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She heaved a sigh as he started down the driveway, shaking her head. “You and Kyle are so much alike.”

He scoffed at the statement. “No.”

“Yes. Right after that explosion at the remote site last year, Kyle insisted on driving. Took him forever. I’ve never seen someone drive so cautiously.”

“Good. That’s one thing I agree with him on. He had precious cargo.”

“At least after we got into an argument, he drove faster.”

“Don’t try that tactic with me. You’re not going to pick a fight with me so I drive faster. I’ll drive slower,” he warned before he slid his eyes sideways, hoping his sarcastic comment brought a smile to her face.

She stared straight ahead, rubbing her forehead. With a sigh, he reached for her hand, squeezing it. “Juls, I was only kidding.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m just…worried. And tired.”

“Why don’t you let me send someone–”

“Just keep going. I’m okay.”

He tugged her hand closer, kissing it as he left the city behind and headed for the rural area to the north. “At least we’ll get to spend some time together. I feel like I haven’t seen you nearly enough since we finally cleared up our relationship status.”

“You’re going to have to get on my calendar,” she said, finally cracking a smile.

“Yeah, really. Between Sierra and Kyle, I don’t stand a chance. I may get penciled in during leap years.”

“I’m sure Sierra has a leap day celebration planned then. We’ll have to find another time.” She turned serious again. “Hopefully Kyle’s stuff stays on the calendar.”

The comment brought a pang of jealousy that simmered below the surface. The difficult relationship between the three of them made offering him sympathy difficult. “I’m sure he’s okay, Juls. Although he won’t be if I find him at this cabin.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, her eyebrows pinching.

“It means I’m going to wring his neck for worrying you this much.”

She heaved a sigh as she focused on the road again. “He just wants to be accepted. We were too hard on him.”

Grant’s nostrils flared as he huffed out a breath. His son wanted more than that, by his estimation. It seemed perfectly within the realm of possibilities that Kyle would disappear after he’d accepted that Julia hadn’t chosen him. “Maybe he changed his mind.”

“No,” Julia said with a shake of her head. “He was crushed during that argument you two had.”

“Oh, Julia. Come on, you’re giving himwaytoo much credit. He wasn’t upset, he was angry.”

“No, he wasn’t.”

“Yes, Julia, he was,” Grant answered.

“Okay, maybe he got angry after you accused him of kissing me on purpose.”

“Hedidkiss you on purpose. I don’t care what anybody says. He wanted to kiss you that night. Lydia didn’t twist his arm.”

Julia rolled her eyes as she let her head fall into her palm again.

“It’s true, Julia. You’re too nice. He is still angry that his games didn’t work. You chose me.”

She shifted in the seat next to him and rubbed a thumb along his cheek. “Yes, I did. And Kyle was okay with it.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed it again. “I doubt that.”

“He was. We talked. And he just didn’t want to lose our connection or the connection to the family. You should have seen him when Sierra called him her brother.”