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“I get off in an hour,” she says, as she pulls back. I raise a brow and she taps me on the nose. “Off work. Mind out of the gutter.”

“I’m just saying, I can make it happen …”

Her twinkly laugh trails her all the way back to the kitchen, and not even the sight of my dad’s current mistress, when I return to my laptop, can wipe the smile from my face.

It’s funny, really. I came here hoping to put an end to my dad’s indiscretions, since he apparently didn’t care enough to, but now that my mouse is hovering over the “Send a message” button on her profile, I realize I don’t really care. Not after finding out just how badly my dad fucked up. Fixing things with him isn’t the key to fixing our family, the way I thought it would be.

I close the tab and pull up my work to-do list for the rest of the week. I only have today and tomorrow until I’m on leave for two weeks over Christmas, but the sooner I get everything done, the earlier I can finish up. I have one more meeting on my calendar tomorrow, and I’m working through my slides, adding the finishing touches, when a shadow falls over the table.

I look up and find the chess players Scarlett was laughing with earlier, looking down at me.

“Hi.”

The man in the center clears his throat. “We’ve known Scarlett since she was a baby, you know. We’ve known her parents since they were babies.” The words themselves are reasonable enough, but he looks like he’s trying to glare at me and not quite managing.

“I bet Scott was a riot growing up,” I say, for lack of anything else.

“That boy was trouble, all right. He …” The man on the left trails off as the other two look at him. “Right. What we’re trying to say is, we care about Scarlett. Everyone in Clover Pines does. And we don’t want to see her hurt.”

Oh. This is … sweet. Scarlett would hate it, but I like that people here are looking out for her.

“I understand, sir. I haven’t known her long, but I care about her, and Caitlin and James. I have no intention of hurting them, I promise.”

The three men exchange a look before the one in the middle nods. “Good. You seem like an okay guy. Better than the other one, at least.”

“He’s a bad egg, that one,” the man on the right chimes in. “Although, if you don’t mind me saying, you sound like him. Look like him a little, too.”

At some point, Clover Pines is going to find out that the man they hate is my dad, and I’ll be putting off that moment for as long as possible. I’m not ashamed of how Scarlett and I met—that’s my dad’s shame to bear, not ours—but I know how small towns work, and I’d like to prove myself as much as I can before they tar me with the same brush.

“We’re both from Ireland, but I’m nothing like him. Especially not when it comes to Scarlett and the kids.”

“Good. And don’t you be telling Scarlett we talked about this. She wouldn’t like it.”

That makes me laugh. I look past them, but there’s no sign of Scarlett. “That, she wouldn’t. My lips are sealed.”

Satisfied, they say goodbye and head out of the diner. It feels like I just passed some kind of test I didn’t know I was sitting.

I turn back to my slides, but I don’t make it far before my phone lights up with my sister’s face—tongue sticking out.

I hate how my finger hesitates over the screen. I’m not avoiding talking to them, so much as I’m avoiding reality, but that’s not fair on my siblings. And I miss them. “Hey,” I finally answer.

“Damn. You do know how to pick up the phone. Where are you?”

“I’m at the diner, getting some work done while Scarlett’s working.” Or trying to, anyway. “Why?”

I hear Fallon take a deep breath. “We’re here.”

“What?” Surely, I must have misheard her.

“We’re here.”

“In Clover Pines?”

“In Calgary. We just landed.”

“You and Ronan? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

Fallon is quiet for so long, I check to make sure she hasn’t hung up. Finally, I hear her groan.