Sara was the first to laugh, then Jack gave a chuckle.
“I’m more like his babysitter,” Sara said with a grin, and Kate was pleased.
“Hey—you want me to move out, just let me know,” Jack said.
“Then who would eat all the fruit?” Kate asked.
“Oh, no,” Jack groaned. “There can’t be two of you. I didn’t think the world could hold more than one.”
Kate stared at his profile.
“Two people who make jokes about everything,” he explained.
“When you grow up without humor, you need to make your own.” The second she said it, Kate knew it was a mistake. Too serious, too soon. What was the matter with her today? She needed to change the subject quickly. “So where are we going?”
“We bought—”
“We bought—”
Jack and Sara spoke in unison. He nodded for Sara to go ahead. “You’re the storyteller.”
“We bought six houses before Tayla could devour them and dehumanize them,” Sara said. “I’m thinking of parking pickups in front of ours. We’ll put plastic in the beds. Redneck swimming pools.”
“My job is with Tayla,” Kate said seriously, “and I like what she’s done with the town.”
“So does she,” Jack said, nodding toward Sara. “But she and Tayla aren’t besties.”
“Understatement,” Sara muttered.
When Kate looked at her in question, Sara waved her hand. “Old high-school feud that never died.”
“At least not from your side,” Jack said.
“Anyway,” Sara said, “Jack and I are going to design the remodels on the houses we bought and his crew will do the work, then Ivy will decorate.”
“Ivy?”
“My half sister.” There was a quiet tone to his voice.
Kate started to say something but she glanced at his cast. His brother had been killed in that crash.
Kate’s handbag was between her and Jack. When she felt her phone buzz and looked at the ID, she took it out of the side pocket. “I have to take this. It’s my mother and she’ll worry.” And if I don’t answer, she will drive me insane, she thought.
“Mom!” she said with exagger
ated cheerfulness. “How are you?”
Ava erupted loudly, and in rapid-fire. “How are you? Has she yelled at you yet? Is she bedridden? Are her servants stealing everything? Do you have a clean room? Maybe you should get an apartment and I’ll come stay with you.”
To Kate’s horror, she could see by the rigid faces of Sara and Jack that they could hear every word. “Mom!” she said loudly. “I’m fine.”
“Don’t let her bully you. That’s what she always did to me. She likes to get her way and—”
Kate knew she had to distract her mother. “I met a man. I really like him. He’s—”
“Through her? I don’t think—”
“No!” Kate kept her eyes straight ahead, although she was seeing nothing. She couldn’t hang up on her mother. Doing that would send her into a depression. “His name is Alastair Stewart and he’s gorgeous. Like a tall blond Viking. You’d really like him.”