Page 41 of Just One Look

“What’s this?” Taking the key in her hand, Liz stared at it with curiosity before looking up at him again.

“A little surprise.” Lord, he hoped he hadn’t made a mistake, but now was no time to start second-guessing himself.

“Surprise?” An amused grin on her lips, her gaze lifted to meet his. “Care to get a little more specific?”

“The house on Swiss Avenue. The one with the young bride who’s fond of, was it pink?”

“Purple.”

“Right. Purple. Anyhow, I made her husband an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

Her gaze dropped to the key. “You bought the house that the teenybopper wanted to deface?”

Mentally crossing his fingers, he nodded, “I did.”

Her arms flew around his neck. “You are a miracle worker. How did you get them to sell?”

“Ah, can’t give away my trade secrets.”

She handed him back the key. “Now what?”

“Now.” He shoved the key right back at her. “You get to restore the place to its former glory and then we put it on the market.”

Again, Liz threw her arms around him and before he could react, planted a kiss smack on his lips. If this was how she reacted every time he made her happy, he was going to have a great time making her happy for a very, very long time.

Chapter Seventeen– Epilogue

Nothing like a christening to bring a family together. And the Barons had more than their share of family. Over the last few years, one by one, so many of his cousins had, to his grandparents delight, gotten married. A few had even had children. Leah and Cooper each married into a ready-made family. Mitch and Gwyneth had been the first with the birth of little Beth, and now, here they were at the christening of Cooper and Tess’ baby boy, James Everret Baron. A nod to Cooper’s father and grandfather.

Emily, his cousin Devlin’s sister-in-law, stopped and stood smiling at Porter’s side. As one of Devlin’s best friends and a frequent plus-one, Emily had been around the family so often it was hard to believe she wasn’t a Baron. All of which made it so much easier to have her twin sister Liz in the family. “They look so happy.”

“Can’t argue. They do. Then again, babies will do that to people. Only a ten-pound bundle of fat and diapers and milk-covered faces can have intelligent adults regressing to babbling idiots.”

Emily let out a loud rumble of laughter. “That’s true too, but I was referring to Devlin and my sister.”

Turning his head in the direction she’d been looking, Porter had to agree with Emily on that front as well. His cousin and his new bride were grinning like the Cheshire Cat. When they were smiling at each other, they also linked fingers, or caressed an arm or a cheek or stole a kiss. They looked so in love it was worthy of a Hallmark commercial. Or maybe one for Pepto Bismol.

“Did you hear the latest news?” Emily asked.

“Wedding, baby, or money?” After all, that pretty much covered the events in the Baron family of late.

“Well, since Devlin and Liz are already married, and making money is like breathing for the Barons, that leaves baby.”

He had to think a minute. Who had been acting any differently? Which husband had been fawning more than usual over his beloved wife? His gaze darted from couple to couple, pausing at Devlin and Liz, who were literally moving across the family party as one, and shook his head. Nope. They were just effervescing with that newly wed bloom of two people so in love everyone else was left longing for a soulmate of their own. Porter’s gaze landed on Logan and Leah. The man was staring at his wife as if she were a Ming Dynasty vase. Precious, valuable, and irreplaceable. Yep. They were the ones. “Leah.”

Emily bobbed her head. “Isn’t it wonderful news?”

He had to admit, he’d enjoyed having Beth and now James to bounce around. Especially Beth—who knew babies could be so much fun? As long as he wasn’t the one who had to go home and change the diapers or pace the floor in the middle of the night, he was very happy for all of his cousins.

“Hey.” Holding hands with his new wife, Devlin strolled over to the corner of the veranda where Porter and Emily had been spying on the family. “Hiding out?”

“More like enjoying the view.” Emily smiled at her longtime friend.

Liz hugged her sister before once again holding Devlin’s hand. “It’s a nice family.”

“It is.” Emily retained her smile, but Porter thought he detected a little bit of wishful thinking.

If he remembered correctly, Liz and Emily were the only siblings and their parents had retired young to Florida several years ago.

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