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He shrugged and winked before his face turned serious. “Kipton, is this something you really want to do? I don’t want you to think you’re backed into a corner. We can figure out another way to get our heads above water.”
“First of all, I wouldn’t do this if I thought there was something wrong with it. Granted, I’m not looking to go into showbiz, and I told them that. This would be a one-time thing, even though they did offer me the hosting job for future seasons, if it takes off like they think it will. I told them it’s not for me long term. I know how much you want me to keep the house, Dad, for whatever reasons you and Mom have…and I’ll respect that. But in return, I just want you to let me help pay off some of these bills. It will at least pay the lawyer bills, and I hope more.”
I could see it on his face. He didn’t want to admit he needed help, let alone help from his twenty-two-year-old daughter.
“Please, Dad.”
With a frustrated exhale, he finally nodded. “I want you to keep some of that money, though. Put it in your savings.”
I couldn’t help the smile that broke out across my face. “I promise I will.”
He held his arms open, and I threw myself into his embrace. “If this is something you’re sure about, then I’m on board.”
Squeezing him harder, I felt a little bit of the weight of the world lift off my shoulders…and prayed Dad did as well.
Chapter Two
HUNTER
November – Hamilton, MT
“Hunter, is there a reason you’re hovering around the front door?”
Turning, I saw my mother heading down the hallway to the foyer. She wore a navy-blue dress and had her hair pulled into a bun on the top of her head. She looked so beautiful, as usual.
“Mom, you’re breathtaking. You’re going to be the most beautiful woman in the room tonight.”
She smiled. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Your father said nearly the same thing to me only moments ago.”
“It’s the truth,” I stated.
“Kiss-up,” my sister Morgan said, approaching from the same direction as Mom. She must’ve entered through the kitchen. I would know since, like Mom said, I was staking out the front door.
My mother spun around and nearly screamed. “Morgan! Darling, how are you feeling?”
I rolled my eyes. That seemed to be the first thing everyone asked my sister these days, as well as our sister-in-law Georgiana, since they’d told everyone they were pregnant a couple of months ago. Morgan was due May second, and Georgiana on April twenty-ninth. My parents were over the moon. But not as much as Ryan, my sister’s husband, and my older brother, Blayze. Ryan happened to be Blayze’s best friend. They were both excited to be new dads in the near future.
Everyone was also just happy to have Morgan still with us, safe and sound, after she’d been stalked and kidnapped a few short months ago.
“I’m feeling amazing,” Morgan said as she placed a hand over her stomach, where she wasn’t showing yet. Turning to face me, her smile widened. “Are you ready for this, little brother? You’re going to be famous!”
I rolled my eyes once again. “Hardly. It’s a brand-new streaming network that no one knows about.”
“Are you kidding?” Ryan said, joining us. “I’ve seen ads for it all over the place. The local channels are really pushing it.”
“And I saw an ad pop up on Instagram,” Rose said as she breezed through the front door, heading toward the living room.
Turning to my mother, I asked, “Why is Rose here?”
“I told you I was inviting the family.”
“Mom, when you said family, I assumed you meant our immediate family,” I said, pointing at myself, my sister, and her. “Not…the family family.”
Before my mother could say anything, Lily and Bradly entered. “Well, that’s rude.”
My head snapped back to my mother.
She simply shrugged. “Avery, of course, won’t be here.”
