Page 25 of His Greatest Treasure

“You should have because you just lost four hundred bucks,” she says to Jamie.

The rest of the family tumbles into the living room, and I stand, too annoyed with Ary to sit and listen to the flurry of conversations that are about to take place. When Maddox and Braxton’s son, Liam, pushes his way through Addie’s legs and runs into Noah’s arms, I use the distraction to slip out.

The Hutton house is the closest thing to a mansion I’ve ever seen. I grew up in a big place, but it was nothing compared to this one. Mom used to bug her brother, Oakley, all the time about it, calling him a show-off every chance she got.

In reality, he’s the furthest thing from it. The house might be massive, but it’s still warm. The generous expanse of land it sits on has seen more Sunday game days than a football stadium, and more than a few of my best memories were made here.

Stepping out onto the front porch, I breathe in the clean air and stare at the tree house standing across the driveway. Jamie and I didn’t climb up there too often—it was more Maddox and Braxton’s thing—but we did every few visits.

The sound of a car engine has me looking down the driveway,squinting to see better through the bright sun. It’s a small car, not one that any of my family members drive.

No, it’s the car that’s been parked in front of Ary’s house for weeks now. The deep blue Ford Focus with theHot Girls Hit Curbssticker on the bumper above a deep dent decorated with yellow paint and all four tires curb rashed to utter shit.

My stomach tightens to the point of discomfort. There’s not much room for her to park with everyone else here, but she manages to squeeze in between my Tahoe and Jamie’s Jeep. She’s crooked as all hell, and when she swings her door open, there’s hardly enough room for her to squeeze out without hitting my door with hers.

She takes a look at her park job and winces, worrying her lip before rounding the trunk and helping her daughter out of the back seat.

“Oh,” Nova says, her head swivelling in every direction. “This house is really big.”

Ary steers her down the driveway with a hand on her back. “Yeah, it is.”

“Why is it so big?”

“Because they wanted a big house.”

“Yeah, but why? Don’t they get lost?”

“I’m sure they know where they’re going, honey.”

“How? A map?”

“You’ll flatter the Huttons if you tell them their house should have a map made for it,” I say, my voice cutting through the air.

Nova’s the first to look at me, her head cocked, mouth twisted innocently. I can’t say I expected to see her here. Either of them. Their surprise presence doesn’t make sense. I’m immediately on the defensive.

Ary reads my expression quickly, a warning flashing in her stare. “I had a terrible feeling you’d be here today.”

“This is my uncle’s house, after all.”

“Is it?” she asks, her tone dripping with enough sarcasm to confuse me. “I had no idea.”

I suck back my irritation with a glance at Nova. “Who invited you here?”

“Why, scared I followed you?”

“Unlikely. I’d have noticed your terrible driving if you were behind me. Probably have a piece of your front bumper attached to my SUV.”

“My mom is a good driver. She’s better than my mormor,” Nova says sternly.

The term is unfamiliar to me, and it must show.

Ary ruffles Nova’s hair and says, “Her grandmother.”

“Right.”

Nova tips her chin back and stares me down. “She’s in Sweden.”

“Sweden?” Something tingles in my brain. A thought I can’t quite latch onto. “Is she visiting?”

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