Page 167 of The Best of Us

Juliette followed my gaze to Gwen sitting beside Easton on the couch opposite us, cracking up at something he said.

At the moment, it was just the four of us in Sean and Emilia’s living room. The oversized stone fireplace cast a glow across the space, illuminating the deep-blue furnishings and dark wood paneling, which gave the space an old-world charm. Floor-to-ceiling windows framed the view of the sprawling countryside estate, where mist rolled over the gardens.

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Juliette responded, her tone laced with amusement. Keeping her voice down so they wouldn’t overhear, she added, “Not that he’ll ever act on it with Wyatt as her father and Gwen being over twelve years younger than him.”

“Hmm, I don’t know.”

I might not have been the best judge of who should date, but I did know what a man looked like when he wanted a woman. I’d missed the signs in the beginning with Hudson, but that was . . . well, different. And I hadn’t needed more than two days around Easton and Gwen to realize something was brewing between them.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and find out.” Juliette patted my arm twice, then snuggled against me, shutting her eyes and drawing her knees up, using my chest as a pillow.

We were all beat. Maybe a nap wasn’t the worst idea in the world.

God, I was getting old. I supposed Gwen and Easton’s banter could serve as our white noise. I rested my head back, closing my eyes to steal a few minutes before the room filled again.

Upstairs, Colin and Lennon were playing pool with my sister and Hudson while Emilia and Sean tried to get their baby down for a nap. The faint sound of footsteps and the occasional clink of billiard balls reminded me the house was still full.

It was only our second night staying there, and we hadn’t seen Sebastian, Carter, or Wyatt since we’d arrived in Ireland. The three of them had been off tying up loose ends, and while I was grateful for their help, guilt gnawed at me for not being out there with them.

But according tonurse’s orders—a.k.a. the woman curled up next to me—I wasnot allowed to “go running around town and help take down bad guys” yet. (Her words, most definitely not mine.)

Her hovering over me like a newborn, making sure I was still breathing, had made it a hell of a lot harder to secretly plan for her birthday. We’d be spending it in Scotland, not that she knew yet.

Still, I was feeling much better. Ten times better than I had on Monday after drowning. There was no need for her to keep coddling me.

Or for my pain-in-the-ass brother to suddenly morph from chef to nurse overnight. Enzo had been all over me ever since I’ddied, driving me insane. I had to kick him out of the house—out of the damn country, in fact—to get him out of my hair.

I’d reminded him he had another brother to bother. One who’d just had a kid. I told him to get back to the States and help Alessandro learn to swaddle a baby and change diapers. Maybe teach him not to handle his kid like a live grenade about to detonate, echoing Callie’s words over FaceTime yesterday about my brother.

Fortunately, Alessandro had made it home in the nick of time.Thank God.Quite literally, too. Alessandro made it to the hospital ten minutes before Callie delivered. They’d welcomed a healthy son, Elijah, to the family.

They’d chosen a biblical name in honor of the miracle that had happened in Italy. A nice gesture. Although, our mother was still holding out hope one of us would name our kid after Dad one day. Doubtful that’d be happening.

Speaking of kids.I had two to worry about for the next sixty days. Pending some legal paperwork we had to file and get approved back in New York, Juliette and I were about to become Lennon’s legal guardians. We’d made the decision after taking Lennon to visit her mom. The three of them had doubled down, pleading with us to do it. Between Colin’s puppy-dog eyes, Lennon’s pouts, and her mother’s prayer hands, it’d been impossible to say no.

Besides, where would Lennon go now? Her brother would soon be behind bars with their father here in Dublin, and with any luck, her uncle, too. So, she needed someone to look after her.

That someone was now us. We’d be supervising her until Lennon’s mother was out of rehab and moved to the States—a move I was going to personally help her with.

It’d be a long sixty days of trying to keep the two teens from sneaking into one another’s bedrooms at night. I’d have to wire their doors with some type of alarm system to keep them in check. Of course, knowing Colin, he’d find a way to bypass it.

“Are we overstaying our welcome here?” Juliette asked, disrupting my mental planning. “They do have a newborn.”

I opened my eyes, dropping my chin to look down at her. “We probably are. So, I have an idea.” I smiled. “After we take Lennon to visit her father tomorrow, why don’t we head to Scotland on Friday and spend your birthday there this weekend?”

“I suppose since Colin and Lennon don’t start their new school until Monday, we’re in no rush . . .”

I had my father call in a favor to get both of them in at my old school. That last-minute favor had required quite a substantial donation, but he did what had to be done to make it happen, and I appreciated it.

Her eyes lit up, and she sat taller at the news. “But wow. Scotland. Really?”

I glanced at her brother and Gwen before focusing back on her. She had no idea I’d already conspired with both Easton and Gwen, and Hudson and Izzy to plan her birthday weekend. I was about to test my acting abilities to pull this off as a “last-minute” idea.

“Maybe your brother and Gwen could join us, too? You know, to ensure our son doesn’t wander into Lennon’s room in the middle of the night. Izzy and Hudson can tag along, too, but getting them to separate bedrooms for even one night would be mission impossible.”

She chuckled. “Oh, does that mean you’ll be sleeping next to me?”

If all goes well, maybe.I kept that to myself.

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