Page 48 of All It Takes

“Nope.” I giggled. “She can roll with it. Feel free to tease her.”

Chase shook his head slightly before pushing away from the counter and stuffing his hands in his pockets as he paced back and forth in front. “Jasper will be fine. It didn’t look like there were too many quills.”

He turned, facing me. “I know. I just hope he’s not in too much pain.” He abruptly changed the subject. “I talked to Wes.”

“What?” I yelped.

“Yeah,” he replied as if it was perfectly okay for him to nose into my personal life.

“Chase!” I sputtered. “My personal life is my business.”

My brother rolled his eyes. “Says the woman who noses into my life all the freaking time. Look, maybe it isn’t any of my business, but we both have our own baggage around Mom, and I don’t want to see my friend make things worse for you.”

Chase stating the obvious so plainly felt like someone dragging a rusty nail over the scars on my heart. He didn’t even know about what happened with Scott.

I took a slow breath. “I can take care of myself.”

“Can you? Because it seems to me your way of doing that is to never get serious with anyone.”

Defensiveness sharpened its claws inside. “You’re one to talk,” I retorted. “You didn’t get serious with anyone until Hallie got pregnant.”

Unperturbed, he shrugged. “You’re right. That’s exactly what happened, and I feel lucky. I love Hallie.”

My chest and throat hurt. Despite the old, achy pain his words elicited, I was determined not to cry in front of him. “Sure. Easy for you to say. It was way worse for me, and you know it. With you, she just ignored you. With me, she spent years dragging me all over the place and then lashed out at me when I wasn’t exactly how she wanted me to be, or when I got old enough for her to think I was some kind of competition.”

Chase looked horrified. “Tiffany, I didn’t mean—”

I shook my head sharply. “It’s fine, it’s fine.” If I said that enough, it would somehow be true. “I didn’t mean to say all that. It’s just itwasa little different for us. And you know what? I’m so happy for you and Hallie. I’m just trying to figure this out with Wes. Maybe it was stupid because of Ross.”

My brother studied me quietly, the understanding held in his gaze making me want to look away. But I lifted my chin and held his gaze, stupidly proud that my tears didn’t spill over.

“You’ve always had such a big heart. Mom didn’t ruin that for you. I’m just realizing now that you don’t give yourself much. You deserve love too, you know? When everything happened around Dad and the family I didn’t know I had, you were the first to try to make those connections and smooth everything over. Frankly, if it wasn’t for you, I don’t know that I ever would’ve made the connection. I’m so grateful I did. Just give yourself a chance. Maybe I overstepped by saying something to Wes. I just don’t want to see you hurt more.”

I lost the fight against my tears. They rolled down my cheeks as I stared at my brother across the counter. He came around the counter and pulled me into his arms, giving me a big comforting hug. He stepped back, his hands on my shoulders as he stared into my eyes.

“I won’t butt in again. I mean, I will kick his ass if he hurts you. But for what it’s worth, Wes is a good guy.”

ChapterThirty-Two

WES

“Nice to meet you,” McKenna Cannon said.

I moved to shake her hand, but her smile widened, and she stepped closer, throwing her arms around me in an enthusiastic hug. “Nice to meet you too.” I chuckled as she stepped back.

“You’re family now,” she added.

“I am?”

“Well, yes. You and Tiffany have Ross. And Tiffany is Chase’s sister, and Chase is our brother. They’re family, so you’re family.”

Chase approached, handing me a bottle of beer. “McKenna’s definition of family is very broad,” he offered with a dry laugh.

Tiffany had filled me in on the family situation with them discovering a few years prior that the father who raised her and Chase wasn’t Chase’s biological father. The Cannon family, who owned Fireweed Industries and also happened to be one of the most well-known families in Alaska along with running an international billion-dollar company, were the other half of Chase’s family.

I imagined that had been a lot for Chase to take in, but they all seemed to have settled into accepting it. McKenna was one of his seven—count that, seven—half-siblings from his biological father’s side of the family.

McKenna and Chase shared the same dark blond hair and silver-gray eyes. She was quiet for a beat before her lips curled into a soft smile. “Family is what you make it. I know that’s kind of a cliché and popular to say these days, but it’s true. What matters is accepting each other and being there for each other.” She looked from Tiffany to me and then over at Ross, who was currently occupied with playing video games. “If you need anything, all you have to do is give a shout.”

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