The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone #3)(7)

So maybe she could go do something constructive for a change, something to right some wrongs. At the thought, she channeled her inner Mindy and organized herself, formulating a plan for how to fix not just her sister’s problems, but her own as well. Her mental list was:

Face Wildstone again.

Kick Linc’s ass.

Face her own regrettable past actions, the worst of which had affected a certain six-foot-tall blast from her past whom she’d not faced since.



The only problem with this plan was it was an odd number of things. So she added one more:

Return to LA a new Brooke. Or, better yet, the old old Brooke, so she could get her life back, including the principal photography job she missed.



A quarter of a mile left to make her decision. Sucking in a deep breath, she changed lanes. They were going north. To Wildstone. She was going to be unselfish, she was going to fix things, because that’s what grown-ups did, and she was supposedly one of those now.

“You’re going sixty,” Millie noted very seriously.

Brooke nodded. “It’s the speed limit.”

“Earlier you went to sixty-four.”

“Yes. I was passing someone.”

Millie met her gaze in the rearview mirror. “You like even numbers like I do.”

The solemn expression on the little girl’s face cracked Brooke’s heart wide-open, making her more honest than she might’ve been. “I do.”

Millie thought about that for a beat and nodded, a very small smile crossing her mouth. “I’ve never met anyone like us.”

Brooke’s heart pinched again, and when her phone buzzed, she had to swallow the lump in her throat to answer.

“Am I on speaker?” Mindy asked. “And the correct answer is yes.”

“Of course you’re on speaker,” Brooke said, and, grimacing, put Mindy on speaker.

“Now make sure Millie’s got her headphones on and isn’t listening.”

Brooke eyed Millie, whose head was now bopping to some kid tunes. “Done.”

“She’s got some things you’ll need to work around,” Mindy said.

“Things?”

Mindy sighed. “She needs to have her hands clean at all times. She can’t touch stuff if she thinks it’s dirty. She counts in fours, often out loud. Things have to be even. Even steps. Even miles per hour for your speed in the car. The thermostat. Everything, it all has to be even.”

“So?” Brooke asked carefully.

“So it’s who she is. Her pediatrician says the OCD isn’t a problem right now, and we’re watching it, but people don’t always understand her quirks, and that upsets her.”

From a young age, Brooke had done the same things as Millie, but knowing she was different, she’d hidden her “quirks,” even from Mindy. That Millie didn’t hide them made Brooke’s neglected heart ache with pride for the kid. “I told you I’ve got this, and I do. I’ll take care of her.” Great job on not getting attached . . . “Of all of them.”

Mindy was quiet a moment, and when she spoke, her voice was soft and grateful. “Thanks. You’re a good sister.”

She wasn’t, not even close. But she was going to fix that, too. “And I changed my mind on the vacay at you-know-where. We’re going to Wildstone, so take your time to rest up and stuff, and then you can meet us there.”

“Oh my God, really?” Mindy asked, voice now filled with excitement. “You’re going home? That’s amazing! Thank you! Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent.” Okay, maybe ten, but that could be her own little secret. “Gotta go, Min. Don’t drink all my wine, and don’t drink it in my bed.”

The drive up the California coast was stunning—rolling green hills on the right, the shiny blue Pacific Ocean on the left—but the kids weren’t impressed. It took all of ten minutes for them to get restless. Mason was thirsty, Millie wanted to switch seats, and Maddox kept barking. “What do you all want to be when you grow up?” Brooke finally asked out of desperation.

“A space cowboy,” Mason yelled with glee.

“He means astronaut,” Millie said. “He just can’t say it.”

“Can so. Ass-not.”

Millie lifted a palm, like, See?

Brooke eyed Mason in the rearview mirror. “To be an astronaut, you have to study hard, go to college, and learn a lot of science.”

Mason shrugged, unconcerned. “So? That’s just three things.”

Brooke had to laugh at the brilliant simplicity of that statement. “Maybe you should become a motivational speaker.”

“Do they get as much candy as they want?” Mason asked.

“I’m going to be a real princess,” Millie interrupted. “And I’m not going to have to marry a prince first, either.”

“Arf!” Maddox said.

“He’s going to be a dog,” Millie translated.

And so the drive went. At one point, Maddox dropped his favorite stuffed puppy into Millie’s lap.

“Finders keepers,” Millie said.

Maddox started wailing.

“Millie,” Brooke said. “Can you hand that back to him, please?”

Millie was playing on Brooke’s iPad and didn’t respond.