Page 77 of Guarded Secrets
He smiled in return; the two little people attached to him looked at her owlishly.
They had matching dark hair and striking blue eyes that had been handed straight down from their father.
“Hey. I’ve got a niece named Keeley. Levi Gallagher.” He stuck out his hand to shake. After letting her go, he gestured to his shoulder. “Monkey number one is Henry.” He pointed down. “Monkey number two is Lucas.”
“Nice to meet you, monkeys.”
Henry smiled and leaned over to peer at his dad upside down, saying clearly, “Not a monkey,” while Lucas only held tighter to his father’s leg.
Owen approached with a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Zoey, this is Keeley.”
“Happy days, a female. I’m so glad to see you. I’m surrounded by humans with penises and need a break.”
Keeley noticed Zoey’s rounded belly. “It looks like you’re adding another monkey to the circus.”
“Circus is right.” She rested a hand on her baby bump. “This one’s a girl, thank goodness. She’ll help even out the testosterone in this family. Come on in. We’ve got sun tea, and we’ve got beer. I made my own hummus dip and chopped some veggies for a snack.”
“Good thing I picked up Doritos,” Levi said cheerfully as he limped to the door with one leg weighted down. “I’ll let Keeley choose ranch or original.”
“Original,” she responded.
Zoey rolled her eyes as she led the way inside the house. They arranged themselves in comfy chairs on a deck that looked out over the stunningly blue lake. Ice tinkled in Keeley’s tall glass as she drank the refreshing iced tea and enjoyed carrots and cucumber slices heaped with tasty hummus.
Levi eyed her food choices. “Don’t tell me you’re crunchy granola like this one.” He nodded to his wife.
“Nothing wrong with crunch granola.” Keeley smiled at him as she snagged a chip. “Even so, I’ll occasionally indulge in the Dorito.”
“Awesome,” Levi pronounced.
“How long have you guys been together?” Zoey asked, gaze shifting between Keeley and Owen.
“Oh, we’re not together. Owen and I are friends.”
Zoey’s brows rose to her hairline. “I don’t believe that.” She pointed an accusatory finger at her cousin. “I’m not blind. There’s something going on. Plus, when have you ever introduced me to a woman?” When Owen didn’t answer and took a pull from his beer, she went on. “I’ll tell you, it’s never. Not even the one you married.” She turned back to Keeley. “Whatever’s going on with you two, it’s more thanfriends.”
Keeley let the comment pass. What could she say?
Cruising from furniture to people, Lucas toddled his way to Keeley and clambered up. She boosted him onto her lap where he promptly gave her a wet kiss on the cheek and began playing with the ends of her hair.
“That one’s a lady’s man,” Levi said. “Watch out for him.”
“He’s fourteen months and on the verge of walking without holding on to something.”
Keeley breathed in the sweet scent of baby powder, her cheeks warming when she caught Owen watching her, his gaze narrowed.
He set his beer on the table to swing Henry onto his lap. The little boy leaned back against Owen’s chest and stuck a thumb in his mouth.
Keeley looked away when the yearning for exactly that, except with Owen holdingtheirchild, slammed into her.
“Since we’re changing the subject,” Owen said, “what brings you to Tahoe? You live in a mountain town by a lake, so you vacation in a mountain town by a lake? And where’s the monster dog?”
Zoey laughed. “Sounds strange, doesn’t it? We live in Hangman’s Loss, which is a two-hour drive south of Tahoe,” she informed Keeley. “We bought a new house because we’re tripping over each other as well as the monster dog at our current place, and when baby girl arrives, there’ll only be more tripping.”
“Mountain dog?” Keeley questioned.
“Lucy is a Bernese Mountain dog. She takes up a lot of room,” Zoey replied. “We bought this house and it’s really cute and Ilovethe windows and the view of the lake, but we wanted to paint the interior before moving in. I can’t stand plain white walls.
“Our lease was up in the old place and we needed to be out of there and I didn’t want everyone exposed to paint fumes, so the cop arranged for us to come here while the work is being done.”
