“I’m ready.” Sally appears at my side.
“You’re such a little phantom.” I ruffle her hair, and my chest pangs at the thought of the house emptying out again so fast.
“It’s a talent.” Lanie grimaces.
I laugh, shoving away the emotions that don’t belong to this moment, and hoist the bags Sally has brought out with her, following her down the hallway. She leads the way to Lanie’s car, climbing into the back seat and grabbing a multicolored crocheted blanket to snuggle into while I stow her things in the back.
“Thanks for looking after her.” Lanie stands beside the car, fidgeting with a single key I know is my sister’s spare on a keyring that has nothing else on it, the distance not enough to wane the heat that builds between us.This is not a one-way street.Who the hell are you, Lanie Parker?
“My pleasure. She’s here most weekends.”
“I know. You take the place of the father who abandoned her,” Lanie says, her gaze direct. A muscle works in my jaw. Her eyes flare wide, and she covers her mouth with her hand. Tiny scars decorate the backs of her knuckles.
I wince and pray Sally can’t hear our conversation. “That asshole doesn’t deserve much of a mention here.” Turning my back to the car, I lean on the door, folding my arms across my chest, watching her carefully.
“Sorry.” Lanie glances into the car, biting her lip. “Did she hear?—”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so. You’re living with them, then?” Winnie hasn’t mentioned a roommate. Not that her life choices have anything to do with me. Until right now.
The flush in Lanie’s cheeks returns. “Just for a bit. It’s new. I’m a temporary fixture between research trips. I’m putting together all the data I got from my last trip to Alaska. I use a research outpost the university funds on occasion. Sometimes it’s manned, often not. I get a lot done.”
“I’d love to hear more about it.” I straighten as the words slip out.
I never socialize, except once a year at the upcoming ValiantPeak Invitational. The annual event is sufficient to fulfill my needs. But Lanie unearths a curiosity in me I thought so long buried it’d never see another sunrise.
Lanie smooths the front of her shirt, flicking my sister’s spare key between her fingers. Her eyes dart side to side, following the glinting motion. Is she avoiding my gaze? “I should go, get Sally back in time for dinner.”
The dinner my niece was supposed to share with me. We both know they won’t get back before dark, not even if she leaves right now.Stay.I open my mouth to offer a meal, my home, but then close it again. If she wants to stay, she’ll say so. I swallow hard. “Of course.”
Lanie gets into her car, closing the door with a gentle click.
I lean down to find Sally through the rear window. “Bye, chicken. Tell your mom not to work too hard.”
“She’ll never give up her job, Cord.” Sally peers out at me, the epitome of Winnie’s sass and stubbornness in a blink. My heart squeezes at the family resemblance.
I laugh. “Yeah, I know. But I’ll keep trying.” I tap the door with my knuckles. I love my sister for wanting to serve, but at the same time it kills me that she insists on driving herself into the ground when I could give her a life with her daughter.
Lanie rolls down her window and gives a little wave.
I wave back. “Nice to meet you, Lanie.”
“You too, Cord.” Her voice fades under the tinny rumble of the engine, but her eyes say everything when her brilliant opaline gaze lances straight through me. I back away as her car trundles along the drive, my mind whirling with ways to get her back to Coyote Falls before she’s left the property.
This won’t be her last trip here if I have anything to do with it.
Heavy footfalls approach, the sort intended to be heard, while I’m still standing in the driveway like a fool.
“You good, man?” West says, coming to stand beside me.
“Fine.”
“You know Winnie’s gonna try to set you two up.”
Dust begin to settle on the driveway. “Yeah.”
“You gonna let her?”
The smart answer is no. I built Coyote Falls to keep the world out. To hide from crowds and cameras and people who begged for pieces of me I didn’t have left to give. But Lanie Parker looks at me like I’m whole.
