Page 72 of SEAL'S Baby Surprise
“Hidden entrance to a secure room,” he says. “Pops Quinn laughed at me for installing it, but tonight I was glad to see Kandy get the kids to safety.”
I nod. That could have gotten messy.
“So, now I want explanations,” he says. “How did you wind up with my sister, and why didn’t you tell me she was with you?”
It takes us a while, since Julia has to help tell the story, especially the part about the bike wreck and the newsie that Ark chased off.
“So tell me again,” Richard says, “Why are you living in a van?”
“Because I want to show Julia more than one part of the world. The van has everything we need — power, water, places to sleep. It’s a little tight with the three of us, but we’ve managed.”
“Managed enough privacy to get my sister pregnant,” Richard growls. “What are your intentions?”
“Marriage, of course,” I say, keeping a firm hold on Lee, who looks like she might bolt at any minute. “Unless Lee doesn’t want me?”
“I want you,” she says, hanging onto my arm, and snuggling closer. “But where will the baby sleep?”
“Hmmm….” I pretend to think. “We might have to upgrade to an airstream and a truck. I’ve had my eye on one . . .”
“Do you need money to buy it?” Lee asks. “I can sell some pearls now that my brother can vouch for ownership.”
“No need,” I say. “I have more than enough money to trade up.” I snuggle her a little closer. I’d like to do more, but Richard has a stern eye fixed on us both.
“Then why,” he asks, “are you living in a van on Freedom Beach?”
“Well, for starters,” I say. “I own Freedom Beach. It was unincorporated when I bought it, and I set up the park because I was tired of having to pay pet deposits for Ark — which isn’t supposed to happen because he’s a registered Emotional Support Animal, but that doesn’t seem to stop some people.”
Richard gives me another look. “And the other reason?” he asks.
I sigh. “People fix up a van or a camper hoping to live cheap, then they discover that they have to pay rent on a lot or park somewhere illegally. Some of those lot rents are pretty expensive. A fine or a parking ticket can wipe some peoples’ budgets right out.”
“What about winter when the storms get bad?” Kandis asks, proving that she knows a little more about house holding than her husband does.
“Then we’ll all migrate to the mountain retreat,” I say. “It’s like moving my own little village. There’s a lodge in case the weather gets too wild, and we need a real house for a while.”
“Will I get to see it?” Lee asks.
“Of course, you will,” I assure her. “You didn’t think I would leave you behind?”
32
RYLIE (LEE) ARIANRHOD LANE MOORE
Things geta little complicated after we get Richie calmed down. He is absolutely flabbergasted that my dress — the top half of it, anyway — is locked up in Austin’s gun safe.
My friend, Rosalee, had packed up the other half before Jason could get his hands on it. But he had tried to sell the string of pearls I couldn’t figure out where to put on the dress I designed.
Part of the delay for the wedding is because Richie’s lawyers picked apart the prenup, just to make sure we could not possibly be liable for anything.
I have to testify that Jason threatened me and my family — which Caleb said would have made the agreement void anyway. Signed under duress, and all that. We get a handwriting expert to prove that I hadn’t signed it, anyway.
I stand in my old studio, in almost the exact spot where I learned that my ex was more interested in my money than in me. My friend Rosalee is holding the train to the glitzy wedding dress I had designed.
“What do you want to do with this?” she asks. “I can’t believe you just had Austin lock the top part in his gun cabinet.”
“To be perfectly fair, he didn’t ask me about it. And he locked up the scissors and all the sharp knives at the same time.”
“He did?” Rosalee looks at me wide-eyed.
