opening the door with Clay hovering beside me. Whoever it was would only be able to see him if they were dead or a necromancer. I’d checked last night. Owen had been contrite and apologized for not telling me before.
Twisting the knob and giving a pull, I gasped then let out a little squeal. "Sam, Olivia! What are you doing here?"
"Sam looks good. He's been taking care of himself," Clay said over my left shoulder. "Olivia is a little curvier than she used to be in school."
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing and thanking the gods Olivia couldn't hear my deceased husband. She was curvier, but it was a good thing. She’d been a little too skinny before having kids, at least in my opinion.
Olivia beamed at me. “Since it’s spring break, we left Sammie with Sam’s parents and came to help!” The sound of a car door shutting captured my attention. I looked over Sam’s shoulder to the front walk. My heart fluttered at the sight of the man exiting a cab in my driveway, then walking up behind my two besties with a duffel bag.
Clay leaned in close. "Is that the stepdad?"
I closed my eyes briefly. Do not respond to Clay. He had teased me about Drew being our son's stepdad since Wallie called him that to Hailey. Because to her, we were all just a normal group of humans. Or at least we’d had to act that way.
"Drew." I stepped aside to let Sam and Olivia enter while I waited for the stepdad. Clay, of course, waited with me as my stomach began to cramp with nervousness.
He stopped in front of me for a split second then pulled me into a hug. I melted into him, just happy to be in his arms after nearly a week apart...until my husband started talking again. "Oh, he's handsome. I don't judge guys, generally, but you got a winner there. Now I see why you stayed in Shipton." As soon as Drew let me go, Clay moved around to stand between Drew and me.
With what I hoped was a smooth, unobtrusive move, I pushed Clay out of the way and took Drew's hand to pull him inside, shutting the door behind me and ignoring it when Drew ended up walking right through Clay. "I thought you couldn't make it." Part of me was so happy to see him, but part of me was mortified. A big part of me.
Should I have felt guilty to essentially push Clay away and draw Drew toward me? Did that mean I was choosing Drew over Clay? Oh, this was such a mess.
Drew looked around as I locked the door behind him. "I told you yesterday that I was closing the case. Plus, I couldn't leave you to deal with the vampires by yourself." Drew gave me a crooked smile that made my insides melt. This was too hard.
"Oh, how thoughtful and protective of him. Alpha male. Just your type." Clay drifted back to my side, staring at Drew, then he turned to me. "Was I not alpha enough for you, Ava?"
I laughed, though I wanted to cry, then coughed and turned to face Wallie to cover my reaction to Clay’s snarky words. My son and Zoey were on the sofa giggling like a couple of schoolgirls. I glared at them. They were no help. Clay had always been a mischievous prankster, but I couldn’t retort. What I wanted to tell him was that he’d been more than enough for me, but he was gone now. And with Drew, Sam, and Olivia here I couldn’t say a darn thing.
Olivia looked at them, then me. "What's so funny?"
"Yeah, Ava, share with the class," Sam added as he went toward the kitchen. “I’m hungry.”
"Those two are being silly. It's nothing." I waved my hand to push Clay behind me, so I didn’t have to look at him. Too bad I couldn’t stop him from talking.
Time to change the subject. "Who's in charge of the department while you two are here?"
"Charles," Sam said as he came out of the kitchen with a handful of cookies.
Clay snorted. "Charles, captain of the dance team? That Charles?"
I swear if Clay didn't stop talking, I was going to put him in a bubble. "Charles is good. Nice guy." Olivia plopped down on the sofa. “Flying is exhausting.”
When no one spoke for a few seconds, I asked, "Are you guys hungry? It's late for lunch but we can order delivery