She laughed, but a knot had already formed in her gut and her hands curled into fists.
He leaned forward to open the door, and his smile turned smirkish. “I’m also going to get the ‘Beckett Thomas’ as soon as I walk in.”
The door opened, and a soft ping sounded somewhere close, signaling their entrance. He pressed a hand low on her back and led her into the foyer.
He’d barely closed the door when a woman yelled, “Beckett Thomas…”
She sounded older than Sarah, and her tone clearly indicated he was in trouble.
Beckett sighed, then yelled, “Sarah, you’re such a tattle—”
“Daddy!” The excited voice came along with Lily sprinting along the marble tile, full speed.
Beckett crouched and caught his daughter the same way he had inside the tunnel earlier, smoothly, easily. He tossed her in the air, drawing a round of giggles, then settled her in his arms.
Lily pushed her hair from her eyes and looked at Eden with a smile like pure sunshine. “Hi,” she said. “I saw you at Daddy’s game.”
“Lily, this is my friend, Eden.”
“Hi, Lily.” Eden smiled, and now that Beckett was holding her, Eden could see some of him in her pretty face. She had his dark eyes, her face the same soft triangular shape. And good Lord, but she was beautiful. Her dusty blonde curls were a wild halo around her head, and her little teeth gleamed when she grinned.
The pain Eden expected to stab her heart didn’t come. The knot in her gut was still there, but her attention was diverted from the discomfort by a woman’s voice moving through an adjacent room Eden couldn’t see.
“Don’t even think about grabbing her and jumping in the car, Beckett.” Her voice was stern but not mean. “We need to have a—” She came around the corner and into a wide arched opening. Her gaze settled on Beckett, then jumped to Eden. “Oh.” She stopped, planted her hands on her hips, and tilted her head. “Hello.”
Eden smiled at the woman. She was pretty, like her daughter, with a short, layered head of silvered gold hair and light eyes. Which might explain Lily’s blonde hair. “Hi.”
Sarah appeared behind her mother, darted a look at Eden, then grinned at Beckett, shaking her head. “Oh, man. You slithered out of that one.” She looked at Eden. “He owes you.”
“He certainly does,” his mother agreed with a less than pleased look at Beckett before offering her hand to Eden. “I’m Tina.”
“Eden. Nice to meet you.”
The two other girls who’d been with Sarah earlier in the evening drifted in, and she introduced her daughters as Rachel and Amy.
“Sarah tells me you’re an EMT,” Tina said.
“What’s an EMT?” Lily wanted to know.
“Eden works on an ambulance,” Beckett told her. “She helps sick and hurt people and takes them to the hospital.”
His mother was still holding
Eden’s hand when she darted a look at Beckett, then told Eden, “I’ll bet he didn’t tell you I was a nurse for twenty years.”
“Oh…no, he…” Eden glanced at Beckett and found him grinning. Grinning ear to ear with a glint of I told you so.
His mother drew Eden’s hand through the bend of her elbow and walked her through the foyer into a short hallway. “Spent a few years in the ER too. We haven’t put dinner away yet. Have you eaten?”
“Actually, no, but I’m okay. I’m not really—”
“Nonsense. We have plenty. Do you like pie? I made an apple cranberry.” She grinned, and Eden instantly knew where Beckett’s smile had come from. “I’m taking cooking classes at Sur la Table, so I’m always using the family as guinea pigs.”
“Don’t let her fool you.” A man’s deep voice drew Eden’s attention to the kitchen, and her assessment of the home’s value rose from a million dollars to two million. It was huge and stunning. Sparkling quartz countertops, top-of-the-line stainless appliances, hardwood floors, rich cabinetry, and high ceilings. “She’s an amazing cook.” Beckett’s father was a few inches shorter than his son and roughly the same age as his wife. And Beckett had gotten his dark eyes. “And you’ll need wine to go with the pie. Do you prefer a dessert wine or something different? We’ve got a nice Bordeaux and an unoaked chardonnay I just opened.”
Before Eden could answer or introduce herself, Lily said, “Grandma, I want pie.”
She sounded so different from when they’d walked in, Eden turned to look at the little girl. She had her head tucked under Beckett’s chin, and she yawned. He swayed gently the way so many parents did unconsciously. The image was worthy of a Sports Illustrated cover highlighting an article on the human side of NHL’s most brutal players.