowered his eyes. “I haven’t written for a long time, so it just hasn’t come up yet.” His smile was shy, “but it wasn’t that good anyway.”
“It was,” Seth and Holden replied at the exact same moment and they laughed.
“Well, not according to my English teacher…” Luke remembered the humiliation when his teacher had told him in no uncertain terms – and right there in the classroom – that his story had bored him to tears. Luke shook his head to cast off the memory and – as always – Reid felt his pain.
“The memory is that bad, huh?”
Luke nodded. “That bad.”
“Will you let me read it?”
“I can’t. I erased it all.”
“You did what?” Seth was up in arms, “Because one guy didn’t like it? Maybe he was just jealous, did you ever think about that?”
Luke had to admit it hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“He’d burned me down in front of the whole class, so I decided then and there I would never put myself in a position like that again. A few years later I came back on my decision, though, and I wrote a movie script for Noah,” he sent Reid a quick smile – sorry for mentioning him, but he is part of this story – “and his teacher thought it was slush too, so that was the last drop.”
“It is a shame, it really is,” Set shook his head, “Let me assure you, Luke…as a writer, not as your uncle… you have a real talent. And you were so passionate about it too.”
Luke smiled, remembering the days filled with inspiration and that urge to write. “Yes, I was.”
“It’s not that you wouldn’t have anything interesting to write about,” Reid put forward and Luke grinned.
“I know, the recent events are a suspense novel in the making, aren’t they?”
“I was thinking more in the lines of giving your account of living with a genius, but okay…” Reid rolled his eyes when everybody started laughing, “What?”
Katie, providing everyone with a dessert plate, came to his rescue.
“Don’t worry, Reid. I’m working on that one.”
The room filled with laughter again, but this time not everybody was sure Katie was joking.
“Are you really working on a new book?” Kim looked pleasantly surprised. “Let me tell you… if you’re not, you should. I loved the previous one.”
Katie smiled. “I’m thinking about it.”
Reid kept silent. He’d read Katie’s book – well, he made an effort – and it was entertaining enough, but it hadn’t really boosted his brain. And the thought of him playing a part in all that…
“Do I have any say in that?”
“Nope,” Kate looked defiant, “That’s called poetic license.”
“Even if it’s not poetic?” Reid’s face looked neutral, but the humor in his eyes gave him away and Katie grinned.
“Even when it’s not poetic. But don’t worry, I’ll be honest.”
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of,” Reid replied and had them all laughing again.
Then their attention was fixed on Emma and Faith, who each walked in with a big pie on a plate.
“I wanted you all to have a choice,” Emma stated in general, while putting the pie in the middle of the table. Faith followed her lead.
“Oh no…” Reid looked sincerely torn. “I have to chose?”
“Not you, silly,” Emma’s look was lovingly teasing, “You get one of each.”
“Yay!” Reid clapped his hands and was even happier when he saw Luke smiling at him. There was so much love in that one smile, Reid had to kiss him. And for some reason that was Bob’s cue to stand up, tapping his glass with his spoon and looking around.
“If you all don’t mind, I’d like to propose a toast…”
Oh boy. Reid looked at the two pieces of pie before him. He could eat and listen at the same time…being a genius and all… or would that be rude…
“…before we enjoy our dessert.”
I guess it would be rude.
“But I promise to keep it short,” Bob grinned at Reid, “and in the meantime you can work on your self-control.”
“It took me almost nine months to secure this one,” he pointed at Luke, “and you think I need work on my self-control?”
They laughed, including Bob.
“I stand corrected,” he admitted, “but your remark is the perfect bridge to what I wanted to say. Because it is about nine months ago you stepped into our lives and man, did you try hard to be nominated for the Most Nasty One. And you came close. I must admit, you came very close. But then, for some mysterious reason, I got a glimpse of the real you. The total you, not just the exterior you were showing. And it blew me away. It really did.”
Bob shifted his attention to Luke.
“So thank you for getting him here and thank you for loving him. It warms my heart to see you both so happy and the respect and love between you two is an example to us all. So here’s to Luke and Reid.”
They all joined in the toast, but Bob didn’t sit down yet. He looked at Luke.
“Did you had a chance to tell him yet?”
Luke shook his head. “I wanted to tell him at dinner, but uhm… then this all happened…”
“Tell me what?” Reid was all ears.
Bob raised his glass again. “I like to propose another toast to the new Chief of Staff. The vote was unanimous.”
Reid was flooded with congratulations and felt overwhelmed by all the love and sincere glee. To conceal his uneasiness, he turned to his favorite remark:
“Can we eat now?”
And all went back to normal. Well, at least during dessert. Reid had almost finished his second piece – he was so glad he didn’t had to choose, because they were both extraordinary – when the relaxed atmosphere turned tense within a second. All eyes were faced at the doorway, in shock from this unexpected and uninvited guest. Nobody moved, totally focused on the gun that was pointed straight at Reid.
It was Ethan who broke the silence with a loud and heart-rending cry.
“Mommy!”
