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“Hallelujah,” Lana Mae mutters under her breath.
As promised, I pick up the cat as Legs watches me carefully. I clutch Harry to my chest for a split second—trying not to get clawed in the face for my trouble—and, satisfied, Legs disappears to her room.
Lana shakes her head. “I swear, that child will be the death of me. Anyway, good morning.” She lightly pats my arm as she walks by. “How were your fifteen hours at the airport?”
“Unremarkable,” I lie, following her to the kitchen and setting the box of Krispy Kremes on the island. “How was yesterday?”
Lana Mae moves around the kitchen quickly, opening and closing cupboards, spritzing the plants on the windowsill, brushing crumbs into the sink. It’s a tiny duplex with a postage stamp of a yard out back, but Lana’s done wonders to make the place cozy and homey.
“The visit or the party?” she asks.
“Let’s start with the visit.”
My sister shrugs as she pours coffee into a travel mug. “Allegra hated it, as usual. We went to a ridiculously fancy restaurant and she wanted french fries for her birthday treat. But of course, there were no french fries on the menu. On the plus side, though, I only cried once, and it was in the bathroom, where no one could see me.”
“I don’t know why you keep putting yourself through that.”
“They’re her grandparents, Liam.”
“That’s technically only fifty percent correct,” I grunt as I take my annoyance out on a donut, ripping it clean in half before putting a piece in my mouth. It’s still warm, the sugar coating perfectly melted.
“The party was good, though,” Lana adds.
“Wish I’d been there.”
“Me too. I would’ve loved to see you get your face painted like a unicorn.”
She laughs at my horrified expression, then reaches into a drawer and pulls out a pink binder. “Okay, my Uber will be here in five minutes. Everything you need should be in here.” She flips through the pages. “Phone numbers, flight information, schedules. Instructions for the washer and dryer. Contact info for Allegra’s doctor, the address of my hotel—”
“Why would I need your hotel’s address?”
“What if you need to call me?”
“I’d use this handy gadget called a phone.”
Lana purses her lips. “Well, what if the house burns down?”
“It would still be the twenty-first century. Phones would still exist.”
“But what if—”
“Lana,” I cut her off, keeping my voice gentle. I reach out and pat her hand. “We’re gonna be fine. You go and enjoy your course. Learn something, for once.”
A small smile crosses Lana’s lips and she swats my arm. “How is it that a person of so few words always knows just what to say to make me feel better?”
My lips tilt. If only she knew all of thewrongthings I said last night.
“I’m dressed!” Allegra materializes from nowhere. The girl moves soundlessly, her footsteps light as a fairy’s.
I can’t help but smile. She always insists on picking out her own clothes, and today, she’s chosen a floaty white summer dress over a striped pink and purple long-sleeve top, yellow tights, and blue sparkly rainboots.
I’m immediately reminded of Annie and her crazy get-up yesterday. Which leads me to think about Annie in my t-shirt, and…
Seriously, Liam! What is wrong with you?It’s like I’ve never interacted with an attractive human female before. It’s ridiculous.
“Granddad bought me an iPhone for my birthday,” Legs announces.
“An iPhone?” I cock an eyebrow at Lana Mae. “For an eight-year-old?”
