The little girl chose that moment to jump around the corner. “Boo!” she shouted.
Her roar turned to a squeal as her victim gave chase. She dashed back to Beckett, her tiny legs a blur. “Bucket,” she shrieked. She raised her arms high and without thinking, Beckett swung her up.
The boy half-heartedly jogged around the side of the barn and stopped short when he recognized Beckett.
“You again?” Beckett said. It was the boy from his guesthouse. Which meant …
“Van, this is Bucket,” Aurora said, patting his shoulder. “He was hidin’ with me.”
“Your name is Bucket?” the kid asked.
“It’s Beckett. And you can stop judging, Van.”
“It’s Evan,” the boy told him.
Aurora rolled her eyes. “Dats what I said. Bucket ‘n Van.”
“So let me guess. Your mom,” Beckett said, tickling Aurora’s belly and making her giggle, “and your captor are the same person.”
“Gia,” Evan confirmed.
“And your grandfather —”
“He’s not my real —”
“Yeah, kid. I got it. Who is he?” A feeling of dread was beginning to claw at his gut.
“Franklin Merrill,” Evan answered.
“Shit.”
The little girl in his arms gaped at Beckett. “You said ‘shit,’” she said.
“I’m not taking the blame for that one,” Evan said. He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed for the house.
“Bucket, shit is a bad word. You shouldn’t say it,” Rora admonished him.
“Sorry, shortcake. I meant to say sugar. Hey, kid, wait up,” Beckett called after Evan.
Evan paused and scuffed the toe of his sneaker in the dirt. “Hurry up, Bucket,” he said with a deadpan face.
“Are you guys here for dinner?” Beckett asked, still carrying the little girl.
“Yeah. I guess Grampa wanted to introduce us to his new girlfriend or something. He was acting really weird.”
The kid was smart and observant.
“Girls’ll do that to a guy,” Beckett warned him. “How do you think your … Gia will take the news?”
Evan shrugged. “She’s always worried about him being lonely and Phoebe doesn’t seem like a crazy person or anything. She’ll probably think it’s great.”
Beckett steered him to the side door and they entered the kitchen that was already full of people.
His mother and Summer were layering noodles, cheese, and sauce in two casserole dishes. Carter and Jax were passing out beers and wine glasses, while Franklin and Gia trayed up antipasto.
“Mama!” Rora chirped. “’Dis my friend, Bucket!”
Gia’s green eyes widened in surprise when she saw him holding her daughter. “Oh my God. Pierce Acres,” she said, smacking a hand to her forehead. “I should have known.”
She was wearing jeans today and an off-the-shoulder striped sweater that highlighted her curves without being showy. Her feet were bare and her hair was pulled back from her face in a wild ponytail.
He couldn’t stop staring at the line of her shoulder and neck.
“I take it you two know each other?” his mother, in a knit cardigan the color of blue bells, said coming around the island to give Beckett a kiss on the cheek.
Gia approached and plucked her daughter out of his arms. “Beckett is our landlord and he did the ribbon-cutting at my studio yesterday,” she told Phoebe.
Summer laughed from the other side of the island. “Small towns.”
“Miss Phoebe, do you know Bucket?” the little girl asked his mother.
“I do, sweetie. He’s my son.”
“Mama, Bucket said shit.”
The kitchen noise silenced except for Carter who choked on his beer.
“Did he?” Gia asked, looking at Beckett.
Rora nodded earnestly. “But it’s okay, cause he meant to say sugar.”
Phoebe burst out laughing.
“I have no idea what she’s talking about,” Beckett said innocently, snagging a beer. “Do you, Evan?”
He earned a smirk from the boy. “No idea,” he agreed.
“Five seconds with my kids and you’ve got them swearing and lying,” Gianna said accusingly. “I’m putting you in time out.”
Evan looked like he was going to argue the “my kids” statement, but held his tongue.
“Mama, Bucket’s too big for time out,” Rora argued.
“You’re never too big for time out,” Gianna said, grabbing Beckett’s arm and pulling him down the hall toward the farmhouse’s front door.
She waited until they were out of earshot of everyone else. “I’m really sorry about this. I had no idea my dad was bringing us here or that you’d be here. He just said he had a surprise.”
“Surprise, I’m moving in with someone.” Beckett snorted.
“They’re moving in together?” Gianna’s eyebrows shot up.
“I guess he didn’t get to that part of the surprise yet.” He took a long pull on the bottle.
“That seems kind of fast,” she frowned.
“They’ve been dating for six months,” Beckett grumbled. “We’ve only known for three. And that’s only because we caught him trying to sneak out of her bedroom one morning.”