Page 45 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
“Do you know Milo Philips?” Gigi asked, pulling me away from my thoughts.
I nodded. “Good to see you again, Milo.”
Seeing the burn scars that lingered along Milo’s jaw and forehead made my heart heavy. Those scars were from an explosion that Wes had caused. It had permanently marked Milo’s skin and had nearly cost Jess his life. Jess and Milo were both healthy and happy, but if Wes hadn’t been into drugs, they wouldn’t have been injured in the first place.
Another apology. Wes had wreaked havoc all because I’d asked him to try meth.
“And you know all of the Holts,” Gigi said.
I smiled and
waved to Beau, Maisy and their younger brother, Michael. It was times like this that I realized my sixteen-year absence had been much too long. The last time I’d seen Michael Holt, he’d been in grade school. Everywhere Beau had gone, little Michael had followed. Now he was a full-grown man and the newly appointed fire chief.
“Aunt Lissy!” Rowen screeched. She had been running around the room and finally spotted me.
I bent down and touched her freckled nose. “Hi, Roe. Having fun?”
She smiled. “Want to watch me eat a hot dog?”
“I’d love to. Where’s Ben?” I’d been carrying around a little car in my purse to use in my pursuit of his affection. It was working. He’d finally started warming up to me.
Rowen turned and pointed to where Maisy’s son and Ben were hiding behind a box, playing on the floor. In just a couple short weeks, my nephew would be turning one and I was looking forward to attending my first birthday party at the farmhouse. Jess and Mom had both warned me that Gigi had a tendency to go over the top and I couldn’t wait to see it firsthand. I was done missing family parties.
An hour later, our crew had eaten and the natural divide happened; the men huddled to discuss cars and sports while the women visited about the men and kids. The longer the evening progressed, the more out of place I began to feel.
I wanted to fit in with these women but I didn’t know how. I didn’t have much in common with them so I kept quiet and stoically smiled, hoping that this would be easier in time.
At a break in the conversation, I escaped to refill my wineglass.
“Hi, Felicity.” Maisy came up to my side.
“Hi. How are you?” This was the first time she’d ever approached me without apprehension, which, in turn, made me suspicious.
“Good. Are you all settled into your new house?”
“Uh, I am. It feels nice to call Prescott home again.” Small talk was not my forte and I racked my brain for something, anything, to talk about so we wouldn’t land on the weather. “Silas said you remodeled one of your rooms?”
She looked over my shoulder to the men. Silas was laughing with Jess, and my breath hitched at the sight of his gorgeous and pure smile.
“Yep!” Maisy said, pulling my focus. “If it’s a hit with the tourists, I’m going to convert another room next fall. Silas has been so busy at the ranch that when he said he’d take a break to help Beau, I jumped all over it. Having them do the work for free saved me a fortune.”
“He’s a great friend.” And you two seem very close. Tell me, are you in love with him? I took a sip of my wine to keep that line of questioning to myself.
“He’s easy to lean on.”
“That he is.”
“It’s too bad we don’t have any chemistry,” she said. “He’d be, like, the perfect man for me if I could stomach kissing him.”
I coughed and choked on my wine as she giggled.
“Well, I better go check on Coby. Good to see you, Felicity.” She walked away, leaving me completely dumbfounded. How had she known exactly what to tell me to put my jealousy to rest?
I shook off my shock and rejoined the party.
An hour later, I was glad to be heading home. I was sleepy from all the wine and ready for my bed.
“Did you have fun?” Silas asked.
