Her brow lifted. “For what?”
“Dinner.”
“With?”
“You’ll see.”
He walked back toward the cottage before she could press further.
That grumpy, secretive, delectable man. She smiled to herself.
DALLAS, TEXAS
LETTY
Livvy opened the condo door before Banner reached to grab the knob. The two sisters fell into each other’s arms as each mumbled. “I’ve missed you.”
They broke apart. “You look happy,” Livvy said.
“You look… settled,” Letty replied.
That earned a faint flush from her older sister.
A small voice drifted from the living room. “Down, Momma.” Tessa appeared around the corner with the toddler balanced on her hip. The little girl’s soft brown curls bounced as she spotted Letty. “Auntie!”
Tessa, Letty’s youngest sister, let the child down.
Letty crouched without thinking, arms opening wide as the child barreled into her, warm and squirmy. Letty lifted her easily, inhaling the scent of shampoo and powdered sugar from whatever treat had just been consumed.
Something tugged deep in her chest, unexpected, yet sharp. She glanced at Wyatt.
He was watching her and not the toddler. He didn’t comment; he just reached out and steadied the toddler’s kicking foot with one large hand.
A deep voice drawled. “Stop kicking, Amélie.”
The little girl grinned as the man stepped further into the room holding the arm of their grandmother.
Letty rushed to her. “Mamère. I didn’t know you’d be here. You’re keeping secrets.”
“Bon. I came when I needed to. That is not secrecy. That is timing.”
Letty turned to Wyatt. “This is my grandmother, Mamère.”
Wyatt extended his hand before the older woman yanked him into a hug. “We hug.”
Tessa approached and took the next hug with Wyatt. “You’ll get used to us.”
An hour later, after happy tears and stories, Tessa kissed her sisters’ cheeks and nuzzled her daughter. “Dominion in an hour. I’m making gumbo for lunch.”
WYATT
The scent of spices tickled Wyatt’s nose. Dominion was nothing like the restaurants around the marsh. It was heat and Cajunspice coming from an open kitchen with controlled chaos and laughter.
Gavin stood just inside the door, sleeves rolled, confidence easy but real. “Tessa is so excited to have you here.”
“Letty’s been dying to visit.”
Gavin grinned. “That tracks.”
