Page 106 of What Started In Deception

She laughed as she looked at him, entirely content with life. Or mostly anyway. “Did you hear anything from your contact agent today?” Because yesterday’s conversation had been on her mind since the moment she woke up this morning. It was only now that she was getting the chance to ask him about it.

He shook his head. “Unless something pops up, I probably won’t. At least not for a couple of days.”

“So, they probably don’t know when you’re leaving, then?”

He shook his head. “It’s really hard to say.”

She nodded, not loving that a group of higher-ups in the FBI had so much control over Ty’s life.

“Are you going to miss me, Lyd?”

She shrugged. “Maybe. But probably not.”

They grinned at each other.

She let her head rest against him again. “Where will you go when you leave?”

“Back to DC. Back to bank robberies until the next undercover op comes along.”

“And that will be in DC, too?”

He shook his head. “Not necessarily. Ops can take place pretty much anywhere. Sometimes even overseas. It all depends on the needs of the case.”

“And you’ll be gone for a while?”

He shrugged. “Probably. The official policy is that undercover operations are supposed to be wrapped up within a six-month time frame—a year at the most—but there have been instances where ops have lasted two, three, and even four and five years.”

She struggled to keep her mood light as her hopes that they would be able to stay friends and get together on occasion quickly faded. “Oh.”

“It’s always up in the air until it isn’t,” he added.

She nodded, not wanting to talk about Ty’s real life anymore. “I think I’m in the mood for some ice cream.”

He looked at her. “Do we need to go to the store?”

She shook her head. “I know that Mac keeps a stash of her favorite flavor in the freezer. Chocolate Madness.”

He raised his brow. “That sounds intense.”

She laughed as they climbed the steps to the property. “They make it here locally. It’s full of all kinds of amazing things: chocolate ice cream, thick, fudgy swirls, brownie chunks, and tons of chocolate chips.”

“Are you going to be able to sleep after you eat all that?”

She grinned as she shrugged. “I guess we’ll see.”

“You can count me in for a couple of scoops. We’ll be toked up on sugar and caffeine together.”

She laughed again as they moved closer to the main house, but she stopped dead when she heard the raised voices coming through the open kitchen windows.

“You’re never here. When you’re not in Boston, which is most of the time, you’re always on your phone. Always, Will.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is. You barely pay attention to the kids. You barely pay attention to me. These past few days with your family at home are the most checked-in that you’ve been in weeks.”

Lydia swallowed as she held Ty’s gaze in the shadows, shocked by what she was hearing. She turned to leave, pulling on Ty’s hand to follow, wanting to give Will and Mac their privacy, but Ty stopped her with a firm grab to her wrist as he shook his head, taking several careful steps closer to the edge of the window.

“Everly’s still regressing,” Mac said next. “She’s still having a hard time adjusting to Maverick being here. Both of the kids need individualized attention, but I can’t do it all. I need help.”