knew I’d done something against the rules.”
“Like what?” Ivey gathered up Daisy and the other pup. She really needed to figure out homes for them. Eventually. But...not yet.
“I don’t know. Like...sneaking out at night with my sister. There was a party at a neighbor’s house, and my father had said she couldn’t go. I woke when she was climbing out the window, so I went with her.”
As they walked up the incline, Ivey grinned. “Somehow I can’t imagine you sneaking away for a party.”
“I didn’t care about that. Not really. But I worried for Charity.”
“Charity is your sister?” Surprised, Ivey said, “You realize you’ve never shared her name before.”
Coming to a dead stop, Hope stared at her. “I haven’t?”
“No. You’ve only ever referred to her as your sister.”
Bemused, Hope shook her head. “I guess to me, that was the most important part. She was my sister and she’d...stopped loving me.” Her eyes widened as she looked at Ivey again. “Over something that wasn’t my fault.”
“No, it wasn’t.” Ivey wondered if seeing the way Corbin had handled the situation with Justin had brought up memories for Hope. It must mean something that she’d talk about it now.
“You know—” Hope gave a tremulous smile “—I think I forgive her.”
Ivey got them walking again but at a very slow pace. “Why now?”
“Because I’m so happy, I guess.” Hope looked up at the deck where Lang carried food to the table. “He hasn’t made any promises, and I haven’t asked for any. I don’t know if this will last another week or...forever. But regardless of what happens between us, I know I’m better now. I know that tomorrow, I can face the day with less anxiety. The past seems less relevant now, so Charity’s part in it is less, too.” Shaking her head, she gave a crooked smile. “Does that make sense?”
“It makes perfect sense, and I’m so glad.” New perspectives, that’s what Hope had. Ivey knew her friend would prefer that her romance with Lang continued, but now she knew she could have romance, and that was the most important part. “The brothers have certainly taken Sunset by storm.”
With a conspiratorial smile, Hope said, “At least for us.” They were almost to the deck stairs when she paused. “You’re totally, madly in love with Corbin, aren’t you?”
Ivey didn’t hesitate, but she did lower her a voice to a barely there whisper. It wouldn’t do for Corbin to find out before she was ready to tell him. “Am I that transparent?”
“To me, yes.” Since they each had their arms full, Hope merely leaned into her, shoulder to shoulder, friend to friend.
Sister to sister.
“You never looked like this with Geoff.” Hope glanced around, then down at the dogs. “Here, with Corbin, in this setting and with his son, you’re in your element, Ivey. It’s as if you were put in the place you were always meant to be.”
Oh, be still my heart. “That’s such a beautiful way to put it, and pretty darned accurate. Everything about this feels so right. So much so, it’s almost scary.”
“Scary how?”
“Well, unlike some amazingly awesome woman I know, if things ended tomorrow, I don’t know what I’d do. Ending things with Geoff felt liberating. With Corbin? It’d be like losing a vital piece of myself.”
Lang leaned over the railing. “I can hear you both whispering, and it’s making me think it must be something juicy. Either of you care to share?”
“Ah, no,” Ivey said with a grin. “Are the ribs burned?”
“A little singed around the edges maybe.” He left the railing, and a second later he came down the steps. “Here, let me help.” He took the puppy from Ivey, put an arm around Hope, and together they moved up the stairs.
Yes, life here was idyllic.
Now if only she could make it last a lifetime.
* * *
That night, in bed, Corbin stared at the ceiling as shadows from the moon shifted and flowed. Arms folded behind his head and Ivey close beside him, he should have been falling asleep.
Instead, he thought about his son, about the things he hadn’t known, the things that Justin kept bottled up inside. Life would be so much easier if Corbin could learn all the ugly details at once, rather than be blindsided again and again.
Remembering how Justin had flinched, as if he thought Corbin would hit him—
“Hey.” Ivey’s small, soft hand moved over his chest. “You okay?”
Uncanny how she always sensed when something was bothering him, more so than anyone else ever had.