by Layne, Ivy
She paused and thought for a second before she corrected, “Well, not right into bed but, you know. Close enough.”
I thought about the way Lucas Jackson had hugged his wife. I imagined he'd found the energy to make up for their time apart before he'd passed out the night before.
“How many houses do you usually work on at the same time?” I asked. I'd never met anyone who flipped houses for a living, and after my small experience with the cottage, I was interested to know what it was like to do the same thing on a much larger scale.
I also hadn't missed Knox calling Charlie nosy. She seemed nice, someone I'd love to be friends with under different circumstances. The fact was, I didn't know how much of my situation was confidential and how much wasn't. Of the parts that were my story alone, I couldn't think of any I was willing to share.
The uncertainty with Adam's birth certificate.
My bad marriage and the death of my husband.
My estrangement from my parents.
Whatever the heck was going on with Deputy Dave.
It had taken me over a week to talk about any of that with Knox. However nice Charlie seemed, I wasn't spilling my guts after five minutes of pleasant conversation.
Charlie took the bait, and it wasn't hard to keep her talking, especially since so much of her life was intertwined with the Sinclairs. I never would have guessed Charlie Jackson was born Charlie Winters, the youngest daughter in the notorious, scandalous Winters family.
The Winters were American royalty, and the family company, Winters, Inc., seemed to own half the world. I couldn't imagine Charlie Winters needed to work. I was shocked when she admitted she'd been an executive at Winters, Inc. until her brother, Aiden Winters, CEO of Winters, Inc., had called her into his office and fired her.
I couldn't imagine getting fired by my own family. I thought of my father and changed my mind. I could totally imagine my father firing me. He'd cut me off for marrying Trey, hadn't he? Still, Charlie's older brother sounded like he was devoted to her.
“He said I wasn't happy. Controlling jerk,” she laughed with clear affection. “I moved out of the family house into this rundown heap I'd bought in the Highlands—even though I had no clue what I was going to do with it—and discovered Lucas Jackson living right next door. Aiden never fails to remind me that I never would have met Lucas if he hadn't fired me.”
“You and your brother are okay now? You're not still mad?”
Charlie looked surprised at the concept of holding a grudge against her brother. “Mad at Aiden? Not anymore. That was two years ago. He apologized, and I got him back. Aiden practically raised me. I can't stay mad at him for long.”
“How did you get him back?”
Charlie hesitated before saying, “Um, it was a little…immature, but, well, Aiden likes whiskey. Really, really expensive whiskey. He won this bottle of Macallan Select Reserve Single Malt in an auction. After he fired me, when I moved out, I stole the whiskey.”
“How expensive was it?” I asked, wondering why she looked embarrassed. How expensive could a bottle of whiskey be?
Another of those hums in the back of her throat. “Between the whiskey and the special edition decanter… Let's just say I could have sold them and bought a pretty nice car.”
“Wow.” That was all I could say. There was whiskey that was worth more than a car? Between growing up in a town filled with Ivy League college kids and marrying Trey, I thought I knew about life with the upper crust. Clearly, I'd missed some things.
“Did you drink it all?”
Charlie grinned. “I shared it with Lucas. Then I jumped him on my back porch. Totally worth it.”
Ending up with a man who loved you like Lucas seemed to love Charlie would definitely be worth it.
Finished with the cottage, we walked back to the main house. Charlie took in all the details of Trey's dream house as we headed up to the rarely used guest room.
“This is the complete opposite of the cottage,” she commented.
“I know. Trey, my husband, designed it. He loved it.”
“But not you?” she asked.
I refolded a towel, not wanting to think about Trey and how much I hated this house. “The cottage is more my style.”
“Then you're going to love Knox's place.”
I wanted to ask for more details, my heart taking off in my chest at her assurance that I'd ever see Knox's house. I was afraid to assume too much. Too soon, Lily, I reminded myself.
Since Charlie didn't mind talking, I asked, “How long have you known Knox?”
Charlie shot me a shrewd glance over the sheet we stretched across the guest bed. She knew when she was being pumped for information.
“Since I was born. His dad and my dad were best friends. We all grew up together. Knox is like another big brother. We always got along well when I was little. Evers and Axel liked to tease, and Cooper was so serious, but Knox was patient with us little kids.”
“I've noticed that. His patience. How much older is he?”
“Ten years. He's Aiden's age. They're tight, Aiden, my other brother Jacob, and my cousins Gage, Vance, and Annalise. They're all around the same age as Cooper, Evers, Knox, and Axel.”
Knox poked his head into the room. “You telling Lily all my secrets?”
Charlie laughed, the sound comfortable. Confident. This was a woman who knew she was loved. Knew she had a place in the world. I'd only known her an hour, but I liked her a lot. I envied her even more.
Charlie shot Knox a wink. “Not yet. I'm saving your secrets for later.”
“How about you tell her the good stories and keep the bad ones to yourself?”
With exaggerated sincerity, she said, “I can't do that, Knox. I only have good stories about you.”
I sniggered. Charlie helped me spread the quilt across the bed and fold it down before she said, “Maybe I should tell her about that time with the spiders when you and Evers and Gage—”
“Not another word.” Knox shoved his hands into his pockets, looking a little sheepish. “First of all, I was thirteen. Second of all, the spider thing wasn't even you. It was Annalise, and she was ten. Ten and determined to keep up with the boys.”
“Yeah, you guys showed her,” Charlie said, skepticism heavy in her voice. Turning to angle Knox out of the conversation she said to me, “They put dead spiders inside her shoes. I was only three, but I swear I remember the screams. She was so mad. It took her a while, but she got them back.”
“What did she do?” I gave the pillows on the bed a final fluff.
Knox shuddered. “She hid a snake in my bed.”
“She did not,” Charlie countered. “She found a snakeskin in the woods and hid it under your pillow. Obviously, I couldn't hear those screams, but Cooper says they were impressive.”
“I did not scream. Much. Evers screamed louder.”
“That's because she snuck a dead mouse under his sheets. According to Ev, it was pretty gory.”
I looked between them, still jealous, but loving that Knox had this sprawling extended family, filled with pranks and teasing and affection. I'd spent so much of my life alone. Isolated. Not fitting in.
Wanting to hear more, I asked Charlie, “What else did he do?”
“Nothing,” Knox said with a glare for Charlie. “I was an angel. The perfect child. Ask anyone who isn't Charlie.”
“Actually, you're better off asking me. I was only kind of kidding before. Most of my stories about Knox are good ones. Now, if you wanted to know about my older brothers and cousins, I’ve got plenty of bad stories about that crew.”
“You have no idea, Charlie. You’re the baby. We all went easy on you. Tate and Holden—Charlie’s brother and cousin—are the youngest boys of all of us. They caught hell until they got big enough to fight back.”
“And the rest of you
got old enough to stop being jackasses,” Charlie finished.
“When did we grow out of being jackasses?” Knox asked with a straight face. Charlie laughed so hard she snorted.
“Apparently not yet,” she said through her giggles.
Knox rolled his eyes to the ceiling once before saying to me, “Do you have enough food in the house for everyone? I can’t remember what there was before we left.”
I mentally inventoried my pantry and freezer. There wasn’t a lot left in the fridge. Enough for Knox, me, and Adam, but not when I added three more.
“Thanks for thinking of it, I do need to run to town. It won’t take me long.”
“I’m driving. Normally, I’d say these guys are good to watch Adam, but after last night—”
“What happened last night?” Charlie asked.
“He had a night terror,” I said slowly, not sure I wanted to talk about it, and unwilling to be rude to Charlie when she’d been so nice. “He seems fine today, but—”
“You don’t want to leave him alone. I get that. Knox is right, we wouldn’t mind watching him, but I understand wanting to keep him close. Tate had night terrors for a while after his parents died.”
“I remember,” Knox said solemnly.
I wanted to ask what they were talking about, but I didn’t have Charlie’s confidence. Asking felt too much like butting in.
Keeping my questions to myself, I checked my watch and realized we’d have to move fast to get to the store and be back in time to make dinner.
“I’ll get Adam and meet you at the car,” I said.
Knox nodded, and I started the all too lengthy process of prying Adam from his cartoon, ushering him to the bathroom and into his shoes.
Knox was ready to go when we got to the garage. Adam grabbed one of the coloring books I kept by his car seat and started to draw.
Seeing he wasn't paying us any attention, I asked in a low voice, “Why did Tate have nightmares?”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lily
Iwaited, wondering if Knox would answer. It wasn't my business, but I wanted to know anyway. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes on the road ahead. Reaching across the center console, he took my hand in his before he answered.
“You know who Charlie is, right?”
“That she's a Winters? Yeah.”
“So, you know her aunt and uncle, her cousin Tate's parents, died when she was a baby. Tate would have been about three and a half. Then Charlie's parents died when she was ten.”
“They were—” A quick glance into the rearview at Adam, blissfully distracted by his crayons. My voice too quiet for him to overhear, I continued, “I always heard it was a murder/suicide, but there was that movie about it being a cover-up.”
“That movie was total bullshit. The police called it murder/suicide. Both of them. But yeah, they were murdered. Tate was too young to understand that part, but his whole life changed overnight.”
“Losing a parent is tough at any age, but both? When he was so young? I can't imagine.”
“They were all close, which made it worse. I don't even remember spending time with my parents before I was Adam's age. Babysitters. A nanny. My brothers, but not my parents. The Winters weren't like that.”
I doubted Knox realized how lonely he sounded when he talked about his childhood. He was close to his brothers, but it wasn't the same as love from a parent.
My parents had walked away from me when I was an adult, but at least I had memories of a childhood filled with love. Especially from my mom.
“You were close to them, too,” I said, realizing that he wouldn't have been much older than Tate when the first set of Winters parents had died.
“Yeah. Aiden, Gage and I were pretty much inseparable. I spent more time at Winters House than I did at home. Losing them was…”
I squeezed his hand. “I'm sorry I asked, Knox. I wasn't thinking.” I didn't like that I was the reason for that somber look on Knox's face.
“Lily, you can ask me anything.” His dark eyes, sad and serious, fell on me for a moment before moving back to the road. I could feel the sincerity in them, the truth. It humbled me.
I rubbed my thumb across the top of his hand, words jumbling in my mouth, nothing coming out.
So much feeling swirled inside me for this quiet man. I was falling way too hard, way too fast, for a man I barely knew. As much as I tried to stop, I couldn't seem to catch myself.
Unaware of the struggle inside me, Knox said, “Anyway, it took Tate a few months to start sleeping well again. The kids—Tate, Vance, Annalise, and Gage, moved into Winters House. It wasn't that big a move. Anna and James' house was part of the estate, and they'd grown up treating Winters House like it was their own. Olivia and Hugh were like another set of parents, but they'd still lost their own. And Tate was so little. I remember hearing Olivia talk about it, but I forgot until Charlie brought it up. I should have thought about it last night, but—”
He fell silent for a moment, his eyes on the trees lining the road as if searching for something in the dense woods. Finally, he said, “None of us likes to think about that time.”
“I'm sorry I brought it up,” I said, wishing again that I hadn't asked.
“I meant what I said. You can ask me anything, Lily. There's stuff I can't tell you—things about the Winters that are their business, and some of my time in the military is confidential—but I'm an open book for you.”
We stopped at a red light, the late July traffic in town slowing us to a crawl. I tugged at Knox's hand until he turned to meet my eyes.
“Me too,” I said, wishing I could offer more than just the truth. Wishing I could offer him everything. “I know there are a lot of reasons not to trust me. Trey and your dad. You've only known me a week. But I'll never lie to you. I promise.”
Knox pressed his mouth to mine for only a second before the light changed and the car behind us honked. Tourists. No townie would honk.
A quick glance at me, his dark eyes still serious but sweet, he said, “I trust you, Lily.”
I wanted to believe him. Part of me did.
Knox drove past the grocery store and pulled into the parking lot of the only pizza place in Black Rock, distracting me from my worries about honesty and how fast was too fast to fall for a man I'd just met.
“What are we doing here? We don't need pizza.”
“You don't have to cook for all of us, Lily. It's too much.”
“It's not too much.” I turned in my seat to face Knox. “I want to cook dinner. The pizza here is awful. Really. Your friends flew all the way up here to help—”
“Lucas flew all the way up here to help. The other two are just here to butt in.”
“You know what I mean. I never get to cook for people. Trey and I… We didn't have those kinds of friends. Friends you invite over for dinner. And he was gone so much. I love to cook, you know that, but I never get to cook for people. I can throw together something in time for dinner that would be so much better than takeout pizza.”
Knox closed the distance between us with a soft kiss on my lips. “You don't have to convince me, Lily. I love your cooking. I just didn't want to dump a bunch of work into your lap.”
From the back of the car, Adam interrupted. “Did you kiss my mom, Mr. Knox?”
Crap. What was I supposed to say to that? I don't think Adam had ever seen me kiss any man, even his father. By the time Adam was old enough to pay attention, kisses were long gone between Trey and me.
True to form, Knox knew exactly what to say. With an easy-going smile, he turned to face Adam. “I did kiss your mom. Is that okay with you?”
Adam thought about it, his eyes ping-ponging between me and Knox. Just when I thought I was going to die of embarrassment at being caught kissing by my five-year-old, he said, “I guess it's o
kay. It's kinda weird, but whatever. Girls have cooties.”
“I'm glad I have your blessing,” Knox said wryly.
Adam hadn't appeared too concerned, but I knew my kid. If he didn't like it, he would have said so. Anytime Dave got close enough to put a hand on me, even a friendly one, Adam noticed and did his best to separate us.
To Knox, I'm sure he'd sounded like a distracted five-year-old, but I knew we had Adam's approval. I just had to make sure he didn't get his hopes up and start looking to Knox for something more.
Whatever Knox said, I was still a client and we were still a case. We had Andrei Tsepov and those account numbers between us. All the damage Trey had done working with Knox's father. The threat to Knox's mother.
It was all tied to me through Trey. Through my own willful ignorance. Maybe through Adam's adoption.
I wanted to believe that nothing would change once we solved our problems. I couldn't afford to be that naïve. Not anymore.
The three of us made quick work of the grocery store. I grabbed everything I needed for seafood linguine and bruschetta.
We loaded up on sandwich makings and chips, Adam chortling with glee to see bag after bag of junk food dropped into the cart. Knox stopped us in the baking aisle, pulling up another recipe on his phone and tossing ingredients into the cart. Unsweetened chocolate. Sweetened condensed milk. Cocoa.
“What are you making?” I asked, all that chocolate making me think of what Knox could do with chocolate. I'd never be able to look at my favorite sweet again without thinking of Knox and his talented fingers. His mouth.
I missed what he said in my lust fog. “Huh?”
“I'm not making anything. You're going to make salted caramel brownies.”
“We still have the chocolate chip cookies.”
Knox shot me a sideways look. “Griffen found them while you and Charlie were in the cottage. He has a sweet tooth. Between him and Lucas, we're almost out of cookies.”
“Okay. If you think I can handle salted caramel brownies.”
Knox dropped a quick kiss on my cheekbone, sending a warm flush through my body. “You can handle it,” he said with quiet confidence. I wished I felt as sure.
