Page 77 of Surrendering Hope (The Hope Legacy)

“What secret family?” I ask.

Zee turns to me with a smirk. “He’s hugging an attractive woman, and a kid with the same hair and eyes is twitching the curtain like he’s seen Santa… or his Dad.”

I blink at the kid, he’s right, he resembles Duncan. I shove on Zee to get out of the car. His stubborn ass sits like a boulder next to me. He tuts. “He said to wait in the car.”

“He’s my best friend, I want to know if he has a wife and kid.” I scramble over Zee, who smirks at me.

“You sound more like a jealous girlfriend than a friend.”

I roll my eyes as I straddle him and push the door open. “Remember, I’m programmed to be super curious.”

He grabs my thighs and deposits me back in the car before climbing out.

“You’re an ass,” I mutter, sliding out of the car to join him.

He chuckles. “Just because you got yourself a psychotic god boyfriend, doesn’t mean I will stop tormenting the hell out of you.”

Duncan turns and runs a hand through his hair just as Aaden slips out to stand next to us. Duncan sighs so loud I can hear it from fifteen yards away. He gazes at me with a frown, but waves us forward.

“Guess we are about to find out one of Duncan’s secrets,” Zee says with far too much glee as we stroll forward to meet them.

“It’s not what it looks like,” I mutter. Duncan wouldn’t have hidden this from me.

We come to a pause in front of Duncan and the woman. The crinkles around her eyes suggest she’s older than I first thought. She sticks her hand out as her chocolate brown eyes assess us. “Hi, I’m Julie.”

I grasp it. “Natia.”

She assesses me from my head to my feet, and cocks her head. “Am I missing something?”

I blink. “Huh?”

She waves her hand up and down. “You’re dressed like royalty, Natia. I’m just wondering if my invitation got lost in the post?”

I chuckle as I smooth the silk down my hips. “It was this, or demon blood and brain bathed clothes.”

She chuckles. “Well, I guess there are worse things you could have changed into.”

Aaden and Zee make their greetings. She waves us towards the front door. “Come on, I just made a key lime pie and cookies.” My stomach, apparently not content with the trio of desserts, shoves its contents to one side and prepares for extra dessert.

“We don’t have time, Jules,” Duncan mumbles.

“There’s always time for dessert,” I say, following him as he stomps up the steps towards the house. Zee and Aaden shrug and follow the mysterious woman.

I step through the door and glance around to take in the hundreds of framed photos lining the walls of the hallway; I spot Duncan in several of them. Some with his arm around Julie. I make to step closer and stumble. Glancing down, I spot a pair of children’s muddy black-and-white striped rubber boots. Duncan stands in a doorway to the left, his shoulders tense.

He nods his head for us to follow him. The living room is a cozy space with several squidgy sofas and numerous overflowing bookcases. In between the plants hanging from the ceiling, I spy more photos.

Julie appears through an arch with a plate full of cookies and pie. She smiles and puts them on the coffee table in the center of the room.

“Duncan, could you get the plates and forks please?” she asks. He glances at us and points at the sofa before taking off to the kitchen. I plonk myself in the closest seat to the desserts. Zee sits on my left, whilst Julie snags a cookie and curls up on the opposite sofa. Aaden sits in the only armchair. Cookie or pie? What a dilemma. Duncan arrives and sets down some plates and forks next to the goodies. He drops a cookie and a piece of pie on one and hands it to me with a small smile.

“Thank you,” I murmur. Julie is studying us, not in a jealous wife way. More like a nosy family member.

“Didn’t you eat already?” Zee says. “I saw empty plates back at Hell’s Hole.”

“I did. Did you know you have two separate stomachs?”

Zee and Aaden snort a laugh. “It’s true,” I defend, “you have one for your main meal, and one for sweet stuff.”

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