Chapter 32

THIRTY-TWO

ETTA

Three weeks after Gideon’s return, I sat behind the desk in my study and reviewed the report Alex had slid over my desk. I flicked through the pages, then leaned back and tapped my finger against my chin.

“It’s remarkable,” Alex said, pushing his wire-frame glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. “A ninety-nine point two percent match. The highest we’ve seen with either grandson’s applicants. No one else came close.”

I watched the young man for a beat, then returned my gaze to the pages. “Jack won’t like this,” I said. “He was very clear with me that he won’t bring any woman around Darby until she’s grown up and moved out. He only completed the profile because I twisted his arm.”

And if needed, I’d twist it harder. It was for his own good, after all.

“I’ve finally gotten the information I needed from Knox, Bennett, and Fletcher.”

I glanced up sharply, surprised. “Fletcher?” I hadn’t expected my lothario of a grandson to complete his profile at all.

Alex nodded. “Your other grandchildren, however, have been…”

I arched my brows.

Alex grimaced. “Avoidant. I haven’t heard from Walter’s daughter at all. She never answered my messages.”

“Not surprising,” I murmured. Danae had shot out of Marswood Harbor when she’d turned eighteen and never looked back. It would take a cataclysm to bring her back to her hometown. Walter’s two sons weren’t much better.

Sighing, I placed a hand on the report and drummed my fingers. “We’ll move forward with Jack,” I decided. “The boy needs a push in the right direction, and we can’t ignore the strength of this match.”

If Alex disagreed, he didn’t show it. He simply gave me a curt nod, stood, and went to work.

Single dad Jack is content living his life exactly as it is.

Then Ember shows up and offers him a side deal:

Marry her until she gets her million-dollar inheritance. Get paid. Get divorced. Go back to life as he knows it.

Ha. If only things were that simple…

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