Fate Actually (Moonstone Cove #2) - Elizabeth Hunter Page 0,78
so hard on Nico’s couch. She sat up and stretched carefully, taking a drink from the bottle of water someone had set on the coffee table in front of her.
The door cracked open and Toni looked over, rubbing her eyes.
“Hey you.” It was Megan. “You ready to go?”
“Where?”
“Your cousin is down at the police station, trying to talk to Danny. He’s got a lawyer in there, but he agreed to talk to Nico. Then I guess Nico came out and asked for you. We told them you weren’t feeling okay, but we’d call when you were awake.”
Toni blinked. “So I need to go talk to Danny at the police station? And he has a lawyer, but he wants to talk to me?”
“Yes. Baxter and Katherine went home—we’re gonna have to treasure hunt another day—but Henry and I stayed here to make sure you were okay.”
Was she still sleeping? “Treasure hunt?”
Megan cleared her throat. “I hear tell there’s caves in them there hills.”
Toni felt like her face would crack when she smiled. “Right. The caves. Did Katherine and Baxter fill you in?
“Yes. So wild, right? So after Nico went down to the police station to give his statement, it was just Katherine and me, Baxter, and Henry. It’s kind of cute actually. Baxter was very gently interrogating Henry for around an hour, and I don’t think Henry had any idea.”
“It wouldn’t occur to him that Baxter was being anything but polite.”
“I know. That’s what makes Henry so adorable.” Megan walked over, held out a hand, and took Toni’s. “How are you feeling?”
She stood and realized that she actually felt better. Then she immediately felt guilty for sleeping in the middle of the day. “What day is it?”
“Saturday.”
“Oh good. I’m not missing work.”
“You’re going to have to reconfigure that in your brain, little mama. You are growing a human in that body. When it wants to sleep, you’re gonna have to let it sleep.”
“Henry said something similar, and I’ve been trying to ignore him.” She covered her mouth when a giant yawn hit her.
“Don’t make me ask Katherine to look up the scientific literature on this topic, because you know I will and you know she will.” Megan guided Toni through the office and out to the loggia that led to Nico’s lavish home. “I love this place, don’t you?
“It’s a very cool house,” Toni said. “His parents built it in the 1960s, but they wanted it to feel Italian. Nico’s dad is like mine is, and I don’t know how many generations in the US, but his mom grew up outside Salerno, so she wanted to make the house feel like home.”
“It’s amazing. I feel like I’m on vacation just walking around the gardens.”
“That’s why everyone wants to have weddings and baptisms and everything here.” She spotted her niece Beth and Henry on the patio outside the kitchen. “Is Beth helping you out?”
“Yeah, Nico put her in charge while he was gone.”
“She’s a good kid. Smart as a whip too.”
“You’re telling me. She was wondering about you. Noticed the sleepiness, the mood swings. So she asked Henry—”
“Noooo.” Toni froze. “He totally told her about the baby, didn’t he?”
“Oh yeah. Fooooolded like a cheap suit. That man cannot keep a secret. You’re gonna have to be careful leaving him unattended around your mother.”
Toni tried to quash the rising panic. “At least Beth can probably be quiet about it.”
“I might have stressed to her that it was still very early and you did not want a lot of people knowing.”
She patted Megan’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
They walked to the patio, and Toni hooked her arm around Beth’s shoulders. “Hey, sweetie. Did you talk to your mom today?”
“Yeah.” The seventeen-year-old girl was statuesque and gorgeous like her mother but with her father’s dramatic dark hair and eyes. “She’s doing okay, I guess. Is it bad that I’m suspicious? I felt so horrible after she was attacked, but now she’s, like, immediately pivoting to get something out of Dad.” Beth rolled her eyes. “I just can’t. She makes me tired.”
“Try not to stress about it, okay? Maybe your dad can make her see sense.”
“I just want her to, like, get a boyfriend—a real one—and move on already. This sucks so hard for Dad.”
“Well, your dad’s got you and your brother,” Megan said. “So speaking from experience, he got the better end of the deal.”
Beth gave her a small smile. “Thanks.” Her smile widened when she looked back at Toni. “And congratulations, Auntie Toni!” She whispered, “You’re