Page 8 of Dante

Her sister had worked in Animal Control for the Houston Humane Society for years and had only recently moved back when Harland County opened its own branch.

Holden slid his arm around her sister and smiled. “Well, I for one am glad you moved back here, Emily.” Adoration was still evident in his eyes when he pulled his gaze from Emily to look at her. “And I know Emily is glad you moved back too, Amanda. She was worried about you.”

Her chest tightened. She’d been so careful to keep her problems and concerns to herself.

Had her sister sensed something during their many Zoom calls?

She lifted her chin. “Why?”

“Because you were teaching all alone in England,” Emily answered.

Amanda blinked. “Em, I wasn’t alone. There are over sixty-eight million people living there.”

“Exactly.” Emily crossed her arms. “What if you got in trouble? Or needed help? You had no one to have your back.”

Her heart rocked. Little did her sister know how right she was…

“As you can see, I’m fine,” she said and smiled, hoping to lighten the mood…and change the subject. “But I’m sorry if I worried you. Payback is kind of a…not so nice word.”

She was still working on curbing her language. Back in England, Amanda had taught high schoolers and she’d learned a few new words from them. Outside of the classroom, of course.

“I’ll always worry about you, Amanda,” Emily said, bringing her mind back to the conversation. “You’re my sister.”

She nodded. “But you’remykid sister. It’s my job to worry about you.”

“Only by eleven months.” Emily smirked. “I worry about youandOlivia, and she’s three years older than you.”

“True, but I’m used to looking out for you,” Amanda said. “Been doing it since before I was born.”

Dante, Hunter, and Holden raised a brow, their gazes were curious.

Emily snorted. “What?”

“Yeah, look how I left you all the DNA for curly hair in Mom’s womb and I got this.” She lifted a handful of her poker-straight hair. No number of hot irons or rollers ever worked. Her hair was too fine to hold a curl. “It’s boring and dull.”

Kind of like her.

“I think your hair is beautiful,” Dante said, shocking her silent. As a matter of fact, none of the others made a sound, they just watched on. “It suits you.”

Warmth spread through Amanda’s chest and seeped into her face again. “I...uh, thank you.”

If it weren’t for the flash of shock he blinked away, Amanda probably wouldn’t have found her voice. The poor guy appeared just as surprised by his words as she was, and yet he didn’t try to retract them.

She admired a person who took responsibility.

Unlike her friend. Her friend some people thought was her boyfriend. The guy who’d gone missing…

“I hope I didn’t embarrass you,” Dante said, his words drawing her back to the present. “Sometimes my mouth speaks without my brain’s approval.”

Oh, man, could she relate.

She laughed. “No worries. Sometimes I suffer from the same affliction. It’s called Emily.”

He chuckled, and her sister opened her mouth, but her fiancé quickly covered it with his hand.

“I think you should probably save it for another time, hon,” Holden said then removed his hand when her sister raised a brow.

Emily turned her attention to Dante, and Amanda found herself willing her sister to behave. “I was just going to officially say, welcome to Harland County and I’m glad Holden will have another of his human friends close by.”

---