Page 661 of Hell Hath No Fury
EMBER IN THE HEART
SAMANTHA YOUNG
CHAPTER ONE
Ember
“This cannot be happening.” I glowered out of our living room window at the moving van sitting in our neighbor’s driveway. More specifically, I glowered at the man standing in front of the moving van. To my sister, Jade, I demanded, “Did you know about this?”
Jade raised her hands defensively. “I swear Colt never said a word.”
Colt was my elder sister’s fiancé and the business partner of the man currently moving into the house next door.
A man I couldn’t stand.
“I think we’re all being very rude and should probably go out and welcome him to the neighborhood,” Celeste, our second-youngest sister, remarked as she peered curiously at him. “His kid is cute.”
“Kid,” I huffed, rolling my eyes. “He’s a man-child. Noman-childshould be raising a child.”
“That can’t be helped,” Jade admonished. “His ex took a job in Paris so Foster is now a full-time dad. Colt said they’re both having a hard time adjusting.”
Foster. Foster Darwin. Quite possibly the rudest man I’d ever met. My attention strayed to the little girl standing in the driveway, her hand held tight in Foster’s as they watched the moving team unload. She wore a somber expression on her sweet little face. “How could a mother abandon her child for a job?”
“We don’t know the circumstances,” Celeste reminded us.
“True,” I murmured.
“I’m done peeping out the window.” Jade started for the front door. “Foster is Colt’s best man. It would be weird if I didn’t say hello.”
Celeste hurried to follow Jade.
Lifting the hem of my full-skirted maxi dress, I marched out of the house, bounced down the porch steps after my sisters, onto the lawnIcared for, and hopped over my flower beds and onto Foster’s driveway.
Foster was my new neighbor.
The universe had a sick sense of humor.
“Foster!” Jade called, and the man in question turned, adorable daughter in hand.
“Jade?” He frowned, coming toward us.
His little girl’s face brightened with curiosity.
“Colt didn’t tell me you bought this house,” Jade said after kissing his cheek. “Why wouldn’t he tell me?”
“You live here?” He nodded at our house.
“For now. Once Colt and I are married, I’ll move in with him, but this is our family home. Our parents left it to us. Ember and Celeste live here too.”
At the mention of my name, Foster’s lips pressed together into a tight line.
Yeah, the feeling’s mutual, buddy.
“Hey, Georgie, do you remember me?” Jade crouched to eye level with Foster’s daughter, who nodded shyly. Jade held out her hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
Georgie eyed my sister’s hand, then her face, considered her, and then tentatively placed her hand in Jade’s. My big sister beamed that stunning smile of hers. “Are you excited about your new house?”
Georgie’s answer was to step behind her father’s leg and bury her face in the back of it. Foster settled a hand on her head, stroking her hair in comfort. I refused to let the sign of familial love melt my anger toward him. “She’s a little shy.”
