Calder waved a hand in the air. “Girls, that’s enough. Take a breath.” Both of them glared at him. “Okay”—he pushed to his feet, taking me with him—“I think we all need to get out of this house.”
“I don’t know—” I began. The idea that whoever was behind this might be watching set my teeth on edge.
Calder gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Family bike ride. To get ice cream.”
“Yes!” Birdie did a little shimmy shake around the living room. “I’m getting cookies and cream.”
“I want strawberry,” Sage chimed in.
Calder turned to me, brushing the hair out of my face. “What about you? What are you going to get?”
“Salted caramel all the way.”
He brushed his lips against mine. “Think you’ll let me have a bite?”
I linked my fingers with his. “Depends on what you’ll give me in return.”
“I can think of a few things…”
Birdie made a gagging noise. “Enough with the mushy stuff. I need ice cream!”
Calder leaned in close, whispering in my ear. “I love them more than anything, but they’re kind of a cock-block right now.”
I barked out a laugh. “Come on, Casanova, let’s get some sugar.”
We geared up and got our bikes from the garage. The ride wasn’t horribly long, but the drive-in ice cream shop was on the other side of town. The evening air was still warm from the heat earlier in the day, and our bike lights cut through the twilight.
The girls’ laughter and good-natured ribbing floated on the air. The breeze lifted my hair off my back as I rode. It was heaven. More than that, it was freedom. That different kind, the steady warmth of love making me feel lighter than I would’ve thought possible given the events of the day.
Yet that was exactly what I felt. Free. With Sage and Birdie and Calder, winding our way through neighborhood streets in search of ice cream. It was so simple, yet it was everything.
39
Calder
“We’ve got a little time.You want a coffee and a breakfast burrito?” I asked as I parked in front of the sheriff’s station.
Hadley’s stomach rumbled in answer. “I think that’s a yes.” She started to climb out of the car when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket, scanning the screen. “It’s Beckett.”
“Answer it. I’ll go get food and coffee and be back.”
She leaned over, giving me a quick kiss. “Thanks.” Then she tapped her screen. “I’ll be damned. You are alive.”
I grinned as I climbed out of my SUV. Hadley loved her eldest brother fiercely. I was sure she admired how he’d taken off for parts unknown to follow whatever dream popped into his head. I should be counting my lucky stars that she hadn’t done the same.
I made it halfway to the coffee shop before I heard someone call my name. Turning around, the good mood I’d been holding onto after waking up and losing myself in Hadley fled. “Jackie.”
“Did you move her in?”
“Excuse me?”
“Stop playing games. I want to know if you moved Hadley intoourhouse.”
I studied the woman in front of me, searching for signs that she was on something. I didn’t see glassy eyes or pinprick pupils, but there was an almost frantic energy to Jackie. Her fingers tapped out a beat against her thigh in a staccato rhythm.
“Jackie, that’smyhouse. Who lives there or doesn’t is none of your concern.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It will always be my concern. You’re my family.”