Page 119 of Made for Mayhem

He shook his head. “Someone dropped off a toddler with his mom, claiming she’s his.”

Shannon sat up straight, looking more bothered by this than she had been by her brothers moments ago. “Define dropped off.”

“You know as much as I do.”

Her gaze flicked to the kids crowded at the end of the booth, Junie safe and laughing, then she stood and walked out.

“Fuck,” Beckett said. “I should have thought about that before I said it. I’m sure that hit a nerve with her, considering her own mom walked out when she was a kid.”

Emmy chewed her lip, staring at the door. “We should let her cool off right? Swing by the house to check on her later?”

“Yeah, peach.” Beckett kissed Emmy’s temple, looking at her with open adoration. “I like that idea.”

Maybe some guys would’ve bristled at their best friend falling for their sister, but I approved of anyone who looked at her like that.

Junie hopped down from the kids’ table and padded over, climbing onto the bench between Daisy and me.

“So, is Mikko going to be a dad?” she asked. “I bet he’ll be a good one. Like mine.”

The table went quiet. My throat tightened, love hitting me so hard it almost knocked the air from my lungs.

Daisy’s hand found mine under the table and squeezed. “I bet you’re right,” she said softly.

I cleared my throat. “Trivia machine’s free. Who’s brave?”

Junie shot up. “Me!”

The kids scrambled, laughter echoing as they rushed the machine.

Outside, the sun dipped behind the mountains. Inside Slice and Spice, the lights glowed. Daisy leaned into my side, Junie laughing somewhere nearby, and that wasn’t just enough.

It was everything.

27

I sat cross-legged on my bed, the letter balanced on my knee like a loaded gun.

The last four days had been a blur of sawdust and sweat as Ty and I installed the new kitchen cabinets in Violet’s house. Between that, working at the rink, farm chores, taking care of Junie, and sneaking in every second of alone time I could with him, the days went by fast.

But it all came to a screeching halt when I’d opened Violet’s bedroom door for the first time yesterday. The air inside was thick with dust from the construction work we’d done, but the lavender sachets still tucked in the dresser drawers clung to the air like a ghost that refused to leave.

I stood there until my legs shook, knees threatening to buckle under the weight of her absence, ready to close the door and come back another day—another week, another lifetime—when I saw it.

This paper was different, smaller, like a notepad you’d swipe from a roadside motel. But it had the same little daisy drawn on the front in her careful pen. Folded in half, it sat propped up on her nightstand.

I pocketed it, then closed the door, unable to handle crashing out right then. By the time I got back to Ty’s house, Emmy, Beckett, Mason, Jace, Lori, and Shannon were in the backyard around the fire pit and staying for dinner. Talk had turned to a camping trip, and Junie bounced around excitedly when they’d asked her to join them.

So I stashed the letter in my room, too nervous to face whatever Violet had to say when everything finally felt good.

Now, it glared at me.

Tears burned my cheeks, but the sound of Junie’s pounding feet down the hall had me tucking the letter beneath my leg and wiping away the tears as fast as I could.

“I’m ready!” Junie called as she spun around the corner and into my room. “How do I look?”

She posed with her hands on her hips, wearing a pair of cargo pants tucked into her rain boots, and a pink button-down fishing shirt. Her blonde ponytail stuck out the back of a Hudson Hardware hat, and she looked adorable.

“Like a professional camper.” I slid off the bed and down to my knees in front of her. “I like these pants.”