Page 220 of No Headlines Please

I called back, "What?"

"Just so you know, he's here."

Oh, for God's sake. "I know he's here."

This time, it was Ryder again. "Because you can see him?"

The idea was so ridiculous, I laughed. "No. Because I know he is, that's all."

Tessa called out in their direction. "Plus, Mom's been posting on social media."

Ryder groaned. "Again?"

I knew what he meant. These days, Mom posted about me non-stop. This wasn't a good thing. But it was funny, because the way it looked, she was trying to make up for years of doing just the opposite.

She'd even repaid that money she'd "borrowed" – plus a little interest.

Shocking?

Totally.

But during the past year, her social media presence had become surprisingly lucrative – or at least that's what the numbers suggested.

I mean, it's not like I had a million followers.

Then again, it's not like I ever posted. Me? I was still content to fly under the radar, even if life with Maddox made that a little tricky – even more so when his mom decided that I was good for his brand, whatever that meant.

Still, I wasn't in any rush to jump in the spotlight. And neither was Maddox – which was why we'd decided to spend more of our time here on the island, where we'd built a house a stone's throw away from Griff and Maisie – and from Tessa, whenever she and Ryder weren't in Chicago.

Speaking of Ryder, he was still at the door, calling out, "Hey! Guess who's sitting with Walt."

I didn't have to guess. It was definitely Franny. Just last night, I'd seen the two of them walking together down Main Street – making so many googly eyes, I was pretty sure that fishing wasn't the only thing they were doing.

Tessa got up and marched to the door. She cracked it open and peered out. With a laugh, she said, "Hey, don't you have some best-manning to do?"

"I already did it," Ryder said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Mostly I got him to the church on time."

From somewhere outside the door, Griff added, "Plus, he told us to take a hike."

Maisie called out, "Really? Why?"

Griff replied, "Apparently, he has to make a phone call."

What the heck? I called out, "To who?"

But just then, my phone chimed on the nearby shelf. In half a heartbeat, it was in my hands. I smiled. Maddox.

I answered softly. "Hello?"

In a teasing tone, he asked, "So…whatcha doin'?"

I snickered. "You can't guess?"

"I can guess what you will be doing."