Page 155 of Liam

“Addie!” Katie coos. “Lookie.” She turns, showing me her braid. “Like you, Addie.”

“Roman had to show me how to do that, like, fifty times,” Lucy murmurs, and I smile at the thought. She grins over at Benny as she pulls out a book from under the counter. “I got you something,” she says, handing it to him.

“Thank you, Aunt Lucy!” he almost shouts, running toward a large wingback chair. He sits, waits for Katie to join him before opening the book.

“Are these your foster parents?” Mia asks me.

“Yeah,” I say and introduce Dayna and Griffin. “This is Mia.”

“Will your dad be at the game later?” Dayna asks. “I’d like to thank him for letting us stay there last time.”

Mia waves a hand between us. “It’s no problem. Honestly. And if I’d known you were in town now, I would’ve told him to stay at a hotel.”

“Oh no, that’s fine,” Griffin says. “Is he away a lot?”

“He lives in New York,” Mia answers. “He stays there when he comes to visit.”

“Right.” Griffin nods, but I don’t think he truly understands.

Mia suspects as much also. “I know, it’s very weird he has a whole house?—”

“Addie says you’re into baseball, right?” Lucy asks Griffin.

“Sure,” Griffin answers.

“You know the name of the man who just bought the Pioneers?”

“Joseph Kovács?”

Lucy points to Mia. “Meet his daughter.”

“Oh, that makes so much sense,” Griffin says.

“Anyway, we just popped in to see you,” I tell Lucy. “I’m going to show them around town a little more.”

Lucy snorts. “That’ll take you another minute.”

Logan comes down the circular staircase leading to Lucy’s husband’s office—his girlfriend, Aubrey, a step behind. They’rebothadjusting their clothes.

“Ew!” Lucy squeals.

Logan scoffs. “Like you haven’t done it.”

Aubrey reaches under the counter, then hands me a book. “For next week’s book club. You’re coming, right?”

“You have a book club?” Dayna asks.

Lucy hands her the same book. “Here you go.”

Dayna reaches into her purse. “How much?—”

Lucy waves it off.

“How is this even a business?” Logan murmurs.

Lucy glares at him. “Don’t you have a hammer to hold?”

Logan smirks. “Red just took care of that for me.”

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