Page 75

Lainey chirps up, "I believed it. I had no reason not to. So I left town before Jagger got back. Four months later, I found out I was pregnant."

"And you didn't want to tell him?" Ava cautiously asks.

Lorraine defensively jumps in. "Lainey thought she'd be ruining a woman's life whom she'd never met. She didn't want to do that to her."

Lainey quickly adds, "I found out I was wrong yesterday."

I tug her closer to me. "I about fell over when I saw her. But we got it sorted out yesterday afternoon, and I met Charlie for the first time last night."

"My turn." Paisley takes Charlie from Dad.

He shakes his head. "You poor girl, raising a baby alone."

"I wasn't alone," Lainey says quickly. "Mama and Daddy helped however they could."

"That's good, dear. Well now you've got the rest of us too," Mom says, like that settles it, because in this family, it does.

"Is it true?" Evelyn's voice rails into the house almost before she does. All three of her kids trail behind her. Emma clutches her stuffed rabbit. Jacob toddles in and runs straight to Dad's lap before Ava scoops him up out of habit. Isabella goes right up to Charlie and spills the beans. "Mason texted us you have a baby, Uncle Jagger! She's so adorable! Can I hold her?"

"Mason," I scowl.

His cocky expression grows until he sees Lorraine giving him a look of death. It wipes it right off his face, and I almost laugh.

I tell Lainey, "Told you my family is chaos."

She bites her lip.

"You'll have to get in line," Ava teases Isabella.

The kitchen roars on, growing louder and messier and entirely like my family.

I lean into Lainey and tell her, in a low voice only she can hear, "You're doing great."

"It's like I got hit by a very affectionate truck," she whispers back.

I chuckle, then state, "Welcome to the Cartwrights. But you'll get used to it." I glance at Charlie, currently being passed around, then add, "They already love her. And you're not far behind."

Vulnerability floods her features.

I turn back toward my family. "I'm taking Lainey out on a date tonight. We're going to need someone to watch Charlie. Who wants to babysit?"

"Me," Paisley says instantly, hand shooting up like she's back in grade school. She looks at Lainey. "I've been an aunt forever, so you won't have to worry."

"I've got seniority," Ava counters, smirking at Paisley.

"I'll watch her!" Isabella chimes in from across the kitchen, tugging on Evelyn's sleeve. "Can I skip school and play with Charlie?"

"Absolutely not," Evelyn replies sternly.

Lorraine's spine turns stiff. Her hand tightens around the coffee mug. Her jaw sets, eyes narrowing toward Mason again, as if she's already calculating exit routes for her granddaughter.

I open my mouth to reassure her, but Mom beats me to it.

"Why don't you come to dinner with Charlie tonight, Lorraine?" Mom sets a hand over hers, gentle, reading the room the way she always does. "We're having Italian night tonight. We can all watch Charlie together."

The stiffness in Lorraine's shoulders eases, the offer landing exactly where it needed to. "I'd like that," she admits, giving Mom a grateful smile.

"Good. It's settled," Mom declares, patting her hand again.