Actually, Brynn had always been every bit as sassy as Sophie, it had just rarely left her mouth. But Brynn wasn’t about to confess to her mother that it hadn’t been her sister who’d brought about the more caustic change in Brynn. That it had been Will who’d made Brynn feel the most like herself that she’d felt in years—maybe ever.

Trouble was, it wasn’t the self she wanted to be.

Brynn resisted the urge to go to her purse and pull out her trusty notebook. After weeks without looking at it, she’d practically slept with it every night since Will had stormed out of her house a week earlier. Had needed it to remind her that it was time to start making Good Choices.

Her dad came in from the backyard, where he’d been fussing with the grill, planting an absent kiss on the side of her head before washing his hands.

“Chris, what do you think of Brynn’s hair?”

Oh Lord.

Like his wife, Chris Dalton was tall, blond, and handsome. Unlike his wife, he didn’t give a crap about his daughter’s hairstyle.

He dried his hands as he examined her hair. “Looks about the same to me. Pretty as ever.”

Brynn beamed at her father as Marnie made a scoffing noise.

“So, Brynnster, I was beginning to think you’d gone and outgrown Sunday dinners with the family,” Chris said, helping himself to Marnie’s appetizer platter.

As far as guilt trips went, Chris had a lot to learn from his wife, but that didn’t mean the comment didn’t cause a little jolt of regret at having disappeared from her parents’ life for the past few weeks with no explanation.

“Just sort of taking some time to myself, ya know?” God, I’m lame.

Her dad nodded. “Sorry to hear about James. We really liked him.”

James?

For a second, Brynn’s mind went completely blank as though trying to place him. How strange that she’d hardly given the guy a passing thought recently. But of course her parents would assume it was a breakup with a serious boyfriend that would have her turning hermit for a few weeks. They probably imagined her sitting alone eating ice cream in her bathrobe all day.

It was a safe assumption—much better than what she’d actually been doing. She had a vivid mental picture of how warm Will’s eyes had looked by the firelight that last night together. It was quickly followed by the disgust on his face the day after when he’d walked out of her life.

Which was your idea. Let it go.

“I guess he wasn’t the one,” Brynn said lightly. She wasn’t even sure to whom she was referring anymore.

“Always thought it was a good match, though,” her dad continued. “James was stable, reliable, driven…You had all the important things in common.”

All the important things, huh? Just a month ago Brynn would have agreed. Just a month ago, her dad’s words could have come out of Brynn’s own mouth.

But now…

“Dad, did you just call me boring?”

His mouth paused in chewing a piece of some fancy deli meat and Marnie’s head shot up as they both stared at her. “Of course not,” her father said, his face the picture of confusion. “I thought I was complimenting you.”

She gave a small smile. In his mind, he probably had thought that. To the Daltons, there was no greater compliment than “reliable.” It was the reason Brynn had always gotten along so well with her parents while Sophie had ruffled feathers with every job she’d quit on a whim.

And speaking of…

“Where’s Soph?”

Marnie let out the tiniest of sighs. “Not coming. If it’s not one daughter avoiding me, it’s the other.”

Brynn didn’t resist the eye roll. “Laying it on just a little thick, Mom.”

Still, she was a little surprised that Sophie hadn’t mentioned not coming to the Sunday dinner. They usually gave each other a heads-up before leaving the other alone with the parents.

“Did she say why?”

Marnie shrugged. “Something about not being in the mood for fireworks. I can never follow that girl.”

Brynn’s eyebrow went up. Fireworks? At a Dalton family dinner? The closest they’d ever come to that was when Sophie had completely lost her shit and accused them all of belittling her existence.

It had been a spectacular explosion.

And, sadly, completely justified.

The front door opened and Brynn felt a little jolt of relief. Apparently Sophie had changed her mind.

She got up to greet her sister and dodge any more James was the best talks, but she froze when she heard a familiar laugh. And not Sophie’s.

Her skin went hot. Then cold.

Oh. Hell. No.

“Will’s coming to dinner?” She practically choked out the question, but her parents barely noticed. The entire family had learned to turn a blind eye to Brynn and Will’s angry history. Probably because they didn’t even have a clue what that history entailed.

“Of course he’s coming,” Marnie said with a scolding look. “He’s always been part of the family. He’s been here almost every Sunday since moving back to town.”

Her mother left it there, but Brynn heard what was unsaid. Unlike you.

So Will had been going to her family’s family dinners without her. The thought was unnerving. Had he said anything about her?

But Brynn rapidly realized that her parents were the least of her worries.

Because Will wasn’t alone.

Despite what Brynn liked to think of as her exacting standards, she generally tried not to judge other women.

But this one? This one was a bimbo.

The hair was dark brown with too-light highlights, not even remotely trying to hide the fact that the color was obviously fake. The long coral fingernails…also fake. The spider eyelashes? Fake. The “designer” purse? Fake. The boobs? Definitely fake.

In other words, here was Will’s dream girl. It made sense that he was hanging out with this creature. He’d probably needed to detox from all of Brynn’s class and sophistication.

Don’t look at him. Don’t look at him.

For once, her body obeyed her brain. She didn’t look at him. Not once.

Not when he did introductions between her parents and Lily. Not when she shook Lily’s hand. Not when her mother cooed that it was so great that Will had found a nice girl.

Brynn’s eyes narrowed on her mother at that last bit. There was no way her parents approved of this artificial Barbie doll.

But they were all smiles, just like Lily.

Just what the hell was going on here?

This dinner was supposed to be her big comeback to her Real Life. Instead, she was the fifth wheel at her own family dinner, while her parents fawned over their pseudo-son and his all-wrong-for-him girlfriend?

Where did that thought come from?

Lily wasn’t wrong for Will at all.

Brynn tried to look at the other woman through different eyes, and was dismayed to realize that she could actually see Will with someone like this. Sure, she laughed just a little too loudly, and her rambling story about how she locked her keys in her car at the mall was a bit, well…mind-numbing. But there was also a sweet openness there.

Something Brynn knew she would never have.

“So how long have you two been together?” Marnie asked as she ushered everyone into the dining room.

“Oh, we went on a few dates years ago,” Lily said as she took the salad bowl out of Marnie’s hand as though she were freaking co-hostess. “Then this big jerk goes and moves across the country. But I was thrilled when he called me up this week and wanted to hang out.”

Hang out. Brynn knew what that meant. And she took it like a kick to the ovaries. Will was sleeping with this woman.

“Couldn’t forget her, huh, son?” Chris said, playing the dutiful fatherly role.

Will let out a low chuckle as his hand found the small of Lily’s waist. “Sometimes a guy realizes he needs a little sweetness in his life.”

Only years of carefully cultivated maturity stopped Brynn from gagging. She still managed not to avoid looking at Will.

It didn’t matter.

It didn’t matter that he’d brought a woman here just a week after they’d ended things. Didn’t matter that the woman gave Will secret smiles as though she owned him.