Page 103 of Hideaway Heart

“Thanks. I just bought it last spring. I’m not sure it feels like home yet.”

“Sometimes that takes a while. Where should I park?”

“You can pull up by the front door. Jess will return the van, and I have cars you can use while you’re here.” She unbuckled her seatbelt as I put the van in park. But even after I turned off the engine, she stayed in the passenger seat, making no move to get out. She just stared out the window at her big, beautiful house.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I just don’t really want to go in.”

“How come?”

“I can’t even put a finger on it, really. Maybe it’s just the whole going back to real life after being on vacation. Having to deal with people day in, day out.” She looked at me. “I miss the cabin already.”

I laughed. “I bet once you get inside this house, you won’t miss it. You probably have at least four bedrooms—”

“Five.”

“And five bathrooms too.”

She smiled. “Six, actually.”

“See? How about a kitchen table?”

“Yeah.”

“And air conditioning.”

“That too.”

“And I bet you’ve even got a swimming pool. A grand piano. A fucking library.”

She nodded. “Check, check, check.”

“You won’t miss that cabin, Kelly.”

“Maybe you’re right. I do like my piano.” She took my hand. “I guess I’ll just miss our time together.”

My heart tripped over its next few beats. “Me too.”

She kept looking at our hands. “Xander, I—”

“There you are!” A woman appeared in the front door of the house. “I’ve been frantically worried about you on the road all day!”

Kelly sighed, taking her hand from mine. “Come on. Time to meet my mother.”

* * *

That night, we had dinner at the dining room table with her parents and her business manager, Wags. As we ate the chef-prepared meal, I mostly stayed quiet, observing the others.

Kelly’s mom, Julia, was probably over fifty, but she had tight, clear skin that looked as if she rarely saw the sun and often saw the dermatologist. Looking at her, it was obvious where Kelly had gotten the fair complexion, red hair, and emerald eyes. But after meeting her dad, Connor, I saw where she’d gotten her full-lipped smile, the grit in her voice, and the gift of charming anyone she spoke to. He was exactly as she’d described him to me—handsome, outspoken, charismatic, with a firm handshake and a genuine good-old-boy grin that made him look younger than his age, which Kelly had told me was fifty-six.

I’d been prepared to dislike him but found it difficult at first, to be honest. He was good with words and had a quick wit, bantering back and forth with his wife, his daughter, her manager, even me. He didn’t try to dominate the conversation like a lot of men would. He didn’t seem interested in trying to prove he was the alpha at the table. He was easygoing and laidback, and when he asked you a question, he had a way of making eye contact as you answered that made you feel like he was really listening. Still, I knew what I knew, and I didn’t trust him.

Wags, Kelly’s manager, seemed like a good guy, sort of a second father figure. He wasn’t charming like Kelly’s dad, but he seemed solid and steady. My gut said he was a good guy.

“So you had a good trip, peanut?” Connor asked his daughter.

“Yes.” Kelly took a sip of her water. “I wouldn’t have cut it short if it wasn’t for the awards show performance.”