How’s Eddie? Do you need some help with him tomorrow? I can walk him or whatever you need. Thanks for taking care of him. You’re the best. - L. xx
Lydia read the message back to herself before pressing send. She was still feeling bad that Jackson took the dog. Not completely bad – it was still better than Eddie being lonely at the shelter – but enough that she wanted to help wherever she could.
It was just after ten. They’d finished their takeout an hour ago, and Lydia had insisted on cleaning up, taking extra care to make the surfaces shine. Autumn had gone to bed right after eating. Her poor sister was exhausted from all the night time feeds she was still doing.
Griff hadn’t stayed up much later. He and Lydia had talked a little about her upcoming trip to Spain, and he’d told her about his whale watching boat, but she could tell he was aching to join Autumn in bed. So she’d faked a yawn and stretched her arms over her head and said something about jetlag, even though she’d only flown in from New York.
Whatever. It had worked, and now they were asleep, while she was sitting in the queen size guest bed feeling wide awake.
She’d added a few photos to Instagram and answered some messages. Her profile was popular – she had just under a hundred thousand followers of her travel photos – and got a lot of requests for endorsements. But she rarely accepted them. Her income mostly came from her guided tours of different cities and countries.
It was funny how in demand her services had become. Her job had started as a favor to a friend of her father’s, who’d asked her to show him around Barcelona, and let him see it the way locals do. He didn’t want any of the usual tourist destinations – he wanted to eat, shop, and be entertained like any resident would be.
He’d been so bowled over by the experience, he’d told everybody he met about Lydia’s knowledge of the different cities of the world. She hadn’t even known she was the talk of the New York City dinner party circuit until she started getting phone calls asking how much she charged for a week’s personalized tour of different cities.
At first she’d baulked at taking these offers. She traveled because she loved it, not to make money. But a glance at her ever-diminishing bank balance had told her not to look this gift horse in the mouth. Still, she’d quoted an exorbitant amount, fully expecting people to refuse, but the prices only seemed to add to her cachet.
She’d become the travel industry’s equivalent of a rare diamond. People wanted to mention her when they came back from their vacations, as though she was an expensive trinket they’d picked up along the way. Not that she minded. She was being paid to travel, after all. Plus she got to share the joy with her friends – those running tavernas in Athens and selling goods at feiras in Rio. It felt good to be doing what she was doing.
Closing Instagram down, she laid back in her bed, and closed her eyes. But sleep didn’t come. She was too busy thinking about her day. How weird it had been since she’d walked out of the baggage claim and had run that poor kid over, only to see the sexiest muscled thighs standing next to where they’d fallen.
She sighed. Jackson had barely said goodbye when she’d climbed out of the car, and only nodded when she thanked him for the ride. By the time Autumn had run out of the front door to greet her, he’d driven away. Was he annoyed with her for guilt tripping him into taking the dog?
Hopefully her offer of help would make it better.
Her phone pinged, alerting her to a reply. She looked down to see Jackson’s name on the screen.
It’s all good. I’ve got it covered, but thanks anyway. - Jackson.
There were no kisses. She was certain she’d sent him kisses. She scrolled up and saw she had. Yep, he was definitely annoyed with her.
Hmm. She needed to find a way to smooth things out. They were going to be Skyler’s godparents, after all. It would be awkward as hell if they weren’t at least civil to each other.
Maybe she’d ask Autumn for some advice tomorrow. She always knew how to make things better.
A cry cut through the silence of the room. Lydia sat up sharply, looking around. Baby Skyler was crying. She climbed out of bed and padded across the carpet, opening her door as quietly as she could.
Down the corridor, she could see Griff and Autumn standing in front of the nursery door, Autumn in a short nightgown, Griff in shorts and nothing else. Damn, she’d forgotten just how many muscles that man had. He should pay tax on them or something.
The country would never be in a deficit again.
“She’s still asleep,” Autumn whispered to Griff, not seeing Lydia at the end of the hall. “Must have had a bad dream.”
Griff laced his arms around Autumn’s waist, resting his chin on the top of her head as the two of them stared through the open door. “We’ll just wait for a minute, make sure she’s okay.”
“Good idea.” Autumn stroked his cheek.
He dropped his head to kiss her hair, and slid his lips down to her neck. “After that, I’m going to take you to bed and show you exactly how much I adore you.”
Lydia’s heart clenched. The way he was holding her sister was beautiful. They were a couple, a family, and the love radiating from them hit her right in the gut. She was so damn happy for Autumn. After her divorce, Autumn had moved to Angel Sands to run the pier, and she’d met Griff and found real love for the first time.
Autumn deserved all this happiness. She’d spent a lifetime taking care of everybody. Lydia, their father, even Josh, the asshole first husband who never deserved Autumn’s love. And now here she was, all settled and happy.
How would it feel to be loved that way?
She shook her head. That kind of settling down wasn’t for her. She’d go crazy being in one place for too long, everybody knew that.
Silently, she turned and padded back to bed, the ache in her chest still strong. There was only one way she knew how to get rid of it. She opened her purse and pulled an old, fraying envelope out of the pocket. Slipping the letter out, she carefully opened it up.