Page 84 of Undertow

When she pulled back, her eyes were swimming. "Is it really —"

"Yup. Yours. From all of us."

"Dad —"

"It's used."

She laughed, wet and surprised. "I don't care."

"I figured I'd let you wreck this one before we look at anything nicer."

"That is so romantic."

"Manual transmission."

"What."

"You're going to learn to drive a stick shift, kid. Builds character."

"Dad."

He gestured up the stairs. “Blame Wade.”

The big man grinned down at her. “You're welcome."

She hugged her dad again, harder, face pressed to his shoulder. "You're crying."

"I am not."

"You absolutely are."

"Salt air."

She pulled back and looked at him dead-on. "Thank you."

Piper turned, took the steps two at a time, and threw her arms around Wade. He stood still for a moment, like a man being hugged by a weather system, and then — slowly — put one hand on the top of her head. "Don't wreck it," he muttered.

Gabe caught Cara’s eye from across the room. He tilted his head toward the group—the question he’d been holding all day. She nodded. Now.

He stood up. He didn’t clear his throat, didn’t tap a glass. Just stood. “I have an announcement.”

Piper clapped her hands together. “You’re buying me gas for a year?”

He grinned, shaking his head. “Nice try.” He made eye contact with Tom, then Reagan, then Wade, and finally, Piper, who was already leaning forward like a dog who’d heard a treat bag rustle. Cara watched him take a huge inhale, then: “I’m joining the team.”

Silence. The good kind.

Tom spoke first. “About time.”

Reagan nodded once. Cara could already see her friend’s brain clicking over—logistics, protocols, the operational architecture of adding a former federal agent to a group of people who operated on instinct and pastry. Reagan would have a spreadsheet by morning.

Wade looked at Gabe for a long moment. The look of a man measuring another man against a standard nobody else could see. Then he nodded. Once. That was all.

Piper said, “Does this mean you’re going to be at every meeting? Because I have concerns about your effect on the vibe.”

“What vibe?” Wade said.

She rolled her eyes. “Exactly my point.”