Page 55 of Savior
“That one I’ve got, at least.”
“Jack is Livvie’s brother and he’s married to Livvie’s best friend Sofie.”
“Small world,” she murmurs.
“Small town,” I correct with a laugh.
“Ben and Livvie have a son named Cole, who’s the spitting image of Ben. You won’t be able to miss him. And Sofie adopted her two younger brothers, Rafe and Donnie, after her parents passed away.” I glance over. “Got it?”
She bites her lip. “I think so. Is it crazy that I’m nervous?”
“Not at all, but you don’t need to be. They promise not to pester you with questions.”
“And you’re sure they won’t mind that we brought Rocky?”
I pet the big guy behind the ears. “Not at all. They have a big yard and they both have dogs he can play with. They’ll be fine. Plus, if he can handle this brood, then you know he can handle pretty much anything.”
“It’s very nice of you to invite me to spend time with your friends,” she says.
I kiss her knuckles. “It’s important to me that you meet them.”
“Admit it, you want to get me out of the house.”
Grinning, I say, “I never said I didn’t.”
She leans over and kisses me. “Thank you.”
“What’s this?” I joke. “You mean you want to get to know them, too?”
“Well, if they’re important to you, they’re important to me, too, right?” I look over, surprise stealing my words. “I mean, if I haven’t scared you away yet, then I must be stuck with you.”
“Damn right you are,” I say as we pull into the driveway.
She opens the door, and Rocky bounds out with loud barks to join the two little yapping Boston Terriers who spring from the front porch. Livvie and Sofie are already sitting on the steps with their bright orange pumpkins in mid-massacre.
Donnie and Rafe explode from behind them with handfuls of the orange guts and start tossing great globs of it at each other while shouting and laughing. Donnie scrambles around Livvie and Sofie with Rafe following close behind and a little Cole scurries to keep up.
Livvie spots us and her face splits into a huge smile. She and Sofie get to their feet and Livvie comes to Sienna.
“We’re so glad you came!”
Sienna smiles hesitantly. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“Why don’t you bring your pumpkin to the porch? Now that the boys are gone, the fun can really begin.”
Sofie pops up from behind the railing with a handful of ale and a soda for me. “I have refreshments!” she shouts.
“So this is what you mean by carving pumpkins,” I say as I take the soda from her and hand Sienna the ale.
“Oh we’re still going to carve them,” Ben says as he comes out of the house. “It’s just a whole hell of a lot more fun to do when you’re drinking.”
Sienna glances at me, and I give her a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry,” Sofie says. “We won’t corrupt him.”
“Trust me,” Jack adds as he pops the top on his own. “He gets his payback.”
“Yeah,” Sofie chimes in, “you think the cop would be the cool one, but no. If you get drunk around him, just make sure there aren’t any working cameras.”