But for now, she seemed content. When she wasn’t working, she spent a lot of her free time with Vance. And day by day, her sweet smile appeared more and more.
While I wanted to give Vance and my family and my coffee shop credit for her growing happiness, I suspected a part of it had everything to do with the hikes she took into the woods.
She was searching for her father.
Neither Vance nor I asked if she’d found him. We stayed quiet, letting her do whatever it was she needed to do.
Poor Dad though. The first time she’d gone on a hike alone, Dad had panicked, worrying she’d get lost or hurt. Vance had promised my parents that he’d talk to her. And he’d reassured them that if anyone was safe in the wilderness, it was Vera Gallagher.
No one beyond the three of us knew that we’d found Vera with Cormac. My parents, like the rest of the world, believed that Vera had just shown up on Vance’s doorstep in Idaho.
And though I’d braced for it—and so had Winn—no one from the FBI had bothered to visit Quincy.
The door to the deck opened and the guys streamed back into the kitchen. Vance came to my side, hauling me close. He smelled like soap and earth and wind and . . . mine.
“Zalinski came into the restaurant for lunch today.” Knox pulled Memphis against his chest. “He mentioned retiring soon. I didn’t realize he was considering it.”
“News to me,” Winn said.
“Same here.” Dad nodded. “But I think it’s time.”
“Are you interested in running for sheriff?” Jasper asked Vance.
“Nah. Too much politics.” He grinned at Winn. “Besides, I like my new boss.”
“Thanks.” Winn smiled back. “If you want to run for sheriff, you know I’ll support you. But selfishly, please don’t leave me.”
Vance chuckled. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Winn had told me not long ago that Vance was like a breath of fresh air at the station. Most of the cops that worked for her had grown up in or around Quincy. Vance brought a different perspective. Different experience. She appreciated his steady nature, his total aversion to gossip or drama. And she knew he was loyal. He’d have her back.
The front door opened and bootsteps came thudding down the hall before Mateo appeared.
“There you—” Mom’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”
The cheerful mood from just seconds ago vanished as we all took in his ashen face.
“I, um . . .” He blinked, shaking his head like it was in a fog. “I have to go to Alaska. Tonight.”
“Tonight?” Dad asked. “Why? What’s going on?”
Mateo swallowed hard. “I think . . . I think I have a daughter?”
The room erupted in questions that Mateo didn’t answer.
He was already out the door.
“You okay?” Vance asked as we drove home from the ranch.
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Worried.”
Dinner had taken an entirely different turn after Mateo’s announcement. Mom had spent the rest of the night trying to call him—he hadn’t answered. And I’d kept my mouth shut as everyone else had speculated about the possibility of Mateo being a father.
No one else seemed to know about the woman he’d told me about months ago. The woman from his not-so-casual fling. So I just assumed he hadn’t wanted anyone to know. I’d let him explain to our parents and siblings.
But I was definitely telling my fiancé.
“A while ago, Mateo told me that he’d been seeing this woman in Alaska. He had hoped it would go somewhere but she wasn’t interested. Do you think that’s the mother? Of this baby?” I asked. Vance wouldn’t know the answer, but I couldn’t help thinking out loud.
“I don’t know, Blue.” He stretched an arm across the cab, taking my hand and bringing it to his lap.
“Ugh. I hate not knowing what’s happening.”
“He’ll figure it out. Give him time.” He brought my knuckles to his lips. “Your dad said he was cool with us having the wedding reception in the barn.”
Vance always knew when it was time to change the subject. And he was right. All we could do was give Mateo time. When he knew what was happening, he’d tell us.
“I want a big wedding,” I said, going along with the new topic. “The white dress. The cake. The party. I want a Lyla-and-Vance day.” That was the wedding of my dreams.
“A Lyla-and-Vance day,” he murmured, like he was tasting the idea to see if it was sweet.
“If you’d rather have something small—”
“I love you, Lyla. If you want a big wedding, then we’ll have a big wedding.”
“I love you too.”
“Could I toss out one idea?”
“Of course.”
He slowed the truck, easing to the side of the road. But there was nothing to see, just darkness and our headlights on the pavement ahead.
Vance unbuckled his seat belt, then bent over the console, crooking his finger until I was close enough to kiss. It was slow and lazy, the swirl of his tongue against mine causing a low ache to bloom in my center.
When he broke away, I unbuckled my own seat belt, ready to scramble into the back seat and have a repeat of our romp earlier. Me riding him, rocking the truck until we both cried out in ecstasy.
But before I could move, Vance held up a finger. “About this wedding.”
“Yes,” I drawled.
“You want it this summer.”
“Preferably.”
“Deal.” His gray-blue eyes locked with mine as a smirk spread across that sexy mouth. “But you let me get you pregnant first.”
Not at all what I’d expected him to say. It was the best idea I’d heard all night. “You’re on, Sutter.”
Want more Lyla and Vance? Download the Bonus Epilogue HERE.
The Edens series concludes with Sable Peak.
SABLE PEAK
Vera Gallagher is chasing constant. For four years, her life was anything but normal. And the years before that she refuses to even remember. Dwelling on the past only hurts. Life is fragile, a lesson her mother taught her well. She’s determined not to waste a moment of her newfound freedom.
Maybe some would consider her crush on Mateo Eden wasted time. Maybe some would call her a fool for loving a man who hasn’t once dropped a crumb of interest her way. Still, to Vera, it’s Mateo or nothing.
He’s handsome. Charming. Witty. And he loves his family the way Vera loves—with her whole heart.
Maybe he’ll never notice her. Maybe she’s too damaged, too broken, to find that normal life she craves. Maybe her secrets will always keep them apart. But Vera will love him anyway. Whether Mateo realizes it or not.