A Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers #5) - Jamie McGuire Page 0,46

back at Falyn, who was watching Alyssa Davies’s eyes turned soft when she looked down at Hollis.

“Cute kid,” Alyssa said. “I’ll be driving you to the Eakins hospital.”

Taylor and Ellie were unfazed, but Falyn looked at me, confused and angry. Alyssa was the woman I’d taken home from the bar during the week Falyn and I had broken up. Falyn needed space, so I left for California to visit my brother Thomas in San Diego. He’d taken me to a local bar to cry in my beer, and I met Alyssa, Thomas’s colleague. A few weeks later, Alyssa ended up pregnant and gave me the opportunity to take full custody before opting for an abortion. She carried Hollis to term, and Falyn and I stood outside the hallway of a San Diego hospital while she labored and gave birth. The nurses handed my son to me, and Alyssa returned to her life without looking back.

“Wait, wait, wait,” I said, holding up my hands. “You’re FBI?”

“I am,” Alyssa said. “I realize this is somewhat awkward ...”

“Somewhat awkward?” Falyn repeated.

“But you’re in advertising. With Thomas,” I said, bewildered.

Alyssa sighed. “You’re my assignment. I’m all you’ve got. If you ask me, I’m the best one for the job since I have slightly more invested in getting you from A to B in one piece than any other agent, and … I’m a badass.”

Hollis smiled. Falyn pulled him against her front with her free hand, hanging on tightly to Hadley with the other. Alyssa—or Agent Davies—represented more of a threat to our family than our failing marriage did.

“Can we see those credentials again?” Falyn asked.

Alyssa pulled her ID until it unclipped from her pocket and handed it to Falyn. “Look it over, but please be quick. We don’t want to stay in one place too long.”

Falyn studied the ID, and then handed it to me, glaring at Alyssa. “Do you even work with Thomas?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

“So you’re in advertising too?” I asked, handing her ID to Tyler.

“No, Thomas is FBI,” Ellie said, realizing the truth as she said the words. “And you…” she trailed off, looking at Falyn with sympathetic eyes.

Everything clicked, and all at once, every lie Thomas had ever told me boiled in my blood.

Tyler offered the ID to Ellie, but she declined. “We should go. This is awkward as fuck,” he said.

We followed a diligent Alyssa to a black van with dark windows. Tyler climbed into the back with Ellie. There was already a car seat ready for Gavin. As Tyler and Ellie struggled to strap in their unconscious toddler, Alyssa buckled in and checked all of her mirrors, radioing in to someone that we were all accounted for and en route.

“Falyn,” I said, reaching for her hand. She yanked it away, and I clenched my teeth. “How in Christ’s name is this my fault?”

“Shut up,” she hissed. From hairline to neckline, red splotches began to form. Her eyes watered like they always did when she was embarrassed.

Alyssa wasn’t paying attention to our spat, but she did look in the rearview mirror at Hollis more than once. I was waiting for Falyn to catch her and say something, but when their eyes met, Falyn took the high road.

Hollis, to my surprise, rested his head against Falyn’s shoulder. She put her arm around him, and both of them seemed to relax. Falyn ran her fingers through his hair, softly singing the same tune she’d sang to him the night we brought him home. Alyssa watched with curious eyes, without judgment or jealousy, like she was observing the passing cars.

Hollis had no clue he’d just made my life a lot easier and his mom more at ease. Falyn leaned down to kiss his forehead and then looked out the window, still humming.

I rested my arm at the top of the bench seat, turning around to face my brother. He and Ellie were both staring at me, and Gavin was still sleeping, his head propped against the side of the car seat with his mouth gaping open. Ellie offered an encouraging smile. We’d spent long nights talking after Falyn left. Ellie had been to therapy enough for all of us, and I’d benefitted from it. I’d told her more than once that her advice and friendship kept me going.

Ellie reached up and placed her hand on my elbow, and I nodded to her in appreciation. It was nice to know she understood what a tense situation Falyn and I were in, and that