“Then move back home,” Hazel says simply with a shrug. “Kade’s back now,finally. It’s your turn. Pack up my nephews, leave your prick of a husband, and come home.”
“As easy as our brother made it look,” Gemma murmurs, throat bobbing, “it’s not. I can’t just leave my life, or my husband, and come back to Heart Springs.”
Shay scoffs and drops her elbows to the table, leaning forward. “Why the hell not? He’s a dick. You deserve better.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to snap at them. To tell them it wasn’t easy for Kade to come home at all. I might not have beenthere for every step, but I was there at the beginning—when he was still drowning.
It took every ounce of courage and strength he had to come home, to move into the house he and his dad built together.
And in Aurora’s room, when he opened up…
I swallow hard and down another shot while no one’s looking.
“I came here to forget about Kade and all the words and emotions we let flow between us in the darkness of a quiet, sacred space last night—not to reminisce or contemplate all the ways I fucked up by walking out, when all I wanted to do was run into his arms, kiss his annoyingly handsome face again, and give in to whatever he was offering.”
“Speaking of Kade,” Emmy says. “How’s he doing with everything?”
The whole table quiets and turns her way, so I do too—casual, like I’m not secretly starving for any scrap of information about the man.
Hazel shrugs, circling her finger around the top of her beer bottle. “You know our brother. He doesn’t open up to anyone about anything. He could be ecstatic for all we know, but he keeps that shit locked down.”
Eyes wide, I bite my lip hard enough to draw blood. I had no idea he kept things so close to the chest. My muscles lock up for a split second, worried everyone will turn to me for answers, but they don’t.
And why would they?
For all these women know, I’m just the random social worker who dropped a bomb into Kade’s life, then left it, only to be dragged back in by his mom.
Actually, they might not even know that much, and suddenly, I feel even more on the outside than before.
“When does the baby move in?” Loretta says, brows tight. “What’s her name again?”
“Aurora,” I blurt before I can stop myself. Everyone turns to me, and my cheeks burn from the attention. My mouth is dry when I shrug and murmur, “Her name is Aurora, and she should be with him in a few days.”
And then, she’ll be with him forever.
A smile tugs at my lips, and Hazel catches it, her sharp blue eyes narrowing in suspicion.
The smile vanishes, and I quickly look away, chugging my water like it might wash down whatever just gave me away.
“Her name doesn’t matter,” Shay says with a dismissive click of her tongue. “I don’t know why the fuck he agreed to take that kid.”
“Shay!” Hazel hisses, whipping her attention off me and straight onto her. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
The water slips from my hand but I catch it just in time. I can’t stop the flip of my stomach or the way the bar spins around me, though.
“What?” Shay says, rolling her eyes. “It’s Marlee Parker’s kid.”
“So?” Gemma demands, shoulders back, expression vicious. “Marlee died, bless her soul, and that baby girl has no one else. What would you expect him to do?”
She tips her shoulder. “Don’t know. All I know is that if I were him, I couldn’t stand to be stuck raising the love of my life’s kid. Especially when I didn’t have a hand in making it.”
The alcohol turns in my gut, and acid claws its way up my throat, but I don’t tune them out. If anything, I soak up every word like it’s all the proof I need to steer clear of Kade.
“They broke up well before Aurora was born,” Hazel says, fist tight around the glass bottle. “But…”
Her throat bobs and I gape at her. Surely, she’s not going to agree with this woman.Right?
“Look, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have my concerns,” she continues. “Kade just came back to us. I’m afraid being around ababy who represents everything he lost will send him back into that dark pit he hid away in for so long.”
