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I swallowed hard, and my wobbly smile slipped. The city remembered them for their selfless sacrifice, but I couldn’tforget my parents for a different reason. Their disappointed tone was memorialized in my thoughts every day.

“I have an idea,” Lorna interrupted, her hand anchored my shoulder. “Why don’t we buy these and go get our nails done? Mine need a refresh.”

Her nails didn’t need anything, but I saw the offer for what it was. An escape from this conversation.

I nodded and the triplets had everything wrapped and ready in moments. They took me to a nail place, where Sybil asked. “You don’t like talking about your parents, do you?”

I shook my head. “They didn’t really approve of anything in excess. This would make them have a fit.”

“We wondered about you over the years. We just assumed you were of the same mind. Walden didn’t say much, but he said you have had a difficult few years since they passed.”

I picked out a peach color for my nails, with a soft sparkle and ignored the ache in my chest.

“Something like that.”

“We run PR for the Baylark Pack, and if you want, we’d be happy to talk more about our experiences and what it’s like to have a name like ours. It weighs heavily until you learn how to leverage and balance it,” Beatrice said.

“You’d do that for me?”

Beatrice pulled out her phone and offered it to me.

“Of course. Not because Walden asked me to, either, if that’s what you’re thinking. We didn’t know how hard things had been for you after your parents died. We want to support you. If you’ll let us. You might have felt alone in the last few years, but not anymore, ok? We should have reached out and we’re sorry for it.”

A smile cracked open my face and trickled into my insides.

“Thank you, that means a lot. You have no idea. This dinner is really making me nervous, so anything I can do to prepare would be great,” I admitted.

“It’s kind of wild how you’ve come back into our lives right before the One-Hundred-Year-Gala. Did Walden tell you they’re showcasing some Hartlock antiques?”

Gala?My mouth went dry. “No, they didn’t say anything.”

“Walden also mentioned you spent your heat together. Does that mean you’re joining the pack?” Lorna whispered.

“He did?” I spluttered.

“No.” Beatrice swiped at Lorna this time. “He just took time off work, and he never does that. I mean, never. If there are two things you can count on, it’s Walden in a suit and working overtime.”

I huffed a soft laugh at the thought of Walden’s spreadsheets and the three omegas exchanged looks.

Hopeful, cheeky and warm.

“Does Walden cuddle in a suit? I’ve always been curious. Like when he takes off his clothes, is there just another suit painted on underneath?” Sybil’s lips quirked.

I let out a bark of laughter, my eyes widening in surprise.

“It doesn’t gross you out, thinking about him with someone in that way?”

They let out a chorus of protestations. Beatrice inspected her nails.

“Are you kidding? We’ve been worried Walden was going to keel over from overworking for years. There was a time when we thought—” She cut off to slide the nail technician a look. “You-know-who might curb his tendency to—”

Sybil cut off Beatrice. “Forget to eat, sleep, and enjoy life in the name of the Baylark legacy?”

I hummed. Walden and Pan made no sense on paper, but there was something powerful about the two of them together.The memory of them both during my heat was one I would never forget.

“They’re like oil and water.”

“Fire and ice,” Lorna chimed in.