to breakfast and have them back in about an hour and half.”
Amy nodded, turned, and walked down the hall toward her bedroom.
Sierra walked out onto the porch and met Rex on his way back to the house.
“How bad is it?”
She didn’t really know. “You two need to talk.”
“I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face. She doesn’t hear me. She wants everything her way. I get she likes things a certain way, but I’m asking for some compromise and she won’t budge.” He raked his fingers through his disheveled hair. “I want more time with my family. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
“I’m not sure your sleeping on the couch says you want more time with her.”
“Yeah, well, when I got home last night, she had Emma sprawled in bed with her. I could have put Emma back in her bed, but what was the point. Amy’s so exhausted, the last thing she wants to do is work things out with me. In her mind, everything will be fine once the kids are older. I can tell you, things haven’t been fine in years. I’m tired of it.”
“I said this to her, now I’m saying it to you. Tell her how you feel and what you want. Don’t expect each other to know.”
“Your sister has her whole life scheduled. I’ll see if I can get an appointment.” With that snarky comment, he walked into the house and slammed the door.
Sierra didn’t take offense. His anger wasn’t directed at her. She understood that his frustration got the better of him.
“Hey, sweetheart, you okay?”
She stared up at Mason, so completely taken by his sincerity and that gorgeous face. “I’m great.” She touched her hand to his chest and smiled up at him. “I’m feeling a little smug for being this happy and guilty about it because my sister and Rex are having trouble connecting.”
“They’ll work it out.”
“So he didn’t ask you for legal advice?”
Mason’s head snapped back. “No. He apologized for the uncomfortable scene and thanked us for taking the kids for a little while. He said Amy needed a break, she’s just too stubborn to take one.”
Sierra shrugged. “That’s my sister.”
“That’s all the Silva sisters,” Mason teased. “Stubborn.”
She socked him in the gut, her fist striking nothing but lean, strong muscles. “Not nice.”
“But true,” he teased again.
“Are you sure you’re up to taking four kids to breakfast?”
“I know the perfect place. They’ve got the best pancakes.” He slipped his hand around her waist and drew her toward the car. “Plus, I get to spend my morning with you.”
“Sweet talker.”
He nuzzled his nose into her hair and kissed her head. “I’ll be talking you back into my bed later.”
“I think I’m going to owe you a nice reward after you’ve shown such patience and understanding this morning.”
He squeezed her to his side. “I can’t wait to collect.”
Sierra smiled up at him as he held the car door open for her and she slipped into her seat.
Yeah, the beginning was the best part.
And just like that, she spun dreams of a future with him. A future that looked very different from the one she’d imagined with David. Mason treated her like she was exactly what he’d been waiting for. David made her feel like he’d settled for the simple life they’d created together.
She refused to let another man settle for her again. She wouldn’t stand for lies. Spoken or unspoken. She wouldn’t hide the way she felt or put her needs on the back burner to make someone else happy.
Sierra made sure the kids were all engaged with one another in the back as they passed some kind of cartoon cards back and forth before she quietly asked Mason, “Have you discovered anything about that thing I asked you to look into?”
Mason kept his eyes on the road. “My investigator is working on it, but I don’t have anything concrete yet.”
An uneasy feeling settled in her gut.
Did she really want to know?
Should she let well enough alone and just be happy with the new life she was creating for herself and the boys?
Maybe. But she didn’t think the nagging feeling in her gut would ever go away if she didn’t uncover the truth.
Chapter Twenty-One
Amy walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, her hair brushed back off her face, and her skin pink from the exfoliating scrub she’d used in the shower.
Rex sat on the edge of the bed, wrinkling the comforter after she spent five minutes making it perfectly