"You're seeing Killian Saint?" the woman interrupts, her box of pastries in hand.

"No," I quickly reply. "Of course not. No one is seeing anyone. There's no seeing going on."

The woman takes her coffee, eyebrows raised. "Of course not."

"Not that it's anyone's business who I'm seeing or not seeing," I say pointedly.

The topic of Killian doesn't come up again until a couple of hours later when I'm in the kitchen taking advantage of the late morning lull to work on a cake. Opal walks through the door and stands by the counter, looking at me expectantly. "Well?" she asks.

"Well what?"

"You know what."

"I'm not dishing details, Opal."

"I don't want details. I want to know why you've got a bee in your bonnet after boning Killian."

"Did you just use the word boning to describe sex?"

Opal shrugs. "It's what the kids call it. Because of the guy's boner."

"Yes, I gathered that much. Where do you get this stuff?"

"I told you. It's important to stay current. You need to get yourself a little more current, child."

"Chloe ratted me out to my mother."

"And?"

"And what? She called him my boyfriend."

"Good."

"What do you mean, good? He's not my boyfriend."

"He should be."

I distract myself by rolling out a piece of fondant. "No. He shouldn't be. I don't need some guy waltzing into my life into Chloe's life and then turning out to be..."

"Like her father?"

I haven't told Opal anything about Chloe's father, not the details anyway. Just that he wasn't a good guy. "Yes. Like her father, okay? Just because I slept with him doesn't mean that he's my boyfriend. Or that I want to get into anything else with him. It's casual."

Opal snorts. "Sure it is."

"You're the one who told me I should have something casual!"

"Yes. I was also in favor of you being less neurotic."

"I am so not neurotic."

Opal chortles. "So when that boy asks you out on a real date, a proper one, you're going to say yes? You're not going to second-guess everything?"

I stare at her. "I don't know. I don't even know that he's going to ask me out on a date. It was awkward afterward. When I kicked him out, he was... He said he understood. But it was weird. And I haven't exactly heard from him."

"You kicked him out?"

"I wasn't going to let him stay over and have to explain it to Chloe in the morning. I'm being a responsible parent."

Opal sighs. "You know, Chloe would love to have a sleepover at my house so you could have a date."

"I'm not sending Chloe off to your house so I can... sleep with my boyfriend!"

"He's your boyfriend now?"

I groan. "You know what I mean."

"I'm sure her grandparents would love to come down for the weekend so you can have some adult time."

I laugh. "I'm positive my mother would be more than happy to do that. She'd also be more than happy to have me engaged to him by the end of the week."

"That's because she wants you to be happy."

"I'm happy. Geez."

Opal raises her eyebrows. "I'd think you would be happier, what with the boning and all."

I pick up a hand towel and throw it at her. "I'm not talking to you about that! You need to mind your own business, old woman."

Opal shakes her head. "If I minded my own business, you would have been as old as I am before anything happened between the two of you. Your vagina should be thanking me."

29.

Killian "You could have brought the girl from the bakery." Luke leans close and speaks low as he hands me a platter of cider-glazed pork chops with blackberry something-or-other sauce he just finished reciting the menu to me but I zoned out halfway through. I give him shit about his fancy culinary skills, but if I'm honest, Luke's cooking really is nine kinds of awesome.

"I don't know what girl you're talking about," I state.

My cell phone is practically burning a hole in my pocket. I should have texted Lily today, but last night left me on edge not the being-kicked-out part, but the part where I got back to my cabin and actually missed being at her house.

"You wouldn't be ashamed of your siblings, would you?" Luke follows me out to the dining room in his and Autumn's house, setting two more platters brown sugar pecan sweet potatoes and almond green beans on the table after me.

"Who's ashamed of us?" Elias yells from the other room. "I haven't even taken off my leg or anything."

River slaps his arm. "That's not a funny party trick."

"That's not what you said at Halloween. You laughed when I scared those teenagers."

Silas snorts loudly. "It's a leg. It's not nearly as good as a glass eye."

"Yeah, I don't know why you wouldn't want anyone to meet us," Luke says quietly.

"Yeah, I have no idea why I wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?" Autumn interrupts. "Killian, would you " She points at Olivia, then walks away with her hand over her mouth like she's about to be sick.

"She wasn't feeling well earlier," Luke explains. "Help Olivia into her booster seat, will you? And stop looking like I asked you to pick up a grenade. She's a toddler, not potential explosive material."

"I've smelled her when she has a dirty diaper, Luke," I call as he walks back to the kitchen. "She's basically a ticking time bomb. Aren't you, Olivia? But you're not going to poop while I'm holding you, right? Say, 'No, Uncle Killian, I'd never do that to you, because the last time you were here you got vomited on and I know that pooping on you would be too much for you to handle.'"

Olivia giggles. "No poop. No, no, no."

"Glad you're onboard, kid." I slide her into her booster seat at the table, fumbling with the buckle for a good minute before I figure it out, as everyone gathers around.

We're all here my brothers, River and Tempest, Cade and June, and their kids and everyone's talking and laughing and passing food and Autumn's cider around the table.

Then Luke and Autumn make their announcements. I know that Luke is going to ask her to marry him, and we all know what her answer is going to be. That much is plain as day. But when he gets down on one knee and tells her that he never thought he'd want to be tied down until he met her and Olivia, it even gets me in the gut.

Elias leans over and whispers, "You look like you're getting a little misty-eyed there."

"Shut the hell up. It's obviously allergies."

Elias snorts. "Such a romantic."

He doesn't snort when I punch him in the leg.

Then Autumn announces that she's pregnant, and Luke's face... well, I've never seen him so happy. "I promise, I'll love this family of ours forever."

I get the same pang of jealousy that I had before, sitting here in the middle of my brothers and their happy families. But I recognize the look on Luke's face. I think it might be the same way mine looked the other night at Lily's place.

Which is why I get out my phone right then and there to text her. So she kicked me out of her house after sex. So what?

Saturday. You and me. Date.

I get a response about a minute later.

Romantic, caveman.

I smile as I text her back.

I knew you'd appreciate that. Saturday night, I'm picking you up. Real proper-like.

It's a few minutes before she responds.

You, proper? I'll believe it when I see it.

I text her back right away.

So that's a yes, then?

The phone buzzes a few seconds later.

That's a yes.

After dinner and all of the congratulations and excitement, I catch Luke in the kitchen and tell him that I'm going to need his help.

"You want me to teach you to cook something impressive? This wouldn't have anything to do with the bakery girl, would it?"

"What bakery girl?" Autumn walks in and interrupts, Olivia following close behind her.

"Mommy!" Olivia hollers.

"The girl that Killian has a crush on."

"I don't have a crush, shit."

"Language," Autumn warns.

"Shit, shit, shit," Olivia repeats.

Autumn narrows her eyes as she looks at me.

"Oh, sh I mean. . . darn it, she's cursing." I think I'm supposed to be appalled by that. Is it wrong that I want to laugh instead? Shit, this is exactly why I shouldn't be a parent. If I hung around Lily and Chloe, Chloe would be cursing like a sailor in no time. And then I'd be dead, because Lily would murder me.

Luke snorts. "She's repeating it because she's heard it before."

"It's not going to be so funny when she's saying it in kindergarten, boys." Autumn glares at us as she takes Olivia's hand and leads her toward the living room and out of the kitchen, probably to get her away from our terrible influence.

"Don't give me any fucking grief. Just teach me a couple of bullshit recipes or something."

Luke crosses his arms. "A couple of bullshit recipes?"

"You know. Some of that fancy shit. Nothing to do with cake. Or baked goods."

Luke laughs. "Alright, when do you need to be a chef by?"

"Saturday."

"Dude, that's like two days. Seriously?"

"What? You're an idiot savant in the kitchen. Just come up to the cabin and let me absorb your knowledge."

"Hilarious."