Page 48 of Broken Heart

SKYE

If anyone had been watching me, they might have thought I had something stuck in my eye. My disbelief about what I was witnessing had me blinking rapidly.

Cooper and I were standing off to the side of where everyone was gathered in his parents’ backyard—though calling it a backyard seemed inaccurate given its sheer size—prepared to celebrate Cooper’s birthday.

Everybody was deep into conversations or cooking on the grill and in the brick oven. I didn’t know what time everyone had arrived, but it was plainly obvious they were all enjoying themselves.

Slowly, I twisted my neck and looked up at Cooper. “You expect me to believe this is your family and just a few friends? I thought you were one of six kids. How do you even know this many people?”

Cooper squeezed my hand in his, an attempt to comfort and reassure me, and said, “I am one of six kids. But my dad’s sister, my Aunt Mina, and her husband have another five kids of their own. Plus, my grandparents are here along with all the friends, which don’t include just mine. My mom’s two best friends, Pam and Cheryl, have been in our lives for as long as I can remember.”

I swallowed hard, returning my attention to the crowd.

Suddenly, I was seriously rethinking my decision to have Cooper pick me up and bring me to the party with him. I had foolishly thought it would be easier to arrive with him, instead of arriving and having to search for him in a sea of people I didn’t know.

But I was wrong.

Now, it would be just a matter of a few seconds before all eyes would be on us. Cooper was the guest of honor, which meant I was bound to get an extra dose of scrutiny for having arrived with him.

“This is terrifying,” I murmured under my breath.

“You have nothing to worry about, Skye. Everyone is nice, and they’re going to love you,” he assured me. Then he took a step forward and gave me a slight tug on the hand. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

I had no choice but to go with him. It was either that or stand here, alone, looking awkward and out of place. As we made our way through the perfectly manicured grounds toward the party, I tried to focus on anything but what was immediately in store for me.

I took in the space, unable to ignore the opulence. That’s when it hit me. Sure, I was aware of what The Westwood Company was, and I realized they had built a global brand, but it hadn’t hit me until this moment just how affluent they were.

Was Cooper being honest with me? Would his family like me? Or would they think I wasn’t good enough for him?

Granted, it wasn’t as though I was living in poverty—not that it should have mattered—but I still didn’t come close to this level of wealth, either.

There was one thing that caught my eye and held my attention.

The garden.

Not a vegetable garden, but a floral one.

There were flowers everywhere, the beautiful blooms and colors bringing the backyard to life in a way the existence of people never would. After everyone left and went home or indoors, the living beauty of the garden would remain. It was breathtaking, and I found myself wanting to inspect all of it.

But I had to refrain from that for the time being.

All that I’d done to distract myself from the nerves I felt about meeting all these people hadn’t helped. If anything, I’d grown more and more concerned about how this was all going to go down.

Before I could freak out any more than I already was, Cooper ground to a halt on the partially shaded patio—if it could be called that—and said, “Hey, Mom.”

A beautiful woman with dark hair looked up, took us in, and beamed at us. She turned slightly, looked back behind her, and called out, “Cooper’s here, Malcolm.”

That declaration seemed to force a hush to fall over everyone who happened to be under the covered portion of the patio. All eyes came in our direction, and several people moved our way, including Cooper’s mom and the man called Malcolm, who I could only assume was his dad.

Cooper’s mom and Malcolm were the first to make it to us, and she didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around her son as she said, “Happy birthday, Coop.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

She loosened her hold, stepped back, and Malcolm stepped forward. “Happy birthday, son.”

Cooper hugged him and said, “Thanks, Dad.”

When their eyes fell on me, I had expected Cooper was going to introduce us, but his mom stepped forward with a huge smile on her face and hugged me. “You must be Skye.”