She climbed out. “Um, who’s that?”
Becket smiled at the animal he held. “This is Bella.”
Bella? Was that name really fitting? “Is she a—”
“Chinese Crested,” Sky said affectionately, rubbing the dog’s head. “We adopted her.”
Her cousin had adopted a dog. Interesting.
She smiled as she locked her car and walked up to the door. “So, Becket’s a dog dad now?”
“It’s a long story,” Sky laughed. “But yes. He loves her as much as he loves me.”
“Most of the time,” Becket muttered.
He opened the door, and the second Bonnie stepped inside the house, her breath caught and she felt like she was thrown back in time.
Everything looked the same. The gray couch with the pink throw cushions. The wooden coffee table with the crack from when Becket had pushed Jesse and he fell onto the thing, when he was twelve. Even the old family photo of everyone together still hung on the wall.
And suddenly, she realized exactly why she’d avoided this for so long. Because the last time she’d stepped foot inside this house had been for her parents’ wake.
She swallowed hard, trying to blink back the tears.
Becket’s hand on her arm made her jump.
“Hey.” His gaze was gentle as he looked at her. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She blinked madly. She was not going to cry. “I just…it’s been a while.”
He nodded, the usual humor in his eyes absent. “Come on. Let’s get out there. I think we’re the last to arrive.”
Sky offered an empathetic smile before they stepped out the back. And yep, they were the last ones. The entire family was scattered around the backyard. Some waved. Some smiled. But itwas Pam who stopped what she was doing by a table and crossed over to them.
Emotion welled in Bonnie’s chest for the second time.
Becket squeezed her arm before taking Sky’s hand and heading toward the closest group.
“Oh, Bonnie.” Pam pulled her into the biggest, warmest hug she’d felt in a long time. “You’ve been so deeply missed, my darling.”
Bonnie wrapped her arms around her aunt. Even her smell was familiar, thrusting her right back to her childhood. She dug her head into her aunt’s shoulder, and neither of them moved for long seconds.
When they finally separated, a tear must have fallen, because Pam wiped it away with her thumb. “You realize now that you’re home, you’re not allowed to leave again, right? None of us will allow it.”
“You’re not angry at me for leaving?” Not just for leaving. For everything that had come before that. For going out the night her parents had died. For being the reason they’d been on the road.
Pam slipped a piece of hair behind her ear. “Honey, there is enough anger in this world without me adding to it. I’m just glad you’re back.”
She’d been so worried for so long about returning to her family. Worried about the anger and resentment they’d hold toward her. Her aunt was the last family member she’d still avoided seeing since coming home. And knowing that there was nothing but love from the woman felt like a gray cloud finally lifting. One that had sat over her head for thirteen years.
“Thank you.”
Pam’s lips stretched into a smile. “Come on. You’ve got a lot to catch me up on.”
Over the next hour, Bonnie laughed and smiled so much that her cheeks hurt. There was always a drink in her hand, andeveryone made her feel like she’d never left. Like she’d missed nothing and was still a part of the fold.
After she went back into the house to use the bathroom, she was just passing the library when she stopped. The door was ajar, and the voices hushed, but she could still make out the words.
“I’m just worried about her.”
