Page 90 of Lee

“Uh-oh. What happened?”

“She was supposed to clean up her side of the room last night, but she didn’t. Now she’s grounded for the weekend.”

Rori had never gotten into trouble as a teen. She feared a far greater punishment than a grounding. Given her situation, she’d been much more worried that she’d lose the roof over her head. So she’d done her best to never give anyone a reason to even consider that.

Just the memory of that time in her life was enough to make her insecurities rise again, bringing with it the intense need to not do anything that might make Lee and his family regret inviting her to join them.

“Hey there, Rori,” Charli said. “Glad you could make it again.”

“Thank you for the invitation.”

“Anytime.” Charli smiled at her, then motioned to the counter in front of her. “Ready to help with toppings?”

“Definitely. Put me to work.”

Lee wasn’t in the kitchen, and as she spread cheese on a pizza crust, Rori kept glancing to the kitchen doorway, hoping to see him.

“Pizza oven is ready to go,” Blake announced as he walked in.

“You can take these two. One is cheese. The other is pepperoni.”

Not long after Blake had left out the back door, it opened and Lee stepped into the kitchen. He smiled as soon as he saw her. Before he could say anything, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” He gave Rori another smile. “I’ll be right back.”

When he returned, Carisa was with him.

She was wearing a T-shirt that had a faded brand name logo on it. Rori doubted it was faded from wear. More likely, it was one of those expensive shirts that were made to look vintage. She’d paired it with denim shorts and sandals. The woman carried off the look with an effortless grace that Rori didn’t think she’d ever achieve.

As Charli welcomed Carisa, Lee came over to where Rori sat. “Put you right to work, huh?”

“Not sure I’d call this work,” she said as she helped Amelia spread cheese on another pizza. “It’s fun.”

Lee leaned a hip against the counter, his attention strictly on her. “So did the car run okay?”

“Yep. Perfect. It’s a relief to have that done.”

“Blake said that for its age and mileage, the car is in great shape.”

Rori smiled. “Since I want it to last, I’ve tried my best to make sure it’s well taken care of.”

“So you don’t ignore the check engine light?”

“No. Definitely not.”

“I used to,” Charli said, joining in the conversation. “Now Blake won’t let me.”

Lee gave a huff of laughter. “Of course he won’t. It wouldn’t look good if the wife of a mechanic had her car break down.”

“I must say, it’s nice to have someone to take care of stuff like that.”

Rori could understand why Charli felt that way. There were plenty of times when she would have loved to share some of the weight of moving through life as an adult. But she hadn’t dwelled on that thought much, choosing instead to just move forward with whatever needed doing.

Because if she didn’t do it, no one else would.

When Gareth and Aria arrived with Timothy a couple of minutes later, Jackson was with them. His eyes widened and a smile spread across his face when he saw Carisa.

“Hey! I didn’t know you were going to be here,” he said as he approached her. “This is great.”

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