“It does, I—”

“Forget it,” he said and began rifling through some open food containers on the counter.

“Why is there enough tension in here to give me a headache?” Cora asked, coming in behind Lanie.

Lanie jumped and opened her mouth to explain, before realizing her boss was talking to her son.

Mark snorted and grabbed a box of Frosted Flakes cereal before striding out of the room without calling Lanie out for being the rude one.

Cora watched him go, pensive. “Sometimes I forget he’s still adjusting to civilian life.” She turned to face Lanie. “I’m not going to apologize for him because he’s been through hell and back. Several times. I know his heart is in the right place so instead, I’m going to ask you for understanding and compassion to see past his alpha asshole-ness.”

“You don’t have to ask me for anything of the sort,” Lanie said. “It wasn’t what you think.”

Cora wasn’t ready to let it go. “He did three tours of duty. He’s only thirty-two, but can you imagine the things he’s seen and done?” She took a deep, shuddery breath and her eyes went suspiciously shiny. “It’s awful what we as a country ask of our men and women who serve. But we do ask, and they answer. Mark was good at what he did, very good. He’d just been promoted when his wife of four years took off.” Her lips tightened. “Just up and vanished on her babies. That was nearly a year ago now. He took the deputy sheriff position because he is who he is, but it’s not the same as what he was doing, and it’s certainly not what he wanted.”

Lanie’s heart hurt for them. After all, she knew a little bit about being betrayed. “That’s awful.”

“Turned out, Brittney thought being a mom was too hard. She’s living in some ashram in Australia finding herself these days, letting the universe fill her cup.” She shook her head. “He won’t thank me for telling you any of this, but I wanted you to understand.”

“I do.”

Cora gave her a small smile. “I know what we look like, from the outside looking in. Busybodies, noisy, stubborn, the entire lot of us. But we’re more too.”

Lanie nodded. “I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

Cora smiled. “Is your family big and intruding too?”

“Actually, no.”

“So they’re not crazy.”

“Well, I didn’t say that,” Lanie said. Her amusement faded. “It’s just my parents, and we’re . . . estranged.” Except it wasn’t anything as concrete as that, really. Her parents were . . . remote, too focused on themselves and their careers and always had been. A child hadn’t changed that—in fact, according to her mom, it’d only made things worse. Not a surprise, given the circumstances. “So, big and intruding and nosy or whatever you want to call yourselves,” she said, “at least you’re all connected by blood and stay close and that’s . . . amazing to me.” She paused. “And maybe also baffling. And a little scary to boot.”

Cora’s smile reached her eyes and warmed them as she took Lanie’s hand. “There’s one more thing you should know.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s not blood that connects us. Which means you’re a part of us now.” And then, leaving Lanie speechless, she proceeded to make the most wonderful crepes she’d ever had in less than fifteen minutes—and bacon!—after which they worked at the kitchen table for hours, poring over what Lanie had so far.

Work and family. Family and work. It was all the same here, and that was just beginning to sink in.

Chapter 6

The human body is 90 percent water, so basically we’re all just cucumbers with anxiety.

Over the next week, Lanie learned something about herself that she’d not paid any attention to in the past. She liked her work, a lot. But something odd was happening to her resolve of remaining emotionally distant.

She found herself sucked into the daily life of this beautiful place. And not just with the twins either, although they spent a lot of time underfoot. Literally. They loved Lanie’s shoes—one of her vices—so they were constantly coming in after school to see which pair she was wearing that day, waiting to try them on. Lanie had actually brought in two spare sets to her desk today so the twins could each wear a pair at the same time, although she’d had to chase Gracie away from stealing them—twice. She’d finally gone back to her cottage for a pair of her old sneakers and given them to the dog.

Emotionally distant, her ass . . .

The offices were ramping up for the upcoming tourist and wedding season, and everyone was working hard. Uncle Jack’s very spoiled teenage twin grandkids were working as office assistants and Mia had them running ragged, as she was overworked herself. When they complained that she was being mean, Mia brought Holden into the office.

He was a good-looking guy in his early twenties and in his prime, though at the moment he appeared to be done in. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt covered in various stains, was sunburned, and looked like he needed a nap and a burger and not in any particular order. “What can I do for you?” he asked Mia in a polite voice.

Mia looked at her cousins while jabbing a finger at Holden. “There,” she said. “Did you hear that?”

“Yes,” one of them said. “He’s got a southern accent. It’s cute. He’s cute. Twice this week we’ve seen him trying to make friends with River, but she’s mean to him. We wanted to be . . . not mean to him. But Grandpa told us if we tried to date him he’d take away our phones.”

Holden grimaced but didn’t say anything, just looked at Mia, brows raised. Waiting.

Mia shook her head at her cousins in disbelief. “So you’re disrespectful on top of spoiled.” She sighed. “Just like me. But unlike me, you’re not going to take another decade to get things right. Holden is one of our best employees.”

Holden looked a little surprised at this.

“He works his ass off,” Mia said. “He’s been at it since four thirty this morning and he should be off work now, but you know what? I called and he came in to ask me how he could help. That’s pride of workmanship and dedication, and it’s rewarded here. But those rewards have to be earned. Go tell Owen that I sent you out there to scrub barrels.”

They both opened their mouths in protest, but Mia lifted a hand and said, “File your complaints with someone who cares. I’m done with you in these offices today. Come back when you understand hard work.” She waited until they were gone. “I’d pray for strength and patience,” she said to Lanie. “But then I’d need to pray for bail money too.” Then she turned to Holden. “How’s that new truck?”

For the first time he dropped his deadpan expression and grinned, and Lanie saw a glimpse of his personality.

“Fuckin’ rocks,” he said. “I can’t believe your mom and Grandpa got it for me.”

“Our horse wrangler needs a truck for his image.” Mia tossed him a soda from the fridge, and he thanked her and left. When he was gone, Mia said, “He’s a great kid.”