Still, the dichotomy between the insanity of his work life—which most days meant slugging through the worst of what humanity had to offer—and then coming home and having to empty the dishwasher and braid the girls’ hair like a normal person, when he felt anything but normal, was harder than he’d imagined.

But it was what he’d been dealt.

Today, on his way into lunch, his mom waylaid him before he made it out to the patio.

“I asked Lanie to extend her contract,” she told him.

“You did? When?”

“Two weeks ago.”

“You didn’t think to mention it?”

“Why would I?” she asked, cocking her head to watch him carefully. “You’ve denied the fact that there’s something going on with you two, and I run the winery, which makes her my responsibility, not yours.”

True enough. “And she said . . . ?”

“That she’d think about it.” His mom looked worried. “You do realize she’s been here six weeks already and only has a few weeks left, right?”

Mark blew out a breath and stepped out onto the patio.

Everyone was there. Everyone was always there at two very full tables. Lanie, as usual, sat all the way at the far end. River was with her. River looked up and met his gaze, her own quickly skittering away, also as usual.

She’d been here five weeks now, and everyone loved and adored her, and . . . she’d not said one word directly to him. When he talked to her, everything about her stilled, and she looked anywhere else, as if she was desperate for him to go away. He had no idea if it was because he was male, or because he was a cop.

Lanie didn’t look at him at all. About six hours ago, he’d had his mouth on every inch of her body—and vice versa—and yet apparently they were only nighttime bed buddies now.

Because you told her this was all you had to offer.

Yeah, this was all on him. He tried to catch her eye and flash her a reassuring smile, but she didn’t notice him.

Or pretended not to.

He grabbed a plate and went to her end of the table. Samantha and Sierra saw him and went nuts, climbing all over him. He went through their routine of hanging them upside down off his shoulders and tossing them around for a minute before setting them back at their seats, both grinning happily from ear to ear. Nice to have someone always happy to see him.

“They light up when you come home,” his mom said, handing him an iced tea.

It was funny to him that he’d come from this big, crazy family where he’d spent most of his growing up years just wishing for a space of his own where his sisters couldn’t hound him or steal his shit. He’d never imagined a family of his own, but Sam and Sierra had come along and he wouldn’t change that for anything.

He felt his chest tighten at the thought of ever walking away from these two little crazy pods of life that were more important than anything. He knew he’d step in front of a bullet for them, he’d do whatever it took to give them the life they deserved.

He glanced at Lanie, who was still doing a bang-up job of ignoring him, and felt another tug on his heart. She was becoming important too.

“Daddy?” Samantha was standing in her chair because she always stood when she could sit, just as she always ran when she could walk. “You going to sleep in your room tonight or in Lanie’s again?”

Everyone froze, and he did mean everyone, some with utensils halfway to their mouths, which were all gaping wide open in collective shock.

“’Cuz we’re not allowed to have sleepovers on school nights, remember?” Sam asked. “Makes people tired.” She caught Mark’s expression. “And grumpy.”

Lanie had frozen with everyone else. River reached for her hand.

Shockingly, it was Mark’s pesky little sister who came to his rescue. Mia smiled at Samantha. “You mean when we had the power outage and Lanie borrowed your dad’s bedroom. But that was only for that one night, pumpkin. Hey, did everyone try my lemon bars? Because honestly, I’m thinking of marrying them and having their babies. I mean, I’ve already given up on men anyway, so—”

“No, I mean all the nights,” Samantha said. She smiled at Mark. “You and Lanie have sleepovers. Right, Daddy?”

“Seems like a certain two little someones are night-wandering again,” Cora said, her smile a little forced as she stood up and gathered some dishes to clear. “And since you’ve been naughty and not following the rules on top of telling fibs, you can make it up to us grown-ups by helping me clear the table.”

“It’s not a fib, Grandma,” Samantha said. “Daddy, tell her.”

He loved this child. He did. He loved her to the moon and back, but at the moment he wouldn’t have minded having two mute twins. He met her warm chocolate gaze and had to sigh. He wouldn’t lie to her, but even if he could, he’d never do that to Lanie, because he had the feeling that denying what was going on would hurt her far worse than just admitting it. “You’ve been snooping,” he said. “Which is a big no-no. But you’re not lying.”

Sam had the good grace to look slightly ashamed. “Sometimes I get thirsty.”

Uh-huh. He stood. Everyone was still staring at him.

And at Lanie.

He hated that for her. “Listen,” he said to the entire bunch. “This has been . . . well, a whole lot of fun today . . .” He walked over to Lanie and pulled her out of her seat. “But we’re out.”

“Where are you taking her?” his mom wanted to know.

“You know, Mom, much as I enjoy a good inquisition, I’ve got to go back to work and I’m not about to leave Lanie out here with the wolves.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” his mom said, affronted. “We don’t blame her for this nonsense.”

“Nope, we blame you,” Mia said. “Men are dicks, all of them.”

He looked at Alyssa, and she shook her head. “Don’t look at me to save you. My silence doesn’t mean I’m on your side. It means your level of stupidity at getting caught by this gang has rendered me speechless.”

Mark blew out a breath and bent a little to see into Lanie’s eyes. “Hey, you okay?”

“Well, of course she is,” his mom said. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

He jabbed a finger at everyone. “This subject is being dropped right now. Everyone get me? No one brings it up when I’m gone, no one even thinks about it, capisce?”

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy,” Sam said, jumping up and down, clapping her hands. “Kiss Lanie good-bye like you do in the mornings!”

Could one actually feel an aneurism coming? He crouched low and gave each of the twins a kiss. “Okay, peanuts, time to give the adults a minute, please.”

They skipped out.

Cora raised a brow. “Reminds me of the time you got caught with a girl in the school locker room,” she said and shook her head. “Straight A’s, in the National Honor Society, and yet in trouble every single day. The principal had me on speed dial.”

Lanie snorted and he slid her a look.

“Having a hard time picturing you as a nerd,” she said.

“Because I wasn’t. I cut classes and smoked weed in the school locker room.”