The babies start to whine, and Giselle volunteers to head on in. “I just love babies, Skyla. Keep making them! Make some with Ellis,too!”
Gage pats me over the back. “Hang in there, man.” He glares at Ellis a moment. “And you stay away from my woman.” He takes off inside the house right behind hissister.
Ellis scampers off across the street to the construction site before I can effectively kick his horny little stoner ass. Of course, he’ll do anything forGbecause she’s giving him exactly what he wants. Damnpervert.
“Host University is getting a gem.” I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. Giselle really is a bright girl when she applies herself. She’s just a kid. And what kid wouldn’t want an oversized cherry red barn smack in the middle oftown?
“Be nice,” Skyla scolds while wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “That’s your niece, and she means well.” She steps in front of me, interrupting the funnel of hatred I’m shooting toward Ellis. “And you are nice.” She gives my cheek a light pinch. “And good things happen to nice people. Besides, I think the Bowling Barn sounds adorable. Maybe it’s better than Bar SlashBowling?”
“She’s not taking my liquorlicense.”
“Okay.” Skyla laughs while lifting her hands and cupping my cheeks. “Have it your way. Booze, bowling, and button-eyeddemons.”
“Be careful what you say.” I tick my head back toward the house. “Someone is likely to hear that and turn it into the new tagline for theplace.”
We share a quietlaugh.
“How’s the pumpkin patch going?” She gives my scruff a light scratch, and it feels likeheaven.
“Decent. Liam and I hired a crew to clear the land, and I’m having my contractor toss a chain-link fence around it. The vines are already spreading, and there’s hope for a decent crop come October. First year everything is free. One pumpkin per family. Soundfair?”
“Aww!” She wraps her arms around me and lays her head on my chest a moment. “You are a saint, Logan Oliver.” She pulls back, her eyes pinned to mine. “And an amazing father and uncle.” Her gaze dips to the ground a moment. “And a good friend.” She nods up at me as if she wanted me to really hear those words, to memorize them. “And even better family.” Her arms tighten around my waistagain.
And that’s what we are. Skyla and I arefamily.
There is no greaterbond.
My gut wrenches as if calling me out on thelie.
There might be one greater bond than that—I glance down at her wedding ring—and it just so happens that bond isn’t withme.
* * *
Summer comesto a close like the soft roll of a wave crashing the shore, nothing too dramatic. My birthday went off with a whisper with Gage and Skyla driving down to Pike’s Reef with me, surprising me with a cake. I didn’t want the big birthday bash I’ve traditionally had. For the first time in years, I wanted to be home that night, holding my baby girl tight in my arms. I already had the best gift life could giveme.
I’m still monitoring Casey. Things seem stable on that front, but it’s been weeks. How long can and will the government house throngs of alien beings who have made no secret of their powers? Are they satisfied with the nice round number we’ve fed them? What in the hell happens next? And then there’s Wesley. His Spectators have been slowly herded to Tenebrous just as Gage requested. But that hasn’t stopped the Barricade from sending out their mercenaries. It’s official now. There have been more UFO sightings, more paranormal activity logged in the past year than in the course of modern history. He’s amping up the big guns. I can feel it. Wes has sent in the clowns quite literally. The horror of these ghastly creatures has the entire world in an uproar. So much so that the longtime children’s birthday party staple has been banned in eleven states. But Wes is just getting started. I can feel it in my dead creaky bones. Whatever the hell he has planned next is going to be dramatic, jaw-dropping on a grand scale. Lives will be dismantled, the bounds of human sanity challenged. Something earth-shattering this way comes. I just wish I could put my finger on it. Soon. I predict soon we will know the answer tothis.
On an unassuming Saturday, I leave Whitehorse in the late afternoon for Dudley’s house. Skyla and Chloe are throwing Ezrina a baby shower and insist that people of all genders join in on the fun. Yes,Chloe. Skyla’s number two hasn’t left her side. She’s the obedient Golden Retriever Skyla never knew she wanted. Gage and I are still unified on the fact we don’t want her around. Nobody in their right mind should want Chloe Bishop in their presence. I jump into my truck, and just as I’m about to head west toward the Estates, I spot a familiar looking dude seated on the framing of what is turning out to be a barn of barbaricproportions.
“Shit.” I make a U-turn and speed into the lot across the street. That blond hair, those cut features, body that doesn’t quit. Yes, that handsome devil would be me—another version, suffice it tosay.
I park below the entry where he—I—sit and the truck gives a quick quiver as he lands feet first into the bed in theback.
“Whoa.” I hop out and glare up at this paradise-bound version of myself. “You dent the bed, you’ll have to pay forit.”
There I am, glaring right back at myself. “Get the hell in here.” He points hard to the tire well next to him, and I hop in, taking a seat across from him—me.
“Nothing like a mindfuck to get the weekend off to a greatstart.”
He winces. “I’d saylanguage, but you already know that.” He offers a peaceable smile, and I’m remotely amused that this version of myself is fighting hard to be nice to me of all people. “You didn’t take care of DominiqueWinters.”
My head jerks west in the direction of that twisted mansion the Winters live in. “Melody has been gone for over a month. I’ve checked with Barron, and he says they secured council. The U.S. Government versus the Winters. I don’t see myself as a part of theequation.”
“You should have,” he says without missing a beat. “Skyla and Gage”—he presses his palm into his eye and growls as if whatever came next pained him—“tell them both you love them. Your entire detail on this planet is to be an ever-present help in times of trouble. Do not run from it.” He leans in, determined. Those amber eyes light up like beacons. “Runtoit. Do you hear me? Youruninto the fire.” His eyes close briefly. “And spend some quality time with Gage. Talk to him.” He says that last part as if it were an afterthought. The fog fills in thick between us, and slowly his body wears thin until he’s altogether threadbare andgone.
“That’s it?” I shout up to the sky. “That was fuckinglousy.”
I jump back into the truck and take off for Dudley’s. All the way there I wonder what in the hell I was trying to tellmyself.
