Jaimi sat on the edge of Dane's bed, her hands shaking, his comforter wrapped around her.

The Stocktons had invaded Dane's house. She could hear the conversation, the voices, the laughter, the noise. Chase's voice. Zane's. Travis's. Others she couldn’t recognize yet.

What where they doing there? Why? Did they know she was there? Had they come to find her?

No, they couldn't have. They didn't know she was their sister. Dane had promised, and she trusted him.

So, she could go out there, and pretend to be sociable. Grab Emily and their luggage, and then sneak out the back door. Run for home before they knew the truth.

But as she sat there, she couldn't make herself move to get dressed. She was paralyzed with inaction. Terrified to face them. Afraid of having her heart broken if she walked out there, saw her family, and left them behind forever. But she was equally terrified of going out there, announcing who she was, and becoming a part of something that had so much darkness in it, something she had no idea how to belong to, even if she wasn't afraid of it.

"I don't belong with them," she whispered.

It didn't feel right.

"I belong with them," she tried again.

That didn't feel right either.

"I belong with Emily."

Yes, that felt good.

"I belong with Dane."

Tears filled her eyes, agonizing tears, because she knew it was true…but she knew it could never happen. She pressed her palms to her eyes, fighting off tears, wishing her mom was still alive, wishing that she had someone to ask for advice, someone who would tell her what was right.

But there was no one.

* * *

Dane had just stepped inside his living room when he saw Emily peek around the corner of the living room, her eyes wide. She was wearing footie pajamas with Christmas trees on them, and a long-sleeved top that said, "Girl Power," on it, with a badass female superhero on the front.

He quickly walked across the room to intercept her. "Hey, Em."

She looked up at him, and quickly gestured for him to come over to her. He grinned and went down on one knee, so he was at her level. "What's up, sweetie?"

"They're here."

"I know."

"Why?"

"They wanted to bring Christmas to us."

Emily looked past him, her eyes tracking rapidly as she scanned the room. "Why?"

He took a deep breath. "Because they thought we all deserved it."

She looked up at him. "Did they bring presents?"

He laughed. "Christmas isn't for a couple days. No presents until then."

"Oh." She looked so crestfallen that he almost laughed.

"But I'm sure there will be lots of presents."

"A horse?" She looked hopefully at him. "I want to learn how to barrel race, like the picture on my dresser."

Dane realized there was a photo of his mom on the nightstand in the room Emily was sleeping in, and his heart tightened at the thought of Emily following the path of his mom. He knew he'd feel just as much pride watching her as his dad had experienced watching the woman he'd loved. "You'd make a great barrel racer. My mom used to barrel race. She loved it."

"Really?" Emily stared at him. "Can you teach me?"

"Yeah, I could."

"Will you?"

Dane glanced at his closed bedroom door. "We'd have to check with your mom, first."

Emily sighed. "She'll say no. Can you smack down her inner wimp?"

He burst out laughing at the phrase that Emily had used before. "Smack down her inner wimp, eh?"

"Yeah, Grandma says that mommy's inner wimp is a ruthless bully and needs a smackdown." Emily searched his face. "Dane?"

"Yeah, sweetie."

"Mommy's going to make us leave today. I don't want to leave."

He sighed. "I don't want you to leave either."

"I don't want to be a spy anymore." She looked past him. "They're so nice," she whispered, in a whisper loud enough that the whole room could hear. And hear they did, because he'd suddenly noticed that everyone had stopped talking. They were all still ostensibly engaged in their Christmas tasks, but they were working in absolute silence. He could practically see them all bending toward their corner of the living room, listening to him and Emily talk.

The Stocktons might want to hug their sister, but their hearts were just as desperate to welcome their niece, and he knew they would protect her with everything they had, just as they'd taken care of Zoey. Emily needed them. Every kid in the world would be better off with the Stocktons at their back.

Dane grinned. "They think you're amazing," he whispered back. "They love you already."

Emily's eyes widened. "Really?" She looked so in awe, so happy, so stunned that his chest tightened. "I love them," she whispered, again, loud enough that everyone present could hear.

Dane glanced over his shoulder and saw Chase grinning. Mira was wiping tears off her cheeks, and little Ava was staring at Emily with wide eyes.

Shit. He wanted to tell Emily the truth, that the Stocktons already knew she was family, and wanted her and Jaimi to be a part of their lives. He really did. But he couldn't betray Jaimi any more than he already had—

"Emily?" Ava sidled up next to Dane and leaned against him, facing Emily.

Emily got a shy look on her face. "Hi."

"Is it true you’re my cousin?"

Fuck. He looked back at Maddox, but Ava's dad was pretending to look at the ceiling. Son of a bitch.

Emily looked at Dane, then back at Ava, longing etched on her face. "I'm not supposed to tell," she whispered loudly. "I’m a spy."

Ava grinned. "I like spies. Can I be a spy, too?"

"I don't know." She looked at Dane. "Can Ava be a spy, too? Or is it just me and my mom?"

"I think she can be a spy," Dane said, hoping to redirect the conversation away from family and toward top-secret codes instead.

"Cool!" Emily grinned. "If you're a spy, too, then I can tell you all my spy secrets."

Oh, shit. He hadn't seen that coming. "Emily—"

"My mom is Chase's sister, and all the others. And you’re my cousin. I've never had cousins. It's cool, right?"

"Cousins!" Ava whirled around. "Mom! Emily's my cousin!" she bellowed. "You were right! Can we have a sleepover?"

Dane looked at his bedroom door, only a few feet from Ava, and his gut sank. There was no chance that Jaimi hadn't heard that, and he heard from the groans that every adult in the room had come to the same conclusion. He looked helplessly at Chase.

"You better go in and talk to her," Chase said to him. "Come on, ladies." He scooped up the two little girls, one in each arm. "Let's go see if Lissa's chocolate chip muffins are almost ready." With Ava and Emily still chattering loudly about being cousins, he carried them into the kitchen.

Dane bowed his head for a long moment, resting his elbow on his knee. He had no idea how to fix this, but he knew that if he got it wrong, he was going to lose everything that mattered to him.

In the few seconds he stayed there, no solutions came to him. He had no fucking idea how to save this. None.

But he knew his time was up, so without looking at anyone else, he rose to his feet, walked to his bedroom, and put his hand on the knob. He paused to take a deep breath, and then opened the door and walked in.