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Her eyes widened. “Oh?”
“You shouldn’t tell her that,” I said as we started walking again.
“I just speak the truth,” Sam said, nuzzling Maggie’s neck with his beard until she giggled and squirmed to get down. She skipped ahead of us when she saw the lights from the B&B illuminating the sidewalk. As we approached, we could hear the crowd inside, talking and laughing.
“This is a great turnout,” Sam said.
“Natalie did well.” Not that I had anything to do with it.
Alice stood between us, touching my shoulder and Sam’s. “It’s your renovation.”
“That’s true, but it was her idea.”
“And Kylie’s. She’s the one who saw the listing and suggested Natalie move here.”
I was grateful for Kylie’s suggestion, but I wondered if Natalie wasn’t just another person on the long list of people who would reject me in the end.
“Kylie? You’re not talking about Kylie Wilde, are you?” Tyler asked as he approached us with his hands stuffed into his jeans. He hadn’t gotten dressed up.
“The one and the same,” Alice said in greeting before she hugged him.
“You ready for this?” Sam asked me.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I didn’t think I’d get any answers tonight, and I wouldn’t press Natalie for any, but we needed to have a conversation soon.
When we approached the front door, Kylie pulled it open. “The Fletcher brothers are here,” she called out. Then her eyes widened when she saw Tyler. “I stand corrected.Allthe Fletcher brothers are here.”
We greeted Kylie as we walked inside. I moved off to the side so that Maggie could go in ahead of me, and Tyler was the last to enter.
Tyler tugged on a strand of Kylie’s hair. “Baby Wilde. Never thought I’d see the day when you came back to town.”
Kylie moved away from his touch, crossing her arms over her chest. “My family lives here.”
“You were never much for family.”
Kylie scowled. “You don’t know anything about me. You were always too busy running with my brothers to notice me.”
I chuckled, throwing an arm around Tyler’s shoulder and squeezing. “Come on, man. Leave Kylie alone. Where can we find Natalie?” I asked Kylie.
“She was in the kitchen the last time I saw her. Good luck getting her alone.” But Kylie’s gaze was on Tyler.
I nodded my thanks and pulled Tyler away from the front door.
When I let him go, I said, “What was that?”
Tyler rubbed his shoulder where I gripped him tight in warning. “What was that for? I was just saying hi.”
“That’s not what you were doing. You were treating her like a little kid.” Even I could see Kylie hadn’t appreciated the “Baby Wilde” comment or the dig about coming home.
Tyler shrugged. “That’s just how it is when we’re together.”
“You mean you act like a shitty teenager again?”
Tyler chuckled. “Something like that.” Then he sobered, a look of vulnerability washing over his expression. “I was just surprised to see her. I’d heard she was back, but I figured she’d be gone before I saw her.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with her. She left her job in Paris and is home for the foreseeable future. Natalie said she’s trying to figure out what to do next.”
“Interesting,” Tyler said, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Growing up, we’d hung out with the Wilde brothers. They were fun, and their ski resort was the perfect playground for rough-and-tumble boys, but we didn’t pay much attention to Kylie. We avoided her and her friends as much as possible.
