Page 23 of Belonging: KT & Lolo (Good Hope: The Next Generation #2)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The late afternoon sun slanted through the kitchen windows, catching dust motes in its path and casting long golden beams across the counters where Eliza chopped vegetables with practiced ease.

Lolo leaned against the island, sipping lemonade, the scent of fresh herbs curling through the air.

“I think you’re chopping that onion with a little too much satisfaction,” Lolo teased, eyeing her sister-in-law.

Eliza glanced up, her expression turning thoughtful. “You seem different.”

Lolo lifted a brow. “Different how?”

“Softer.” Eliza wiped her hands on a towel and leaned in. “In a good way. Like you’ve stopped holding your breath.”

Lolo tried for nonchalance. “Must be all the fresh air.”

“Mm-hmm.” Eliza’s eyes sparkled. “Or maybe a certain artist with brooding eyes and extremely distracting forearms?”

Lolo stirred the lemonade with the spoon still in the pitcher. “Maybe.”

“You’ve got that look,” Eliza said.

“What look? ”

“The one people get when they’re trying not to fall…but the ground’s already gone.”

Lolo didn’t deny it. She just stood there, heart quiet but full. “I really like him.”

Just then, Kyle stepped into the kitchen, glancing between them. “Talking about KT?”

“Who else?” Lolo teased.

“It feels like things are moving fast,” Kyle said, pulling a beer out of the fridge.

“They are.” Lolo met her brother’s gaze without flinching. “But it also feels real.”

“I like him,” Kyle said, pausing a beat. “But?—”

“There it is,” Lolo said. “The but.”

Kyle gave a sheepish smile. “You just got out of something pretty rough with Jared. I just don’t want you rushing into something new before you’ve had time to breathe.”

“I appreciate that,” she said quietly. “But I’m okay. Better than okay. I’m not rushing. This just feels…easy.”

Several seconds passed before Kyle nodded. “Okay, then. Clearly, my unsolicited big-brother wisdom is not required. Time to go wrangle the grill.”

As the screen door creaked and snapped shut behind him, Eliza shot Lolo a fond smile. “He means well.”

“I know.” Lolo glanced at the clock. “They should be here soon.”

She smoothed her hand over her curls and took a steadying breath. “I always look forward to seeing KT. I miss him when he’s not around. That probably sounds ridiculous.”

“Not even a little,” Eliza said softly.

“Kyle’s right. We haven’t known each other long. But what we’ve found…it feels right.” Lolo’s voice grew quieter. “He feels it, too. I know he does.”

Eliza reached across the counter and touched her hand. “I understand. For now, I think you’re both exactly where you’re meant to be.”

Once KT’s mother married former NFL star Krew Slattery, everything changed. He and his brothers had gone from sharing a cramped two-bedroom home to sprawling out in rooms of their own. More space than he’d ever imagined.

Neither he nor Braxton had taken it for granted. These days, KT had his own place in Brooklyn—modest but spacious enough to serve as both a home and a studio. He’d bought it at the right time. After five years, the increase in value still stunned him.

Kyle and Eliza’s house, though—that was something else entirely. A three-story, eight-bedroom brick beauty, passed down through Eliza’s family since the early 1900s. With its massive front porch and beveled-glass windows, it turned every head that passed by.

Braxton let out a low whistle as they stepped up to the door. “Can you imagine polishing all that glass?”

KT laughed. “Remember how Axl used to press his sticky hands all over the front door?”

“What I remember,” Braxton said, grinning, “is how he’d eat Cheerios straight from the box and leave a trail of them everywhere.”

“Ah, the good old days,” KT said with a chuckle. He pressed the doorbell, and a rich chime echoed from deep within the house.

The door opened to reveal Kyle and Eliza’s son, Austin. With his mother’s dark hair and his dad’s electric-blue eyes, he was the perfect mix of both parents.

“Enter,” he said dramatically, offering a deep bow.

KT smiled. “Good to see you, Austin. This is my brother Braxton. ”

“I’ve heard of you,” Austin said with mock importance.

“I thought you were supposed to be at play practice,” KT said.

“I am.” Austin puffed up, his voice dropping into a theatrical baritone. “But I couldn’t leave without making an entrance.”

He turned to KT with a gleam in his eye. “Loved that Christmas cup design. It was sick.”

“Thanks,” KT said, warmth spreading in his chest. That campaign had been one of the few corporate projects that had actually felt worthwhile.

“Later!” Austin waved and was halfway out the door before calling over his shoulder, “Mooooom! KT and Braxton are here!”

As his footsteps faded, KT took in the grand entryway—polished wood floors, a gleaming staircase and a front parlor filled with antique furnishings and a fireplace flanked by Persian rugs. It was elegant but still felt lived in.

Moments later, Eliza and Lolo appeared.

“We didn’t hear you pull in,” Lolo said, her eyes meeting KT’s and holding there for a beat longer than necessary.

“Excuse my son for yelling,” Eliza said, her smile easy and warm. Though her dark hair was streaked with gray, KT didn’t think it aged her—if anything, it gave her more presence.

“Kyle’s out back playing grill master,” she added, motioning them through the house. “He claims it’s a science.”

Kyle lived up to his grill-master reputation, serving up buffalo burgers cooked to perfection.

“How long are you staying in Good Hope?” Eliza asked Braxton.

“I’m not sure,” he said.

“All summer for me,” KT said. “The city gets unbearable this time of year. I like the quiet here.”

“Quiet until I moved in next door,” Lolo teased.

“I like having you close,” KT said, then glanced at Kyle. “She adds sparkle.”

“She always has,” Kyle said, eyes soft .

“Oh, c’mon, big brother,” Lolo teased. “I was a brat when I came to stay with you.”

“You were hurting,” Eliza said gently. “You weren’t a brat.”

“You were all so kind. You made a hard time better.” Lolo smiled at her brother before reaching over to squeeze Eliza’s hand.

Then, turning to the others, she said, “And I will be forever grateful to Marigold Rallis. She took one look at my chaotic curls and worked her magic.”

KT smiled, though in his memory, Lolo’s hair had always looked perfect.

“What do you think of the statue?” Eliza asked.

“It’s a beautiful tribute to Katherine,” Lolo said, her voice hitching slightly. “Though I doubt she’d approve of the cost. I miss her. And Ruby. And Gladys. You can’t think of one without the others.”

“You’ve both seen it, right?” Eliza asked KT and Braxton.

“Gladys always looks like she’s judging me,” KT said with a laugh. “Like I’m not standing up straight enough.”

“Sounds like her,” Eliza agreed.

“I tossed in a coin,” Braxton said.

“Did you make a wish?” Kyle asked.

Eliza jumped in before he could answer. “We were the first to toss coins in, Kyle and I. No wishes that time, just tradition.”

“But after the rumors about love wishes started…” Kyle added.

“We went back,” Eliza said with a wink. “This time, we wished.”

“I did it once,” Braxton said, holding up a hand. “Not doing it again.”

“I tossed one in when I got here,” Lolo said. “But I’m not telling what I wished for.”

All eyes turned to KT.

“I’ll get around to it one of these days,” he said, smiling .

“No urgent wish tonight?” Eliza teased.

“Not tonight.”

“Perfect,” Eliza said, pushing her chair back. “Because I have after-dinner entertainment planned for the five of us.”

KT raised a brow.

Eliza grinned. “Have you ever played Sketch & Guess?”

Once the plates were cleared and drinks refreshed, Eliza returned to the table, holding a mixing bowl full of folded slips of paper.

“All right,” she said. “Time for a little post-dinner fun.”

KT exchanged a glance with Lolo.

She smiled. “It’ll be fun.”

“I live for family game night,” Eliza said, setting down the bowl.

“Lolo and I dreamed this up earlier. Simple rules. We split into two teams, one person sketches a word from the bowl, and the other team guesses. Sixty seconds. To make it fair,” she pulled out two blindfolds, “artists have to draw blindfolded.”

Braxton let out a low whistle. “Now it’s a competition.”

“Let’s go.” Kyle clapped his hands together.

“Not so fast. We have to figure out the teams,” Eliza said. “Lolo and KT need to be on opposite teams.”

“How about me, Lolo and Braxton against you and KT?” Kyle suggested. “That seems fair.”

Eliza thought for a moment, then nodded.

KT drew first. He unfolded the paper and groaned. “This feels like a trap.”

“Blindfold, then draw,” Lolo instructed.

After handing the paper to Eliza, KT made a few confident lines, then promptly added a series of confused scribbles.

“An elephant!” Braxton shouted. “See the trunk?”

“No, no, a wedding cake?” Kyle squinted .

“A goat?” Lolo said tentatively.

“Time’s up,” Eliza announced. “It’s obviously a mermaid.”

KT removed the blindfold, scowling at his masterpiece. “She looks like she’s midelectrocution.”

Lolo tried to stifle a laugh and failed.

“Your turn, Lolo,” Eliza gestured.

She pulled a card from the bowl, glanced at it, then handed it to Kyle, who showed it to Braxton. Tying the blindfold over her eyes, she took a steadying breath.

“You got this,” Kyle told her.

She began drawing, hesitant at first. Then faster. Curved lines, then angles.

“Bow tie?” Eliza guessed.

“Guitar,” KT called out. “It’s a guitar!”

Lolo yanked off the blindfold, flung her arms around him and kissed him on the mouth. “Yes. It’s a guitar.”

He grinned and kissed her back.

The game continued, full of ridiculous guesses, unexpected artistic flourishes and laughter that spilled into the kitchen.

Eventually, Eliza tallied up the final score. “Victory goes to…Lolo, Kyle and Braxton.”

KT groaned. “I demand a rematch—with sight.”

Braxton held up his brother’s mermaid sketch. “I’m going to frame this.”

Lolo leaned over and bumped her shoulder against KT’s. “We had three on our team. You only had two. You were robbed.”

KT looked at her, his eyes warm. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

Lolo smiled. The tension between them, still simmering from earlier in the day, had softened into something quieter. Something deeper.

The air still held a charge, but it was no longer urgent—it was a promise, low and steady, waiting for the right moment.

Whenever it came, she’d be ready.

Later, as the others lingered in the kitchen, Lolo stepped outside, needing a breath of cool air. The stars were just beginning to appear, the sky tinged lavender at the edges. The scent of grilled meat and lemon still clung to her skin.

KT joined her a moment later, two glasses of lemonade in hand.

“For the artist who sees guitars in curves,” he said, passing her one.

“For the one who gave a mermaid a bad hair day.” She clinked her glass gently against his. “Cheers.”

They stood quietly for a moment, Braxton’s laughter drifting through the open window, mixing with Kyle’s deeper rumble. Fireflies winked lazily near the edge of the yard, pulsing like heartbeats.

“Today was perfect,” Lolo said softly.

He angled toward her. “Even with the pink mopeds?”

“Especially with the pink mopeds.”

KT’s gaze lingered in the twilight. “You know, if we hadn’t been interrupted by surprise visitors today, I think today—and tonight—would have ended differently.”

Her breath caught. “I’ve thought about that.”

His fingers brushed lightly over hers on the porch railing. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it.”

She turned her hand, lacing her fingers with his. His warmth anchored her, steadied the swirl of emotion building again inside. “Tomorrow, let’s not plan anything. Let’s just?—”

“About that.” He stepped closer, his knuckles grazing her curls. “Braxton and I are headed to Green Bay in the morning to visit some old friends.”

“Oh.” Her heart dipped. “Well, we still have tonight.”

“He’s staying over so we can get an early start. ”

Lolo let out a slow breath, keeping her voice light. “How long will you be gone?”

“Back Saturday.”

“Two days.” She nodded, a little slower this time. “I suppose I can survive that.”

He lowered his forehead to hers, his voice rough with honesty. “Then you’re doing better than me.”

A soft smile curved her lips. She lifted her face and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth—gentle, lingering.

“When you get back,” she whispered, “we’re going to make up for every minute you’re gone.”