Page 164 of Heart Strings & Hotlines

Kara hugs Lottie, fist bumps me, then rushes from the room.

“Kara,” I call. No one in this house listens to me. “Charlotte Wilder. What the hell was that?”

“Oh, relax. They’re young. It’s not like they’re getting married. They’re going to a school dance that she worked hard on because she loves you, and she might have a tiny crush on Wes.”

“Does he know this?” My hands fist and stretch three times while I work on not breathing like a dragon.

“Winnie and I suspect he has his own little crush going on, but seriously, Thane. She’s thirteen years old, talking about a school dance that we will drive her to and from. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“What’s the worst? The worst? They could get married. She could marry into the biggest, loudest, most chaotic family in the world. They have their own fucking mantra, Charlotte. It’s ‘welcome to the chaos.’ ‘Welcome to the chaos.’ We would never be free from them. They’re like the mafia—once you’re in, you’re in. I was worried about letting Weston into my company, but at least there, I have rules in place. We get mixed up with that family, and we’re done. Done! Do you hear me?”

She presses her fingertips to her lips, but even that doesn’t contain her laughter.

“This is not a laughing matter, Charlotte.”

“Are you listening to yourself? They’re kids. It’s one school dance. It’s not like we’ll wake up ten years from now to find them married.”

“Oh my God.” I storm over to the stairs. “Kara, elopement is out of the question for you. Don’t ever, ever do it.”

She pokes her head over the upstairs railing to gawk at me.

“What the hell, Brad? I can’t even drive yet. Slow your roll.”

“I mean it, Kara. That’s the rule. Don’t do it.”

She rolls her eyes and stalks away. Maybe she shouldn’t be allowed to have her phone in her bedroom.

“Breathe, Thane.” Lottie presses her face into my back as she wraps her arms around me. “Everything is fine. She’ll have lots of boyfriends over the years?—”

“Boyfriend?” I’m having a heart attack. It’s stopped beating. Or maybe it’s beating too much. “I thought they were friends.”

Her head bobs against my shoulder blades with silent laughter. “They are friends. That’s it. You’re turning this entire thing into something it’s not, I promise.”

I spin and take her face in my hands. “Say it again.”

“I promise. Kara and Weston are friends. Everything will be okay.”

Everything will be okay because she’s in our lives.

“Fine.” My heart rate starts to settle.

“I love you, Thane Wilder.”

Her words are the balm for my fragmented mind. “I love you more, Mrs. Wilder. Forever and always.”

She lifts onto her tiptoes, graces me with a kiss, and my entire body relaxes on contact.

My narrator may never be silent.

I may never like crowds.

We may never choose the easy path.

But we’ll always be together, and together we will never fail.

* * *