Page 54 of Holding On To Good

“There’s not. Lucky for you, he’s coming for dinner tonight. You can tell him then.”

She dropped her hands and shrugged. “Can’t blame a girl for trying.”

“Since you won’t be driving anywhere today, you can clean out the garage. And Bella could use a b-a-t-h.”

“The last time I gave Bella a b-a-t-h, I ended up face-first in her bathwater, then had to chase her five blocks in my bare feet. Not going to happen.”

He grinned at her. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”

She gave him yet another eye roll.

Those, he wasn’t going to miss.

“Fine,” he said, “I’ll take b-a-t-h duty and you tackle the garage.”

“I’ll see if I have time. You know me, busy, busy. First thing on my list is making a countdown chain of the days I have left until I leave for college. It’ll probably take most of the day.”

They’d started making paper chains when she was little as a way for her to count down to special events—her birthday, Miles, Toby or Eli coming home from college, Silas coming home on leave, Katarina’s due date when she’d been pregnant with Ian. Each link of the chain represented one day, and every morning Verity would take a link off until the chain got shorter and shorter.

When she was seven, she started one for the next Christmas on December twenty-sixth. Took her a week to finish it. The thing was so long, Urban had to tack it around her bedroom ceiling to keep it out of the way.

“You haven’t started a countdown chain yet?” he asked. “I’ve had one going since your first day of high school.”

“Ha ha. You’re hilarious. But we both know you’re going to miss me when I’m gone.”

Truer words, he thought, tossing the tennis ball from one hand to the other. Truer words.

“You know,” she said slowly, studying him in the way females had—like they could see right into the deepest recesses of your soul, “me going away to school next year is going to be so good for you and Miles. You’re both way too invested in my life.” She came around the front of the car and dropped the sponge into the bucket. “Once I’m out of your hair, you can start focusing on yourselves. Miles can live the life of a carefree bachelor and you can finally find yourself a nice lady to settle down with.”

“How come Miles gets to be a carefree bachelor and I have to settle down?”

She sent him a pitying look. “Because he’s a player and you’re not. Out of all my brothers, you’re the one most meant for marriage, kids, the whole deal. You’ve already got the white picket fence and dog thing going on. Just add a woman and you’re all set.”

“I’m looking forward to some peace and quiet once you leave. Being a carefree bachelor sounds better.”

“Pfft. I was just practice. Plus, you didn’t screw me up too badly. I bet you do even better with the next batch.”

“Batch? How many kids do I have in this fantasy scenario?”

“Four,” she said without hesitation, picking up the hose. “Unless you have all of one gender, then you’ll go for a fifth. Plus another dog.”

She walked away to rinse off her car.

Urban shook his head. He wasn’t sure what scared the shit out of him more: that she’d thought this out so thoroughly, that she had him mimicking their parents’ lives.

Or that her version of his future sounded pretty damn good.

Chapter Ten

Willow parked in front of Urban’s house late Sunday afternoon.

With the help of two long naps and copious amounts of ginger tea, she almost felt human again.

Almost.

Her head ached and she had to squint against the blazing sunshine, but she was semi-steady on her feet and it no longer hurt just to breathe.

Chewing her lower lip, she stared through the driver’s side window up at the big white house with the blue shutters and neatly mowed yard.

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