Wrapped Up in You (Heartbreaker Bay, #8)(42)

Kel rolled his eyes. He’d heard this speech before.

“But,” his sister went on. “She’s the only mom we’ve got. And she’s trying hard. She’s been trying hard for a decade now.”

“You always did want to see the best in people.”

“And why wouldn’t I? It’s not like I want to be old and grumpy like you.”

“Ha ha,” he said.

She flashed him a grin and unwound Harper from the sling before handing her up to Kel. “She thinks you hate her. Mom. Not Harper. Harper thinks everyone loves her.”

He took the baby. “You need to stop meddling.”

At his tone, Harper made a sound of distress, so he shifted her against him and stroked her back.

Harper immediately stopped fussing and gave out a little mew of happiness that did something funny to his heart. Then she yawned wide and set her head on his shoulder in a move so sweet that his chest actually went tight. Hugging her close, he kissed her head again. “Her scent. It’s . . .”

“Crackalicious, I know. I think they come that way on purpose so we’ll forget the hell they put us through and keep procreating.”

Harper nestled her face into the crook of his neck.

He could honestly say he’d never given thought to settling down and having a family of his own. It just wasn’t something he saw in his future.

But truthfully, he hadn’t given a lot of thought to his future at all and what it might hold.

And yet standing there cradling his soft, sweet, warm niece, something inside him actually ached. “Does it always feel like this?”

Remy laughed. She laughed so hard she snorted, which started her laughing again, until she had tears running down her cheeks. Finally, she sniffed, swiped her face, and got herself together. “I’m tempted to say yes and then ask you to babysit, but I have this thing against lying my ass off to family.” She shook her head. “She’s just been fed and changed. This is the happiest she gets. Ever. The rest of the time, she’s either pooping, throwing up, or screaming her fury to the world.”

Kel looked down at the little angel in his arms. She yawned again, relaxing every bone in her body for a single beat before letting out an impressive fart.

Right into his hand.

With a blissful sigh, she then snuggled in again while—holy shit—his eyes literally watered and he gasped for fresh air. “How could something so small and dainty smell so bad?”

Remy grinned and snapped a pic of him with her phone and looked at it. “Aw. Hold on . . .” She thumbed on her phone for a second. “Okay, I just posted it on Instagram and tagged you, so brace yourself.” She showed him the pic with the caption: One of These Two Adorable Beings Just Farted . . .

“Wow, seriously?”

“Hey, I’m still your baby sister.”

She was the only person who could make him roll his eyes so hard they nearly came out of his head. And she was now yawning too, and he took a longer look at her. She seemed beat. “Listen, that loveseat’s actually pretty comfortable. Why don’t you lie down and close your eyes for a few minutes? I’ve got this.”

Remy gave him a small smile. “You always say that. You’ve been saying it since the day Dad died. And you meant it. You always had my back, no matter what.”

“Because we’re family.”

“No, it’s because you care,” she said. “You love me.” Her eyes filled and he sighed, making her give a watery laugh. “Sorry. It’s the baby hormones. They make me weepy.” She met his gaze, her own still soggy but determined, and he braced himself.

Ah hell. “You didn’t come here to have me hold Harper for you,” he said.

“No.”

He braced himself. “Just get it over with, Remy, say whatever you came here to say.”

“I know about Mom.”

“Yes, we just had that conversation. I ran into her.” He shrugged. “Big deal.”

She shook her head. “I mean I know about the thing she did.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I do.”

Kel looked into her eyes and saw sorrow and regret, but he still didn’t believe she knew the real truth, that their mom had been cheating on their dad. No. There was no way she knew, because if she did, she wouldn’t have such a close relationship with either their mom or her husband—the guy she’d cheated on their dad with. “Remy—”

“She told me years ago.”

“Told you what exactly?” he asked carefully.

“About her and Henry.”

Kel could only shake his head. “Why would she tell you?”

“I was turning twenty-one and I wanted a family birthday party. I always wanted a family birthday party, but it was so hard to get you and her in the same place at the same time. I knew I was missing a big piece of our puzzle. She’d always told me that I was too young to understand, but that year I refused to hear it. I told her I was a grown-up, legal, and I wanted the damn truth, even if you didn’t. So she told me.”

Kel stared at her. She was quiet, calm, and clearly worried about him, which was crazy. No one needed to worry about him, ever. But she was also accepting. “You’re okay with it,” he breathed in shock.

“Let’s just say I made peace with it,” she said softly. “And the reason I was able to do so was because I listened to her story, really listened, and got both sides—”