“All of us?” Lorelei asked. “Or is this a date?”
“It’s not a date. I told him I had my two sisters and my niece staying with me, and he said to bring you.”
“Is he over there alone?” Reagan asked.
“He was expecting his brothers to arrive today, so he made a huge pot of chili before he started to shovel. But something came up and now they won’t be able to get here for a few days.”
Reagan hadn’t seen the neighbor, but from the way her two sisters were acting, he had to be more than mildly handsome. “You mean he needs our help eating all that chili.”
Serenity winked at her. “Exactly. I didn’t tell him I’m a vegetarian. I’ll just eat the corn bread and anything else that doesn’t have meat.”
“So you agreed?” Lorelei asked.
“I did.” She gave them both a mock scowl. “We’re neighbors. I didn’t want to be rude.”
Reagan gestured at what was left of the memorabilia. “Should we talk about this later?”
“There’s no reason we have to stop,” Serenity replied. “We have a couple of hours before we’re supposed to go over. Dinner isn’t until six.”
“Actually, I’d like to take a little nap myself before Lucy wakes up.”
Lorelei could probably use the break. After that little blow-up and then the reconciliation, they all could. “We’re here for a week,” Reagan said. “Can’t we talk about it later, after Lucy’s in bed for the night?”
Lorelei’s face filled with relief. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“Of course,” Serenity said. She was the hard-nosed investigator, the most eager to find answers so that she could right her world, but Reagan was glad she could leave it alone, for now.
Once Lorelei left the kitchen, Reagan exchanged an uncertain glance with Serenity. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. She’s been through a lot. I shouldn’t have been so sensitive.”
“You’ve been through a lot, too.”
“But, like she said, I’ve also had a lot to be grateful for. She had it rough when she was a kid, and now she’s married to a bastard.”
Reagan sighed. “I was trying to give Mark the benefit of the doubt, for obvious reasons, but...”
“But he’s using her insecurities against her. He’s got complete control because she obviously cares more about their child than he does. That’s why I couldn’t stay mad at her. She’s going through hell. I can’t blame her for acting out a little.”
Considering what she’d heard, Reagan had to agree. “Yeah, I got that impression, too. But we’re defensive of her, which makes us prone to assume the worst. We have to be careful. We could be wrong about Mark.”
Serenity pursed her lips as she weighed Reagan’s response. “I guess that’s true.”
10
lorelei
NOT ONLY WAS the neighbor tall and broad-shouldered, he had thick sandy-colored hair and beautiful amber eyes. They reminded Lorelei of Jason Momoa’s eyes in Aquaman. He was so handsome he made her feel...frumpy. After all, she was the only married sister, the only one with a child and she was twenty pounds heavier than Serenity or Reagan.
Since she didn’t expect him to pay her much attention, she crouched down to talk to Lucy about the snow and how fast it was melting, while Serenity took the lead at the door. But when Serenity turned to introduce her and Lorelei stood and shook their host’s large hand, she was slightly embarrassed that the warmth of his touch lingered in her mind long after he’d said hello.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” he said to Lucy.
Lorelei smiled as her daughter ducked shyly behind her, and he stepped back so they could come in.
“How can you even call this a cabin?” Lorelei muttered to Serenity as soon as she saw the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lake.
Serenity’s cabin had a similar view and almost as many windows. It, too, was beautiful and expensive. But the ceiling wasn’t quite as high and dramatic, and the furnishings weren’t nearly as formal. Lorelei was certain the owners of this place had used a professional decorator, but in her opinion, that decorator had lost all grasp of what most people wanted out of a lake house.
Because Lorelei’s comment had been directed at Serenity, she was surprised when Finley Hatch—or “Finn” as he’d told them to call him at the door—responded. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it? The owners are friends of my father’s, and gave me and my brothers a steal of a deal, or I would’ve chosen something else.”
Reagan whistled softly as she gazed around. “On the plus side, you could do a lot worse. It’s certainly not cramped.”
“That’s true, I guess,” he said. “But who puts white furniture and carpet in a ski cabin?”
Lorelei eyed the large chandelier dangling above them. “This isn’t a ski cabin—it’s a mansion.”
It had been an offhand comment, one that didn’t really require a response, so she was surprised again when he singled her out. “Where are you from?”
“Me?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Florida.”
“That’s a long ways off. Do you come to California very often?”
“This is the first time I’ve ever left Florida,” she told him.
“What about you?” Reagan asked, turning the question back on him. “Where are you from?”
When his eyes shifted to her half sister, Lorelei slowly let her breath go.
“LA, born and raised. My whole family lives there.” He gestured at the grouping of furniture around a spectacular rock fireplace, offering them a seat before continuing on to the gourmet kitchen.
They could hear him digging through the drawers behind a large, granite-topped island. Eventually, he came up with a wine opener for one of the bottles Serenity had given him.
Reagan chose a high-backed white leather chair, and Serenity perched on the ottoman, which looked as though it had never been used.
Lorelei tossed a throw over the couch to protect the upholstery before pulling Lucy onto her lap, since they’d just come in from the snow.
“What brings you to Tahoe?” Serenity asked as he took some wineglasses from a rack overhead.
“My older brother was released from the hospital a week ago. Lost his arm in a motorcycle accident. So my other brother and I decided we’d get him out of the heat and the crowds of LA. We’re hoping a summer spent up here might encourage him, keep his spirits high, help him recover.”