Page 2 of Surrendering His Heart (Buena Hills #4)

Voices carried to her from the kitchen when she stepped inside. Intending to join them, she kicked off her flip flops, tossing them onto the bottom step of the staircase leading up to the bedrooms. She paused. It only took a few extra minutes to put them away.

Her room was the first at the top of the stairs.

She placed her flip flops in the shoe rack hanging from her closet door, then crossed to the window and set her bag on the antique wooden chair at her desk.

On her way out, she picked up the pjs she’d somehow forgotten to put away that morning.

Folding them neatly, she set them on top of the dresser.

Satisfied with the cleanliness of her living space, she headed back downstairs and pushed through the swinging kitchen door.

Her brother stood at one side of the center island, a hip resting against the counter, his eight-month-old son in his arms. Their honorary sister, Kendall, sat on a stool on the adjacent side, a textbook open at her elbow.

“You brought Will with you?” Hallie approached them and ran a hand gently over her nephew’s soft, yellow curls. “Hey, Williekins. I haven’t seen you in forever.”

She scooped the infant from her brother’s arms and pressed a kiss to his chubby cheek. Will’s blue eyes twinkled even more than usual, and he offered his aunt a dimpled smile, showing off the tiny tooth poking out of his bottom gum.

“You saw him on Sunday,” Tyler said in feigned annoyance. “How come you never get this excited when it’s just me?”

“Don’t you realize your most important job is to get your son to his aunts?” Kendall asked with her usual snark. “That’s what happens when you have a baby.”

Hallie pulled her attention away from Will only long enough to give her brother an exaggerated nod of agreement.

Tyler chuckled. “I’m beginning to figure that out.”

Technically, Kendall wasn’t related to them, but she’d come to live with the Abernathys at fourteen, making her as much Will’s aunt as Hallie or Elise. And though she swore she didn’t love kids, no one could spend even a few minutes with the baby and not become absolutely smitten.

He was perfection in a squishy, adorable package.

The kitchen’s swinging door burst open, clattering against the counter behind it. Hallie jumped at the sound as her cousin Bridget, known by everyone as Beej, entered the room. Her nostrils flared in a good impression of an angry bull ready to charge.

“That was the worst. date. of. my. life.” She thumped her purse onto the countertop so hard it sounded like an anvil hitting the granite. What did she have in there?

Will squawked from Hallie’s arms, so she handed him back to Tyler before he got too agitated. She lowered herself onto the stool next to Kendall. “What went wrong this time?” Her cousin had been on a string of bad dates since breaking up with her last serious boyfriend almost a year ago.

Beej groaned, dropping onto her own stool. “First, he made fun of my name. What kind of nickname is Beej? Do people call you that because Bridget is an old lady name? Who says that? Then he proceeded to low-key insult me for the next two hours.”

“Why didn’t you leave?” Tyler asked, rubbing Will’s back. The baby settled on his shoulder.

“I couldn’t help being curious about what creative insult he’d throw out next,” she admitted with dry amusement. “I can’t believe he had the audacity to ask me out again. I mean, seriously.”

Kendall’s eyes narrowed. “Please tell me you said no.”

Hallie hoped that as well. Beej’s dating choices were questionable at best.

“Of course I said no. I didn’t actually enjoy being insulted.” Beej shook her head, and her countenance flipped in an instant to something lighter. “Did you figure out your website issue?”

“You’re making a website?” Tyler asked.

Hallie blew an errant strand of blonde hair from her face. “ Attempting to make a website. I can’t seem to get it to work. ”

“My buddy works in tech. He might be able to help you. You’ve met him, actually. Remember Christian?”

“Wasn’t he one of the groomsmen at your wedding?” Kendall touched the side of her head with her fingers. “Light brown hair, kind of broody?”

“That’s him.”

Beej gasped, bolting upright on her stool. “I remember him. He’s cute. If I hadn’t had that thing going with Tim, I would’ve asked for his number.”

Kendall cast her brown-eyed gaze to the ceiling, though her mouth tipped upward. “Of course you would.”

“How come you never invite him to hang out with us?” Beej asked, ignoring the slight. “He’s got to be better than all the losers I’ve gone out with lately.”

Tyler bit his bottom lip, looking visibly uncomfortable with the suggestion. He swayed Will from side to side, lulling the baby to sleep.

“Please don’t go after my friends,” he said finally.

“Why not? Is he married?”

“No.”

Beej tilted her head to one shoulder. “Mysterious. Oh no. He still lives with his mom, doesn’t he? I dated a guy like that once. Never again.”

“He’s probably a serial killer,” Kendall suggested matter-of-factly. “Have you dated one of those?”

“Ha ha.” A broad grin crossed Beej’s face. “Ooooh, I know. What if he tells everyone he’s a computer guy, but he’s really a CIA agent on a secret mission?”

Kendall wagged a finger in her direction. “That’s probably it.”

“Girls.”

Only Hallie noticed Tyler’s attempt to butt in, though she couldn’t resist joining the round of guesses. “What if he’s an alien disguised as a human?”

“I could understand why you wouldn’t want me to get too close.” Beej nodded like the possibility of Christian being from another planet made the most sense. “One kiss and his face might fall right off.”

“Girls!” Tyler called over the raucous laughter erupting from Hallie and Kendall. Will startled, rubbing his eyes with both fists. Tyler dragged his free hand down his face as the three women blinked at him. “ Anyway. I’m planning to see Christian tomorrow. I’ll ask if he has time to help you.”

Hallie drummed her fingers on the countertop, considering her brother’s suggestion. “I don’t know, Ty. I can’t pay him much, if anything at all. That’s why I’m doing it myself. I don’t want him to think I’m just using him for the family connection.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to ask. I’ll let you know what he says.”

“Thanks,” she said, reluctantly agreeing with her brother’s advice. She refused to take advantage of his friend, but she couldn’t deny she’d hit rock bottom in her desperation. And cluelessness. She’d be a fool not to explore every potential avenue. “You’re the best.”

“No problem.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, glancing at the screen. “Gotta go. Gemma’s on her way home.”

His wife worked as a math teacher at the middle school in town.

Bouncing his son a little in his arms, he cooed, “Are you ready to see Mama?”

Will’s gummy grin and responding squeal provided answer enough.

Tyler touched his pointer finger to his temple and flicked it forward in a half salute directed toward the women. “See you guys later.”

Hallie joined the chorus of goodbyes following him out, feeling more hopeful than she had since purchasing her domain. Once she got her website running, she could refocus her efforts on what she did best.

If only her baking skills were all that determined the success of her floundering business.