Starlee's Hope (The Wayward Sons 4)

“I think there’s a difference with how we live and my grandmother. We do have ties to the outside—your work. The galleries representing George. Jake’s reach. If they want out—there’s a way. We can straddle both worlds.”

“You’re smart—did you know that?”

I shrug, because yeah. I’d managed to snare four amazing men and keep them in my life. You have to be some kind of supernatural goddess to pull that off.

That night after the pies are gone and the bands are playing their hippie version of traditional American standards. The kids are spread across blankets, the adults swaying to the music. We’re not kids anymore. And it still feels like we’re not adults, but it doesn’t matter where we fit in. We have one another and like every year, just before the fireworks, we slip away from the crowd and head down to our rock. It takes a few minutes and the strong arms of my boys to get me up on the boulder this time.

“Got it?” Dex asks, pulling me close beside him.

“I’m not an invalid, you know.”

He kisses my temple. The twins settle next to me and Jake kisses my neck, then sprawls behind us. The sky above is dark and filled with stars, a sight I’ll never tire of, and the five of us are quiet, waiting like we do every year, everything the same but everything different.

As the first explosion fills the sky, I consider that I don’t know how we pull this off. One runaway and four wayward sons, but we did, and I have no doubt that we can keep it going.

Like we learned a long time ago. We’ll just have to carry on.