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Harper mumbles, “Well, don’t let Wayne eat too much sugar.”
“I’ll remember that,” I reply, remaining vague just to mess with her.
My snotty vibe has less to do with Wynonna’s warnings and more about how Harper made that “bastard” dig at Eagle. If this woman dropped dead tomorrow, I wouldn’t feel a bit sad.
“I’m unfamiliar with McMurdo Valley’s various neighborhoods,” I say, unable to stop my troublemaking ways. “Having visited June’s place first, I find your home very quaint.”
“Quaint, huh?”
“Yours is the kind of home I grew up in before I was hired by the Rogers family.”
Harper’s left eye twitches as she holds her tongue. She thinks I’m starting shit but can’t really point at any insults. I just smile as if I’ve given her a lovely compliment.
Eagle doesn’t get what’s happening and assumes Harper’s causing trouble.
“We need to go. Wayne will be back in a few hours.”
I smile once more at Harper, just to let her wonder before I climb into the SUV to find Wayne bouncing in his seat.
“I had to listen to my sisters talk about boy troubles all morning,” he says and sighs loudly. “So much drama.”
Eagle starts the car and smiles at me. “I guess there were some benefits to being older and stuck in the basement. I never needed to sit through that shit.”
“Lucky,” Wayne announces. “I asked if I could move to the basement bedroom, and my mom went whiny. She wouldn’t shut up until I said I was kidding. My dad claims I can move down there when I’m a teenager. That just made her crazy again. So much drama.”
Eagle studies me to see if I’m bothered by his nephew’s nonstop mouth. I smile at him, already imagining us one day picking up the kids to spend the weekend at our place.
“I’m going to be the fun aunt,” I whisper to him when he kisses me at a light.
Eagle wears a satisfied grin for the rest of the drive to Gretchen’s place.
Though the three sisters share a zip code, their homes somehow feel like they belong to different towns. June’s was older, dating back to when this town was built. Harper’s home was newer and nicer, yet more cookie cutter with all the matching houses up and down the street. Gretchen’s place is in a subdivision filled with ranch-style homes. I’d guess this neighborhood was around twenty years older than Harper’s.
A block from Gretchen’s house, Eagle waves at two older women.
“That’s Yazmin and Selene’s grandma. The redhead is Patrice’s wife, Cheryl. This is a good neighborhood despite my sister living here.”
Wayne snorts at something. Based on his expression, he isn’t listening to us. Wayne does perk up when two kids run out of a house.
The girl must be Diva, considering she looks like Eagle’s mom. The boy is Rocket. I laughed when Eagle told me their names, thinking he was joking.
A woman walks out of the house, talking on the phone while she gestures for Eagle to wait. She stops three times on her way down the driveway. Once the kids are in the back seat, Eagle peels down the road.
I glance back to see his sister flipping us off. The kids laugh before all three focus on me.
“You’re Eagle’s girlfriend,” Diva says in a weirdly romantic-like voice. “You’re having his baby.”
“I remember you from our texts.”
Diva’s eyes light up as if I might have forgotten. Rocket gives me a big grin, showing off his missing front teeth.
I’d been worried about spending time around kids. At Thanksgiving, Landry’s little ones brought up painful memories. However, I don’t suffer the same rising grief with these three.
Able to relax, I enjoy the afternoon at Big Bert’s Burgers. Eagle makes sure to order a hot dog for me to try.
“Irina’s never once had a hot dog,” he tells the kids who look at me like I’m an alien visiting their planet.
“How?” Diva asks.
