"I'm pretty sure that hanky-panky is supposed to have the opposite effect. It's supposed to make me look younger."
Opal raises her eyebrows. "Maybe you've been doing it wrong."
"I have not been doing it wrong." I toss a towel at her and it sends a plume of flour through the air.
"Who's been doing what wrong?" Killian comes through the kitchen door.
"No one's doing anything wrong," I protest.
Opal raises her eyebrows. "I'm going home. Don't forget, the delivery guy comes today."
Killian smirks and I blush. I wait until after Opal leaves to say, "I can't make eye contact with the delivery guy anymore."
Killian snorts and smacks me on the ass. "He'd better not be making eye contact with you. Or looking at you anywhere. Better yet, he should just walk down here backwards with the delivery."
"You're a possessive Neanderthal."
"You're right." He slides his hand to the nape of my neck, pulling me against him and running his hand over the back of my skirt before yanking it up my thigh as he kisses me hard on the lips. My body warms to him immediately, heat flooding my core as his hand squeezes my ass cheek. I imagine him taking me right here, right now. He's apparently thinking the same thing, since he pulls away from me, his hands still holding me against his growing hardness. "There's no one out front, you know."
I laugh, my hand on his chest. "The front door is unlocked."
"I'll lock it," he says, his voice thick.
I glance at the clock. "And I have to go get Chloe."
Killian looks behind me. "You have twenty minutes before school gets out. And the elementary school is fifteen minutes away. Plenty of time."
"Are you offering me a whole five minutes of sex? God, that is so hot."
"It'll be the best five minutes of your life, woman." He grins at me, and I laugh as his fingers find their place between my legs. "Don't even lie. Efficient sex makes you totally wet."
The knock on the door interrupts him and I laugh as Killian scowls. "Delivery guy," I whisper.
"I'm really going to have to kill him."
I kiss him on the cheek. "I'm going to get Chloe. But I'll take a rain-check on the efficient you-know-what."
Chloe squeezes my hand tightly, shy in the midst of the chaos of people arriving at Killian's cabin Killian's brother Luke, his fiancé, Autumn and her child, Olivia, as well as Silas and Tempest and Elias and River.
River Andrews – the River Andrews – puts her arms around me and says she's heard so much about me. After she walks away, I turn to Killian and squeal, trying unsuccessfully to keep my voice down. "She's heard so much about me. River Andrews, the movie star, has heard so much about me??"
"She's been in a couple of movies, I guess." Killian shrugs. "I haven't seen any of them."
"You can't be serious. Do you live under a rock?"
"Luke said it's all like, chick flicks and stuff." He grimaces as he speaks the words. "Ugh. You're not going to force me to watch them now, are you?"
I don't get to answer before Chloe interrupts. "Killian, will the deer come over tonight?"
"Probably not with so many people out on the deck."
"Aww. What will they eat for dinner, then?"
"They're pretty good about managing to find their own dinner," Killian replies. "Speaking of which, Autumn says Luke has outdone himself tonight with the grilling. Ribs, chicken, the whole nine yards."
"Can I have a cupcake?" Chloe asks.
"Not before dinner," I tell her.
"Did you bring cupcakes?" Silas walks up to us. "Tempest said that she had your cake at Amy Porter's wedding reception. Her eyes were rolling back in her head talking about it."
Silas's wife settles in next to him, wrapping her arm around his waist. "I don't know what it was, but I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."
"It was champagne cake," I tell her. "With strawberry champagne buttercream frosting."
"If you somehow lose your mind and marry this guy, this does mean we get free cupcakes forever, right?" Silas asks.
My face warms and I think it must go bright red. Tempest's eyes go wide and she elbows Silas. "Silas!"
"What did I say?" he asks. "It was a legitimate question."
"Are you getting married, mom?" Chloe pulls at my hand.
"What? No. No one's getting married," I explain as Tempest drags Silas off by the arm. I look at Killian and raise my eyebrows. "Please chime in?"
Killian shuffles uncomfortably. "Uh – um – huh." He scratches his head.
My head is swimming. I'm not ready to be even mentioning the M word. Especially not in front of my child. And my boyfriend's family. Hell, I just got used to the word boyfriend.
Elias interrupts, yelling from a few feet away. "No way. You guys are getting married?"
"No!" I exclaim, looking at Chloe. "I like Killian, but –"
Chloe interrupts. "Hannah said that if a boy is staying at your house, you have to be married."
"Hannah is a mouthy little sh–"
I cut Killian off. "Killian!"
A loud whistle cuts through the air and we all turn to look at Luke. "Dinner's ready!"
39
Killian
"Have you ever thought about selling this stuff, Killian?" Lily runs her hand over the saddle I've been working on in the shop, really just a shed beside the cabin.
"If I'm quiet, will the deer come back?" Chloe pipes up, running back outside the shop. Lily and I follow her. My brothers and River and Tempest are gone, so Lily and I took Chloe outside to run around the woods and burn off some of the sugar buzz she got from eating two cupcakes after dinner.
"Maybe. You have to be super stealthy, though."
"What's stealthy?"
"Real quiet," I tell her as she tiptoes across the grass, her finger over her lips. I turn to Lily. "I don't know about selling it. The saddle is for Bud down at the bar. It's a hobby. I don't think I'll be setting up a shop."
I don't tell her about the money that Jack left me – enough money that I could never work again. In fact, that's exactly what I intended to do when I came back to West Bend – retreat up here to my cabin and fish and build shit.
I should tell her about the money sometime. I know she's curious about why I can come to the bakery and work for nothing. She gets really stressed out about the bakery and money. I could just tell her that I'd take care of her.
That's really fucking presumptuous of you. That's exactly what she'd say if I told her.
"It's really nice, Killian." She glances over to see if Chloe is looking before she turns to face me and slides her hands around my waist. "This whole thing tonight was – meeting your brothers and stuff. I mean, aside from the whole marriage thing."
I groan. That was embarrassing. I make a mental note to go punch Silas later. "Sorry about that."
Lily laughs. "It's okay. You weren't kidding about Luke being a fantastic cook, either."
"He wants to open something in town, a restaurant. Did he tell you?"
Lily shakes her head. "This place needs a good restaurant, something other than CJ's. Luke should come do a lunch menu at the bakery."
I'm not sure if she's kidding. "Don't joke about that with him, or he'll probably take you up on it. Cooking is Luke's passion. He loves it."
"I'm kind of kidding; I mean, I only just met him today. But a lunch menu could be a good idea. Or more likely, it would spread me even thinner than I am already, so –"
"No kissing!" Chloe yells, even though we aren't.
Lily breaks away from me. "Five more minutes and then we have to get going, kiddo. It's a school night," she calls before turning back to me and, with a glint in her eyes, whispering, "After my warden over there is asleep, you can come by and sneak into my room, if you want."
"Yes, ma'am."
Later that night, cradled next to me, she lets out a soft sigh as she falls asleep. This is good, being with Lily. It feels comfortable. But the feeling of being comfortable – happy, eve
n – is a foreign one to me. I've never had that before and it makes me uneasy. It's basic physics – what goes up must come down. If things are good now, they can't possibly last.
"Listen. It's okay. I'm at the hospital with her now," I say into the phone. On the other end, Lily's voice is high-pitched.
"Why didn't she call me?" Lily squeals.
"Is that Lily?" Opal asks from the hospital bed. "Tell her I can hear her screaming into the phone from way over here and this is exactly why I didn't call her – because I didn't want to lose my hearing. I'm an old woman and my hearing is one of the few things I have left!"
"I heard that," Lily yells. "I'm almost to the store. I'm putting a closed sign on the front door of the bakery and I'm coming to the hospital."
"I already put up a sign," I say calmly. Lily has been high-strung the past couple of days. She says it's just because she's nervous about sending off her daughter for the first time, but I'm almost positive it's because she's nervous about her parents coming here to pick up Chloe. . . and meet me.
"Why didn't Opal call us last night?" Lily continues in her high-pitched voice. "I'm in the car on the way from dropping Chloe at school. Is she okay? I mean, how did she break a hip? What on Earth happened?"
I glare at Opal, who waves at me and shakes her head. "I don't need a lecture from Miss Play-It-Safe."
I snort. I'll let Opal tell Lily this story herself. Lily will wrangle it out of her when she gets here anyway.
And she does. Lily barges into the hospital room, heading straight to Opal without so much as a glance at me. "Are you okay? Why didn’t you call me last night? How did you get here?"
"Chill the hell out," Opal says. "In fact, I think one of these doctors here might be able to give you a sedative. Or a tranquilizer. Do they have horse tranquilizers here?"
"I don't need a sedative. How did you break a hip? You're in better shape than I am." Lily looks back and forth between me and Opal.
I shake my head and look at Opal. "Don't look at me. I'll let Opal field the questions."
"Oh, Lord, you're going to find out anyway. I broke it in the shower."
Lily gives us an expectant look. "Okay." She pauses, her hands on her hips as she looks at us. "What are you not telling me? Spill it."
Opal rolls her eyes. "I wasn't alone."
"You weren't alone? What does that even mean?" Lily starts, then a flush spreads to her cheeks. "Oh. Ohhhhh."
I cover my mouth to keep from laughing.
"Look, Miss Prude, don't even give me a lecture about the dangers of sex in the shower or tell me how slippery lubricant can be."
I snort as Lily's jaw drops, and then I really can't stop laughing. "Yeah, Lily."
"Oh my God, Opal!" Lily looks horrified. "You what? In the shower?"
"It's important in your old age to learn new skills. Keeps the brain agile."
"It's important to do brain teasers and games, not have sex in the shower!" Lily looks at me with wide eyes, her face burgundy now, which only makes me laugh harder.
"Well, to be fair, it was a game," Opal protests.
"Oh, God, stop!" Lily exclaims. "Where's your… boyfriend?"
"My booty call?" Opal asks. "I told him to leave. He called the paramedics last night! Honestly, it's only a broken hip. He could have driven me to the hospital himself, and that's what I told him, but instead he called an ambulance. My next door neighbor Martha – nosy as hell, always has been – was standing there in her bathrobe watching as I was taken out of the house at midnight with lights flashing! This is a whole lot of fuss about nothing."
"It's not nothing! You broke your hip, Opal!"
Opal rolls her eyes and sighs. "Stop fussing. My daughter is driving up from Grand Junction and you are both forbidden from telling her exactly how it happened. All she needs to know is that I slipped getting out of the shower, although Lord knows that now she's going to think I need help, like I'm some kind of invalid. You hear me? Forbidden."
I mock-button my lips, but I can hardly keep a straight face. "Mum's the word."
"What's the treatment plan?" Lily asks. "Are you scheduled for surgery?"
Opal waves her hand dismissively at me. "They're going to take me up for surgery in an hour and put a pin in my hip. I finally saved up for that trip to Paris I've always wanted to take, and now I'll have a damn pin in my hip and be setting off those metal detectors at the airport. Then one of those TSA agents will have to frisk me." She pauses for a beat. "On second thought, maybe that pin in the hip is a good idea after all."
"Are you sure she's not senile?" Lily asks me loudly.
"You'll remember this conversation when you're seventy-three and break your hip in the shower with that one right there, girl." She points to me.
I lean over and whisper to Lily. "That's right. Someday when we're old and grey I'll break your hip while taking you from behind in the shower."
Lily punches me hard in the arm.
"What?" I ask innocently. "We should probably practice so you don't slip and fall. Practice makes perfect."
Lily's phone in her purse buzzes and she takes it out, giving me the stink eye the entire time. "Hello?" She listens silently, her brow furrowed. "Oh my God. Is she okay?"
Shit. It's something with Chloe. My heart immediately races.
"She did what?" she asks. "Yes. I'll be right there."
"What happened?" I ask as soon as she hangs up the phone.
"I don't understand it. Chloe knows better than that. I don't know what in the world would have gotten into her."
"What happened?" Opal asks.
"I have to go to the school. Chloe got into a fight. She punched a boy in her class."
Oh, shit.
"So… I may have had something to do with it," I confess.
"What?" Lily shrieks, then drops her voice an octave as she glares at me. I think her nostrils are flaring. "What. Did. You. Do. Exactly?"
"She hit a boy?" Opal asks. "Did he deserve it?"
"Yes," I blurt out. "Is his name Alex? If it's Alex, he deserved it."
"What are you talking about? Chloe knows better than to punch anyone! This is insane. Opal, I have to go down to the school, but I'll be back later. And you." She whips around to face me. "You are going to tell me how you know about this boy."
"The two of you can get right on out of here because I want to watch Maury Povich before the surgery and it's going to come on in less than five minutes," Opal orders. "And if Chloe punched a boy who deserved it, then good for her."