Lisabeth felt on edge, and she knew she didn’t need to be, given the fact they’d already told Rachel. But that didn’t mean she still wasn’t freaking out.

Lisabeth cursed inwardly as some of the spaghetti sauce splashed up and landed on her arm. She grabbed the ladle and started stirring while turning the heat down with her other hand. David was downstairs in the wine cellar picking a bottle for dinner tonight.

This evening was the dinner with Rachel, where they’d really sit down and hash all this out, going into detail about everything. To say Lisabeth wasn’t nervous was an understatement. Although they had spoken a few days ago about Lisabeth and David together, Lisabeth knew Rachel probably had a lot of questions, ones that hadn’t been addressed when they’d brought this up initially.

Well, tonight was the night everything would come out.

Rachel seemed accepting of her relationship with David, but that might’ve just been on the outside. On the inside she might have been uncomfortable and upset, and felt too awkward to actually tell them how she felt.

A moment later she heard the basement door close and David’s footsteps approaching.

“Dammit,” Lisabeth said again as another splash of sauce landed on her arm.

“Are you okay?” David called out, now in the dining room.

“I’m good, just not paying attention,” she said, more to herself, muttering under her breath. Moments later she felt strong arms circle around her waist. Resting back against David’s hard chest, she closed her eyes and told herself everything would be okay.

“Things will be fine,” he said reassuringly. “She’s already accepted this. If she knows anything about either one of us, she’ll understand that this just isn’t a passing phase.”

Lisabeth turned around and faced David, wrapping her arms around his neck and rising on her toes to press her lips to his. “I just hope she really is okay with it, and isn’t just saying that because she didn’t want to fight about it,” she said against his mouth. Pulling away, Lisabeth tipped her head back in order to look at his face.

“You know Rachel’s not the kind of person to lie about how she feels.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss the tip of her nose. “She’s always spoken her mind and told everyone how she felt, no matter what.”

Lisabeth nodded. She knew that was the truth. Rachel didn’t sugarcoat anything. If she ever had an issue with something she had no problem in speaking her mind. As Lisabeth thought about that she felt herself ease.

“So who do you think she’s bringing tonight?” David asked and pulled away so she could finish cooking.

“If I had to guess I’d say it was a guy,” Lisabeth said truthfully. “There’s no other reason that she’d be so secretive about who she was bringing with her to dinner, or what she’s been doing with her time. And it would make sense on why she hasn’t really had time for either one of us lately.” David grunted behind her. Lisabeth could tell the sound came from a skeptical father.

Just then the flash of headlights coming though the kitchen window told Lisabeth Rachel was here.

She wiped her hands on the rag and smiled over at David, who was setting out three wine glasses. Lisabeth went over to the front door, hearing Rachel’s car door open and close. She gripped the handle and turned it, opening the door, wanting Rachel to feel welcome despite this probably very awkward situation they were all about to be in.

They had a lot to talk about tonight, especially since Lisabeth and David were telling her about Lisabeth moving in here. God, even thinking about telling Rachel she was moving in with David had Lisabeth’s anxiety rising.

She had no idea how things would play out, but time would definitely tell.

It was dark out already and she saw Rachel making her way toward the house, a much larger body following behind her. Lisabeth couldn’t make out who was with her given the shadows concealing him, but it was definitely a man, given the build.

Once Rachel reached the porch, the light from inside moving across her face, Lisabeth smiled. “Hey,” she said softly, but it was clear Rachel was nervous as hell. Her best friend was twisting her hands together in front of her, and the way her throat worked when she swallowed made it clear that she was anxious.

And that’s when Lisabeth saw who Rachel had brought with her, the man standing behind her, tall and muscular with a head full of short, cropped dark hair. But this wasn’t just any man. No, this was a man Lisabeth had seen at the office plenty of times while she interned, a man she knew pretty well.

Mason, David’s partner at the firm, and a man twice as old as Rachel.

It was crystal clear that Rachel hadn’t cared about Lisabeth’s relationship with David because Rachel was in a similar one herself.

And when Mason reached out and curled his hand around Rachel’s waist, the clear possessiveness coming from that simple act made Lisabeth’s eyes widen. She sensed David step behind her and turned and looked over her shoulder at him, craning her neck back to look into his face to gauge his reaction.

The man she loved was staring at his business partner, his expression unreadable as he took it all in.

“Dad, Lisabeth, you two know Mason.” There was a tightness in Rachel’s voice.

It all became very clear now why Rachel was so accepting of Lisabeth and David’s relationship.

Because Rachel was with Mason.