Why can’t we go?”
It was the fourth time—not that Jack was keeping track—that Lily had asked the question since they’d gotten home from church.
He pulled in a breath and prayed for patience. “I thought you wanted to go to the pool this afternoon. We can stop at Quigley’s and get an ice cream cone afterward.”
It was official. He was turning into the kind of person who stooped to bribery. At the moment, however, he was hoping the reason so many parents succumbed to the temptation was because it worked.
“I want to go to Raine’s party instead. I helped her pick out the decorations for the cupcakes.”
Jack wasn’t sure why Raine had invited Lily to Ginevieve’s birthday party, but she had to have known his niece couldn’t exactly borrow the truck and drive herself over there.
“We don’t have a present.” And Jack was running out of excuses.
“I made a bracelet for her last night while you were painting my room. I showed it to you, remember?”
“I remember.” Only Jack assumed Lily had been making it for herself. She’d spent almost two hours carefully threading heart-shaped plastic beads onto an emerald-green ribbon.
“Raine said green is her mom’s favorite color.”
Jack made the mistake of looking into his niece’s big gray eyes and caved. “I suppose we could stop over for a few minutes—on our way to the pool.”
A smile lit up Lily’s face—and those had been few and far between since she’d spent Friday with Roxanne and Carl.
Raine had had an ultrasound appointment at the hospital and Roxanne had been asking Jack when she could see her granddaughter. Unfortunately, Jack couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse, other than the fact that Roxanne didn’t hesitate to express her opinion of Travis even when Lily was within earshot.
“Pack up your stuff.” Jack grabbed his cell off the coffee table. “I’m going to call Raine and make sure they’re expecting us.”
Lily didn’t have to be told twice. She disappeared into her bedroom, and Jack punched in Raine’s number. It went straight to voicemail, and Jack sighed into the phone.
Party crashers it was.
Lily bounced all the way to the car, the gift-wrapped bracelet cupped in her hands. Jack, who’d mastered just about every power tool ever made, had discovered he was as inept at making bows out of curly ribbon as he was at French braids.
He’d bet Evie could do both.
Jack hopped into the cab of the pickup and made sure Lily was buckled before he pulled away from the curb. “You’re sure the party is today?”
“Uh-huh. Two o’clock. But it’s not at Raine and Cody’s house.”
Not—“Where is it then?”
“It’s at the house right next door. Where Emily and Amanda’s grandma and grandpa live.”
Jack was starting to get a bad feeling about the whole thing. Especially when he turned the corner and saw vehicles lining both sides of the street.
“Lily, hold on a minute.” Jack reached for his niece’s hand, but he missed. She bailed out onto the sidewalk and scampered toward the group of people in the backyard.
Leaving Jack with no choice but to follow.
Lily was already attached to Raine’s side as Jack made his way across the manicured lawn. Dan and Gin stood in the shade of an oak tree surrounded by people. Jack recognized some of them from the wedding. The slender, dark-haired twins. The older man Jack had seen handing out the boutonnieres. Ryan Tate.
The gang was all here.
The buzz of conversation subsided as Jack approached. He focused on Raine and Cody, who actually looked happy to see him, and then turned to Raine’s mother.
“Happy birthday, Ginevieve.”
A smile played at the corners of Gin’s lips as she looked up at Dan. “Up until an hour ago, I thought that was what we were celebrating.”
“Mom and Dan got engaged.” Raine’s approval of the match glowed in her eyes. “He proposed to her at Maple Ridge.”
Jack wasn’t familiar with the place, but he shook Dan’s hand. “Congratulations.”
“Dan picked today because he’s getting old and he’s afraid he won’t remember their anniversary,” one of the guys leaning against the picnic table said in a pseudo-whisper.
“Be nice, Will, or no leftovers for you.” A striking brunette in her mid to late fifties set a platter of ham sandwiches down on the picnic table and turned to Jack. “We haven’t officially met, but I’ve gotten to know Lily quite well over the past few days. I’m Angela Moretti.”
“Jack Vale. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Moretti. I didn’t realize you were hosting the party.” Or he wouldn’t have come.
“Please, call me Angela. And there are so many people—Raine and I decided we would need both yards.”
“And help yourself to the food.” Ginevieve motioned to the table, and the sunlight glinted off the diamond ring on her finger. “There’s plenty.”
“Thank you, but Lily and I are going to the pool this afternoon. She wanted to drop off a gift for you on the way.”
“Your niece is such a sweetheart.” Ginevieve filched a carrot stick from a tray of fresh vegetables. “Nicki’s kids talk about her all the time.”
“Can we stay for a little while, Uncle Jack? Emily and Amanda want me to push them on the swing.” Lily landed in front of him, holding hands with the blonde-haired girls who’d been playing in the sprinkler the first day he’d picked her up at Raine’s. Jack should have known they were tiny shoots of the Moretti family tree.
“Ten minutes . . . and then we’re off to the pool.”
“Okay!” Off they went again, leaving Jack stranded in the middle of what he now realized was a family get-together.
“Don’t be shy, Jack.” Cody handed him a paper plate.
Jack’s gaze swept over the yard, searching the faces of the guests. Searching for . . .
“My mom went over to our house to get the cupcakes Raine and Lily decorated.”
“I wasn’t—” Jack’s voice died in his throat. Because yes, he was. Jack hadn’t seen Evie since the evening Officer Tate had shown up at the apartment building and found them together. Ryan hadn’t said anything after Evie left, but the way he’d looked at Jack made him feel like he’d committed some kind of misdemeanor.
Kind of the way Tate was looking at him now.
“You should go over and say hi before you leave.” Cody scooped up a handful of chips and deposited them on his plate.
“I should?”
Cody shrugged. “Why not?”
Jack could think of about a dozen reasons. Starting with the discreet glances he was getting from the people gathered around the picnic table. Not unfriendly. Cautious. The Morettis were the kind of people who would greet a stray dog that wandered into their yard, but that didn’t mean they weren’t wondering where it had come from and what it was doing there.
“Evie’s in the house.” Ginevieve handed Jack a glass of lemonade.
It suddenly occurred to him that not saying hello to Evie just might trigger a whole different set of questions.
“I’ll be right back.”
The faint tang of fresh paint hung in the air as Jack let himself into the house. Familiar with the floor plan of a Craftsman-style home, he found the kitchen without any problem.
A tray of cupcakes and a pitcher of lemonade were on the counter, but no Evie.
On impulse, Jack made his way up the stairs, the plush carpeting absorbing the sound of his footsteps. He stopped at the top of the landing, considered his options, and headed for door number two.
The door was open, but it took a second for Jack’s brain to register what he was seeing.
Evie, stretched out on the floor, playing tug-of-war with a chunky, white-faced golden retriever. The dog growled low in its throat—all for show—and Evie giggled.
The sound arrowed through him, and Jack suddenly felt like an intruder. He stepped away from the door, but the retriever tattled on Jack with a cheerful woof.
Evie rolled to her feet. “Jack?”
Diva immediately trotted over to say hello, but it was difficult for Jack to tell if Evie was as happy to see him.
“Raine invited Lily to the party, so we stopped by for a minute on our way to the pool.”
“Raine mentioned that, but I didn’t think—” Evie glanced down, smoothing an invisible wrinkle from her skirt. “I’m glad you brought her.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. Lily made a bracelet for Ginevieve’s birthday.”
“It is her birthday.” Evie smiled. “She just didn’t realize Dan’s gift would be an engagement ring.”
“I better go. Lily’s waiting for me.” Jack was fibbing. Lily would be thrilled if they canceled their pool date and spent the entire day hanging out with the Morettis. “Cody said I should stop over and say hello, but I think what he really wanted me to do was find out why the cupcakes haven’t made their way to the picnic table yet.”
Color flowed into Evie’s cheeks. “Diva and I got a little sidetracked. Cody mentioned he’d set up the crib last night and I wanted to take a peek.” She ran her hand over the wooden railing. “I still can’t believe I’m going to be a grandma at the end of the summer.”
She didn’t look like one. In fact, Evie barely looked old enough to have a son Cody’s age. Especially today, when she was wearing a knee-length denim skirt and a white sleeveless top that showed off smooth, sun-kissed shoulders.
Evie smiled. “I know parents say this kind of thing all the time, but it seems like only yesterday when Max and I put Cody’s crib together.”
A surge of emotion rushed through Jack and left a bitter taste in his mouth. He hadn’t experienced it very often over the past thirty-six years, but he knew what it was. Envy.
He was envious of the man Evie had given her heart to when she was a teenager. The man who still had her heart.
None of us could compete with Max.
Isn’t that what Ryan Tate had said?
Jack should have realized it was a warning.
Evie felt everyone’s eyes on her and Jack as they walked out of the house together. Side by side, but she could feel the distance between them.
Jack had made it clear that Lily was the only reason he’d accepted Raine’s invitation to the party. He set the tray down on the picnic table and waved to Lily. “It’s time to go, Peanut.”
“The pool is going to be pretty crowded this time of day. You should take Lily to Sandy Point.” Cody snagged a cupcake from the tray and handed it to Raine.
Jack’s smile looked a little forced. “I’m not familiar with the local landmarks yet.”
“It’s not a landmark, it’s a well-kept secret.” Cody nudged Dan. “Dan and my dad discovered it when they were kids.”
“Accidentally.” Dan smiled. “Sandy Point is a secluded stretch of beach a few miles from the campground—accessible only by hiking a mile up an old logging road or by raft.”
“Which one did you use?” Will asked. As always, Dan’s youngest brother, the family prankster, loved to stir the pot.
“The raft.” Dan glanced at his parents. “It worked a little better than we thought it would,” he added in a whisper.
“They put up a rope swing too.”
“That was a long time ago, Cody.” Evie tried to move the conversation to safer ground. “I doubt it’s there anymore.”
“The original one isn’t.” Cody grinned. “But Dan and I made another one a few years ago. We go there once or twice a summer.”
“What?” Evie made a fist and cuffed Dan’s shoulder. “You never told me that.”
“What happens at Sandy Point stays in Sandy Point.”
“Why am I only hearing these stories now?” Angela planted her hands on her hips, the look she tossed at her son a blend of amusement and exasperation. “I guess I should have asked more questions when you told me that you and Max were going swimming.”
“Technically, it wasn’t swimming. With a running start from the point, you landed in the middle of the river. The current kind of took you from there, right, Eves?”
“I don’t know. You and Max wouldn’t let me try it.”
“Really?” Dan rubbed the back of his neck, frowning. “We probably thought you didn’t want to. Besides, someone had to dial 911 if the rope broke.”
“And you lecture kids on the importance of safety,” Ryan chided.
“I was kidding.” Dan didn’t look the slightest bit guilty. “The water is shallow in some places too, and it’s peaceful out there. Max was the one who turned everything into an obstacle course.”
Lily, who’d been listening to the conversation with wide-eyed fascination, tugged on Jack’s arm. “Can we go there instead, Uncle Jack?”
“Not today, Peanut. I’m not sure how to get there.”
“Evie can show us.” Lily looped her arm through Evie’s. “Cody said she used to go there too.”
“I’m sure Evie wants to stay at the party with her friends a little longer.”
“But—”
“I said no.”
The words were sharp enough to make Lily flinch, and her grip on Evie’s arm tightened.
“Let’s stick with our original plan.” Jack’s smile softened the words. “The pool and Quigley’s for ice cream, okay?”
Lily’s chin dipped in a nod. “Okay.”
“Good-bye, Lily.” Ginevieve bent down and gave her a hug. “Thank you for coming to my party and for the gift.”
Jack waited patiently while Lily said the rest of her good-byes. By the time she got to Evie, the sparkle was back in her eyes.
“You could come to the pool with us.”
Evie glanced at Jack but he was shaking John’s hand. Walking away.
“It’s sweet of you to invite me, Lily, but you and your uncle have to stick to the plan, remember?”
A plan Jack obviously wasn’t willing to change to include her.