Page 173 of Liberating Lily

His glare turned even more fiery. “No naked dancing, unless it’s just for me.”

“Ew, but not on the dining table, okay?” Beau said. “Save that stuff for the bedroom, will you?”

“My house, my rules,” Alec said. “Mia wants to dance naked on the table for my eyes only. She gets to do that.”

“Oh my God, how did this turn into a thing?” Mia placed her hands over her cheeks. “There are children in the room, you know?”

“Yes, someone cover Beau’s ears,” Jaret drawled.

“You’re just jealous because I still know how to have fun. You’re turning into West.” Beau pointed at Jaret with his fork

“Hey, there are worse things than turning into West,” one of the women said.

“Is there?” Beau drawled. “Is there?”

Suddenly, there was a debate over whether everybody would want to be West or not. The man, who she assumed was West, was the only one not participating, along with Alec. They were both sitting there and eating calmly, as if this was something that happened every day.

Lily leaned into Jaret. “Are your family’s lunches normally like this?”

“Actually, they’re being well-behaved. Must be because you’re here,” Jaret told her.

She waited for him to tell her that he was joking.

But he just started eating again.

All right then.

“You don’t have to eat everything on your plate, Lily,” Alec suddenly said. She glanced over at him. Alec Malone was an intimidating man, tall and broad, quite serious-looking, but when he stared at his wife and kids, there was a softness to his face that was unexpected. “But you do have to eat something.”

All right, sure. She should eat.

She started off slowly with small bites, making sure that she was eating politely. But as she stared around her, she saw that everyone ate with gusto. They didn’t pause. They didn’t chew twenty times. They didn’t lay down their cutlery between each mouthful. The laughter was loud, the talking even louder, but she realized that the whole room was filled with fun and love.

She gradually started to relax. When she became full, she leaned toward Clem again. “You do this every Sunday?”

“Yep. It’s the rules. Alec expects everybody to be here.”

“You really did find an amazing life, Clem. I’m so glad for you.”

Clem glanced over at her. “Sounds to me like you could have an amazing life too, with Harvey.”

Lily shook her head, feeling that wave of sadness rush through her. “No, Harvey’s better off without me.”

Clem just sighed and shook her head. Lily knew that she didn’t agree, but that was okay. She didn’t have to.

Lily knew the truth.

40

“I’ve got to do a run into town to get some more feed,” Clem yelled at Lily. “Do you need anything?”

Lily walked toward her sister who was standing at the entrance with Lamb Chop next to her. That lamb seemed to follow Clem everywhere. If Piggy Wiggy had a crush on Jaret, then Lamb Chop was obsessed with Clem.

“You’re going to get the feed yourself? Doesn’t Jaret usually do that?” Lily asked.

“Yeah, but he’s busy, and I just got the call that our order is ready. He’s out checking for any fences that need repairs after the storm.”

They’d had the most amazing storm last night after lunch at the Malone house. The three of them had sat out on the porch under blankets with hot chocolates and watched the lightning.