Page 127 of Tragic (Lark Cove 3)

“Either one. You choose.”

“Tacos.” I brushed my lips to his, then walked to the door.

Kaine went back to his shelves, making this place his own. And I went inside to cook dinner with a heavy heart.

Our visitors were gone. We were getting back into our routine where I worked in the office while Kaine created masterpieces in his shop. Where we ate dinner, relaxed on the couch and made love before going to sleep.

Life was going back to what it had been before Kaine’s clash with Isaiah.

Except Kaine didn’t ask me to marry him five times a day anymore. His proposals had stopped completely. The last time Kaine had asked me to marry him was before he’d gone out Christmas tree hunting.

I guess I’d said no one too many times.

“What are you doing here?” Logan asked, looking up from his laptop.

I held up a large envelope. “Getting your John Hancock on this contract.”

He’d told me to take the week between Christmas and New Year’s off, but I ignored him since there was just too much to do before my maternity leave.

Logan frowned and stood from his desk chair. He came around the desk and took the folder from my hand while simultaneously pulling out my chair. At least, I’d dubbed it my chair. It was the one I sat in whenever I came down to work in his office.

“Thanks.” I sank into the seat, grateful to have the weight off my cankles.

“You know, I could have come up to you.”

I shrugged. “I had to come down anyway. I thought I’d just hang out here until I need to meet Kaine at the bar.”

It was New Year’s Eve and the Lark Cove Bar was having a party. Thea and Jackson had pulled out all of the stops, decorating the bar. Now it wasn’t just rustic, it was sparkly rustic. They’d ordered two cases of champagne and an extra half dozen bottles of tequila. Thea had even invented a special New Year’s Eve pizza, which was just pizza with the year spelled out in pepperoni.

I couldn’t think of a better way to ring in the new year than laughing and enjoying the evening with friends. And I couldn’t wait to kiss Kaine at midnight, though with how badly my feet hurt these days, I probably wouldn’t last until nine.

“What’s Kaine up to?” Logan asked, resuming his seat.

“He had to run up to Kalispell for the day to pick up some supplies he ordered from the lumberyard.”

“He’s coming for the party though, right?”

I nodded. “He promised to be back by five.”

Logan opened the envelope and signed the page marked with the little green flag. Then he slid the papers back into the envelope and handed it back. With a snap, he shut his laptop and signaled that work was done for the day.

I listened for sounds of the kids from the other room—my favorite part about working at Logan and Thea’s—but it was quiet. “Where are the kids?”

“Already at Hazel’s for the night. I told her I’d bring them over, but I guess I was taking too long because she came over after lunch and kidnapped them.”

I smiled. “They’ll have fun.”

And I hoped next year, I could talk her into taking the twins too. Though, I doubted it would take much convincing. Hazel might be a grandmother to Logan and Thea’s kids, but she’d already laid claim to my boys. On more than one occasion, she’d insisted on babysitting for us after their birth because newborns were her specialty.

“So . . .” Logan sighed. “I got an email today.”

I sat straighter, not liking Logan’s uneasy tone. “From?”

“Adam.”

“Seriously?” I grumbled. “He’s getting desperate if he’s emailing you now. What did it say?”

“He just asked if I’d pass along a request for you to call him.”