Page 40 of Their Stormy Reunion

I set my phone on the nightstand and scooched down under the covers.

This time, sleep came easily.

I listened as the technician from Ace Alarm went over the operating instructions of the system with my mom and dad. Luckily, it all seemed fairly straightforward.

“Eric, are you sure we need this?” my mom asked Dad.

“I need you to trust me on this.”

I watched as she took a moment to assess him. She opened her mouth, then closed it. I was pretty sure the jig was up.

Dad moved closer to Mom and reached for her hand. “Lana, you still don’t want to get a dog since Jefferson died and we only watch Harley every so often when Michael is on shift. I’m gone from home enough to where I’ll feel more comfortable with us having an alarm system. Humor me, okay?” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Even after all these years, I watched as she melted.

“Okay, honey. If it will make you feel better, then absolutely it’s worth it.”

Dad put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against his chest. The technician looked over at me and smiled.

That was exactly what I wanted. And I wanted it with Fallon.

“Do you want me to go over the settings again?” The technician asked.

My mom stepped forward and set the alarm with no problem. All of us grinned. “I guess you have it down pat, Mrs. Rankin,” the technician grinned again.

“That’s my wife. She’s whip smart.”

The technician left, and Mom went into the kitchen to put together the shrimp salads she’d promised us for lunch.

“That was a close one,” my dad whispered.

“She knows something's up,” I responded.

“Yeah, but she’s not going to ask, thank God. I would hate for her to worry about your biological father coming after us, or especially you. It would kill her.”

“And that’s why Simon and Roan are on this case.”

Dad stood taller. “I’ve signed a contract with Onyx. I want your bio dad found and prosecuted. I want this horseshit to stop.”

“And they’re just the men to do it.”

Dad nodded in agreement.

“Food’s up,” Mom called from the dining room.

It was a pain in the fucking ass to have only the Avery sisters as my friends here in town. Used to be I could call almost every person in Jasper Creek a friend of mine.

Quit your whining, Vickers!

I looked at the two dogwood trees Mom had ordered and were just delivered. They were almost as tall as me. They were gorgeous, don’t get me wrong. But how in ever-loving hell was I ever going to lift them to the spot where Mom wanted them planted? I mean, the delivery guys had been nice enough to put them in the backyard, but already Mom has changed her mind twice where she wanted them to end up.

“Fallon, I really think they should go over there, don’t you think so?”

Holding in all my frustration, I just nodded. What was the point of either fully agreeing or disagreeing, since she was just going to change her mind in ten minutes anyway?

“Have you got any ideas about who is going to help plant these?” I asked.

“Oh, you and Michael can handle this, can’t you?”