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She reaches across the kitchen island to take my hand. “Shit, Scar. I’m so sorry. I mean, it’s not like I had any illusions of Dom being a good guy, but I wouldn’t have expected this of him. You know it’s not your fault, right?”

I nod, but just because, logically, I know it’s not my fault, that doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty.

It’s not like I wasn’t already carrying around a boatload of guilt. My parents worked their asses off to send me to college, and I didn’t make it past freshman year. Piper gave up the life we’d started building together in Edmonton and transferred to the University of Calgary to be closer to me when I gave birth. My whole family had to deal with the raised eyebrows and whispers when people in town found out I’d gotten pregnant after a one-night stand, and it started all over again when Dom showed up and everyone found out how much older he is. Whenever he was here, I was in a happy, lovesick bubble. And then he’d leave, and the reality that everyone was talking about us would set in so hard, I avoided leaving the house.

I love Clover Pines, and I know the people here love me, but there’s not all that much to do here besides gossip. How bad is it going to be when—not if, because I know how these things work—people find out Dom is married?

I would never knowingly sleep with someone in a relationship, but that doesn’t make it better. Killian’s mom raised three children with Dom. She’s given him decades of her life. And he cheated on her with a woman less than half his age. I’m not naive enough to think I’m the first woman he cheated on her with; I just hope I’m the only one he knocked up. Twice.

“What’s the son like?” Piper asks, pulling me from my spiral of guilt. I know what she’d say if I told her, but I don’t need anyone to try to reassure me. I walked down this path all on my own.

“He seems nice. Shocked about all of this, but he wants to get to know the kids,” I tell her, and Piper raises her brows.

“And you’re going to let him?”

“He’s their half-brother.” I shrug, and Piper blows out a long breath, shaking her head. “I need to explain to the kids. He’s going to be staying with us for a week.”

“Scarlet Hannah Powell—what the hell is wrong with you? You can’t let a stranger sleep in your house!” Piper looks like she wants to knock some sense into me—literally. And I can’t really blame her.

“He’s Dom’s son,” I protest. “Barely a stranger.”

“Scarlett.”

“I know,” I groan. “But the guesthouse is fully booked and … I don’t know. There’s just something about Killian that makes me trust him. And yeah, I know how naive I sound. But there is.”

“Killian,” Piper says slowly, like she’s testing his name. She screws up her mouth. “Once upon a time, you trusted Dom.”

Ouch. She’s not wrong, but Dom was never dangerous, just an asshole. And I have no reason to believe Killian is dangerous, either. Am I going to sleep for the next couple of nights while I get used to having a man in my house, around my kids? Probably not.

“Why don’t you ask Landon to come and stay? Or better yet, send Killian to stay with him,” Piper suggests, but I’m shaking my head before she’s even finished talking.

“You know how busy Landon is at this time of year with the Christmas tree farm. No way.” And even if it was one of the farm’s few quiet spells, I still wouldn’t ask my brother to let him stay. This is my problem, not his.

“It’ll be fine,” I promise Piper.

She doesn’t look convinced, but she stops needling me, at least.

I glance toward the hallway. “How much should I tell them?”

There’s no handbook on parenting, and even if there was, I’m not sure there would be a chapter on “How to tell your kids that they have a whole-ass family none of you knew about”.

“Maybe just tell them he’s a friend of Dom’s for now. They’ll be so distracted by meeting someone new, they probably won’t question it,” Piper suggests.

Thank god for Piper.

“That sounds perfect. All right. I can do this.”

“Of course you can. But first.” She puts a hand on my arm as I start toward the door. “I want to be the supportive grown-up best friend you need right now, but I gotta ask … Is he hot?”

I blink at her. “Killian?”

“No, the other stranger who showed up on your doorstep today.”

Trust my best friend to make me laugh when I’m feeling this twisted up. She’s been doing it for as long as I can remember.

“I mean, he’s not a bad-looking guy,” I say, diplomatically, because I’ve barely had a chance to process. From what I have processed … Well, it would be inappropriate to point out how much hotter Killian is than his dad.

But Piper has known me since we were in diapers and sees right through me. “Good to know,” she says with a smirk. “Let’s go round up the kiddos.”