Page 11 of Hero for the Holidays

She was still fuming by the time she went outside and linked up with everybody else. And she got outside just in time to see Landry get in his truck.

And pull away.

“Where’s he going?”

She realized that she’d broken her cardinal rule of never acting like she gave a shit what he was doing.

“I dunno,” said Alaina. “Maybe he also found a himbo down at the bar.”

“I don’t hate that,” said Rory, smiling slightly.

“Go find your man,” said Fia. “Both of you. I’m going to have a drink.”

“Fia,” said Alaina. “Sisters don’t let their sisters drink in response to Landry. You’ll only end up wasted and sad.”

“This is not fair. Because he was so awful about me wanting to open the farm store.”

“He was. And you’ll notice that none of us jumped in to offer money. None of us. And we all have our own places. Levi could easily invest, and so could Gideon. Gus obviously could, but he didn’t put in, because we are all supporting you. Right?”

“And I appreciate it,” said Fia. “But you do think I’m being petty.”

“Yes,” said Quinn. “I do think you’re being petty. What he’s proposing is a good idea, and there’s absolutely no reason in all the world to oppose it. Except for being petty. But, you also know that I am pro doing your due diligence on things like this. I think you’re right. I think you should demand a business plan from him. Go by tomorrow and see what exactly he’s up to.”

“Well, that isn’t a terrible idea,” she said.

Except that she never darkened the property line of King’s Crest. Not ever. It was like it was going to kill her.

Maybe.

“Great,” said Rory. “The problem is solved.”

“I’m not sure that I could call the problem solved exactly. Because Landry is still here.”

“Honestly,” said Rory.

And Fia pretended to smile indulgently. While inside she felt acrid.

Because the truth was, she had to coexist with Landry whether she wanted to or not. Their shared past hadn’t meant anything for a while now, and it couldn’t going forward.

So yeah. She would tell herself she was just being cautious about investing any money right now. And she would go by and look at his plans. Tomorrow.

And tonight, she would forget about him. And have a good time.

HEHADBEENuncomfortable leaving Lila back at home, but he hadn’t thought that it was a good idea to bring her tonight.

There would be a time and a place. But there were things he needed to talk to Lila about first, and he was still waiting for her to get through this period of adjustment before bringing up anything else.

They’d made it through the first visit from the social worker. Lila hadn’t begged to leave. So there was that. He was always trying to find the balance. Between letting her talk about her parents or her grief, between trying to explain his own grief over her birth and letting her live this new life. She’d put a moratorium on the past one night when things had gotten too hard.

He’d been okay with that. It gave him a reprieve. They’d agreed that when she was ready to hear more, he’d tell her whatever she wanted to know.

It was a tightrope walk. Because he couldn’t dump his trauma and pain onto her. He’d had enough. He was her father, not her confidant. But there were also things he needed her to know. None of it was simple.

But for now, he was going with...peaceful.

He’d been texting her the whole time he was at the barn, and he had raced right back to the house.

The truth was, this initiative meant more to him than anything ever had, because it was part of his figuring outhow to be a good dadplan.

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