The Life That Mattered (Life #1)(36)

Over.

Photos and memories tucked away for anniversaries and sharing with their children.

Terrible. Just terrible of me.

My best friends’ big day felt like an obstacle, not a joyous event. I couldn’t help it. My mom had been so sick from the chemo, even with antiemetic medications. It wore on my dad to see her hit the extreme lows. It was painful to witness. We knew he replayed in his mind the events that led to the death of his first love. Jumping from chemo vomiting to bridesmaids’ luncheons was almost too much to balance.

“Only one of your teams won.”

I smirked, wiping down the counters to my lab as a familiar voice bragged behind me. “I’ve been distracted.”

“Nope. You don’t get to play the cancer card. Only your mom can play that card.”

Rolling my eyes, I turned toward Graham. He was in Aspen to do a little playing of his own on the slopes, hence the absence of his tailored suit. Casual Graham still dressed in obnoxiously expensive clothes, but they at least reminded me of the guy I knew in college—dark jeans and a white tee, which probably cost more than I made at my shop on any given day, and a gray button-down under his unzipped black ski jacket and white scarf.

His hair danced out of control like he ran short on gel. I always liked messy-haired Graham, a rare sighting. Apparently, future political candidates required a perceived perfection right down to the hair on their heads.

“Thank you.” I had a million feisty comebacks to give him about my poor performance on picking winning teams that year and my “playing the cancer card.” However, I didn’t speak them because Graham did what he’d always done—showed up for me in the biggest way imaginable.

Paying for medical bills before they ever reached my parents’ mailbox.

Arranging my transportation via private jet from Denver to Aspen several times a week.

And this … talking about sports when it was the last thing on my mind, but knowing it was what I needed.

I dropped the rag while dissolving the distance between us. My arms slid under his jacket and around his warm torso, my cheek finding the familiar comfort of his chest.

“Thank you,” I repeated on a long sigh. “Thank you for being my favorite Graham Cracker.”

“How’s she doing?” He returned the embrace and kissed the top of my head.

“She hates the chemo. Wants to just stop it, but she knows it’s her best chance at beating this. And she’d rather deal with the physical pain than let my dad think for one second that she’s giving up.” I stepped back, finding a small smile to give Graham as I leaned against the counter with my hands resting on the edge of it. “How’s Lila? I left a message with her earlier, but I haven’t heard back from her.”

Graham twisted his lips and scratched his chin, brow a bit furrowed. “Hmm … I wouldn’t know. She was supposed to go to lunch with my mom and Aunt Charlotte, but she canceled because of a business meeting.”

I couldn’t read his expression, so I cocked my head and crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you bothered by that?”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek for a few seconds. “I let it slide today.”

“W-what?” I coughed on a laugh. “Let it slide?”

“We’re not married yet. She should have rescheduled the meeting, so she didn’t leave my mom and Charlotte waiting for her at the tea room.”

“Well, I’m sure that means she was running too late to make it at all. And I’m sure she felt bad. But Lila is driven. She’s good at her job. You said that’s one of the reasons you fell in love with her. It doesn’t make sense that you’re acting like she will have to give that up when you get married.”

“I’m not saying she’ll have to give it up. It just won’t be able to be her priority. Today, she made it her priority. When we’re married … she’ll have to reschedule meetings instead of missing luncheons with important people.”

“It was your mom and aunt. I’m not implying they’re not important, but—”

“Then what the fuck are you implying?”

Whoa!

My jaw hung in the air for a few moments. What was up with him? We used to laugh at his mom and Aunt Charlotte, poking fun at their “rough lives” of luncheons and how often they scolded grounds keepers for cutting the hedge shrubs a half inch too short. Graham said he would take his place in the family business, but never be cut-throat like his dad. And he wanted to marry Lila because she wasn’t a lunch-at-the-tea-room kind of girl.

Comebacks lined up on the tip of my tongue, each one fighting to be heard first. I didn’t let them speak. The Porters owned me and my family. Even if they never said the actual words, I knew the score.

The Taylors: nothing. The Porters: everything.

“I’m implying that Lila is under a lot of stress, and since you haven’t spoken directly with her, maybe you should give her the benefit of the doubt. She loves your mom and Aunt Charlotte.”

Truth.

Lila made a shocking transformation—hating all the Porters and everything they stood for when we were in college, to embracing their family because she fell in love with Graham. She was a better woman than I was. If they hadn’t owned my family, I would not have felt the need to have lunch with his mom and aunt just because Graham and I were friends. Lucky for me … Ronin’s mom, Ling, was amazing, and I loved having lunch with her any day.