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Willow just laughed again. “I swear to you; I’d stay if I thought it would help. It’s all going to be fine. I expect that by the time I get back tonight we can all sit down to a fun family dinner.”
Alyssa frowned. “I’d love to think that you’re right, but even if they don’t have a problem with it, I won’t be here tonight. I have to go home. I’ve got work in the morning.”
Bentley curled his arm around her waist and hugged her into his side. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you back home, no problem.” He rolled his eyes at her. “And depending on how this goes, I might need to stay there with you.”
Willow laughed. “Don’t be so dramatic. It’ll be fine.” She checked her watch. “I’ve got to go.”
Bentley narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s the hurry? Do you have a hot date or something?”
She made a face at him, and, to Alyssa’s surprise, she turned to her. “He already knows. We just don’t talk about it.”
Bentley raised an eyebrow at Alyssa. “You know?”
She had to laugh. “I think so. But since neither of you is prepared to say it out loud, I will. We’re talking about Slade, right?”
Willow laughed and looked at Bentley. “I told you I liked her.”
Bentley tightened his arm around her. “Good. I’m glad. And for what it’s worth, I’ve told you before that I like Slade, too. Now, go! Unless you want to invite him over and we can get everything out in the open all at once.”
Willow scowled at him. “Screw you!” She grinned at Alyssa. “Don’t worry, he knows I love him, really. If I don’t see you later, I hope I’ll see you soon.”
Alyssa went to her and gave her a hug. “I hope so too.”
After Willow had gone, Bentley came and took hold of Alyssa’s hand. “I guess all we can do now is wait.”
“I hope they don’t take too long. Waiting’s no fun.”
Bentley took his phone out and tapped at the screen. Then, he held it up to show her the flight tracker. “They won’t be long at all.”
The little plane on the screen had already drawn a blue line from Summer Lake almost all the way to Napa. It looked like they would be landing any moment now.
Alyssa swallowed. “Oh well, here goes nothing.”
Bentley pressed a kiss to her forehead. “It’ll be okay.” He laughed. “Although, I can’t say the same thing for Reaves and Ollie. I’m not happy with them. They could have warned me.”
Alyssa rubbed her hand up and down his arm. “Aww, we can’t blame them. If Dad and Ria didn’t tell us that they’re coming, I can only imagine that they might’ve asked Reaves and Ollie not to tell us either.”
“Perhaps, but I’m still not happy with them.”
She looked up at him, worried that he might really be mad at the two pilots. But he laughed. “It’s not a problem, not really. But I am going to play on it and make out that they owe me a favor.”
~ ~ ~
“Hello, darling.” Bentley watched his mom wrap Alyssa in a hug and kiss her cheek. Then, he turned quickly to Russ andshook his outstretched hand.
Russ had a weird gleam in his eye when he said, “I hope this is okay? We thought about calling first, but then decided it might be fun to surprise you guys.”
Bentley let out a short laugh. “It’s definitely a surprise.”
Russ met his gaze and held it for a moment. “A good one, I hope?”
“I hope so, too.” Damn, why had he said that? Sure, he and Alyssa were about to surprise Russ and his mom with their news, but Russ didn’t know that yet.
It almost seemed like he did, though, when he said, “I’m sure it will be.”
His mom interrupted them then, coming to hug Bentley, leaving Russ to go to Alyssa. “How is everything, darling? I hope everything’s going well? Is there anything we need to talk about?”
As Bentley hugged her back and kissed her cheek, his heart was pounding. It must be the guilt, but the way she was talking – the way Russ had talked, for that matter – made it sound as though they already knew, as though they were waiting for him to confess.
