Page 180 of Beautiful Storm

Idrop my suitcase next to Amelia’s oversized work bag and yawn as I traipse through the house toward the yard. It’s not even three p.m. yet but I’m exhausted after attending an away game with the boys last night—my first since retiring—and I’m ready for sleep. At least, I am until I step outside and find my girls relaxing by the pool.

Amelia’s wearing the bright yellow two-piece bathing suit I bought her for Christmas last year and Juliet’s trying to match her with a yellow suit of her own, making me smile. She’s a mini Amelia in every sense of the word except that she looks like me with her dark hair and dark eyes.

Shadow’s head whips up in my direction from where she lies beside them, in protector mode, but when she notices it’s me, she resumes her relaxing. Gone are the days where she’d run to see me, desperately missing me after my time away. Now, like the rest of us, she worships the ground Juliet walks on. Where Juliet goes, so does Shadow, and I have to admit, I prefer it thatway. It makes it that little bit easier to say goodbye whenever I leave the house.

I watch for a few minutes, not quite ready to disturb the silence, my smile widening when Amelia readjusts herself on her towel, rolling onto her back, and her mini me does the same.

A warmth spreads through my chest and I can’t help but laugh to myself. This may have been the last thing I ever imagined for my life, but I'm thankful every day that it’s what was planned for me.

Shadow looks my way again, as if she’s questioning my actions, and if she could talk, I have no doubt she’d call me a creeper. Yes, I’m quietly staring at my family, but after three years it’s still hard to believe that they’re mine. Her head tilts to the side and I know I have about five seconds to announce myself before she gives the game away.

I quickly make my move, not wanting to miss Juliet's reaction when she hears me.

“I’m home,” I announce, opening my arms wide in anticipation.

“Daddy!” Juliet shrieks my name as she jumps up and runs over, launching herself into my chest at the same time Amelia turns to face me, her loving smile making my heart race, just like it always does.

“I missed you, Angel.” I spin Juliet around as she giggles. “Have you been looking after Mom?”

“Yes, Dad. I always do. With Shadow.”

“Of course. Always with Shadow.”

Juliet gives me one more squeezy cuddle then wriggles in my arms until I put her backdown, so she can run back to Amelia.

“Is it dinner time, Mommy?” she asks, her deep brown eyes lighting up. “You said Daddy was coming home at dinner time.”

“Not yet.” Amelia laughs. “We just had lunch and the sun’s still high in the sky. Dad must be early.” She glances my way with a raised brow. “What time is it?”

I check my watch as the time clicks over to three, my smile morphing into a smirk. “It’s go time!” I jog over and press a lingering kiss to Amelia’s lips, giving her a proper hello before breaking the connection and searching around for her laptop. This is why I’m home. I took an earlier flight so I could be here in time for Amelia’s moment. A moment she’s pretending isn’t a big deal.

“Hi.” Her brows rise as she peers up at me, a little flustered. “Is it really that time already?”

“What’s go time?” Juliet asks, pouting as her eyes bounce between ours.

“It’s time to see what Mommy’s been working on.” I drop down onto the lounge beside Amelia and slide back as I bring up the website for our friend Grayson’s band—Poetic Nightmares—clicking on the link to their new release “Soulless Whisper.” Amelia wrote and directed the music video, and the extended eight-minute cut is about to go live.

As the page loads, I angle the screen toward Amelia and Juliet, now perched in her lap, but before it comes to life, it freezes.

“What happened?” Amelia asks, her expression marred in concern, proving that she’s been thinking about this moment more than she’s let on. Not that she ever had me fooled.

“I think it crashed,” I say with a smile, knowing with every fiber of my being that this is going to propel her career into the limelight. I have no doubt she’s about to become “award-winning director Amelia Bennett” rather than “Luke Bennett’s wife,” and I’m more than excited to be pushed into the shadows for her.

“It’s a brand-new laptop.” Amelia frowns. “Is it still under warranty? What a time—”

“The laptop didn’t crash, Amelia.” I laugh, bopping her on the nose. “The entire website did. Poetic Nightmares are one of the biggest bands in the country right now. Fans have been counting down the seconds until this release. It’s huge.”

“So we can’t watch it?” She pouts just like Juliet did and I have to bite back my smirk.

“Give it a few minutes and I’m sure someone will illegally upload it somewhere.”

“What? I’m not watching it illegally.” Her face scrunches before she folds her arms over her chest, and a second later, Juliet does the same as she tells me off.

“Daaad.”

“I’m kidding.” I chuckle, shaking my head, already imagining Amelia and Juliet ganging up on me in the future. And I have to admit I love it. “If we were the average viewer, we’d have to wait until they fix the site. But lucky for you, Gray sent me a link to their internal version this morning. We can watch it now.”

“Will this affect them in any way?”

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