“Why do you have your shirts off?” Eilidh crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s not fair.”
“Do either of you have sun lotion on?” Ery yanked her attention from me to frown at Lewis as she walked down the deck steps. “You can’t play like that without lotion on.”
“The sun is low,” I replied. “We’ve barely got an hour of it left. Can’t do that much damage.”
“Thane and Regan like the kids to have lotion on when it’s sunny,” she countered.
“Och, I’ll put my shirt back on.” Lewis sighed wearily, as if everyone was trying his patience this evening. He pulled his shirt over his head.
Ery glowered at me. “You too.”
I smirked but nodded. Sauntering toward her, I pulled my shirt out of my jeans but stopped at her side to murmur in her ear, “Excuses, excuses.”
“What?” She turned to glare harder, our noses almost touching.
My eyes dropped to her mouth, and I said, “All you had to say, gorgeous, was that my naked body is too much of a distraction. You didn’t have to make up crap about lotion.”
She huffed in a breath and pulled away from me. “Not an excuse. Skin cancer isn’t a joke.”
“True.” I pulled on my shirt. “But don’t think I’m buying it.”
We stared each other down until Eilidh asked, “Why are you looking at each other like that?”
Ery broke our gazes first, turning to my niece with a bright smile. “We’re sizing up the competition. Staring each other down. Because it’s boys against girls, right?”
“Yes!” Lewis shot a fist into the air. “I’m so gonna win with Uncle Arr on my team.”
I winked at him, but my amusement died when Eilidh yelled unhappily, “No! Uncle Arran is mine!”
I felt that tug in my chest again.
“That’s not fair! You always want Uncle Arr on your team. You just had him on your team for the board game!” Lewis’s wee face darkened with frustration.
“Hey, hey.” Ery knelt beside Eilidh, who looked near tears. “Don’t you want to be on my team, Eilidh-boo? I miss being on yours.”
That seemed to surprise Eilidh, as if she hadn’t considered it might upset Ery that I’d become her favorite since my arrival. “Really?” she asked quietly.
“Really.” She tugged on one of Eilidh’s curls. “You know what’s so great about having lots of family and friends?”
“What?”
“There’s always someone to be on your team. Just because Uncle Arran is on Lewis’s team sometimes doesn’t mean you don’t have someone on yours. And the other great thing about family is that it teaches us to share our love. Sometimes Lewis will need Arran, and you have to be okay with that and vice versa, right?”
“Okay.” Eilidh nodded like a little adult. “That makes sense. I’m happy to be on your team, Ery.”
For that, Ery hugged my niece hard while I stood in awe that Ery could talk to the kids like that.
Eilidh’s smile turned to a scowl as she pulled out of their embrace. “But we better win, Ery.”
Ery’s laughter made me grin as she promised to “whup our butts.”
In the end, Lewis and I won, but while the boy crowed our victory on the short walk back inside, I did not feel triumphant. I felt impatient and possessive over Eredine Willows, and neither emotion was something I was proud of.
7
EREDINE
I loved my house.
My little lodge in the middle of the woods was my haven, surrounded by trees, with potted flowers scattered around the porch to add color in among all the heavenly shades of green. While I knew some of my girlfriends disliked the idea of me being out here alone (and so did Lachlan and the rest of the men in the family), I’d never felt afraid, until Lucy. After her arrest, Lachlan installed cameras and the alarm, so I was back to enjoying the house for the sanctuary it was. I wasn’t a misanthrope who needed to be far away from people, but I’d always enjoyed silence and privacy. Now I wrapped both around me like a security blanket.
My days off were every other Saturday, alternating with Thursday, and every Sunday. On Sundays, I spent most of my time with the Adairs. I also babysat for Regan and Thane a couple times a month, which I loved, even if Arran had taken to hanging around. If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t mind his presence at all.
This Saturday, however, my day off, I wanted nothing but to curl up with a good book in my small lodge with no one but the chirping birds for company.
Alas, it wasn’t to be. Morosely, and perhaps a little ungratefully, I gave my living room a sad face before I stepped outside and locked up. Regan had been working to start a book club for a long time now and had finally gotten us to agree to meet at Arro’s for our inaugural meeting. Every member would take turns picking a book, and the first week had been Regan’s choice as club founder. The thought made me smile as I got into my car. It all sounded so very middle school. However, Regan’s pick had been as far from middle school as one could get.