23. 23
I’m hesitant to leave. We stayed up late talking, and I know last night rattled Delaney. It rattled me. But I’m also certain this girl will want her morning drink as well as a toothbrush. There’s a gas station on the corner. I wouldn’t even have to drive…
I peer over at her—even breaths, pouty lips, hair strewn out like a Chinese fan.
Nope. I can’t do it.
I can’t leave, not when she’s asleep. Not when she might wake up and fear being alone. Not after last night.
I know two people who are also up this early, both would be willing to help me.
I shoot a text in my group with just Coco and Owen:
Me: Hey, I know it’s early.
I pause my writing… I have to get creative. How long am I really going to be able to go without telling my family the truth? A year… I doubt it.
I resume typing and add:
Me: Delaney hasn’t moved her things in yet. We had a scare at her place last night. We came back here in a hurry. She doesn’t have a toothbrush. Any chance either of you’d be able to grab one and quietly bring it by this morning? Possibly with some type of caffeinated morning drink?
Coco: Me! I call it! I’ll do it!
Owen: Did you even take four seconds to read through the entire text, Coco? That was lightning fast. In the texting Olympics, you get the gold.
Coco: I know. I read lightning fast too. I’ll bring a toothbrush by for my new SISTER in a blink.
Owen: Wait. Scare? What kind of scare?
Owen: And Coco, you aren’t allowed to like Delaney more than Annie just because she’s famous.
Coco: Hey, I resent that. I love Annie. As far as I’m concerned, Annie is just sister—while Delaney is a NEW sister. Does Annie need a toothbrush? Because if so, I’m on it.
Coco: Wait? Scare? Confession, I did not read that text all the way through.
Me: Everyone is fine. Just a break-in at her Airbnb. Nina got him.
Coco: Holy spitballs!!! Someone broke into her place?
Me: Alice isn’t reading over your shoulder, is she?
Me: Also—yes, as said above: Nina got him. All is well.
All is well—and it is. The night is over, everyone is safe, and Delaney Jones is tucked safely in my bed.
Whoa. That’s a sentence I never thought I’d conjure. Lane Jonas—of The Judys—is in my bed. I peer over at her; a strand of long blue hair splays over her lips and neck.
I have one job—and that’s to not fall for my wife. Surely I can do that. We’re on day three—this shouldn’t even be a question at this point.
There”s a string of texts on my phone when I look back down, but nothing I really need to respond to. Coco will be here in less than fifteen minutes—and hopefully, she won”t wake Delaney.
I’m dead-on—sure, my sister may have been adopted at birth, and she’s only been in our lives the past three years, but I know her.
The quiet tap on my door at 7:12 in the morning couldn’t be anyone but Coco. Only my family, myself, and Lars know the code to open the gallery door, and Lars doesn’t come up here. He is also oblivious to the fact that my family know the code. It’s a good thing the Baileys are honest.
I crack the door open. Coco’s already in her scrubs. She’s got a City Drug bag in one hand and a cardboard carrier with four drinks in the other.
“I didn’t know what she’d want,” she says. “I tried texting you and asking, but you never responded.”
Oh—maybe there was something I should have paid attention to. Either way, I don’t know her drink. I wouldn’t have had an answer.
I shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“You don’t know her drink?” Coco’s forehead wrinkles, and she looks at me as though maybe I’ve grown a third eyeball.
Ah—shoot. I probably should know that. “Well, we aren’t often together in the mornings. Just schedules. And stuff.”
“And stuff?” she whispers, giving me the smallest of eye rolls. At least she isn’t looking at me like I am what I am: a big fat liar.
I just smile. Anything else I say will only incriminate me.
Coco takes one more step inside. “Can I just take one look at her?”
“She isn’t a sleeping baby, Cora.” I first-name her—she needs to hear it. “You aren’t going to go look at her. That’s creepy.”
She presses her lips together. “Sorry.” If she were a puppy, her tail would be between her legs.
I reach for the bag and drinks and leave her with a kiss on the cheek. “You’re the best,” I tell her—because lecturing anyone, but especially Coco, is not my thing. “Thank you. I’m certain the two of you will be friends.”
The right side of her mouth quirks up in a grin. “You think?”
“I do.”
“Because I feel like I already know her from Celebrity Wife. Now she just needs to get to know me. I think you’re right, Miles.” She shakes her head. “This is crazy. All this time I was trying to set you up and you were seeing Lane Jonas.”
“Yep. Crazy.” Because she’s not wrong, it’s more than crazy—it’s bonkers.
My sister lengthens her neck and tries her best to see over me and into my house. She’s still looking for Delaney.
“Cora,” I lecture.
“Fine.” She grunts and flaps her hands at her sides. “I’m sorry. What are you guys doing later?”
I glance back at Delaney, making sure we haven’t woken her. I shrug. “I don’t know.”
“Good. No plans. I’ll call you after work. Because Jude and I will not be telling your niece that she didn’t get to be the flower girl at your wedding. You have to do that—so bring Delaney by later.”
“Coco—” I hiss, but she gives me a quick hug, and then she’s gone without even trying to sneak one more peek at the woman in my bed.
I exhale a tired breath. Holding the drugstore bag in one hand and the drink carrier in the other, I knock the door closed with my hip.
“Wow, you really do see your family every day. Don’t you?”
“Whoa!” I jump, spilling hot coffee onto the back of my hand—thankfully not my beat-up hand.
“We do too have plans today. We’re visiting Walt and checking out the building. I offered Lars cash and my lawyers are all over it, so the whole process should go through fairly quick.”
I heave a sigh. “Delaney.” I set her toothbrush and drinks on my square of kitchen counter. “You’re awake.”
“Yeah, well, your sister isn’t as quiet as she thinks she is.” She lays with one arm bent behind her head and one leg peeking out from beneath the blankets.
I divert my gaze. “Sorry. But I did have her bring you a toothbrush.”
She bounces into a sitting position, the blankets gathering around her and her back against the couch cushions. Her hair poofs out in all directions and her pale cheeks are pink. “Bless you!” she says.
“And coffee—or some variation.”
Delaney scrambles from the bed, her legs and feet bare. She pads the two steps across the floor to the counter, where four cups sit in the to-go carrier.
“Which is yours?”
“I’m pretty sure they’re all yours. Neither of us knew what you liked.”
“Chai tea with cinnamon and vanilla, but anything with a little caffeine will work.”
I make a mental note—I’m supposed to know this, right? Chai tea with cinnamon and vanilla.
Each cup has the contents written on the sides. “Take your pick,” I tell her. “I’m going to shower.”
“Sure,” she says, sipping from cup number one only to move on to cup number two. “Ah, hey, do you have a phone charger? I just need to make a few calls. I don’t have a lot of stuff, but I can’t leave it at the Airbnb. You really don’t mind if I have my things brought here until I find a new place?”
A new place? I just assumed she’d stay here—at least until she went back to California. With the break-in and the act we’re keeping up, it seemed to make sense.
I clear my throat. “Yeah. My side of the bed.”
“Thanks.” She presses her full lips together, then sips from cup number three.
“Delaney,” I say, nerves coming alive in every part of my body.
Maybe it shows because she lowers the cup and gives me her full attention. “Yes?”
“You’re welcome to stay here. If you want. Or not.” I shrug like it doesn’t matter. “I thought it might make sense with our situation. And then—” I swallow. “You wouldn’t be alone.”
She thinks for a minute, and the nerves inside my body begin to thunder in my ears.
“You don’t have to—”
“No, it’s a good idea.” Her head tilts my way, her expression soft. “Thanks, Miles.”
I nod, clumsy and foolish-like. “Sure,” I say, and before I can turn for the bathroom, she picks up cup number four.