I take a chance and interrupt him. “Yes, he is.” I arch my eyebrow at him with a silent message.Unless you’re busy?
He smiles and nods. “Sure, I can come.”
“Yay!” Mira throws her hands in the air. “I’ll get a pretty dress, yeah?”
“We’re going to see a lawyer,” I say. “You don’t need to?—”
I stop myself when I realize what I’m doing: thoroughly raining on her parade.
“Sure, put on your prettiest.”
She runs into the house. I watch her go with a lump in my throat.
“She seems like a good kid,” Rhett says quietly.
“She is,” I tell him. “She’s the best sister I ever could’ve asked for.”
He swallows, scratches his beard. “So, uh, where are you folks?”
“Why does that matter?” I hiss. “We’re here, and we’re starting a new, and that’s all there is to it. So don’t worry about my folks or anything else.”
I grip the porch so hard my fingernails bend, my breath coming hard and fast. That was too much, too honest.
“Rhett, I’m sor?—”
“You don’t need to apologize,” he says, and I feel his eyes burning into me.
“I do. That was rude.”
“I can take rude, Elle. Don’t worry about it.”
I turn to him and offer a small smile. “Thanks… for the raccoon. And for being rude proof.”
He smirks. “It’d take more than a little sass to upset a big, strong… not to mention handsome man like me.”
The laughter takes me by surprise. I smile, really smile, and my cheeks heat as if there were little fires inside me.
“I should get changed,” I murmur. “Are you sure you want to come? You don’t have to. It’s just finalizing some stuff for this place.”
“When your sister smiles, Elle, you light up. It’s like you’ve been waiting for it. It’s like the best gift you could receive.”
“Well… yeah.” Tingles shimmer up my spine, and my heart does a funny flip. “You’re not wrong.”
“But you are,” he says. “I have to. For that reason.”
I roll my eyes, trying to play it cool. “Okay, Romeo.”
He chuckles warmly. “Romeo with a dead raccoon. How romantic.”
I laugh and then run inside before I get carried away.
CHAPTER 5
RHETT
“Road trip!” Mira sings from the back seat, leaping up and down.
I glance at Elle. At the flush in her cheeks and the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, she keeps trying to tame it. Like she thinks she doesn’t deserve it.
