Once we finish the truly delicious spaghetti with homemade rosemary turkey balls, I help her clean up. "I didn't expect you to be so handy in the kitchen," she says, as I easily stash the colander away on the top shelf.
"I'm handy for all kinds of things." Sitting down on the kitchen chair, I pull her onto my lap. "I'm going to scoop you up in a minute to take it to the couch for a very serious make outsession, but I can't wait that long. I need a sneak preview right now."
Just as our mouths begin to mold together, her hands circling my shoulders, there's a knock at the door. Lynn stiffens in my arms. "What's wrong?" I whisper. "Do you want me to get it?"
"No. It'll be my sister." Lynn stands up, shaking out her shoulders, then goes to unlock and open the door.
A blonde girl marches in carrying a laptop, dropping it with a clunk on the kitchen table. "Here, you're good with computers, you figure it out," she says to Lynn. Then her eyes lock on mine. Her head tilts to the side for a second as she blinks in astonishment.
I'm not surprised that she recognizes me. Everyone in Oakton knows me and my family. If they've lived here for any amount of time, they probably even know which brother is which.
Dash is thecute and boyishone. Braden is thehandsome and charmingone. Corbin is thequiet giant. And I'm…
"You're that rich tech genius! "
Lynn glances at me and mouths, "I'm so sorry." She turns to her sister. "Kayla, this is Ansel. We're in the middle of dinner, if you don't mind."
Her voice is much softer. Is she afraid of her sister? My poor sweet baby looks so uncomfortable that it breaks my heart.
Kayla looks at Lynn and laughs in her face. "Like on a date? Sure. Whatever."
I've never once thought of harming a woman, but the way she treats Lynn as if she has no feelings at all makes me want to hurl Kayla headfirst out the front window.
She turns the laptop to me. "It's been crashing for half an hour, and says it wants to update something, but it won't update all the way or whatever. Can you fix it? I like clothes shoppingonline before bed, but the pictures are always too small on my phone. Thanks."
She flounces out, as I turn to Lynn, blinking in surprise.
"Yeah. Anyhow. So that's my sister."
I've practiced keeping anger out of my eyes in business meetings, thank goodness. "Well, I certainly know who inherited the looks, charm, and grace in your family," I say with a grin. "Spoiler alert, it's you. Seriously, I do know what the problem probably is with her laptop."
With just a few minutes of what we in technical circles call "dorking around", I get it to update and restart properly. All the while, Lynn sits close, observing. I smile when I see her writing. "You're taking notes so that if this happens to you, you know how to fix it, aren't you?"
"You know it."
I lean in to kiss her temple. "You're very smart. One of the many things I like about you."
The screen brightens as the laptop comes back online, and Kayla's browser restores all of her open tabs. Dozens of them. We both stare in disbelief. "It's a wonder this thing runs at all," I say.
As tab after tab pops open in front of us, something catches my eye. When everything stops, I turn to Lynn. "Did you see what I saw?"
"Yes." She reaches over to click on a tab headed "New Oak Road, Oakley Lands."
My jaw drops as I read as fast as I can. A group of "concerned citizens" are demanding that a subdivision is built. From the last names, I recognize at least a third of them as friends of Uncle Lloyd's.
A second tab next to it explains how certain local property guidelines are being changed, and a third discusses how some town property divisions are being resurveyed and reallocated.
Specifically, ours.
I begin scrolling, but Lynn stops my hand. She's right. It's confidential town business on her sister's laptop. We shouldn't be spying.
Yet she's still reading. "Go back." She points to some dates. "Look. The past three years they've done this on the same date. This year they're bumping it up several months. Why do you think that is?"
Of course my brilliant sweetheart picks up on the patterns.
"Because Lloyd is trying to push it through before his four nephews find out. In a town this small, people talk."
Lynn sighs heavily. "Especially people like Kayla, who shoot their mouths off about their work all the time."
