After Dark (The Night Owl Trilogy #3)(63)

“Right? I kind of hit the jackpot.” Chrissy traipsed through the living room, which was filled with stylish furniture, to the wraparound balcony. Denver sprawled below.

“I mean, it’s really … nice that Seth set you up like this.”

“Nice? I guess so. It’s the least he could do, if you think about it.”

I pursed my lips. I didn’t want to get into a fight with Chrissy. Still, I didn’t like her tone: the jackpot, the idea that Seth owed her anything. It takes two, Sis.

“Have you heard from him much?” I said.

“Sure, we talk all the time.”

“How does he seem?”

“Fine. Busy.” She folded her arms over her stomach and beamed at me. “Can you believe we’re dating brothers?”

“It’s … pretty crazy.” Again, I wanted to snap at her. I wasn’t dating Matt. We were engaged to be married. Our love was real and trial-tested, whereas Chrissy’s only hold on Seth, as far as I could tell, was the baby.

But maybe she sensed that, and maybe her attitude grew out of insecurity.

“I’m sure he’ll move in here when he’s not touring so much.” She hummed and fluttered the drapes. “He wants me to get an ultrasound to see about the gender, but I’m waiting for him.”

“Waiting—what do you mean?”

“I think it’s something we should do together. Hey, are you gonna give me that, or what?” She looked at the flat cardboard box in my hand, one of Matt’s old shirt boxes. I had tied a purple ribbon around it.

“Oh, yeah.” I handed it to her. “I just came over to give you that, really. Kind of a housewarming thing, now that you’re settled.”

While she opened the box, I tucked my fingers into my pockets and surveyed the condo again. Matt still wanted nothing to do with helping Chrissy, but at least he “let me” help her. My arms ached from carrying boxes and moving furniture—heavy lifting that my pregnant sister couldn’t do. In a matter of weeks, she’d transformed from carelessly smoking mother-to-be to neurotically terrified of anything that might harm her baby.

More proof, I thought, that she viewed the baby as a means to an end.

That end being Seth Sky.

She’d quit her job at the Dynamite Club, taken up prenatal yoga, and, with a stipend from Seth, started eating organic. But I wasn’t buying it. The baby was a nuisance to Chrissy before Seth stepped into the picture.

“A … lantern?” She lifted the collapsed lantern from the box. The thin paper, turquoise-colored with circling koi, opened into an orb. Tears pricked at my eyes. This was the lantern I’d hung in my basement bedroom last year when I moved back home. It was a spot of color in my haze of depression. The first time Matt had visited my bedroom, he’d noticed the lantern.

He wrote about it in Night Owl.

Damn, the room was small, made smaller by Hannah’s queen-size bed and piles of boxes. The only window was high and narrow.

She’d hung a paper lantern from the ceiling. The sight of it tugged at my heart.

Now, the sight of the lantern tugged at my heart. What a long way Matt and I had come … full circle, it seemed. Writing together, living together. I blinked back emotion.

“For good luck,” I said. “I better get going.”

“I hope I don’t need luck.” Chrissy laughed and tossed the box onto a couch. “Thanks, Han. It’s adorable. Are you going to call your mystery man?”

I froze.

“What?”

“Ha! You look guilty. I’ve seen you from the balcony, always out there on your cell.”

“I’m … planning wedding stuff,” I said. “And house stuff. Yeesh. And soon I’ll be calling you for dinner dates with Mom and Dad, so don’t be dodging me.”

I scuttled out.

Whoa, Chrissy had noticed me making calls? Good thing she and Matt weren’t on speaking terms. That day, I waited until I was safe in my Civic to take out my cell and make a call.

“Hannah,” Nate answered. “Hi.”

“Hey. How is everything?”

“Fine, thank you. Congratulations on the house closing. Shouldn’t you be knee deep in boxes, or maybe learning to drive a tractor?”

“Pfft.” I laughed. “We’ll hire people to help with the land. And thank you. We’re so excited. We’ve been moving stuff slowly. It’s a process. I don’t know why Matt won’t get a company for the move; something about the experience…”

I rambled awhile, giving Nate details on the Corral Creek house and closing. It had happened quickly, inside of a month. The owners had moved to California and were eager to sell. We offered, they countered, and because Matt was impatient, we paid just shy of the asking price, five and a quarter million. Whew.

“And he’s been elated. It’s worth it just to see him this way, he’s…”

“Like a boy, I know.” Nate chuckled. “His happiness is something else. He’s been sending pictures. That is quite the piece of property. I eagerly await my invitation.”

“Don’t be silly. Come any time.” My big smile started to fade. “Anyway, I’m calling—”

“To ask about Seth. I know.” A pause. “Should I be worried?”