Nearly two weeks is quite another…
Finally, Nix nods at Beatrice, then me, and takes a deep breath. “We’ll just hunker down and hang in there, then, I guess. We should wait until dark to head back to my place, though, I don’t want to?—”
“Nonsense,” I say, shaking my head. “You’re staying here. There’s more room, more privacy, and plenty of outdoor space for when we need to touch grass.”
“You’re sure?” Nix holds my gaze across the counter, an unspoken question in his eyes.
Am I sure that I want this burden? That I still wanthimafter all this?
“I’m positive,” I insist, my voice rougher than it was before. “No doubt in my mind.”
“I love you, Charlotte,” Bea says, breaking the tension and making me laugh.
“Thanks, I love you, too,” I say, the certainty that it’s past time to tell her brother the way I feel abouthimswelling in my chest. But not now. Not yet. Not until there’s nothing ugly hanging over our heads to taint the moment. “And heck, it might even be fun to have some lazy time indoors. I’ll work from home in the mornings, and the rest of the day, we can watch movies, relax, and make elaborate meals.”
“I’ll plan the menu and order the groceries for delivery,” Nix says.
“And I can plan activities, I guess?” Bea glances between us. “Like trivia maybe? Or one of those crime-solving kits?”
“Speaking of crime solving,” Nix says, “Blue is on the case, too. He’s looking for something we can use to discredit Kai aside from the juvenile record. We’re not alone. There are plenty of people out there rooting for us.”
Bea pulls in a breath, letting it out slowly as she nods. “Yeah. There are. We’ll figure this out. Together.”
“Together,” we agree.
“And Makena and Elly will be here tonight,” I tell Nix. “They’re bringing dinner and games to boost morale.”
And boost it they do, in ways none of us expected…
It’s just after six when an air-horn blast rattles the entire house, sending us leaping from our spots on the couch and dashing to the dining room window.
As I pull back the curtain, my jaw drops and Nix instantly begins to laugh.
“Holy hell, she’s going to wreck your grass.” He laughs harder as Mack’s bigger, even food-babe-bossier new truck—the one she got to expand her business while the old one is being deep-cleaned—hops the curb and charges into the middle of my lawn.
With a hiss of air brakes, she parks the massive vehicle parallel to the house, creating a twenty-foot-long, ten-foot-high wall of steel between my living room windows and the street.
I can’t see them, but I can hear the reporters putting up a fuss as Makena hops out of the driver’s seat and circles around the front. She’s wearing bright yellow overalls and combat boots and flips the reporters the double bird with a smile that banishes all concerns about my stupid grass.
New sod will cost a couple hundred bucks.
But a friend like this? Priceless.
Mack opens the passenger’s side door and Elly climbs out, handing her two big grocery bags before taking Mimi’s hand. For her part, seven-year-old Mimi looks every bit as thrilled as her auntie Makena to be creating chaos. Her eyes shine and her dark curls bounce with extra sass as she leads the march up the porch steps.
I open the front door before she can knock, beaming down at her. “Welcome, guys! I see you brought the party.”
“And games!” Mimi says, holding up her tote bag. “And coloring, too. We’re going to have so much fun!”
“And so much food,” Makena adds, breezing inside behind Mimi with her giant bags, trailing a truly mouth-watering scent behind her. “I made ten of everything.”
“And I brought dessert,” Elly adds, lifting her foil-covered cake pan. “It’s just sheet cake, but my buttercream icing is nearly as good as Mack’s.”
“Only because I gave you my recipe,” Makena calls from the kitchen before adding to Beatrice, “Come on, Bea. Pop that wine, girl. It’s definitely wine o’clock right here in the Big Easy.”
“We should play Rabbids, Nix,” Mimi says from the living room, where Elly is helping her plug in a battered-looking gaming system. “It’s the funniest game ever. It’s impossible to be sad when you’re playing Rabbids. And you can be the one who screams!”
Nix nods warmly before announcing, “The one who screams is my favorite.”
