I barely got that out before the door opened and we bothlooked that way, me with my heart shooting straight up in my throat and lodgingthere because I thought it would be Snapper.
But it was Tack’s head that was through the door.
“All good here?”he asked.
“Yes,” I answered quickly and firmly before High could sayanything.
Tack looked from metoHigh to meand back to High.
“Tyra and Lanie are here and they’re notfeelin’wine, they’refeelin’ cosmos.Joke and Carissa didn’tget the shit for that, or any tequila, and Hop doesn’t drink the kind of beerthey got so I’mdoin’ a run.You two want anything?”
Tyra, Hop, and Lanie were there too.
And Tack was doing a liquor run.
“Whatkindabeer did Joke get?”High asked before I could process the idea that apparently, Chaos was throwingme a spontaneous housewarming party.
“Fat Tire,” Tack answered.
“Coors,” High grunted.
“Right,” Tack said then looked at me.“Rosie?”
“I, uh…”
“Memory serves, you’re a Corona Light girl,” Tack noted.
His memory served correctly.
But a profound hugeness started weighing on me that heremembered at all.
“That or Blue Moon,” I whispered.
“Get both,” he muttered.“Later.”
With that his head disappeared.
I stared at the pretty French doors that led to the prettymini-den in a pretty house where I was now living that was currently filledwith a lot of really good people.
“Rosalie.”
I did not look at High.
I turned until I was looking in the kitchen window.
Carissa was there, at the sink, with Tyra.
They were both laughing at something.
Beyond them, Joker had his head back, taking a pull from hisbeer while Hop was throwing Travis in the air with Mom standing, looking on,clearly giggling up at a giggling Travis.
Millie moved through the space, opening a bag of chips, butstopped when she was met by Lanie, who had another child attached to her hip,and Millie did this so she could tickle and smile into the face of the baby onLanie’s hip.
“Honey,” High murmured.
Slowly, I lookedtoHigh.
“Did you know my dad?”I asked.
