She rolled her eyes and scoffed like he was the funniest thing in the world. “Can’t,” she sassed. “There are rules.” Then she walked away.
Rowan shook his head. “That’s your daughter,” he said, looking at Braxton. “Who taught her to be such a sassy pants?”
Braxton gave a proud smile at the mention of his daughter and then he rolled his eyes just as his daughter had. “That would probably be my sister.”
I definitely could see that. Alley was a force for sure and while all the ladies were sassy, she was queen bee when it came to that trait.
Another proud smile washed over one of the guys’ faces, but this time it was Landon. Another second chance romance that had worked out. He and Alley were as much in love now as they were back when they were younger.
“That’s my girl,” he said.
Lance, the newcomer rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. “She’s good for you. Keeps you on your toes and keeps you sharp for your job.”
All of a sudden an answer from Teal came from across the yard. “He’s myeverything.”
The ladies swooned and Kace beamed a bright smile at his wife.
“Boy are you whipped,” I joked.
He turned to me, brow raised. “And you’re not?”
I looked over at Lake who was back to laughing and talking with the ladies. Then I turned back to the group.
“That’s what I thought,” Kace said.
Damned if he wasn’t right.
The conversation steered to some stuff coming up forNo Surrenderthat they may need my help with. We also talked about our frustrations on not finding anything on the man who’d been in Lake’s house and how there had been no more contact. Then it steered to my childhood home. They’d wanted to know what I was going to do with it. Would I rent it out again? Sell it? Move back in?
I couldn’t answer that quite yet.
But since I hadn’t rented it out recently, I’d been looking through some of my old things, along with both my father’s and mother’s stuff too.
Slowly I was letting the memories in instead of letting them die along with the father I adored and the mother I wished I’d had more time with.
The party went on. We ate, drank, played games, and laughed a hell of a lot. Every kid was having a blast as usual, Stormi included. She had grown leaps and bounds since the first day I met her during the Fourth of July get-together. It was amazing to see her thrive and be okay with who she was. If she struggled with her asthma she wasn’t ashamed and the other kids wererockstars, changing things up to slow their activities down if she needed it.
My gaze drifted from the kids to Lake. I hadn’t gotten to spend as much time with her as I would like and we didn’t carry on like a couple in front of everyone, something I wanted to change badly. Stolen kisses, touches, and sweet words were what we’d had so far but I wanted more.
It was as if the universe heard me and granted me exactly what I wanted because just as the thoughts of wanting more with Lake crossed my mind, Stormi barreled toward me flapping her arms wildly.
“Guess what, guess what?” she yelled.
I played along, guessing outrageous things, making her giggle.
“No, silly. A bunch of the girls are having a sleepover at Gemma’s house and I’m invited.” Her excitement was infectious.
“That sounds pretty awesome. I bet you guys have a lot of fun.”
She started to nod her head vigorously but then sombered quickly. Glancing at her mom and then back to me, her face full of worry. “Will you protect my mom?”
Stormi still didn’t have details of someone breaking into her home or the calls that Lake had received, but she knew when we’d stayed at the condos and with all the cameras up at her place that safety measures had been put into play for a reason.
“Of course I will, Muffin.”
She giggled, which was my intent when the new nickname had sprung from my lips. Stormi had been so curious why I called Lake Cupcake and thought it was cute, so it seemed fitting she had her own.
“Why did you call me that?” she asked.
