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She rested her head on my shoulder as I carried her inside and up the staircase.
“Everything ready?” I asked when I got to the top of the stairs.
“Sure is,” Halo answered.
Sloane raised her head when I turned toward the smaller bedroom rather than the master.
“Close your eyes,” I whispered.
She looked at her brother, who stood in front of the closed door, and then back at me. “What’s going on?”
“Close ’em, Sloane.”
When she did, I nodded and Halo opened the door. I carried her inside and set her down in the rocking chair in the room that had been empty when both she and I had last seen it. “Okay, you can open your eyes.”
She gasped, taking in the room that her brother had spent last evening and most of this morning decorating. “Oh my God, Knox. It’s beautiful,” she cried.
“It really is,” I said, walking over to pick up the tiny pink football that sat on a shelf and tossing it to him. “You outdid yourself.”
“How did you know?” asked Sloane, motioning to the hand-painted lettering on the crib that read, “Landry.”
“A little bird told me,” he answered with a wink. He walked over to the bedroom door. “Tara, sweetheart? Where are you?”
“I didn’t want to intrude,” I heard her say from the hallway. When Halo pulled her into the room, I walked over and hugged her. “Thank you,” I murmured.
“You’re welcome,” she answered before walking over to the rocking chair. “You must be Sloane.”
“And you must be Tara. It’s so nice to meet you.”
Tara knelt down and put her hand on the chair’s arm. “I feel like I already know you. Knox talks about you endlessly.”
“Oh dear.”
“It’s all good. I promise.”
“Sloane, Tara is an artist,” said Halo, running his hand over the name on the crib. “She did this along with the rest you see.” Each piece of furniture, the rocker included, was adorned with flowers, vines, even birds.
“It’s so beautiful.” Sloane looked at me and smiled. “I take it you knew about all this?”
“After the third text asking my opinion, I relinquished all remaining decisions to your brother.”
“He does have really good taste.” I saw Sloane wink at Tara, who smiled too. “I told him he’d make someone an excellent husband someday. I’m so glad it’ll be you.”
Tara’s cheeks turned pink, and she looked up at Halo. “Me too.”
“Got a minute?” he asked me, motioning to the hallway.
“You’ll be okay?” I asked Sloane.
“I promise not to get out of the chair. Tara will be my witness.”
I followed Halo out and down the stairs.
“What’s up?”
“I checked in on Nick before you got here. She’s going to be fine. Whoever got to her, broke her arm in a couple of places, and that’s why she needed surgery.”
“Is there any more information about the hit on Caruso?”
