“I need to pick some tomatoes and bring them into the house before she thinks I got lost.”

“Okay.” He brushed his lips against hers. “Later.”

She picked several ripe and juicy ones and brought them inside. She was certain her hair was mussed up and her lips were kiss swollen, but Lydia never said a word. They finished up the salads, then went into the immense dining room to set the table.

The table was rectangular, dark and distressed, and looked handmade. “Who made this table?” she asked as they were setting the utensils.

“Easton and the boys.” Lydia ran her hand lovingly over the surface. “It’s reclaimed maple, and one of my treasured possessions. It’s held up well over the years, and can seat at least twenty people. He even built extra leaves so we can expand it for larger parties.”

Katrina nodded. “It’s massive. And so impressive.”

“Easton worked night and day on it for six months. The boys all pitched in and helped. Every gouge and nick has part of them on it. I love it so much.”

Her heart clenched at Lydia’s words. “I can see why. It’s beautiful.”

“Now, it’s time for all of us ladies to have cocktails. Except for Anya, of course, who’s going to have the virgin variety of whatever we have.”

“Curses,” Anya said, then smiled.

Katrina laughed, and they followed Lydia into the kitchen where she mixed up a very tempting concoction containing watermelon, agave nectar, lime juice, orange juice, and tequila. After shaking up the mix, she filled each glass with ice and decorated it with a wedge of watermelon.

“Melon margaritas for everyone,” she said, though she’d fixed a special pitcher for Anya without the tequila, much to Anya’s irritation.

“Someday I’ll have tequila. Lots of tequila,” Anya said as they made their way out to the front porch and grabbed seats.

“And someday I’ll explain the tequila hangover to you,” Mia said. “Everything in moderation is not just something adults say to be mean to you. Trust me on this.”

Lydia laughed.

Katrina sipped the drink. It was cool and refreshing with just enough of a tequila kick. “This is so good, Lydia.”

“Thank you. I like to experiment with icy cold drinks in the summer. And I do like watermelon.”

“You also like margaritas, Mom,” Mia said.

Lydia swirled the liquid around in her glass, then took a sip. “This is true. More than half the drinks I make have ‘margarita’ in their name.”

Katrina laughed. What a lifestyle the Cassidys led. It seemed relaxed, yet busy at the same time. It didn’t appear as if Lydia was sitting around bored. She had a garden and they’d remodeled two homes. She’d raised four boys and a girl. She must have been going nonstop for years.

“Do you miss your job as an attorney, Lydia?” Katrina asked.

“No. I sit on the board of the Cassidy Foundation. We run several charities, and I’m deeply involved with those. So as far as the legal side, I still have my fingers in that enough that I don’t yearn for my days as a lawyer. But the courtroom? No, I don’t miss that at all. I did my part for a lot of years and I thoroughly enjoyed the work I did. I made what I consider all the right choices for myself, for Easton, and for the kids. I have zero regrets.”

“Tell Katrina how you and Dad met, Mom,” Mia said, then looked over at Katrina. “It’s such a great story.”

“Easton was a key witness in a case I was prosecuting for battery.”

“Really,” Katrina said. “What was the case about?”

“He was involved in a skirmish in a nightclub. Though he wasn’t a participant, one of his friends had been accused of assaulting another patron there. Since Easton had been present, he was one of the witnesses and I needed to talk to him. Of course, since the defendant was his friend, he did his best to make himself unavailable.

“I was an assistant DA during that time, and I was assigned to depose him. He didn’t show up during the scheduled time, which irritated the hell out of me. He claimed scheduling conflicts, when I knew damn well he was trying to protect his friend.”

“Did he ever show up?” Katrina asked.

“Finally. And he wasn’t happy about it, either. But we got through it, and I gave him credit for being honest, though he was as … creatively evasive as he could be. And he claimed the other guy started it and his friend was just defending himself.”

“Did he have to testify in court?” Anya asked.

Lydia shook her head. “The guy who was assaulted ended up dropping the charges and refused to testify. And without our key witness, we didn’t have a case.”

“So you lost,” Anya said.

“More or less, yes. And then Easton asked me out.”

Katrina laughed. “He did?”

“Yes. And I was pissed about losing the case and the media circus surrounding him and the other player.”

“So you said no?”

“Of course I said no. I was young and hungry, trying to climb the ladder in the DA’s office. I wanted nothing to do with him and his fame. But he was so persistent. He pursued the hell out of me. Of course I was also wildly attracted to him. There was my dilemma.”

“And then Mom gave in and went out with him,” Mia said with a wide smile. “They became an item, which caused another type of media circus.”