“You need to tell Noah how you feel,” she states the minute we’re alone in the library, an imposing room right next to the parlor.
“How I feel about what?” I ask, guiding her upstairs.
She stays quiet while we’re on the staircase, her footsteps and breathing enough to convey she’s… annoyed? angry? upset? It’s hard to tell.
“How you feel about him,” she hisses, catching up with me as I swing bedroom doors open on our way to the end of the house.
I stop abruptly. “How Ifeelabout him?” I repeat.
She crosses her arms, legs slightly apart, and declares, “He needs to know you love him.”
Ab-so-lu-tely not. Why is she bringing this up? Is this to distract me from the reason we’re having this evening together? I frown at her. “What happened back there, between you and Noah?”
She shakes her head in weird little jerks. “Nothing. What are you talking about?”
“You’re not gonna tell me?”
“Nothing happened.”
I cross my arms. “I’ll ask him. You better spill. Now.”
Amusement twinkles in her eye. “Sure, ask him,” she answers with a shrug. “See what he says.”
Why is she so smug? I’m about to lash out at her, call her out for keeping something from me. But I know what she’ll say. That I’m the bigger liar.
“I’m getting hungry,” I say, trying to hide my frustration. Damn right I’ll ask Noah. This isn’t the end of it.
I pivot to take us back downstairs, then stop abruptly and take her in a hug, emotion overtaking me. “I can’t be in a fight with you.”
“We’re not in a fight,” she answers.
“Okay-good,” I say, exhaling. “I—I need my friend back.”
“Been right here all the time, believe me.” There’s that smugness again, but I’m not pushing my luck and asking her whatthat’sabout.
“Okay-good.”
She pushes me away, a big smile on her face. “Okay.” She nods. “Good.”
As we go down the stairs, the front door opens. “Anybody home?”
“Puppies!” Skye yells as she rushes down the hallway.
Chris drops a small pink bag, and we don’t need to see his face to know that the baby is coming. “Gotta go, Grace and Ethan are out, and Alex is—”
“Ohmygod yes! Go-go-go.” Kiara and I push him out, tell him to drive slow but make it fast, to call, to tell Alex we love her, to—
“The car just left,” Skye says, giggling over us. She’s holding a puppy—from the white spot on the front paw, I know it’s the shy one. “He’s so sweet,” she says, petting the dog who’s licking her face.
“I think she’s a girl,” I offer.
“Awww.”
We’ve barely sat down on the patio to eat when Moose jumps over the fence, and he and mamma dog greet each other. She lets him sniff the puppies, and before long he starts playing with them, letting them crawl all over him.
“Ribs are delish,” I tell Beck, and a chorus of thank yous echo my words. Between the baby coming tonight and the dogs, our attention’s been everywhere except on the food.
Then Noah’s phone rings, and he confirms Moose is here, so within minutes Justin and Chloe join us.
