Niyah was silent for a moment, but the screen showed the call was still clocking seconds, so Nico waited.
“I’m happy for you,” she finally said.
“Thanks.” He took the opening to change the subject. “How’s it goin’ in California? You ready to come back yet?”
“Nope.” Her tone relaxed somewhat. “I heard y’all had snow.”
“Ice,” he corrected. “Very little.”
With any luck, they wouldn’t have any more. Since the snowpocalypse a few years ago, when they’d rounded out February beneath a blanket of white that had overloaded the power grid, Nico found himself wishing for warmer temperatures.
“I don’t miss that,” Niyah said. “And I won’t miss the heat this summer either. But I was thinkin’ maybe y’all could come out here for a few days. Go to the beach. Jäger would get a kick out of the water.”
Nico wasn’t sure they were at a point where a vacation was a good idea, but he liked the idea. Plus, he missed Niyah already, and it’d only been a month. By the time summer rolled around, he figured he could be easily talked into a quick trip to see her.
“Or maybe y’all should wait,” Niyah said quickly.
“I was about—”
“Until mid-September,” his sister continued.
“September?” Nico frowned. “What’s there to do in September?”
There was a brief pause followed by, “You could meet your niece or nephew.”
Nico felt his chest swell instantly. “You’re pregnant?”
“I am.”
“That’s great, Sis. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks. Now, don’t tell Stevie I told you.”
“You haven’t told her yet?”
“I have. About an hour ago, actually,” Niyah said with a giggle. “But I told her I’d wait to tell you until tomorrow.”
“Couldn’t hold it in any longer, huh?”
“Nope. But I figure my news won’t spoil the surprise she has in store for you and Stone.”
“Surprise? What surprise?”
Niyah laughed. “It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it?”
“You’re annoying, you know that?”
“I’m the little sister. It’s my job.”
***
As he drove to Stevie’s, Stone’s gazecontinued to dart to the flowers, teddy bears, and chocolates sitting in the passenger seat. He hadn’t been sure what to get Stevie for Valentine’s Day, so he’d gone the safe route and grabbed as much as he could. And to round it out, he’d grabbed a bottle of bourbon for Nico. He’d noticed the other day that Nico had quite the collection on a bar cart in the dining room, so he wanted to add to it. It was likely overkill, but what was a guy to do?
He’d only celebrated Valentine’s once, and that was with Stevie many, many years ago. In fact, she was the only girl he’d ever celebrated significant holidays with. Since he hadn’t had a real relationship since then, he was a little rusty.
Plus, this thing with Stevie and Nico was new. Sure, it was moving at warp speed, but that didn’t change the fact that he was still treading on unstable ground. The last thing he wanted was to make a wrong move and hurt her feelings or, worse, make her think he expected more than he deserved.
He wished he could give her good news about his business plan, but he didn’t have any yet. He still had to meet with Ethan and Beau tomorrow night. If that went well, then it was just a matter of tracking down Zane. Up to this point, his efforts had been wasted, but he wasn’t giving up yet. He left a long-winded voicemail yesterday but hadn’t heard back from his cousin. He was starting to think he wasn’t going to.
