“I made them,” Charlotte replies absently, staring longingly at the cookie.
I slide Charlotte back from the table. Landon, Liam, Myles, Max and another guy who I’m sure is another cousin, dive for the cookie Hayden has in her hand, but without a care in the world, Hayden pops the last bit in her mouth, chewing with a smile on her face.
Dejected, the others pull back and then turn to Charlotte. “Do you have more?”
In the middle of searching through her bag for most likely another treat, Charlotte pops her head up. “I only had that one left. The rest I gave to Drew to take to work.”
All eyes land on me, and I swear, if looks could kill, they’d have sent me six-feet under. “Don’t look at me. They’re all gone.”
Charlotte’s head swings my way. “You threw them away?”
“Babe, I ate them whilst waiting for you to get ready.”
Her lopsided smile melts my heart. “You thought they were that good?”
I lean down, not caring her family are there, and capture her lips. “They were the best,” I tell her, then lean down to her ear. “But you taste better.”
Her face is beet red when I pull back. Max, who is visibly struggling not to say something, drops down into the closest chair. “I can’t fucking believe this. Every time. If I didn’t see how much Hayden had enjoyed it, I would never believe it.”
“Believe it. They were so fucking good too. Hit the spot right on.”
His fists clench but a look from Lake has him placing them under his thighs. I grin.
The sharp angles of his jaw clench. “Give me another reason to come at you. I dare you.”
“Max,” Lake hisses.
I shake my head. It’s adorable he thinks he can take me. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not,” Charlotte whispers. “Max, please, be nice to Drew.”
“Charlotte,” he starts, but something Lake does has him hissing out in agony.
Charlotte tilts her head up and leans into me. “I’m sorry. I’ll make you some more later.”
Pulling her into my arms, I give her uncle a triumph smirk. “Thanks, babe.”
“Dead,” Max mouths. “So dead.”
Once again, the library door slams open and Madison and Faith step through with Beau, Faith’s fiancé. I’ve met them a few times, hoping they could find me a trained dog. She found a few but none that I connected with.
Which reminds me, before I left, there was something else I wanted to talk to her about.
“What happened? Did they find him?” Madison asks, before taking in the rest. “Dad will be here soon. He’s picking up food but he can’t stay long before he has to get back to work.”
Charlotte quickly runs down everything we learned today. None of them look hopeful. Landon looks like he’s about to burn the world down.
“Did you get a copy of the picture?” he asks.
“No,” she replies. “But it will be in the paper soon. You’ll see it then.”
Feeling her anxiety, I pull her against me. “Remember, no one but your friends and family will know what it’s about.”
“I know. It’s just scary it got to this point. I know I’m not, but there are times when I wonder if I’m blowing things out of proportion.”
“No, sweetie, you aren’t,” Kayla assures her.
“Listen to your mum,” Myles gently warns. “She’s right.”
Kayla stares at her husband with doe eyes. “Are you only just getting that?”
His expression gentles and a small smile kicks at the corner of his lips. “I’ve always known that.”
“One, get a room, and two,” Hayden states, turning to Charlotte, “the fucker deserves everything he has coming to him. He’ll wish the police got a hold of him before I do.”
“Hayden,” Charlotte whispers.
Hayden sits back, holding her hands up. “Okay, I’ll drop it.”
“Do you think Liam could hack the police records again?” Max asks, looking lost in thought.
Myles taps his chin. “He was saying he needed to keep a low profile after something he did for the Hayes.”
Landon leans forward. “That’s true.”
Lake places a bottle of water down in front of us. “As long as he’s caught, I don’t care how it’s done. But for right now, let’s eat.”
Max’s head snaps up, sniffing the air. “Food.”
“You aren’t getting any,” Liam snaps.
Max eyes his son like he just said the most ridiculous thing. “And why would you think that?”
“Because you ate my food. You don’t get any more.”
“Puh-lease. Like that was enough to touch the sides.”
“Stop arguing,” Lake warns, giving both her husband and son a warning look.
My phone begins to ring, and I pull it out of my pocket, seeing ‘Dad’ on the screen. I tap Charlotte on the arm. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Okay,” she whispers.
I give Malik a chin lift as I pass him, moving through the stacks of shelves. I call Dad back, having missed the call.
“Son, where are you?” he greets.
I become alert, my body tense. “I’m at Charlotte’s library. What’s happened?”
“You tell me. I’ve just had Nora show me some tak—”
“Tik Tok,” Nora yells.
“That. And it’s your gym in the video with the windows put through. And by your fucking silence, I guess you already know. What I want to know is why the fuck didn’t you call me?”
“Fuck!” I run my fingers through my hair and move further into the library. I come to a stop at seeing a woman standing at the end, her gaze running over a shelf of books. Our gazes lock and she jerks, before going back to her business. “Hold on a second,” I tell Dad, moving away from the woman and down another aisle.
“What’s happened, son?”
Happy I’m away from prying ears, I explain. “It’s the same person sending Charlotte that stuff.”
“The one we think is her ex playing mind games with her?”
“Yeah. We went to the police station this morning. That woman in the coma woke up and got her sister to hand in the photo. Charlotte confirmed it’s the same guy.”
“Fuck, is she okay?”
“What’s going on?” Nora asks.
I wait for Dad to relay what had happened. “I didn’t find out about the gym windows until I left yours the other day. And it slipped my mind about calling you.”
“Wait, it didn’t happen today? Why the fuck are we only hearing about it now?”
“I spent the weekend with Charlotte. Landon dealt with it and it’s all fixed now.”
“You didn’t answer about Charlotte. She okay?”
“She seems okay, but it’s Charlotte. She’s always happy. I’m going to keep an eye on her though.”
“Good. Send her my love,” he tells me. “And next time something happens, fucking call me.”
“I will, but until we find out who is doing this, it won’t stop. And if they are upping their game by targeting me, they are getting jealous, angry.”