Page 187 of Liberating Lily

“I understand,” she said. “I just want to be with you, although I don’t think your family likes me very much.”

“You can’t base that just on what you overheard Fiadh say. She seemed to have some crazy idea that I was going to fall in love with her friend. She didn’t mean that about you. It doesn’t mean that she won’t love you.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she said. “And I haven’t met your other sister yet.”

“No, but my brothers like you.”

“They do?” she asked.

“Baby, honestly, I think they like you better than me. Ronan’s been messaging me every half hour to see whether I have you, whether you’re safe, and if we’re on our way home.”

Amazement filled her. “He’s only met me once.”

“And he thinks you’re extremely brave.”

“I don’t think I’m brave. I think I’m a mess.”

“Well, you think wrong.”

Typical, Harvey. She rolled her eyes with a smile, he always thought he was right.

She kind of liked that about him, though.

“What if the rest of your family doesn’t like me, though? Your sisters, your grandfather?”

“My grandfather likes you. You never told me that you met him.”

“Oh he told you that?” she asked.

“Yeah, he did.”

“Didn’t seem to like me very much,” she told him.

“He did. He had lots of nice things to say about you, and he doesn’t have very many people that he says nice things about.

I should have introduced you earlier to my sisters. I just wanted to give you some time to get used to living in a new place with me. And to give you some space, because once you meet my sisters, they’re probably going to be all up in your business. That’s just the way they are.”

She wasn’t so sure about that, but she nodded. She’d try her best to get on with his sisters for Harvey’s sake. He was close to his family, so she needed to get used to that.

But she would probably try to visit Clem as often as she could.

A truck started up the driveway just as she spotted Jaret heading their way on his horse.

Clem was going to be in a lot of trouble once Jaret got there.

She glanced down at the man who was trussed up like a turkey.

He looked like he was just starting to stir. Clem brought the truck to a stop right next to the body, and then she jumped out, looking at the man who was tied up, up at them on the roof of the barn, and then over at Jaret, who’d just gotten off his horse.

Then she raised her hands. “This has nothing to do with me, I swear. I wasn’t even here.”

Jaret took off his hat and scowled at her. Well, Lily couldn’t see his face, but that’s what she imagined he was doing.

“No, you went into town and got the feed that you knew I was going to get. You better not have lifted that onto the truck yourself, Clementine Malone, or you’re in big trouble.”

“Of course I didn’t,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I had Gary at the shop do it.”

“I’ll be calling him to check.”