“Just because you’re content doesn’t mean you can’t reach for more. You deserve mind-blowing happiness.”
A yell from Jensen broke off our conversation. “Tucker Harris, you put me down right now. That water is freezing.”
He gave Jensen a playful swat on the butt. “Oh, I’ll put you down, Wilder…”
“Tuck—”
Her words were cut off as he launched her into the lake water. Their son, Noah, hooted and hollered. “She’s gonna kill you for that.”
Tuck gave him a high-five and then picked up their other son, Drew, hoisting him on top of his shoulders. “Did you see Mommy fly?”
The little boy nodded. “She went far.”
Jensen burst out of the water, spluttering. “You. Are going to pay for that.”
“Aw, come on, Wilder, I just wanted to see you all wet.”
I choked on a laugh. Tessa turned bright red and bent to cover Taylor’s daughter’s ears. “They’re all going to get sent home from school on their first day for saying inappropriate things.”
Taylor rolled her eyes. “First day of kindergarten, I got called into the office because Cooper said s-h-i-t. I almost murdered Walker.”
Kennedy sent me a wavering smile before turning back to our group. I reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. She and Cain had been going through the foster-to-adopt program and had gotten their hearts broken more times than I could count. “At least we know we’ll never be bored.”
As my gaze traveled around the group, I couldn’t help but think about how my friendship bucket overflowed. I’d landed in this amazing community. Yet, I still felt unsettled. As if I were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Countless years had passed, and I was still waiting. Maybe I always would be.
“I told Kenz I would take over for her on dishes.”
I jolted at the deep timbre of Mason’s voice, almost dropping the dish I was putting into the dishwasher. “Hasn’t anyone told you that sneaking up on a woman is a bad idea? You could’ve gotten a knee to the junk.”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “I wasn’t sneaking, but I’ll keep that warning in mind.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn’t need my mouth running away from me any more than it already had.
“I’ll rinse. You put in the dishwasher?”
He looked so damn hopeful. Like a puppy I couldn’t bear to kick. Nice. Normal. I repeated the words in my mind. “Sure.”
“You would’ve thought I’d asked for a kidney, not to help with the dishes.”
“I had a system down.”
“And I’m forever messing up your systems.”
He was, damn it. Messing up my carefully boundaried life with his smiles and offers of help. With his ideas for the shelter. And, even more infuriatingly, they were usually good ones. The personal alarms he’d offered to the tenants had given them an extra sense of safety I hadn’t seen coming.
I slid the plate I was holding into its appropriate slot. “You are kind of an interfering bastard.”
Mason barked out a laugh. “At least, you’re honest.”
“But I think your heart is in the right place.”
He turned to face me, clutching at his chest. “Anna, was that a compliment?”
My face heated, and I grabbed a bowl from his other hand. “I’ll take it back if you keep this up.”
“Okay, I’ll shut up. I just wish I’d had a recorder running. It might be the only one I get from you.”
God, I could be a bitch. But it was only when something hammered against my defenses. And this man, he was a threat to them all. “At this rate, it will be.”
He chuckled and pulled another dish from the stack, washing off the excess food before handing it to me. “Just you wait. I’m going to win you over with my wit and charm.”
I blinked up at him. “Charm? Wit? Are you talking about Tuck?”
“You wound me.”
I couldn’t help the curve of my lips as I put the dish in the washer. “I’m sure I’m the only one.” I knew plenty of women in town had their eyes on the bachelor. From what I’d heard, Mason had been on a handful of dates, but nothing had ever gotten serious. I wanted to know why. Did he have some crazy standards that no one could possibly live up to? Was he intent on being a bachelor forever? As I studied him out of the corner of my eye, I didn’t feel that either scenario really fit.
“The only one who what?”
“Wounds you.”
His brows pulled together. “You certainly seem to be my toughest critic.”
Shit. I’d been harder on him than I’d intended. Time to rein it in. My phone buzzed in my back pocket, and I slid it out. I didn’t recognize the number or area code, but I answered anyway. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d gotten a call asking if we could place a resident from somewhere out of state.
“Hello, this is Anna.”
A female voice cut across the line. “Anna Foley?”
“Yes, this is she.”
“I’m Detective Johnson with the Las Vegas Police Department.”
I leaned a hip against the counter, waiting for her to say more. She didn’t. “Do you have someone who needs to be placed at Hope House?”
“I’m sorry, Hope House?”
“The shelter in Sutter Lake. I assumed that’s why you were calling.”
“No, it’s not regarding that.”
I stiffened, my fingers curling tighter around the phone. Flashes of memories danced in my mind. Images that were dark enough to take me under. I focused on my breathing, keeping my voice even. “What can I help you with?”
“You were in Chelsea Foley’s phone as her emergency contact.”
Everything in me seized. “Yes, that’s my sister. Is she okay? Was she hurt?”
Mason shut off the water and moved in closer. I didn’t have the energy or focus to move away.
“I’m so sorry, but your sister was found dead early this morning.”
“What? N-no. That’s impossible. Chelsea wasn’t even in Las Vegas. She was in Portland.” My legs began to tremble. I had no control over them—as if they had suddenly turned to mush.
Mason caught me just as I was about to go down, half guiding, half carrying me over to a chair at the kitchen table. I hardly noticed that either. I could barely hear the detective over the blood rushing in my ears.
“Your sister’s fingerprints were on file from when she was a child. It’s a program a lot of schools have in case a student ever goes missing. Between that and the match to her identification, we know it’s her.”
My fingers began to tingle, and I realized I wasn’t breathing. “How?”
“Do you know if your sister struggled with depression or addiction?”
“What? No. Neither of those.” The question gave me a jolt of adrenaline that my system desperately needed. “She’s one of the healthiest people I know.” Chelsea wouldn’t even let herself or her kids drink soda, saying it was poison.
“Sometimes, people can hide that kind of thing from the ones they love the most.”
Derek’s face flashed in my mind. I knew all about the things people could hide. I knew how those lives could rip apart your existence. But I also knew without a shadow of a doubt that this wasn’t a lie Chelsea would’ve been wrapped up in. It had taken almost a decade for my sister to even speak to me again. Another year before she believed that I was telling the truth, that Derek had lied to the police about my involvement in his operation.