My sister froze in her tracks. Her back stiffened, then she all but ran past them as she called out that she had to go. Trevor turned and watched her leave. It was obvious something was going on—or had gone on—between them. First, no one aside from my mother was allowed to call her Rosalie. Second, I knew she had met Trevor, but the look he gave her was more than friendly. It was stricken and hopeful. It appeared that I had another mystery to solve.
My dad, oblivious to the mini-drama that had just unfolded, announced, “I’m on my way to the station. I forgot my keys.” Then he crossed the room and entered the kitchen.
Trevor looked at me and said, “Before you ask me what Iknow you’re about to ask—I don’t want to talk about it.” He followed my dad into the kitchen.
“Well. That was rude,” I said, and Luke chuckled.
“Let’s worry about that another time,” he whispered in my ear, then kissed me again. I melted back into his arms so we could continue our make-out session.
The rest of the day passed without any news from my father regarding the flash drive or Hawaiian-shirted Derrick and the other bad guy. I couldn’t understand why this was happening now, more than a year after Will’s death.
It proved that whenever I got a little bit of happy something had to come along and threaten it.
Chapter 28
Lily
Irolled over and stared at the clock on my mom’s guest bedroom nightstand. For once, the blaring, beeping, annoying alarm on my cell hadn’t woken me up. I stretched and sighed. There was no crying baby, no Dylan standing at my bedside staring at me, nothing in this room but me and the sunshine streaming through the window.
I smiled to myself. Soon the ring would be back on my finger to stay, and I couldn’t freaking wait. Luke and I had planned to take the kids to his place and tell Dylan we were engaged, but with my stalker still stalking about and one, maybe two more potential bad guys sniffing around, we’d decided I would just stay here and he would stop by with sprinkle donuts for breakfast, and we’d break the news first thing.
After breakfast, I was going to work at Violet’s for the last time and Luke would pick Liam up from the hospital and help him get settled. Violet would make a big deal out of my last day, I just knew it. I didn’t really like parties or being the center of attention, but I was hoping for cake. And maybe some good punch. If I got lucky, maybe even a few presents. I kicked off the quilt and got up to stick myhead into the hallway to see what was going on in the house. I heard my mother cooing to Calla and Dylan talking to Asher and his kids, so I headed into the bathroom to shower and change. I knew this wouldn’t last, and I felt a little bit spoiled as I stepped under the spray of the shower. I decided to think of this stay at my parents’ house as a mini vacation. When all this craziness was over and I was back into my own place, then I could have my frantic, crazy, rushing-all-around mornings back. Until then, I would enjoy the help. And right now, I was about to take the longest, hottest shower of my life. I would blow-dry my hair, do up my makeup, and dress in something pretty. No mom-bun, half-assed mascara and lip balm today. I turned on the tap and stepped under the hot spray.
The bathroom door opened, and I jumped in surprise.
“Baby, it’s just me. Don’t slip and fall.” Luke laughed as he rolled the shower door open and grabbed my waist to steady me.
“Be careful. I’m all wet.” I gasped as his big, warm hands slid up my waist and around my back. He gripped my hair and gave me a quick kiss.
“I can feel that. I’m going to love waking up to this every day.” He grinned at me, then released me. “I’ll go find Dylan, but first...” He reached into his pocket, took my hand, and slipped his mother’s ring on my finger. Before he left, he kissed the back of my hand and winked at me. My knees went weak. Luke winking at me was definitely my weakness. Well, one of them anyway. When it came to Luke, I had a lot.
I felt a chill, even though I was in a hot shower, when I realized that this would be my life. Luke and me, Dylan, and Calla—every day. It was happening already. Everything I’d ever wanted was within my reach. But no matter how hard I kept trying, I couldn’t erase the fear that something would ruin it all.
Chapter 29
Luke
Icouldn’t wait to put the ring back on Lily’s finger where it belonged. I had rushed straight upstairs to do that, leaving donuts in my truck to bring in after I saw her. As I walked back through the house, I passed Dahlia feeding Calla in the kitchen and Asher sipping coffee at the counter. I spied Jude and Levi through the kitchen windows sitting on the patio that surrounded the pool, also drinking coffee. But no Dylan yet. I crossed through the kitchen into the living room and saw Rose with a weird look on her face eating a donut.
“You left donuts in your truck,” she said. “So many donuts.”
“Yeah, I got enough for everybody. Is something wrong?” I prompted.
“The kids found them. I guess they saw you drive up through the window, and I’m assuming you rushed off to see Lily. Is she in the shower, Luke?” She smirked and looked down at my shirt. It was a little damp in front.
I pulled it off. It was a plaid button-up. I had a T-shirt on underneath. “Yeah, I saw Lily. We’re going to have news later. Stick around, okay?”
“Good news, I hope? I almost feel bad about what you’reabout to find in your truck.” She laughed and darted past me to the kitchen. “I need coffee. You’re gonna need it too.”
I rushed outside to my truck. I heard giggling and saw tiny people sitting in the bed of the truck. Dylan sat in the back seat, passing donuts through the rear slide window to the kids in the truck bed. They were covered in chocolate and whatever the white kind of icing is. Oh damn, the sprinkles were everywhere. I had bought five boxes of donuts, a dozen in each. Icing smeared my seats, the steering wheel, the windows—it was everywhere.
“Donuts good?” I asked.
Maddie whirled with big eyes and Dylan turned from his knees to stare at me. The rest of them froze, all except for Mikey, the only one brave enough to answer.
“They’re good. But you forgot the kind with the cream inside,” he said.
I was thankful for small mercies by that point. What kind of mess would they have made with cream-filled donuts? We all looked up as Rose walked up to the truck armed with a package of baby wipes and a roll of paper towels with a bottle of cleaner hooked on the waistband of her jeans.
