Page 112 of Threat of Danger
Zelda was the one to speak first. “It’s over,” she said. “We’re startin’ new right here, right now. All of us.” She looked at Kaylee. “First things first, I’d like to be your grandmother.”
“And I guess I’m your brother,” Derek said from the door, grinning as he came in. He carried his laptop with a swagger. “Since my phone died in the river, nobody could reach me all morning. Chuck’s lawyer ended up sending me e-mail. Chuck named me as Kaylee’s guardian.”
“No foster care?” Kaylee seemed to be holding her breath, and Jess held hers, along with the girl. “Not even until paperwork gets done or whatever?”
“Not even.”
Zelda sank onto the couch, deflating with relief. Kaylee ran into Derek’s arms, crying. He held her like an older brother who’d just learned he had a younger sister.
Jess blinked the sudden moisture from her eyes.Thank you, Chuck. Thank you, thank you, thank you for thinking ahead and taking good care of Kaylee. Thank you for trusting her to Derek.
“We’re officially family,” Derek told Kaylee as the two pulled apart, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
Kaylee looked happy-stunned. “Holy carpal tunnel.”
His eyebrows snapped together. “New family rule number one: no writer jokes, smart-ass. I’m the boss.”
“Says who?”
“I’m sure it’s in the paperwork.”
Jess couldn’t take her eyes off the two. If she wasn’t in love with Derek already, she would have fallen then and there.
“On that note,” Derek said, “I think it’s time to grow our family.”
Kaylee stepped away from him. “Don’t look at me. I’m not going to be sixteen and pregnant. I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
“You’re almost eighteen, doofus,” Derek reminded her. “In any case, no boyfriend until you’re thirty.”
As Kaylee protested, Derek’s gaze found Jess. “Last night, I asked Jess to marry me.”
Kaylee dropped the protest and screamed in delight. A cry of pleasure came from Zelda on the couch. Pam shouted,“Yesss!”from the top of the stairs. While Jess shook her head and muttered, “No pressure.”
In less than a second, Kaylee was jumping around her with the capacity for excitement only teenage girls had. “What did you say?”
Everybody held their breath.
“I’m thinking about it,” Jess told them.
Pam, who ran down the stairs to join the melee, stopped in front of Jess, and turned thoughtful. “OK, you can think about it. I mean, you haven’t even had a celebrity affair yet.”
Derek growled at her. “Have I mentioned that it’s snowing outside? It’d be a crying shame, Pam Novak, if you found your ass in a snowbank.”
“Technically, Derek is a celebrity,” Kaylee pointed out. “He’s aNew York Timesbestselling author.”
“Thanks, sis.”
“Don’t mention it, bro. I got your back.”
Jess shook her head at them. From the corner of her eye, she caught Zelda wiping her eyes. Her expression seemed to say,Don’t make the same mistake I made. Don’t wait too long.
I won’t, Jess silently promised.
“I think she needs convincing,” Derek said, and walked over to kiss her.
Pam murmured, “Practically porn.”
While Kaylee cried, “Eew! Gross! Get a room!”
