Page 27 of Roundabout

“But you didn’t. We checked.” She motions between herself and Bentlee. “We looked up your location and saw exactly where you went—my father-in-law’s. We figured it was only a matter of time before you went back for those girls and we weren’t about to miss it.”

Bentlee lifts the bag in her hold. “I even bought lice treatment. Just in case.”

I’m not surprised Rebel told her bonus mom about the Fall Fest. I didn’t tell her not to. And I guess I shouldn’t be surprised Bentlee and Paige figured out what I was doing on their own. We agreed to share our locations with each other years ago, when we all started taking turns carpooling each other’s kids around. But I didn’t expect…this—their unwavering support without fully knowing what I was up to.

“That is what you’re doing, right? Getting Brit and Kya back?”

“Yeah. We just finished.” I glance back at the building, wondering how much longer Nora’s planning on dragging this out. The sooner I can get the girls out of that house and into mine, the sooner I can tell Coty everything. Now that the wives know, it’s only a matter of time before their husbands do too, and I want to be the one to break the news to Coty.

We have a lot to discuss.

Paige shrugs. “We always show up for each other when our family grows.”

“And we know you’d never ask us to, which is why we did it on our own.” Bentlee takes a deep breath and gestures behind me. “I remember how hard this was for me when I went through it with Shawn. Mediation with him felt like selling my soul to the lowest, least-deserving bidder. And from everything you told us about Nora, well, we just wanted to be here for you.”

“You were there for me when the twins were born. Left straight from work the day my water broke, then didn’t leave my side for three weeks after I gave birth. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Paige’s eyes grow watery, and I feel my own start to blur, too.

“Yes, you could’ve.”

“You took Hunter for us when I went into labor with Blaze. You even brought him to the hospital at three o’clock in the morning just so he could be the first to meet his sister. Of course we’d be here to help you.”

“Thank you,” I whisper through the tears streaming down my lips.

All three of us chuckle as we wipe at our own faces.

“I thought you had Jace today,” I say to Bentlee. Coty was supposed to drop him off to her before work.

“I do.” She nods. “Or…I did. Karina’s watching him right now.”

“Oh, and I got us lunch,” Paige says as she motions at her SUV. “That was before I knew the other two were coming though.”

I look between my friends. “The other two?”

“I told you we beat them here. I caught sight of Marc in my rearview and floored it.”

“Same. Beckett was trailing me up until a few miles back when I lost him.” Paige laughs like this is a game.

Who am I kidding? To that couple, everything’s a game.

“I didn’t tell the boys.”

“Then Coty must’ve. Where is he, by the way?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t tell any of the boys.”

They stop to consider each other, then me.

“They’re on their way here.”

The telltale sound of motorcycles, three to be exact, fills the air.

No, they’re already here.

CHAPTER 8

Angela

Turning, we watch as one after another, Coty, Marc, and Beckett, file in on their crotch rockets, filling the rest of the parking lot with their loud machines and their even louder assessments sweeping over each of us.