“Can you please tell me what I did so we can move on?” April was a spitfire when hormonesweren’tinvolved, so his prodding was dangerous at best. Catastrophic at worst. Liam had faced less terrifying things in combat than April Averetts.
She returned around the side of the truck and unwrapped a taco. “You really don’t know?”
Liam scanned through his week’s memories, but everything was tied to someone needing something repaired either at the shop or the house. Add to that Tessa’s unexpected arrival, and there wasn’t room for much more. Had he skipped dinner at his parents’ house? Owen turned five in January, so he definitely hadn’t missed a birthday party.
April stopped mid-chew and demanded, “Thecrib,Liam.”
With the force of a tidal wave, guilt twisted in Liam’s chest as the slipup came crashing back into his mind.Crap. “I’m sorry, April. I completely forg—”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re always so busy lately.” She jabbed a finger at his chest. Though he towered over his older sister, April instilled fear in him with little effort. “I wish you and Dad would get over your little feud so you’d come around more. Owen misses his uncle.”
He’d promised to assemble the crib since her husband, Miles, was working on the oil fields in the North Slope for the next couple of weeks. The baby wasn’t due until after he came back, but that didn’t guarantee anything. “It has nothing to do with Dad. I’m sorry, Apr—”
“And these tacos arecold.”
“I’ll get the crib put together soon, I promise.”
“When?”
He wished he could say tomorrow, but time was against him this week. Too many commitments, a necessary trip to Anchorage, and Tessa’s inevitable departure if he didn’t figure out how to make time to convince her to stay. But his sister didn’t want excuses, not when it came to promises made. “Saturday morning?”
“Saturday?” Her scowl alone was a hazard to any nearby flammable object. Add in those fiery eyes, and spontaneous combustion was a high risk—to him included. “There’s no guarantee this baby is waiting eventhatlong.”
He revised his answer. “Tomorrow. I’ll come by tomorrow.” Liam didn’t have a clue how he would make that work, considering he was due to pick up an ATV at seven-thirty, fit in an oil change at nine, a couple more in the afternoon, and he still had to make a few calls to track down a radiator for Tessa’s rental. But he’d figure it out.
“I don’t care if there’s a cockroach infestation. You’re putting that crib togethertomorrow.” She jabbed Liam three times in a row with that pointy finger, and then a fourth to emphasize her seriousness.
Liam tried his best to keep a straight face. April sure was random during her pregnancy. He couldn’t resist a little jab, though. “We don’t have cockroaches in Alaska.”
“You’relucky.” She dropped the remainder of the cold taco in his aluminum trash can outside the south bay door, making Liam a little remorseful that he’d offered to share at all. He’d have eaten it cold even if it were three days old. Warren’s halibut tacos werethatgood.
“I’ll be there at eleven,” Liam said.
“Eleven?” April was about to launch into some additional argument, but before the first few words spewed, she took a deep breath. He imagined her counting backward from ten. She did that more frequently since Miles started working on the North Slope. He was gone two weeks at a time, and this time it’d been a month. “Fine.”
He thought luck might be on his side when April took a couple of steps toward her car. Sunset Ridge was a small town by most standards, and it didn’t take long for rumors to circulate. His sister seemed to have a direct line to the town’s gossip vein. But even April couldn’t possibly know that Tessa Whitmore was back.
“Whose car is that?”
“Does it matter?” He tried to sound indifferent. If April figured out Tessa was around, she’d tell Mom for sure. Mom had always been a little reserved when it came to their whirlwind romance.You’re both too strong-willed. Like adding gasoline to a forest fire. Those words, like his love for Tessa, had never left him.
“Snot. Be by at eleven, or I’m hunting you down.”
“Right.”
Before she left, April helped herself to another taco. This time, she didn’t seem at all bothered that it was cold. “Eleven, Liam. I don’t carewhathappens.”
Chapter Five
Tessa
Tessa riffled through the open suitcases on her bed, tearing through clothes and scattering them all over the black bear comforter. Giving her the bear-themed room had surely been a cruel joke. Shehatedbears.
But that wasn’t her biggest concern right now.
Her necklace wasmissing.
She dumped the contents of her overloaded purse. Makeup, hand lotion, a dead cell phone, and a half-eaten package of Red Vines fell out. She never boarded a plane without the tasty licorice. But no necklace.
