Page 64 of Silent Partner (Pine Falls 3)

I gave Dani a nervous smile.

“Hey, Kins.” She unexpectedly threw her arms around me, smooshing my cat between us. “How are you?” She sounded like herself.

“Good,” I lied.

She leaned away from me and peered into my eyes to see if I was telling the truth. Luckily, she didn’t get a good look, as Gemma was jumping up to see Oscar.

I let them both in before I knelt and introduced Oscar to Gemma. She immediately took him out of my arms and snuggled him to her. “I love you, kitty.” It was an adorable sight.

While Gemma loved on my cat, Dani looked around our old home. The place where we became more than blood. “I miss this old place,” she sighed before looking at me. “I miss you too.”

“I miss you.” I did my best not to tear up even though I felt those words in my very soul. I’d felt so disconnected from her lately, and I hated it.

“Let’s change that. I’m sorry, I’ve been a mess these past few months. I was throwing up all the time and stressed about losing this baby,” her voice hitched. “But now that I’m well into my second trimester, I’m feeling good.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. And I’m so excited to meet your little angel.”

Dani rubbed her very tiny baby bump. “Me too.” She grabbed my arms. “Please say you forgive me,” she begged.

“For what?”

“For everything. I’ve been a terrible sister.” Her whole body seemed to tremble.

She was worrying me. “Dani, you’ve been sick. And maybe a little nutty, but you have nothing to apologize for.” It wasn’t her fault she was born irresistible.

Her eyes welled with tears. “I do,” she whispered. She wiped a few errant tears. “I’m going to be better. Let’s do lunch next week. A sisters’ lunch.”

I wasn’t sure where all this emotion was coming from. That wasn’t exactly true. I knew she had to know about Brant’s feelings for her and my feelings for him. But she didn’t have to worry now; I was on my way to being cured of Brant. I’d finally swallowed the bitter medicine of truth. It tasted awful, but what else could I do? My only hope was that it acted quickly. “I’d love that. Can you come to the restaurant? I’m swamped.”

“Of course. Anything. You name it,” she was eager to say. “And I want to hear all about your plans. Sheridan is so excited to work with you.”

That made me feel guilty. I bit my lip. “Well, we haven’t decided anything. I’m just trying to get settled in my new role.” More like I was doing my best to get over my silent partner who was in love with her. It was no easy feat, which meant not entangling myself further with him or his wonderful mother.

Dani smiled. “Oh, don’t worry; Sheridan will convince you to remodel.”

I shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Dani tilted her head. “I thought you would be excited about that.”

“It’s just way down the list of priorities,” I lied again. Sort of.

Gemma, thankfully, interrupted us. She held up Oscar. “Mommy, can we get a kitty?”

Dani gave me a thanks-a-lot look before smiling sweetly at her daughter. “No, baby, Daddy’s allergic.”

I wasn’t sure that was true, but hey, she wasn’t my child.

Gemma’s lower lip came out. She had the pouting down to a science. “He can get not allergic.”

I laughed and let Dani explain to Gemma what allergic meant. Amid that fun conversation, Jonah dropped off Whitney. Apparently, Sammy was going through a growth spurt and wanted to nurse all day. Ariana swore boys were addicted to breasts from day one.

I kicked all the parents out, and it was party time. First up was pizza and a movie in the fort. We let Gemma pick the first movie. Of course, it was all fairy princesses and unicorns. Whitney was less than impressed, as she wanted a documentary. I was kind of hoping to talk Whitney out of the latest dinosaur documentary she was anxious to see. There was no doubt I would fall asleep if we put it on, and I didn’t think my siblings would appreciate me letting their offspring mind themselves.

We got settled in the fort, which was filled with blankets and pillows. I’d had to borrow some from my grandparents to make sure we had plenty of cushion, which made it smell like my grandparents’ linen closet—lavender with a hint of vanilla. Though the aroma of the pizza was slightly overpowering it.

The girls hardly touched their pizza because they were obsessed with Oscar. The poor cat was being cuddled to death. By the way he purred, he didn’t seem to mind too much. While the girls didn’t eat a lot of pizza, the cookies were vanishing quickly. Even Whitney was inhaling them. I allowed it because I wasn’t their parent. It was one of the perks of being the aunt.

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