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Her mouth watered at the idea of a home-cooked meal. Living out of the hotel had been a nuisance. Luckily Willa had been kind enough to do their laundry, and once Ronnie and Carter were settled into their house, they at least had more of a base. She liked Nick’s plan, which rarely happened.
“I’m in.” She shrugged and put out her hand. “But I am taking the keys.”
“I don’t have them yet,” he chuckled. “When I get them, they’re yours. Finding a place to stay is the easy part. We’re going to have to tell Ronnie why we aren’t leaving. It’s going to be pretty awkward handing her a DNA kit.”
“She’s ready for answers. I can tell.”
“No one is really ready for things like this. It could completely upend her life.”
“I’d say that ship has sailed.”
“At least, no matter what happens, it won’t change things for Nora and Carmen. If they turn out to be half-sisters, that won’t really matter to them.”
“You’re so confident about that.” She let out a breathy laugh, but to her, it wasn’t funny. The idea of deep loyalty was foreign and seemed more like a fantasy than reality. As a lawyer, she’d seen exactly how money and blood relatives could be a recipe for disaster.
“Of course I am. I’ve got a half-brother myself. Kenan. He didn’t grow up with us, but he’s definitely one of us. Nothing comes before family.”
She scoffed before she could catch herself.
“Ah, so that’s part of your deep dark swirly secret. Have you got a shit family? I’m onto you.”
“I never said that.” She folded her arms across her chest.
“No, but the idea that family comes before anything else doesn’t compute for you. There has to be a story there.”
“Maybe,” she shrugged, having no intention of sharing anything about her family. “Can we get moving?”
“Perfect deflection. I’ve got another idea though.”
“Scary,” she said with a fake shutter. “That brain of yours is really working overtime. I think I can smell smoke.”
“We’ll check into the cabin. I’ll grill those steaks for dinner, and we’ll finally get a decent night's sleep, then tomorrow we’ll get out of here.”
“Get out of here?” Plans like this, spontaneity of any kind, made her skin crawl. “What do you mean?”
“I’ll finagle the jet. Tell them it’s some kind of research we need to do. Then you and I take off for a couple of days while they process the DNA. A mini vacation. We totally deserve it after the last month. I’ve been looking at a few spots we could easily fly in and out of and—”
“Hard pass,” she said, the knot in her stomach tightening.
“Why?” He looked wounded, and she felt bad to reject his offer. But she knew it wasn’t a good idea.
“I know you have this tight-knit family, and they’d be happy to fly you somewhere and pretend it’s for work, but I’m an employee. I don’t get quite the same level of privilege.”
“Are you kidding? Everyone knows exactly what you’ve done up here. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for you. Sammy is safe and happy. Ronnie looks like she can finally breathe. Even their mother is as stable as can be expected. You did all that. I hope you know how much that matters. You deserve a break.”
“And I’ll get one, eventually.”
“Tomorrow. We fly out of here for just a quick—”
“I’m not getting on a plane. I’m not going to take advantage of this situation. I understand how that can work for you, but it’s not the same for me.”
“I’m sorry you don’t know us well enough to believe me. Everyone in Boston knows they are indebted to you.”
“No.” She pointed to her chest. “I’ve been paid. There is no debt. This is a business exchange.”
“Fine,” Nick said, looking deceptively smug. “You’re an employee. And employees get paid time off.”
“They do,” she drew the words out, hesitant to give in to his offer. There was something dangerous about being around Nick outside the confines of work. They’d been thrust together on a project, having to spend every waking minute focused on the same goal. Choosing to spend time with one another was a totally different ball game.
