I frown at him, caught off guard. “What the hell do you mean? How are you involved?”
“I’m the idiot who introduced Kiki to that son of a bitch.”
Shit. I didn’t know that.
He pauses on the path back, turning to face me. “Drake had everybody fooled, man. We all thought he was this respectable, classy guy. He was the fucking chief of police. That had to count for something, right? So, when he asked if I knew anyone, I set him up with Kiki. Worst decision of my damn life. I just wish you could’ve known Kiki before all this shit went down.”
I shrug, shoving my hands in my pockets. “Kiki is amazing.”
“She is. The most loving woman in the fucking world. She used to volunteer all over town, at animal shelters, nursing homes, you name it. If someone needed help, Kiki showed up. Now half this damn town acts like tormenting her is a community service project.”
Maybe I don’t know the version of Kiki before Drake, but I know enough. How she lights up around Theo and Gus. Theway she goes out of her way to make everyone around her comfortable, even when she’s falling apart inside. The way she notices and remembers all the little things.
That’s the woman I love.
The woman Deirdre wants me to forget, and I can’t do that.
“I do my best to protect her, because she doesn’t deserve any of this.” My words are bitter and cold, much like the wind whipping around us.
Ash claps a hand on my shoulder as we walk into the carriage house. “I appreciate that. I do what I can, but a few assholes still slip through now and then. Just know Kiki is one of the good ones.”
“Trust me,” Ori calls from her perch by the stove, “Eddie knows. He’s in love with her.”
Well, fuck.
Can we not have this discussion in front of Theo?
To be fair, my kid, currently covered in chocolate, seems way more interested in playing with Merlin than anything us old folks have to say.
Ori tilts her head, a knowing smile spreading across her face. “Look at you. You’re not even denying it.”
Heat crawls up the back of my neck, probably lighting my ears up like a pair of brake lights. Hell, at this point, I already blurted it out to my ex-wife. Might as well let the rest of the damn world know before Kiki does.
“Yeah, well,” I mutter, dragging a hand over my face, “she doesn’t know yet, so maybe keep it down, all right?”
Ori claps in delight. “I love that so much. I love love.”
Ash laughs, scratching at his beard. “My woman thinks everything in life is a romance novel.”
Ori lifts her chin defiantly as Ash steals a kiss. “Everythingshouldbe a romance novel.”
God help me, I want to believe she’s right.
I’ve always tried to be that guy—the one who looks for the silver lining, who believes things work out the way they’re supposed to in the end. And usually, they do. No matter how ugly life gets, I believe good people eventually catch a break.
I hope that’s true here.
Because I can’t imagine my life without Kiki in it.
Chapter 13
Quid Pro Quo
Kiki
This was a mistake.
If I didn’t need the money so badly, I would have turned the car around the second I saw the sign for the broker’s open and gone straight back up the mountain. Instead, I’m here, tucked into the corner of a perfectly staged living room, pretending to study trim work and paint colors while a handful of local agents mill around with drinks in their hands and judgment in their eyes.
