The woman tossed up her hands. “No call. She’s not answering her phone or that satellite phone she promised I could reach her at.”
“And you’re not worried?”
“Honey, I did my time. Agan paid me for two weeks to watch Zoe. That time is up, and I’ve got things to do, people to see, and bills to pay. Haley’s probably having too great a time to come home.” She aimed her gaze at me. “It’s time Mr. Handsome over here and his lot took care of theirs, too.”
“But Haley. She would never not call. And you don’t care?” Avery demanded.
“Agan mentioned they might take extra time. Though he said he’d call. He didn’t. I’ve got to get to work.” Her greedy gaze came back to me. “The money your lot gave my daughter isn’t enough.” She called over to her car. “Zoe, baby, bring your things.”
I wasn’t sure I liked where this was headed.
Her stare landed back on me. “Time to take proper care of your niece.”
My eyes flew to Avery, who looked miserable. Her expression pleaded with me to forgive her. Then I turned to the little girl, the one I’d bought the dollhouse for, and saw the familiarity in her features. She had the same eyes as my brother, who’d gotten them from Mom. In fact, she looked like a carbon copy of Mom when she was little. Had I subconsciously noticed that?
“Zoe, you’ll be staying here until your mama gets back.” The woman, I guessed, was Haley’s mom spoke before darting back to her car without a backward glance.
Zoe looked up at me with hope. “Are you my dad?” she asked.
I bent down so I would be at her level. “No, sweetheart. I’m your uncle Nate.” Because there was no denying she was my brother’s.
Avery reached out a hand, but I picked her up. “Let’s go inside. Are you hungry?”
Since Zoe felt comfortable with Avery, I excused myself to make a call. Everything fell into place, including the missing money Dad had refused to acknowledge. My only question was what my brother knew or didn’t know.
“Nate. I have to call you back,” he said when he answered.
“No. We need to talk now.”
“You aren’t my only client.”
“No. I’m your brother and your daughter is sitting in the living room.”
“What?”
“You need to get to Mason Creek today.”
Hours later, after Avery and I settled Zoe in the guest bedroom upstairs and read her a few books until she finally fell asleep, I told Avery to come with me.
I’d already shared my plan with Sunshine, and she’d promised to watch over Zoe. She hadn’t asked, but I would pay her extra, as that wasn’t in the job description she’d agreed to. Now I put my jacket over Avery’s shoulders and walked her not to the bunkhouse, but to the barn.
“We passed the bunkhouse,” she said.
“I know.”
We’d spent time in there the last few days. Avery had felt weird being intimate with all the people in the house in case they heard us. Tonight wasn’t about that.
The faded red barn was as it was when I was a boy. Inside, however, I’d made a few changes when Avery had been napping the last few days.
We stepped inside. I’d cleaned up a bit and had strung twinkling lights above our heads. It was almost the same setup as that night. I pulled out my phone and played that song, the one that had turned a video of a simple kiss into a meme.
As it began, I took her hand and twirled her around to land in my arms just like that first time. I didn’t make it past the first verse of “if I had to live without you, what kind of life would that be,” before stopping.
She looked confused until I dropped to one knee. “How would I survive without you, Avery? Tell me you’ll be my wife.”
The song continued to play and, as the tears streamed from her eyes, I crooned the lyrics as I waited for $her answer. Finally, she knelt on the ground and wrapped her arms around my neck. “You don’t have to live without me. I’m yours forever.”
I put my hand on her face, and with the biggest grin, I proclaimed, “I’m your perfect bastard.”
She grinned as I used the title of her series that would be published soon. Then she put my hand on her belly and I knew our life wouldn’t exactly be perfect, but it was ours. And I was damn sure going to make the best of it.
THIRTY-FOUR
After
It was hard to feel the joy Nate brought to my life and the new life growing inside me when Haley was missing.
So far, we’d learned there had been a storm in the area where she should have been. Power had been knocked out at several of the islands in the area. Even though there was a plausible reason why Haley hadn’t called, it didn’t stop my worry. It was harder yet to explain to Zoe why her mom hadn’t called in the last few days.