cottages and buildings on Silver Island. She still felt like she was living someone else’s life.
The life she’d once dreamed of.
“How are you, honey?” she heard his mother ask.
Carly couldn’t see the phone screen, but hearing his parents’ voices and being together with Zev again made her long for the connection with them. She loved his parents. Seeing them at the wedding had reminded her of how much she missed them. Distancing herself from his close-knit family had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but it had been necessary because she couldn’t have spent time with them without thinking of Zev.
“I’m better than I’ve been in years. I have news to share,” Zev said.
“Wait! I want to hear!” Jillian’s voice rang out. “Hi, Zev. Come on, you guys. Hurry! He has news!”
Carly wondered who Jillian was talking to. Three deep voices greeting Zev gave her the answer. Graham, Jax, and Nick had easily discernible voices.
“Hi, Zev,” said a sweet female voice Carly didn’t recognize.
“Hi, Morgyn,” Zev said.
Ah, Graham’s wife.
“How’s Bandit?” Graham asked. “Did he steal all your stuff?”
“What do you think?” Zev laughed. “What’s everyone doing there?”
“Having dinner, of course,” Jillian said. “If you were around more often, you’d know that. But that’s enough chitchat. What’s your news?”
“Which do you want first—the good news or the best news?” Zev asked.
Carly wondered which was the best news—today’s discovery or the vessel being arrested.
“Gosh, honey. I don’t know,” his mother said.
“Then I’m going with the best news,” Zev said. “I found my treasure.”
He sounded proud and happy, like he had been bursting to tell them. Everyone congratulated him in an uproar of excitement. Carly was thrilled for Zev, right along with them.
Zev stepped beside her, bringing her into the frame, and he gazed into her eyes as he said, “The funny thing is, she was in Colorado the whole time.”
Carly’s heart stumbled. She was his best news, his treasure?
“Oh, honey! Carly!” his mother exclaimed. “You two are back together?”
“Yes, we are.” Zev hugged her, kissing her temple.
Jillian and Morgyn cheered and hugged as everyone congratulated them. It felt wonderful to be swept into the Bradens’ inner circle again and welcomed so eagerly after all the time that had passed.
“I have to call Char and let her know it worked!” Jillian shouted.
Morgyn gasped, and Jillian froze like a deer caught in headlights. Jax and Nick shot her angry glares. Graham scrubbed a hand down his face, chuckling.
“What worked?” Zev asked, looking as confused and curious as Carly.
“Um…” Jillian said, looking apologetically at Morgyn and her brothers, who were all scowling, except Morgyn, whose guilt-filled eyes were wide as saucers.
Zev narrowed his eyes. “Wait a second,” he said angrily. “Graham, I thought you and Morgyn were going to Seattle, and Jilly and Jax were supposed to be out of town for a fashion show. Nick? Weren’t you going to Virginia to pick up horses or something?”
“Seattle? Fashion show? Virginia?” His mother looked at her other children and said, “What the devil are you kids up to?”
“Don’t look at me. I just did what I was told,” Graham said, earning a blush and shrug from Morgyn.
“Me too,” Nick and Jax said in unison.
Their father laughed. “Oh boy. I think we’ve got a conspiracy on our hands.”
“Jilly?” Zev asked in a deathly serious tone.
Jillian threw up her hands and said, “It was all Char’s idea! Ever since Morgyn told her that Zev was gray, she’s wanted to fix him!”
“Is that a Fifty Shades reference?” Nick asked with a snicker.
Jillian rolled her eyes. “Tell them, Morgyn!”
“Yes, please enlighten us, Sunshine,” Zev urged.
Morgyn looked at Graham, and he nodded encouragingly. She sighed and said, “You guys know I see auras, the energy people give off. The first time I met Zev and Graham, Zev’s aura was muddy. Like dirty gray, which doesn’t mean anything sexual. It means he was overly guarded, blocking energies, despite his carefree, outgoing personality. That’s why I called him Foreplay—”
Nick and Jax chuckled. Zev shot them a warning stare.
“Really, boys?” their mother said. “Let Morgyn finish her story.”
“That’s why I used to call him Foreplay,” Morgyn corrected herself. “Because I could see that it wouldn’t matter who he was with; he simply wasn’t open to long-term energy. I’m sorry, Zev, but it was true. All that energy you threw out felt like a cover-up. But now I can see it’s changed. I see the full spectrum of the rainbow around both of you.”
Carly wondered what her colors had looked like before