Kiss the Stars (Falling Stars #1)(71)

Me: Fine. I’ll be here.





Rhys: Ah, too easy, brother. Seems to me you were experiencing some kind of cold feet. I can’t wait to meet her.





Could almost see him waggling his brows from across state lines from beneath his trucker cap.

Me: Fuck you, man.





Rhys: Not my type, dude, not my type. But count me in for another taste of those sweet Savannah ladies. Bring yours.





I looked up at the girl who was watching me.

Unable to resist, I snatched the first two fingers of her right hand and swung it between us, that simple connection feeling like the most powerful thing.

“Want you to come somewhere with me, Mia. Tomorrow night.”

“Like . . . on a date?” she clarified, like she didn’t believe what I was asking.

“If that’s what you want to call it. My band’s coming into town. Want you to be there.”

Bewildered, she stared at me, completely caught off guard.

“Auntie! Say yes!” This squeaked from Kallie.

“Please. Say yes.” Words grunted free, hand tightening around her fingers.

She warred. Think we both could feel us getting too deep.

“You should go, Mom.” Penny’s timid voice hit me from behind. It tugged directly at the string the kid had sewn in me.

Connection fierce.

Something I wasn’t sure how to undo.

Worry moved through Mia’s face when she glanced at her daughter before she looked back at me.

Scared.

Hopeful.

With all that bright, bright light.

She gave me a tight nod. “Okay.”

And I felt it for the first time in three years.

Excitement.





Twenty-Four





Mia





“You’re going on a date with him?” Tamar nabbed me by the wrist, screeching as she flung my arm around.

Waving a hand in her direction to quiet her, I tiptoed over to the door and peeked out.

Coast clear.

Breathing out in relief, I clicked the door shut and turned back to my sister-in-law who was standing there with one of her signature smirks.

Nothing but a red-lipped Cheshire. If we weren’t careful, every canary in Savannah was going to go extinct.

“Are you trying to announce it to the whole dang house?”

This time she waved a flippant hand at me. “Um . . . newsflash, Mia, the whole house already knows. How do you think I do?”

“You’re a snoop?”

A low giggle rolled off her tongue. “Okay, now we both know that’s true, but this I heard straight from your brother’s sexy mouth, which he heard from Baz, who heard from Shea, who heard from Kallie. Apparently, Brendon and Penny were in agreement to keep your secret, but when I pressed them, they gave. Five bucks each.”

The explanation came from her casually.

Nothing but nonchalance.

Disbelief widened my eyes. “You bribed our kids?”

She shrugged. “Who said money can’t buy happiness?”

“You are terrible.”

She laughed. “That’s why you love me. And besides, it wasn’t like you didn’t have a whole audience when the man asked you out. That took some balls.”

Or he was just a sadist.

Because how was I supposed to say no?

I mean, not that I wanted to. Which probably made me the biggest fool of all.

I heaved out a sigh and sank down onto the side of the bed. It didn’t matter that I was almost thirty, my nerves still rattled. “And what did my brother have to say about all of this? He sure didn’t seem all that keen when Leif first got here.”

Tamar’s expression softened. “That’s because your brother is going to wait around until someone’s true character is exposed. Guilty until proven innocent.” She grinned.

I shook my head, words a disparaging tease. “Oh, and Leif is innocent now?”

“Actions speak louder than words, don’t they? And I’m pretty sure that action yesterday said everything that needed to be said.”

It was instant. The assault of images that hit me.

Panic and horror.

That one second when I thought she might be gone.

My spirit curled in on itself, unable to fathom the thought.

My head shook, and I glanced at the floor like it might offer some kind of strength before I forced myself to meet the understanding on her face. “I wouldn’t have made it, Tamar. If I would have lost—”

I choked over the last word, unable to get it out, tears blearing my eyes.

I never would have made it.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Tamar erased the space between us, kneeling down in front of me, her blue eyes searching, her features written in worry and dread. “I know. I know. I couldn’t imagine. None of us could.”

My lips trembled, and I tried to make sense of it. “When I lost Lana . . . I was devastated. Crushed in a way that I couldn’t quite understand.”

I blinked, trying to see through the disorder. “But with everything that’s been happening . . . it’s like . . . it’s like I haven’t really been able to mourn her. Grieve her. But this?”