Page 151 of Mended Hearts

He harrumphed, arms folded like a mountain in a polo, but didn’t move from his post. He did, however, glare at Alice like all of this was her fault.

I led the way to the counter, grinning at Jasper—the barista? baristo? I never knew which—and asked for my regular. I motioned the girls up to order behind me, then glared pointedly at our security shadow.

His response? A slow smile.

Rolling my eyes, I added a black coffee to the order and handed Jasper my card.

“Thank you very much! Sure nice to see you ladies!” he said cheerfully, handing it back.

“Same, thank you!” I turned to go, but the shop manager zipped over, curls bouncing.

“Hey, girl! Someone was looking for you earlier!”

My brows lifted. “Really? Who?”

She shrugged, brown eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “Not sure. He wasn’t a regular or anything. Big beard, tall—six-three? Six-four?”

I scowled at Alice, who froze mid-scroll. “James in town?”

“Not that I’m aware of.” Greyson made it a point to know where all of us were, as if he was avoiding a family ambush. If Alice didn’t think our brother was here, he very likely wasn’t.

“Weird.” That familiar icy crawl snaked down my spine.

Alice shot a look at Jax, who was already moving, scowl deepening as he lumbered through the shop to stand beside us.

“Well… thanks anyway,” I said, accepting the cups from Jasper as my brain tried to pin down who the hell would be looking for me. Paparazzi, maybe? They’d been having a field day with our relationship, so it wouldn’t be the first time.

Fucking creeps.

* * *

“Not to tootmy own horn or anything, but I think this was a huge success,” I whispered to Kaia, who was grinning ear-to-ear. Our little super genius asked for a galaxy-themed birthday party, and Ollie had suggested a star-gazing night in the backyard, but Tillie—whoinsistedon inviting her classmates, as to avoid ‘social suicide’—didn’t seem particularly keen on having so many people in her safe space.

I’d gingerly suggested the planetarium.

Naturally, Ollie booked the whole damn venue.

The lights were dimmed to a dusky glow. Fairy lights sparkled. The color palette was navy, black, violet, and gold. A LofiLord of the Ringsplaylist drifted softly through the air as guests moved through “Tillie’s Universe.” Yeah, the nickname was sticking.

After a few moments of wide-eyed overwhelm at the number of people who’d come to celebrate, our girl lit up once the kids were broken into smaller, more digestible groups.

Kaia ran a “star jar” station where each kid made their own glittery constellation in a mason jar. Alice helped man the constellation card table, where they punched holes in black cardstock and got to name their own stars.

Tillie’s idea for a “star swap” instead of gifts had been a hit—each kid brought a token they loved, something small but meaningful, and swapped with someone else.

But it was the stargazing show that stole the evening. A grandfatherly host named Howard narrated a custom sky presentation in dulcet fairytale tones instead of the usual thundering drama.

When it ended, he revealed Ollie had purchased her arealconstellation. There was officially a cluster of twinkling balls of gas up in the universe named ‘Matilda Hart’, and, better yet, it had been visible the night she was born—she burst into tears and threw her arms around his waist.

I nearly joined her.

The staff swept in with galaxy-themed cupcakes while we regrouped at the front of the venue.

“Brilliant, sissy,” Kaia said.

“The sensory modifications were such a win,” Alice added, blinking rapidly. “Seriously, Leigh… you’re already such an amazing mom.”

I blinked at her. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

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