Page 55 of After the Vows

“My daughter, who has forgotten the magic word despite how many times I’ve reminded her, wants to have Natalia over tonight for a sleepover. Is that okay?”

What do I do? Do I try to contact Lucas again? Will it appear suspicious if I need his permission? Will rumors spread about our marriage being a hoax? Everyone’s already gossiping about how fast we got married.

Here goes nothing.

“Will you be home the entire evening?” I ask. She nods. “Do you have a list of Natalia’s allergies?”

“All the parents received a list of allergies of each kid at the start of the summer camp.”

“And you have my phone number if anything goes wrong?”

She giggles. “Or I can just run over to your house.”

She could. No one’s too far away in Smuggler’s Rest. In fact, no one’s too far away on the island of Smuggler’s Hideaway.

I kneel in front of Natalia. “Do you promise to let me know if anything goes wrong? Anything at all? It doesn’t matter what time of night it is. I won’t be mad.”

“Does this mean I can stay over with Piper?”

I blow out a breath and take a risk. “Yes.”

She squeals and jumps up and down. “Thank you, Chloe!”

Piper and her rush off without a backward glance. “Doesn’t she need clothes?”

“She has her bag of spare clothes with her.”

Oh right. I forgot one of the requirements of summer camp was to have a set of spare clothes since getting dirty isn’t a rare occurrence.

August pats my arm. “It’s hard the first time they’re away, but trust me, you’ll be happy to have the night to yourself. Enjoy it. Once you get pregnant, it’s all downhill.”

I frown at her. Once I get pregnant? I’m not getting pregnant. I’m never having children.

“Thanks. If Natalia’s a bother, feel free to send her home.”

She waves as she rushes to follow the girls.

Once she’s out of hearing range, I ring Lucas again. He still doesn’t pick up. He must be dealing with an emergency. He wouldn’t ignore me for any other reason. Not when he knows I’m with Natalia.

By the time Lucas returns home a few hours later, I’m fighting off panic. My mind knows nothing happened to him. Someone would have contacted me if he were injured or in the hospital.

My heart disagrees. My heart wants to know what could have possibly kept Lucas busy for three hours and unable to return a simple phone call.

“Hey!” Lucas calls in greeting.

“Hey? I’ll hey you. Where have you been? Have you forgotten how a phone works? Do you need me to give you a course? It’s not difficult. It starts with picking up your phone when it rings.”

He rubs a hand over his beard. “Shit. Sorry. A herd of sheep got loose and wreaked havoc on half the island.”

“A group of sheep is a flock. And how long does it take to get the sheep under control?”

“When your partner is Weston, a long ass time.”

I blow out a breath. This isn’t me. I don’t lose my mind when a man ghosts me.

“What happened?”

“A farmer was replacing his fence and a sheep got out. Did you know where one sheep goes the rest follow?”

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