•••••
When the doorbell rang just after eleven, nobody immediately went to the door, because nobody had been expecting a package. Sloane was still on the couch, feeding Gatorade to her hangover, Darcy was eating peanut butter off a spoon in the pantry, and Teagan was blending canned tuna fish with frozen kale to make otter treats. Everyone was in their pajamas, except for the otters.
When nobody else volunteered to get the door, Teagan went to open it. He wasn’t sure who he’d expected to be there, but Rose Kelly was last on the potential list. Even though she was on his doorstep, she looked just as shocked to see him, or maybe it was thatteacher in the grocery storemoment of surprise, because Teagan was in plaid flannel and Rose wore floral joggers, a pink sweatshirt, and her curly hair up in a loose, messy bun. They stared off as each processed the other in a completely new context.
“Who is it?” Darcy called from the kitchen.
“Rose,” Teagan said.
“Tell her you quit!” Sloane called from the couch.
Teagan nodded. “I quit,” Teagan said, holding up his hands. “I’m not doing—whatever it is you want me to do.”
“I heard about that,” Rose said, almost as an aside. “And that’ll be a treat to handle on Monday. Nora’s been blowing up my phone all night.”
“Sorry,” Teagan said, even if he wasn’t quite. He successfully kept his mouth shut over any offers to further involve himself.
Rose shook her head as though to reorient herself. “It’ll be fine. Modeline was ready to take over two years ago. Congratulations on your retirement. No, I’m here for Adrian.”
Teagan blinked. He looked over his shoulder toward the hall. The man had briefly emerged to drink coffee and be awkward, and then he’d retreated to his room again.
“Uh. Pretty sure he quits too. And if you’re here to draghimback... Darcy will probably defend him.”
“That’s right,” Darcy said, emerging from the pantry with the sticky spoon still in her mouth. She crossed the room to wrap a protective arm around Teagan’s waist. “You ain’t taking no one out of this house alive, not on my watch, et cetera.” She smirked at Rose, as though hoping someone would try.
Teagan leaned over to kiss Darcy’s temple. God, he loved this woman.
Rose rolled her eyes with great drama.
“Adrian’s the one who called me. Something about your sister hunting him like a beast of the field?”
They all turned to look at Sloane, who pretended to be transfixed by the TV, where the beautiful people were now having a shopping montage against a background track of upbeat pop music. Her expression remained innocent, but she was blushing a little.
“Sloane, he just found out his fiancée was screwing around on himlast night.Leave him alone,” Darcy chided her.
“You’re not my mom,” Sloane muttered grumpily.
Adrian, who’d probably been waiting for his chance to make an exit, came out of the bedroom in Teagan’s castoffs, his tux folded over his arm. He and Rose exchanged long-suffering grimaces.
“I’ll take you back to my place,” Rose sighed. She castanother judgmental stare at Sloane. “Listen to this: we used to be roommates, and he made me clean out the garbage disposal every single time he clogged it. Didn’t want to risk his dainty artist hands. You really want a man like that?”
Teagan hadn’t even realized the two of them knew each other.
Adrian fled the Van Zijl house without a backward glance. Sloane pretended not to notice. Darcy stepped aside to let him go, then headed back to the kitchen and Teagan’s forgotten tuna smoothie.
Rose didn’t leave but hesitated in the doorway. She tapped her mouth with a finger.
“You know,” she said, “I’m not telling you what to do, but your sister has the right to join the board now that she’s over twenty-one. You two would probably have the votes to kick Nora off, if she did that. Not everyone approves of self-dealing.”
“Why would you tell me that?” Teagan demanded. “I thought you and Nora were friends.”
“What? No. We’re not friends,” Rose said fiercely.
“But she got you your job,” Teagan said.
Rose rolled her eyes again. “It’s called networking. Not all of us get to work at the entire foundation we inherited.Adriangot me the job—I’ve known him since college. He was the best man in my wedding.”
“Oh,” Teagan said, feeling ignorant. “I didn’t even know you were married.”
