Page 68 of Seen Knot Heard

“Okay, now it feels like you guys are just buttering me up.”

Nathaniel’s hand squeezes my shoulder once before falling away. “Come on. Let’s get started on those bedrooms. I’ve got some ideas for Quinn’s treehouse. A little manual labor will help set you to rights.”

Dominic backs away from us. “That’s my cue to go place my orders.”

Nathaniel levels a hard stare at him. “As soon as you’re done, you’ll put on paint clothes and join me. You can do the big parts of the walls.”

Shoulders slumping, he whines pathetically.

That pulls a laugh from me. “You can’t be a pretty-faced smooth-talker all the time.”

“Just most of the time.” His chin lifts. “Never forget that this face wins us investors. If we left things to your ugly mugs, we’d all still be living in Cabin One.”

I swat at him, and he laughs as he dances backward, the tail of his braid swinging as he spins away.

His antics bring a smile to my lips, and the last of the anger from talking to my father fades.

This is the pack I chose, and I’ll do what it takes to keep it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Chloe

As the days slip by, my time spent locked up in Louie’s penthouse turns hazy, like slowly waking up from a nightmare .

The pack of Misty Pines takes its place, every moment spent with them warm and welcoming. Like a bubble of happiness surrounds the island.

“Chloe!” Quinn barrels into my arms for a hug as I come down from a nap in Holden’s room. “Come help frost the cookies Uncle Holden and I made!”

I laugh and hug her back, the little girl smelling like sugar. “Are they oatmeal cookies?”

Quinn’s nose wrinkles in disgust. “Ew! No!”

I tickle her sides. “I bet Uncle Holden would bake delicious oatmeal cookies.”

She giggles and squirms out of my hold, racing back for the kitchen. “Uncle Holden! No raisins in my cookies!”

I sense someone’s attention on me and the bond hums. Turning, I find Blake watching me. He must have come in from the garden entrance to sneak up on me like that.

He comes forward to wrap his arms around me. “She adores you.”

I lean into his embrace. “She’s so sweet and fun to be around.”

This close to Blake, with his smoked applewood and cider scent filling my lungs, spikes my own pheromones, and from the purr rumbling from his chest, he senses it.

I turn in his arms and wiggle my fingers into his thick beard, dislodging sawdust. “What have you been up to today?”

He taps the tip of my nose, flecks of green paint caught under his nails. “That’s a secret.”

He, Nathaniel, and Dominic have been trying to be sneaky, but they’re up to something that has nothing to do with the construction sites around the island. When I ask, though, none of them will tell me, and even Holden pretends not to know.

I purse my lips and give him a suspicious glare. “So you keep saying.”

“Don’t give me such tempting looks when you know I can’t do anything about it.” Bending, he rubs his beard over my face, and laughing, I wiggle to escape his arms.

While Blake and I are back to where we were before, Quinn’s presence as a constant roommate has made it difficult to be alone together. Which reminds me…

“Hey, I’ve been wondering.” I clasp Blake’s cheeks to draw his attention back to me. “What are you going to do about Quinn’s schooling? She should be in first grade right now. She can’t spend every day baking cookies and coloring.”

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