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I immediately decide I like her.
“Did you hear what Mylene did last week?” Autumn asks her. “Poured concrete down Eileen’s drain pipe.”
Sadie winces. “Yeah. She was banned from the hardware store for three days. Tried to claim it was an ‘accidental mispour’.”
Autumn shakes her head. “Honestly, it’s like living in a geriatric version ofThe Godfather.”
Sadie lifts her coffee cup in salute. “Welcome to Liberty.”
Yeah, she fits right in.
Autumn sighs. “Okay then, change of plan. Let’s go to The Salty Dog before I start weeping openly. Skyler might not have muffins, but at least she has coffee.” She looks at Sadie. “You want to join us?”
Sadie sighs. “I’m waiting on a delivery. Drink some extra for me.” She gives us a wave and goes back in the shop.
“She seems nice,” I say to Autumn.
“She’s lovely,” Autumn agrees. “I keep trying to set her up on dates but she says she’s sworn off men.”
“I don’t blame her,” I say, thinking about West and my annoyance with him.
We head down the hill and follow the little path to Liberty’s one and only beach bar.
The Salty Dog sits at the edge of the sand, its sign swinging in the breeze. The scent of coffee and sea air wafts from the open doors.
Inside, Skyler – our sister-in-law and the only woman I know who can control Hudson – is behind the bar, baby Milo on one hip an espresso shot in the other.
She inherited the place from her dad, and somewhere along the way discovered Jesse, ferryman by day, bartender by night, is actually her half-brother. And now they run the place together.
She gives me a huge grin when she sees me.
“The prodigal sister is back! Come here.” She rushes toward me, managing to give me a big hug without squashing the baby. I lean down to tickle Milo’s cheeks. God, he’s an adorable baby.
“He looks like you,” I tell her as Milo gurgles happily at me.
“Don’t tell Hudson that. He swears he’s his doppelgänger.”
I lean closer to my nephew. “Ignore your daddy,” I tell him. “You don’t look like an ogre at all.”
Skyler coughs out a laugh. “I hear you’re staying for a while.”
“She’s going to be here for the birth,” Autumn tells her, touching her own stomach. And I realize I’m pretty much surrounded by babies.
Which is why I nearly jump for joy when I spot my other sister-in-law, Francie in the corner. Headphones on, hair in a messy knot, fingers flying across her keyboard like she’s possessed by a horny literary demon.
Francie is married to Asher. And she’s a kick ass writer. Which is what she’s doing right now, sitting at an isolated table, headphones on, her eyes trained on the screen of her laptop.
“Asher’s decided to upgrade the security system at their place,” Skyler says, nodding over at her. “And she’s at a very important place in her manuscript.”
“Does it involve a sex scene?” Autumn asks, running over to where her best friend is typing like a maniac.
Francie glances up as we approach, tugging her headphones down to rest around her neck.
“Hey,” she says, giving us a grin. “Your brother is driving me crazy. He’s recalibrating motion sensors and muttering about server ping rates. I swear, if I hear the word firewall one more time I might set one.” She has a half-eaten cookie on a plate next to her.
Autumn slides into the chair opposite her. “Please tell me that has chocolate in it,” she says, sounding like a woman on the edge.
“It’s yours,” Francie says, pushing it toward her. Autumn takes a huge bite.