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“Has she said anything to you?” I ask.
Merritt shakes her head. “No, but there’s been so much going on. It feels like all we did was stand around and hold our breath the whole time you were gone. That and running the bed and breakfast. But yeah—she’s been acting differently. Taking more naps. Eating constantly—” Merritt pauses and shakes her head. “I should have known. I can’t believe she didn’t tell ustoday! But then, tonight is about you. I’m sure she doesn’t want to steal the moment from you and Ben.
“Whatever. We don’t need a moment. We don’t even need a party. I’m tired of things being about me. And I don’t think I can be around her all night without saying anything.”
“Let’s go find her, then,” Merritt says. She picks up the last of the forks, then heads toward the kitchen. I scramble around the bar to follow her. We barrel into the kitchen side by side and freeze when we see Eloise and Jake in an embrace, their foreheads close together. Harriett and Ned are nowhere to be seen, but the ginger ale is sitting on the steel counter.
Lo and Jake turn and see us, and … oh man, is Jakecrying?He smiles widely—a rare sight—then takes Eloise’s face in his hands, kissing her soundly once more.
“Go ahead and tell them,” he says.
Eloise nods and Jake moves past us, wiping his eyes with his shirt sleeve. Instead of stepping around us, my very grumpy brother-in-law wraps his arms around me and Mer and gives us a bone-crushing double hug. He’s laughing when he lets us go and heads back into the bar.
Merritt and I exchange a wide-eyed glance, then look at Eloise who is also laughing, wiping tears from her own eyes. “So, Jake and I are having a baby,” she says. “If you couldn’t guess.”
And then, we’re all wrapped up in a three-way Markham sister hug. One of many in the last forty-eight hours. But this one feels somehow even weightier. I swear, I can almost feel Gran smiling down at us. This is what she always wanted for us.
Probably exactly what she hoped for when she left the three of us her big house with its stipulations that one or more of us live here to fix it up. It took almost two years, but now we’re all here. And though I’m not ready to make a decision yet about leaving Atlanta, I cannot deny the siren’s call Oakley seems to have on me.
Or maybe it’s the call to be near my sisters.
Or Ben.
By the time the three of us make it back to the party, the room is packed full, and people are already lined up, filling their plates with sandwiches and sides.
My eyes immediately pick out German and Daniels, who have plates in hand. German looks slightly less frowny than usual, and I wonder if the magic of Oakley is finally rubbing off on him.
Ned’s big, booming laugh echoes across the bar, and I find him in the corner with Jake. By the look in his eyes, I’m guessing he’s just gotten the news that he’s on his way to having a second grandbaby. Naomi and her now-official boyfriend, Camden, are at a table near the trusty wooden mermaid that welcomes patrons into the bar, Liam between them. Frank is—as always—filming. And Bard the bird is bobbing his head, every so often quoting what sounds like centuries-old poetry. Shakespeare? Donne? Eloise would know. I don’t care.
There’s only one person I care about right now, and he’s not here.
I force myself not to worry. Ben said he would be right back. I’m sure he will be.
As German nears the end of the food, his plate piled high, he looks up and makes eye contact. He clears his throat as Daniels steps up beside him. “I have news.”
“Yeah?” I ask.
“The man from the docks was the only one with a contract.”
I try to keep my expression neutral.Contractas in, contract to kill me. No biggie. Whohasn’thad a hitman hired to kill them?
“Communication was cut off, so he had no way of knowing everyone else had been taken into custody. It’s over.”
“You thought that before,” I say.
“Yes, but we weren’t sure of something like this. If there were any other players outside of those we knew. We’re sure now. Sure enough to head out tomorrow.”
I want to feel happy about this. Idofeel happy. But it’s going to be a while before I don’t also feel a knot of dread in my stomach every time I think about those moments on the dock.
I was so certain my life was over. That I was saying goodbye to Ben. That I would never see my sisters again. The only thing that lessened the anxiety was Ben’s presence.
Ben’s solid arms wrapped around me afterward. His whispered reassurances in my ear.
My being in love with him has nothing to do with him being a billionaire. But I’m not sorry he’s capable of paying for a little extra security.
I believe German when he says I shouldn’t still be a target. But I also believed him when he said it was over the first time, before I was grabbed and held at gunpoint.
Ben already contracted with a security firm. The man works fast. I’ll have protection with me here, and when I’m in Atlanta. At least for a while.
