Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
“What?”
He really was horrible at answering the phone. “I need to talk to––”
“Hold on, your husband is calling me on my other line.”
“No, wait––”
But he was gone.
I stood there, and Sam told Dane he was swinging by to get him, and then he hung up.
“Look at me.”
When Aja lifted her head to look at him, he smiled at her. “I need you to stay here and help Jory, all right?”
She nodded, he kissed her forehead, turned, walked around the table and did the same with me, and then he was on his way out the back door.
“I have no idea what’s happening, but I can only assume it’s not good,” I told Aja.
She flopped back down into her chair. “Dane’s going to be really upset.”
“I doubt it,” I assured her. “I suspect that Dane will get to talk to Professor Burgin with some backup.”
“Oh God,” she groaned, and then her eyes widened. “Uhm, isn’t your husband supposed to be prepping the grill and getting ready to barbecue?”
“Yes,” I muttered. “But no one will be here until six, and it’s only three now. Let’s worry about that in an hour.” I poured myself another glass of wine.
We were sitting, talking, snacking, when I heard a car pull into the driveway. Minutes later, Kola, Harper, Jake, and Hannah walked into the kitchen.
“Hi,” I greeted all of them.
Kola grinned at me. “Uh, shouldn’t you be cooking?”
“We cooked,” I said defensively. “There are hot sides in the oven, including your aunt Aja’s world-famous macaroni and cheese, and cold sides in the fridge, like potato salad, a chef’s chopped salad, and deviled eggs. I have sliced all the potatoes for French fries. I just need to get them into the air fryer. So don’t come in here with that accusatory tone simply because this is our second bottle of wine.”
He grinned wide, walked over, kissed my cheek, and then scooted around the table to hug his aunt. “Thank you for cooking. I need to show Finn’s family what good mac ’n’ cheese is.”
She grinned at him.
“Okay, so, B, can you get the fries going, and me and Jake will start making burgers, and, Harp, get the grill going, will you?”
“I can do the grill,” Jake threw out.
Harper was laughing as he went out the back door.
“I can work a grill,” Jake grumbled.
“Yes, you can, bunny,” Hannah told him.
He shot her a look that made Aja choke on her wine.
Twenty minutes later, Wick showed up.
“I didn’t think you’d be back,” I told the young man who walked into my kitchen.
“Harper loves it here, and Kola and Jake are his best friends, so I was never going to stay away even if you people play games with far too much competitiveness.”
I smiled at him.
“And by that comment, you know I mean your daughter.”
“I do.” I chuckled. “I truly do.”
Right after six, I was putting things out on folding tables on the back deck, under foil of course because we had handsy squirrels and curious crows, so I didn’t want that to be a problem, when the doorbell rang. I heard it and knew Harper was the closest, which would probably be confusing for Finn’s family, because who was he? But they should get used to seeing one of Kola’s best friends in the world, the sooner the better.
They were walking out just as Sam came up the driveway.
“Jory,” Anne said kindly, glancing at Harper and Aja, who was walking back and forth along with Hannah. “So good to see you again.”
“And you,” I said, taking the bottle of red wine that she passed me.
Eammon shook my hand and then lifted his for Sam, who was coming through the gate with Duncan.
Alone, Sam was intimidating. The height, his build, all the muscles, it was a lot. But when you added one of his best friends, the police commander, who had all the same muscle but carried it differently, more thick, brawny bull to Sam’s sleeker lion, it was overkill. Finn’s fit, chiseled brothers—I assumed they were his brothers with how much they looked like him—both took a step back.
“Eammon,” Sam greeted Finn’s father with a smile, offering his hand. “Welcome to my home. This is my buddy Duncan Stiel. Duncan, this is Eammon Murray.”
“Pleasure,” Duncan said, reaching to take the man’s hand once Sam released it.
All the introductions were done then as Duncan walked over to Aja and she stepped into his open arms. Her Mercedes Benz G-Wagon, that she had originally parked on the street in front of our house, rolled down our driveway then and parked behind Sam’s car. Seconds later, out stepped Dane.
Here’s the thing. My husband is gorgeous, Duncan is stunning as well, but there is something movie-star-level handsome about Dane. When I first started working for him, a million years ago, I thought it was the walk, or his height, or his clear gray eyes, or his bone structure. But what I’ve come to understand with the passage of time, is that it’s just his presence. He carries himself in this way where you just can’t help looking at him. Everyone on the back deck with us waited silently until he came into the yard, crossed to the stairs, came up and then moved up beside Sam and slid a hand over his shoulder.