“Oh, Greece is magical,” Rose said. “I should tell Luke we should add on a week in Greece after Italy.”
My fingers itched to look up flights to Greece on my phone. Was it too soon to plan a trip for all of us? Bear caught my eye, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. Westin deserved the world. While I couldn’t take away her suffering, I could give her this.
“I hope you’ll be comfortable in the guesthouse,” Mom said. “You can make whatever changes you want. I read omegas need to nest to feel comfortable in a new place.”
Westin’s cheeks heated as she shifted in her seat.
“Mom,” I said, my tone filled with warning.
“What?” she responded, looking over at me. “Is that not correct?”
“No, it is,” Westin said, cutting me off. “That’s really kind of you. If the guesthouse is anything like this home, I know it will be perfect.”
Mom beamed, leaning forward to take Westin’s hand. “I wasn’t able to have more children after Rose, but I always dreamed of having another daughter.”
“Mom,” I said, louder this time. She was coming on way too strong. Westin was hesitant enough to refer to us as a pack, and I didn’t want to scare her away.
“You’ll get used to our crazy family,” Rose said with a grin. “Luke didn’t know what to do with himself for the first six months I brought him around.”
“I don’t understand you both. We’re a perfectly normal family,” Mom said with a huff.
A door slammed on the other side of the house, and my dad’s voice rang out. “Anne, when does Henry arrive?”
“He’s already here,” my mom shouted back, rolling her eyes.
My dad popped into the living room wearing a gray jumpsuit over his clothes. “My, my, what a packed room.”
I got off the couch to give my dad a hug and then introduced him to everyone.
“Westin, you’re even more beautiful than Henry described,” Dad said.
I ran my hand over my face as Westin tried to hold in her laughter. “Thank you,” she choked out.
Mom got up from her seat and clapped her hands. “Alright, time for lunch. We have pasta and salad, and if you don’t like that, I can make something else.”
“It sounds amazing,” Westin said.
I snagged her arm as we headed into the dining room. “Just so you know, my description skills are fine. I told them you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, so I don’t know what they’re going on about.”
Westin just laughed and tugged me into the dining room.
66
WESTIN
The shadows grew long as I stood outside the guesthouse, watching the guys unload the trailer. It was perfect. It was tucked away in the back garden, and could be reached by a stone path from the main house. Large trees framed the front porch and revealed a gorgeous cottage-style home. I’d been expecting something small, but there were four bedrooms, a spacious living room and kitchen, and skylights in every room that made everything bright and airy. Anne told us to make ourselves at home, but I felt anxious about messing things up.
The wind caught my hair, and I ran my fingers through it. Anne had made several comments about how beautiful and unique my hair was, and even offered to take me out for a spa day in the future. Being around Anne made me realize how much I missed my mom and Cat, who both had my silver hair. Every time Anne smiled at me or touched my arm, longing welled up within my chest. My throat tightened just thinking about it, and I took a deep breath, working hard to stuff all my feelings deep down in the tiny metal box. I was anxious enough already abouttomorrow’s doctor’s appointment and I was not prepared to unearth old grief.
My phone vibrated and I pulled it out of my pocket. My fingers clenched around it when I saw it was my uncles texting meagain. They kept calling, leaving long, concerned voicemails about my safety and sending texts echoing the same sentiment. I’d told them to stop contacting me, but they kept going. Their messages didn’t even make sense. I assumed they would harass me about paying rent and utilities, but instead, I was getting over-the-top concerned messages about my well-being. I turned it off and slipped it into my back pocket.
A growl from Liam startled me out of my thoughts. “I’ve got this,” he said, shoving Gray aside as they pulled boxes from the trailer.
Gray shoulder-checked Liam, grabbing back the large box. I ran my hand across my face. I’d been so lost in my thoughts I didn’t know what had happened between them.
Bear walked past me, a suitcase in each hand. “Come inside, baby.”
“What’s going on with them?” I asked.
