Page 67 of Hero for the Holidays

It was an impossible circle of things. Realizations and feelings.

And at the center of it all was Landry and the fact that her feelings for him could never be anything like straightforward.

She sighed heavily and went to her bedroom—where she had hidden the cake—to gather her things.

She had to accept that this was the beginning, and not dwell so much on the past.

But she couldn’t escape the feeling that there was something in her past she needed to get a grip on in order to move forward.

She just wished she knew what it was.

ITWASApretty full house, the entire King family including Arizona’s husband and stepson. Rue was also there, an extension of Justice. Rory and Gideon, Levi and Quinn, and Gus and Alaina were there, and she knew that the horse was in a trailer, ready to be brought out at the right time.

Daniel was in a corner talking to a couple of girls that Fia didn’t know, but they must have been his recommended picks for the party. She did sort of wonder if he had chosen based on who he wanted at the party, because that was the amount of trust that Fia put in teenage boys.

Not for nothing.

Denver made his way over to her, and she braced herself. They hadn’t actually had a conversation by themselves since the revelation about her being Lila’s mother. The problem was, she knew Denver in the context of setting up the Four Corners collective. Because of that, she really was not surprised that he had something personal to say to her on the subject.

“All right,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Get it out.”

“What?”

“I had the feeling that you wanted to say something kind of snarky about the fact that I hooked up with your brother?”

“That is the least interesting part of the story, Fia. You two had a baby, and she ended up back here thirteen years later. That is vastly more interesting than whatever teenage shenanigans you two had going on.”

He was right, and she felt silly that she had assumed otherwise. It was just that to her, the whole thing with her and Landry kind of loomed large as far as revelations went. Obviously, it wasn’t as big of a deal to somebody like Denver for whom hookups were not that significant.

“Okay. Then what?”

“I was just curious how you were doing? I know it’s been a lot of years since we actually established the collective. And you and I never had the easiest time communicating.” He looked in the direction Landry had gone. “I kind of get why now.”

“I was never mean to you.”

“Notmean, per se. But we were not close.”

She squinted. “I’m deeply suspicious of cowboys.”

“Especially cowboys with my last name.”

“Right. Well. Fair assessment.”

“You were holding a lot on your shoulders. I don’t know that anybody ever gave you all the credit that you deserve. For being eighteen and stepping into that room with men who were older than you, and hardheaded, and making the case for what Sullivan’s Point needed. And now I realize you were doing that just two years after having Lila, after having all that happen with Landry. It really was amazing. And what you’re doing now, that’s amazing too. I am pretty damned impressed.”

“Well, thank you,” she said. “I hear that you’re secretly rich?”

His eyes widened and he took a step back. Then he seemed to recover himself quickly and shifted and smiled. “Depends on who you compare me to.”

“You contain multitudes,” she said.

“Not really. Ask around. I’m pretty basic.”

“You’ve been a good uncle to Lila. I can see that you’re taking care of her.”

“Listen,” he said, his tone heavy. “My dad didn’t take care of much. He broke things, he didn’t build things. He has blood on his hands in my opinion.” He sighed. “Let’s just say my dad has a lot to answer for. I’d like for some of it to happen in this life, but if it’s just in the next I’ll take that too. But I try to build things. For my part. Leaving it better than it was before. Not worse.”

“As far as I can tell, that’s what you’re doing.”

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