Page 84 of Forever By Morning

“How well do you know him?”

“We became friends during a project he did for The Children’s Hospital in Manhattan. My parents are on the board there and I handled a lot of the details.”

“Oh, one of his fancy architect deals?”

“Yeah. He did a major update on the old building. He’s brilliant.”

“That’s our Kain. He didn’t give us much choice on our house. Ronan bought a fixer-upper when he first moved here and Kain took over. The things he comes up with are amazing. Of course, now my idiot thinkshe’sthe genius because he made sure to have Kain build on a few extra bedrooms. Like he willed the baby into being.”

I picked up my hat. “Bet it wasn’t will alone.”

Kira barked out a shocked laugh. “We don’t have a problem in that department, that’s for sure. Have to admit I had you pegged as a snooty rich bitch.”

“I can be on occasion.”

“Honesty. I like it. As long as you’re not going to cause my guys grief, that’s all I care about.” She hopped down off the counter. “Kain is my friend too, but he’s also the head of my kitchen, and I don’t need the two of them busting up my patio every day over you.”

“I think we’re safe there. In fact, I think I’m just going to stay out of everyone’s way and get the party settled so I can get back to my life.”

“I think I’ll be betting on Beckett again when it comes to that one. C’mon, let’s see what Cara and Lennon got up to while we were in here.”

I frowned as I followed her out. What the heck did that mean?

Cara was sitting at the bar with both of our tablets in front of her as she furiously scribbled on a clipboard.

Lennon’s long braid twitched behind her as she unpacked colorful bottles from the boxes and moved them around on the large, mirrored shelves. “Fortieth parties need a special drink. Do we know anything about the birthday girl? Or is it a boy?”

“Girl,” Cara answered as she flipped through her papers. “She’s a teacher.”

“Well, that’s perfect for an apple drink, hey?” Lennon grinned. “I can do a variation of our Apple Pie moonshine.”

“Are you trying to take her out?” Kira leaned against the bar. “So how many people are coming to this shindig?”

“Eighty.”

She whistled. “Fair amount.”

Cara’s eyes brimmed a bit as she sniffled.

“Don’t start that again.” I came to stand next to her.

“There are so many things on this list. I can’t believe I screwed up so bad.” She flipped back and forth between the same three pages.

I put my hand over the clipboard. “Cara. That part is over. Now we just have to make the plan and stick to it. We’ll get it done.”

“Right. Okay.” Her big doe eyes were pink-rimmed. “We can.”

“Good. Then let’s get to work.” I pulled my tablet over. “Now show me this program I need to learn.”

Cara straightened. “That I can do.”

I tried to concentrate as she explained things to me, but I kept scanning the patio.

“He’s gone.”

I looked up at Lennon’s voice. She had her back to me, still refilling her wall of alcohol.

She glanced over her shoulder and smirked at me. “You can relax. He and Kain cleaned up and he left.” She hopped off the stool she was using and grabbed a bottle of water out of fridge, setting the aluminum can in front of me.

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