Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“What about what I deserve?” Juniper interrupted, her eyes watering. “My mom wanted to adopt me. Alina wanted to give me up. They both got what they wanted. Why doesn’t it matter what I want? Why do I only matter when I turn eighteen?”
“You matter,” I whispered, my grip tightened on the glass. This was unfair on every possible level.
“Of course what you want matters,” Hudson assured her, palming the bases of both glasses in one hand and stroking his other over her hair.
“Good.” She swiped at her eyes with the back of her forearm. “Because I want to know my biological family.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible without telling your mother,” I said gently.
“We’ll tell her,” Juniper promised, her gaze darting between us. “Just not yet. She has to get to like you first.”
That was never going to happen.
“Which would also convince your mother that not all ballerinas are stuck up?” Hudson lifted an eyebrow, clearly on to her plan.
“Two birds with one stone,” Juniper admitted, lifting her chin.
“I think you greatly underestimate how your mother feels about my”—I winced at the slip—“our family.”
“You can change her mind.” Two little lines appeared between her eyebrows, and her gaze shifted quickly, like she was thinking. The smile that spread across her face was pure mischief. “Uncle Hudson can bring you to my birthday party.”
Wait. What? My stomach hit the floor.
“That’s usually classmates and family only,” Hudson reminded her.
“Your birthday already passed.” Sweat broke out on my palms at the idea of being anywhere near Caroline, carrying a secret like this.
“We always celebrate my birthday Memorial Day weekend so the whole family can be here.” She turned a full-on grin at Hudson, bouncing on her toes. “And that’s why it’s perfect! Bring her as your girlfriend. Mom let Uncle Gavin bring his girlfriend last year.”
My stomach abandoned my body. His girlfriend?
“Absolutely not.” Hudson lifted his eyebrows. “No.”
“Just pretend.” Juniper tilted her head at me . . . exactly like Lina. “You’ll get to know my family. I’ll get to know you, and once Mom knows how great you are, we’ll tell her.”
I blinked. The scheming, the sneaking out, the general disrespect for authority—that was all Lina, too, though I didn’t doubt Hudson’s influence. But faking it so Caroline would like me was preposterous . . . and wrong.
“Juniper—” Hudson started.
Something rustled in the doorway behind us.
“I thought I heard someone in here!” The excitement in Anne’s voice was palpable, and I turned toward her without thinking, Hudson doing the same. She peeked around what appeared to be a sample centerpiece in her arms, a tall vase overflowing with pink-and-green flowers. “Interesting company to . . .” Blood drained from her face, turning her pale as the paint on the doors as she looked directly between us. “Lina?”
The vase slipped from her hands and shattered.
Chapter Nine
Hudson
WestCoastPointe: Nepotism isn’t going to help that technique, RousseauSisters4
“You will do this!” Anne shouted as I walked up Allie’s porch steps for the second time that day.
Surprise jolted my eyebrows upward. In the years I’d known the Rousseaus, I’d never heard Anne raise her voice. Eva? Absolutely. Lina? Once or twice. But Anne? Never.
She had to be yelling at Allie, convincing her to go along with Juniper’s plan. My hackles rose, and Sadie whined at my side as I rung the bell. The little golden hadn’t quit shaking since I’d picked her up at the vet’s office a half hour ago. “It’s all right,” I promised her, reaching over her leash to give her a pat.
The door flew open, and Anne’s frantic gaze jumped from me to Sadie. “Where is she?”
“Not a fan of that tone, Anne,” I warned. “I told you I was taking her back to school.” I said it slowly, as though we hadn’t all participated in the same conversation an hour ago and agreed that we needed an adults-only meeting. Anne had been overruled two to one, but she’d still participated.
“Let him by,” Allie ordered from inside the house, her tone flat, just like it had been when I’d arrived earlier. The tone made me wish she’d yell or scream, anything to prove she was in there.
“He has a dog.” Anne stepped aside, giving me a clear view of Allie, who sat on the second-to-bottom step of the main staircase, her arms wrapped around her middle. “Dogs aren’t allowed in the house.”
“By all means, let’s talk on the porch,” I offered.
Allie’s head tilted as she stared at Sadie. “Mom’s not here, so we make the rules. Let them in.”
Her mother not being here was the only reason I was allowed through the front door.
Anne sighed, then motioned us inside the house with a jerk of her hand. “If she makes a mess, you’re cleaning it up.”
“Of course.” I walked by Anne into the foyer and took a seat next to Allie on the steps like it was the most natural thing in the world to position myself at her side.