Carina from Desi, who jumps up and looks excitedly at Sidonie. Back in the comfort of her new people’s affections, Sidonie ditches my ass and goes upstairs.
“You all right?” Lowell asks, sighing.
“If things go wrong, that child will not recover.”
“Yeah,” Topanga says and wraps her arms around Lowell’s waist. “But if they go right, you’ll have an extra heart to love Sidonie.”
Grinning at her wording, I can’t deny how right this feels. Topanga glances back at Lineke, sitting alone on the couch.
“Hey, Grandma, do you like wine?”
Seeming unsure, Lineke just nods. Topanga won’t tolerate such indifference, though. She walks over and tugs Lineke to her feet.
“How about we walk across the street to my house and sit out back with a drink? You can tell me about Shasta. I’ve heard stories, but never been there.”
Lineke probably realizes Topanga is hitting her up for information, but the woman has nothing to do here. Last weekend, she kept my sisters busy. Tonight, there’s a quiet house and no threats.
Lineke takes up Topanga’s offer and texts Lana. She sends another message, and I get the feeling she’s letting her other daughter know too. I smile at the thought of her remaining wary of us. She’s a smart woman. Lana can’t play things so coolly. Not when she’s hormonal from having a baby nearly six weeks ago, and dealing with Sidonie isn’t helping her stay alert.
Oh, and no doubt, the kiss earlier remains on her mind. I know I still feel her on my lips, and my dick hasn’t settled down in hours. The damn thing’s counting the hours until it can get Lana alone.
Not long after Lowell leaves with Topanga and Lineke, I hear the distinct roar of Conor’s motorcycle arriving at the house. On the security camera, I watch Summer climb off the back. After a quick word, she heads into the house, and my nephew rolls into the driveaway next door, where he still lives with his mom.
“How was the movie?” I ask Summer as she enters the house.
“It was okay. Fun action, dumb everything else. Is your dumpster baby here?”
“Back seat baby, Summer. We’ve gone over this already.”
“Wait, is that why her name is Carina?” my oldest asks. “To memorialize her conception in a car?”
“You’re clever, especially for a child named after the season her mom got knocked up by a biker.”
Fighting a smile, she sets down her purse near the fridge and inhales deeply. “What smells good?”
“Topanga helped Lowell pick out dinner, so she brought the entire restaurant. Lots of leftovers in the fridge.”
Summer doesn’t move for the food, and I assume she filled up on popcorn at the theater. Instead, she watches me.
“Sidonie said she wants you to marry Lana.”
“She told me that too.”
“You shouldn’t have brought that lady into our house. Sidonie will go insane after Lana stops coming around.”
“Well, little genius, how was I going to see my baby if I didn’t let that lady into the house?”
Summer shrugs. “Meet her somewhere in between that town and this one. Like how Junker sees his dumpster baby from Cincinnati.”
“He sees his kid once a fucking month, Summer,” I say in a voice far darker than I intend. “I’d miss everything with Carina. Like I did with you.”
Summer lowers her gaze. “Babies don’t do anything.”
“They change so much. I saw you every week or two back when you were a baby. I thought that was enough, but you looked so different each time. You could do all this new shit that I missed out on. I didn’t think it mattered, but I saw those things with Sidonie. I was there every step with her, and that’s when I knew how much I missed with you. I’m not doing that with Carina.”
My oldest daughter forgets to be a snotty teenager sometimes. She’ll revert to the sweet child who slept in my bed when she was scared and told me about her day at school.
Summer was a daddy’s girl, just like Sidonie. Then adolescence and a bullet pulled her away from me. I’m glad she’s more independent. At least, that’s what I tell myself when her coldness hurts my heart. Kids need to be their own people. Summer dreams of attending college in another state and traveling the world. She’ll never realize those hopes if she’s too scared to leave Elko. So I let her push me away.
But right now, she looks at me in the same way she used to before the Skullz rolled up to her favorite burger