Page 57

“Did you have fun with your uncle?” Avery asks as she swoops Lacy up, kissing all over her face.

“Yes!” My youngest niece is quick to answer.

“What did you girls do?” Dalton asks, taking the seat next to his oldest daughter, who has resumed coloring her butterflies.

“We colored. Jumped on the trampoline. Talked to Uncle River’s girlfriend. And then watched some cartoons.”

My stomach tightens at something she glazed over so casually. Something my brother and his wife certainly did not miss.

“Girlfriend?” Dalton’s gaze finds mine, a thick brow arching in question.

“She’s just a friend.”

“And what is her name? This friend of yours?” Avery asks with a smile on her face.

“Charlotte,” Lyla answers before I can, never looking up from the picture she’s coloring. “She was here with Auntie Lyric before. She has red hair and pretty freckles and she and Uncle River are going to spend the weekend in a hotel.” She glances over at her dad. “What’s a hotel?”

I gape at my oldest niece, way more perceptive than I gave her credit for.

“It’s a place where people stay when they’re on vacation, remember? We stayed there when we went to meet the princesses at Disney.”

“Oh yeah.” She smiles, resuming coloring.

“Can I, uh, talk to you outside?” Dalton’s eyes narrow in on me.

“I’ll get the girls ready,” Avery tells him. I feel her eyes on my back as I follow her husband out onto the front porch.

“Charlotte?” Dalton turns on me the second the door closes between us and the girls.

“She’s just a friend.” The lie comes out too quickly.

“Just a friend...” He lets out a disbelieving snort. “I saw you, you know. The night we were all here for family dinner. The night Charlotte was here visitingoursister.” He gives me a pointed look.

“Saw me do what?” My chest restricts, limiting the amount of air I can pull into my lungs.

“She came out from down the hallway all flushed and distracted. I thought little of it until less than a minute later, you appeared from the same area, also looking flustered and dazed.”

“You never said anything.” I work my jaw in irritation at my carelessness.

“Because I wasn’t sure.” He shakes his head slowly. “River, tell me you aren’t sleeping with one of ourlittlesister’s best friends.”

“I’m not.”

“You’ve always been a shit liar.” He runs his hand through his hair, exhaling a deep breath.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Does Lyric know?” He cuts me off before I can complete the lie.

I deflate, realizing I’ve been caught and no matter how much I lie, Dalton is going to see right through it. He’s always been good at snuffing out my bullshit.

“No,” I finally admit.

“But youaresleeping with her?”

“Yes.” It’s my turn to blow out a hard breath.

“And you think that’s not going to blow up in your face at some point?”