CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Kelsey was glad to be home. As she followed Hunt out of the airport in Portland and crossed the sky bridge to the parking structure where he’d left his car several days ago, she drew in a breath of damp Pacific Northwest air, anxious to see her parents.
Hunt shifted the bag over his shoulder and glanced down at the phone in his free hand with a frown. “Your brother’s texted me about ten times, wondering when we’re coming down.”
Holding his other hand as they moved into the parking structure, she said, “Which one?”
“Alec.”
She grinned and stepped out of the way for a woman pushing a stroller. “Figures. He’s impatient.”
Hunt huffed. “Tell me something I don’t already know.” Pulling her to a stop several feet from his SUV, he dropped his bag on the ground at her feet and said, “Wait here while I check to make sure the car’s clear.”
Kelsey rolled her eyes but did as he said, knowing he was just being cautious. He’d already warned her not to get too far away from him when they landed, just to be safe. She wasn’t particularly worried someone was waiting for them here in Portland, but she did hold her breath as she watched Hunt glance under the vehicle and inside the windows for any signs the car had been tampered with, then sighed in relief when he motioned for her to join him.
She grabbed his bag from the ground and met him steps from the vehicle. Frown lines marred his handsome face as he popped the back of the vehicle and tossed in their bags.
Amusement toyed with the corners of her lips. “You’re nervous.”
“About the vehicle?” He flashed her a yeah, right look as he slammed the tailgate. “It’s fine.”
Her grin widened as he moved to the passenger side and reached for the door handle. “No. About my brothers.”
He scoffed as he held the door open for her. “Not a chance.”
She slid into the seat. “You are nervous.” She was extremely touched by that knowledge, but wanted only to put him at ease. “Which one’s making you nervous? Rusty? I’ll talk to him first before we say anything to the rest of the family.”
He rolled his eyes as if she were being silly, but his expression softened as he leaned down to kiss her cheek, and he completely shocked her when he said, “I’d say it’s a toss-up between Rusty and your father.”
He closed her door and moved around the car, and even though she knew she shouldn’t be happy by that admission, she was. Maybe it was childish, but she liked that he was nervous. It meant this was real.
Truth be told, though, she was a little nervous too. She wasn’t sure what they were going to say to her parents and brothers, especially Rusty. He was immediately going to assume Hunt had done something to take advantage of her in her vulnerable state. For some reason, “Hey, everyone, I know I just got divorced, and I know Hunt was technically my bodyguard, but we’re sleeping together now,” didn’t seem like the smartest option.
Her phone buzzed as Hunt slid into the vehicle next to her and started the ignition. “Wonderful. Alec’s texting me now.”
“This shit’s got to stop.”
She reached into her jacket pocket for her phone. “You’re going to tell him to stop?”
“Hell yeah.” Hunt frowned again as he glanced over his shoulder to back out of the parking space. “After we figure out what we’re going to tell all of them, of course.”
She chuckled and looked down at her screen. Then froze.
Talking about me? I bet you are. You’ve been busy talking to lots of people about me. Pretty soon, though, you won’t be talking at all. Enjoy that new boyfriend while you can, starlet, because I’m coming for you real soon.
A picture popped up on the screen just after the message. A picture of her and Hunt and Trey Foster, sitting together at that table. A picture that had been taken through the windows of the small coffee shop.
Kelsey gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Beside her, Hunt glanced at her and went on instant alert. “What?”
She held up the phone with a shaky hand. He slammed on the brakes, stopping in the middle of the lane, and took it from her.
“Motherfucking son of a bitch. He was outside the damn coffee shop? The whole fucking time?”
Not just outside the coffee shop, she realized. He’d known they were in Palm Desert pretty much from the moment they’d arrived. A sick feeling passed through her when she thought of him looking in their hotel-room windows. Had she left the curtains open at all? When she and Hunt had been intimate, had he been watching? Bile rose up in her throat.
Every muscle in Hunt’s body was tense and rigid as he dug out his own cell phone and dialed. Pressing it to his ear, he said, “Davies? Yeah, it’s me. I need another trace on a text on Kelsey’s phone. I’ll forward it to you. And then I want to know how the fuck he got her number. This is a secure phone that we set up. No one has the number but us and her family. The fucker is messing with us, and I want his ass triangulated now.”
Kelsey couldn’t hear what Davies said in response, but the venom in Hunt’s voice was unlike anything she’d heard from him, aside from that morning Julian had attacked her and he’d beat the shit out of her ex.
“Get me whatever the fuck you can and get it to me fast. If he’s tracking her with her own goddamn phone, I want to know.”
He hit “End” on his phone and tucked it into his pocket. Hers he powered down and tossed onto the console. Kelsey glanced down at the dark screen as he shoved the car into “Drive” and tore out of the parking garage with a squeal of his tires.
He was pissed. He had every right to be pissed. But she breathed easier, knowing they were back in Oregon, hundreds of miles from Foster now.
“Are you okay?” she asked as they headed out of the airport.
“Fine.” He gripped the steering wheel and focused on the wet pavement. A rainstorm had come through within the last hour, and the traffic was thicker than normal because of the slick conditions.
“Fine,” she repeated quietly. He didn’t look fine, but she wasn’t about to say that. If he was beating himself up that he hadn’t noticed Foster watching them, she wasn’t about to point out that wasn’t his fault. He’d just disagree with her.
She looked out the window as they pulled onto I-205 and headed south. His phone buzzed, and he picked it up and glanced at it, then handed it to her. “Here. It’s your brother again. Tell him you’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
She typed a quick response and hit “Send.” Setting his phone on the console next to hers, she said, “I’m sure he’ll settle down once he sees I’m fine.”
“He’ll settle down once he knows you’re safe at your folks’ place. You need to stay there for the next week or so. The guys aren’t done installing the new security system at your warehouse yet, so you can’t go back there. Your folks’ place is wired tight. I did that system myself.”
Confusion drew her brows together. “You want me to stay with my parents? Last night when we discussed what I should do after we got home, you said you wanted me to stay with you.”
His jaw clenched tight. He glanced in the rearview mirror, then back at the freeway, not coming close to meeting her gaze. “You’re safer at your parents’ place. I’m clearly distracted by you.” His shoulders tightened even more. “I’ll be better able to figure out what the fuck Foster is doing by myself. I’ll send one of my other guys down to stay with you and your parents until Foster’s caught.”
Oh no. He was not brushing her aside like that. She shifted in her seat, gearing up for a fight. “Hunt, I know you’re upset right now about that text, but—”
“But nothing, Kelsey. I was hired to protect you. That’s what I’m doing. That’s what I should have been doing all along. Not fucking around and putting your life in danger.”
“I really don’t think—”
“That’s the end of the discussion.”
Her mouth snapped closed at the finality in his voice. She’d heard that tone before. Not from Hunt but from Julian. Spine stiffening, she angled her gaze out the side window, seething because she’d backed down from Julian more times than she could count, and she wasn’t about to start doing that with Hunt.
He didn’t want her to stay with him anymore? All because of one stupid text? Fine. She absolutely didn’t want to stay with him. She was so not begging for a man’s attention ever again.
They drove the rest of the way to her parents’ house in Lake Oswego in silence. The second Hunt pulled to a stop in front of her parents’ gate, rolled down the window to type in the gate code, then looked toward the house, though, she was more than ready to get out of this car and away from him.
The gate slowly swung back, and Hunt pulled onto the property. The driveway angled down and around. As they made the turn, Kelsey spotted her mom’s Audi, her dad’s Range Rover, her younger brother Thomas’s Jeep, and all three of her older brothers’ vehicles parked in front of the garage.
Well, the only good thing was now neither of them had to figure out what they were going to tell her family about them.
He pulled to a stop and killed the ignition. Kelsey immediately popped her door and climbed out. “Kels, wait a second.”
She slammed the door and moved around the vehicle. Before Hunt could even climb out, the wide double front doors to the house opened, and Alec, Rusty, Ethan, and Thomas rushed out, sweeping her up in their arms with ear-splitting laughter.
Tears sprang to her eyes. Tears, and a relief she was home that she hadn’t even thought she’d feel. She let them each hug her, one by one, and assured them she was really in one piece. Then finally said, “Enough smothering me already. I can’t breathe.”
Her brothers each laughed but listened and put her on her feet. And then she heard her mom’s voice and felt her arms go around her, followed by a kiss on the top of her head from her dad and his happy voice that she was home.
“Yes,” she said, reassuring them too. “I’m really fine. No lasting damage. Nothing a week of sleep won’t heal.”
“Oh, honey, we’re so happy.” Hannah McClane hugged her tight again. “No more morning-show interviews, though, okay?”
A reluctant smile tugged at Kelsey’s lips. “Okay.”
An excited little voice sounded behind her mom, and Kelsey glanced to the side then dropped to the ground just in time to catch Alec’s five-year-old daughter, Emma, in her arms. “Aunt Kessey! You missed all the fun at Disney World. I went on Space Mountain, and Pirates of the Cawibbean, and Daddy wouldn’t let me go on Peter Pan because he wanted to get his picture taken with Rapunzel.”
Behind Kelsey, Alec gasped. “Emma! That was our secret. You weren’t supposed to tell her that.”
“What? It’s true, Daddy.” She looked at Kelsey again and rolled her big blue eyes. “He made me stand in line to meet all the princesses. It was ex-hausting.”
Alec huffed. At his side, his wife, Raegan, grinned. “Oh, stop complaining. You know that was your favorite part of the trip.”
“The only good part of the damn trip,” Alec muttered.
“It really was,” Thomas agreed quietly. “Rapunzel was seriously hot.”
Kelsey pushed to her feet and gave Raegan and then Sam, Ethan’s wife, a quick hug. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Hunt standing next to Alec with his keys in his hand, but she didn’t fully look at him.
“Okay, come on,” Hannah said, stepping back. “Everyone inside. It looks like it’s going to rain again.”
Kelsey hoisted Emma onto her hip and turned for the house, not bothering to glance back to see if Hunt was staying or leaving. She didn’t expect him to leave right away, but she was not begging him to stay either.
Kelsey instantly relaxed as soon as she stepped inside. Her parents’ home sat on two pristine waterfront acres. They’d bought the Craftsman-style home years before they’d adopted any of their kids and had remodeled and added on over the years as their family had grown. Today, it was all natural woods, beamed ceilings, slate floors, and walls of glass that looked out over a spectacular view of Lake Oswego. Kelsey loved this house. Had loved growing up here. And she told herself she would be just fine here for the next week, even if it wasn’t at all what she’d planned last night.
Sam and Raegan followed Kelsey into the living room with Emma. “We’re so glad you’re home,” Raegan said as Kelsey put Emma on her feet and the girl dropped to the carpet to play with her toys. “We were so worried. Alec was a compete basket case as soon as he heard the news from Portland.”
“Ethan wasn’t much better,” Sam said. “He was desperate to get back here.”
That didn’t surprise Kelsey at all. Her brothers were all protective of her.
“It must have been terrifying for you.” Sam pressed a hand against her throat. “Being in the dark like that for so long. How on earth did you get through that? I think I would have hyperventilated.”
“Oh, you know. I just kept telling myself help was coming.” But even as the words were out, she knew they were a lie. Her chest tightened with the truth. She’d gotten through it because Hunt had been there with her. Because he’d kept her calm and hadn’t given up on her. Her gaze strayed to the kitchen where he stood talking quietly with her brothers and father. Only he didn’t look like he was paying much attention to their conversation. He kept glancing toward her with a worried expression.
Well, good. Let him stew a little. She tore her gaze from his and smiled at her sisters-in-law. She wasn’t going to put up with being told what to do. He’d tried that yesterday in California by scheduling that meeting with Catarina Brunelli. Yeah, it had turned out to be an okay meeting, but that wasn’t the point. He should have asked her first before he set the damn thing up. And he absolutely should not be making decisions for her now without discussing them with her first.
“Sorry. What?” Hunt said in the kitchen.
“I asked how your head is,” Alec said. “You’ve got a big-ass yellow bruise on the side of your forehead there. But I guess I already figured out the answer myself.” He glanced toward their father. “Brain damage. Told you it wasn’t smart to leave this guy in charge of your only daughter.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Kelsey’s dad said to Hunt. “He’s still grouchy the airline lost his bag.”
“Damn right I’m grouchy about that. It still hasn’t shown up yet.”
“How is your head, really?” Kelsey’s mom asked. “That is a nasty bruise.”
“It’s fine.”
“And your leg? Kelsey said you needed stitches.”
This time Kelsey couldn’t keep from glancing back toward the kitchen. Hunt was still watching her, barely even paying attention to the questions from her parents and brother. “My leg’s fine. It was nothing.”
Thomas slipped behind Hunt and tugged the fridge open. “When are we eating? I’m starving already.”
“You’re always starving.” Hannah stepped around her husband and reached for the fridge door while her youngest son dug through the contents. “Thomas, don’t eat that. It’ll ruin your appetite. Rusty, I need you to go start the grill before Thomas devours everything that’s not nailed down.”
“Olives!” Emma jumped to her feet when she spotted the jar in Thomas’s hand and sprinted into the kitchen.
“Emma,” Raegan called, “Only three. Thomas don’t let her eat too many of those. She’ll get sick.”
Chaos was already reigning supreme, just like at every other McClane family get-together, but it didn’t stir Kelsey up, if anything it relaxed her a little more.
Alec moved into the living room and slung his arm over Kelsey’s shoulder. Ethan moved up by his wife’s side and slipped an arm around her waist.
“So tell the truth.” Alec pointed over his shoulder to where Kelsey knew Hunt was still standing in the kitchen. “How relieved are you to get away from that smelly guy? He didn’t try anything on you, did he? Cause if he did, we can kick his ass.”
Kelsey tensed. From the corner of her eye, she didn’t miss the way Rusty’s gaze narrowed across the room and zeroed in on her as he lowered his book.
“Yeah, we’re good at that.” Thomas stopped on her other side, popping an olive in his mouth. He puffed out his chest and pounded his fist against his sternum with a grunt. “Just like cavemen.”
A nervous laugh slipped past Kelsey’s lips, and she quickly shrugged out from under Alec’s arm, not wanting to give anything away. Alec might be teasing, but she could see Rusty was suddenly paying very close attention, and she didn’t want to do or say anything that would set him off. “Why on earth would you think that?”
“Why are you acting so weird?” Alec asked, looking after her. “It was just a question.”
Thankfully, her father pulled her to safety and steered her to the kitchen so she didn’t have to answer. “Back off and give the girl some room so she can breathe. She’s been through a traumatic experience.”
Hell yeah, she had.
Her situation didn’t improve though, because her father brought her to a stop only feet from Hunt. Who was still watching her like a hawk. Only in his familiar brown eyes she didn’t see that same flash of anger she’d seen in the car, she saw a whole lot of guilt.
“Now, you two,” her father said. “Tell us what’s really going on. We saw the news about this man named Foster. How is he linked to what happened in Portland? And what, exactly, happened when you were in California?”
Kelsey’s entire body grew hot, not just from the question but from the look she saw in Hunt’s eyes. A look that told her he knew he’d seriously fucked up.
She just wasn’t sure if that look was because of what had happened in the car, or with Foster, or with their entire relationship.
If Hunt was planning to leave, Kelsey wasn’t sure why he was prolonging the inevitable.
They’d had dinner. Sitting around the table, they’d both rationally told her parents everything that had happened in Portland regarding the bombing and with Julian. They’d also relayed everything they’d learned in California about Foster and Vivienne Armstrong. Avoiding, of course, any discussion about what had happened between them personally.
Kelsey wasn’t exactly sure if she was relieved or pissed off about that fact. She’d let Hunt take the lead talking about California, curious what he would say. Since they really weren’t speaking to each other right now, it was probably a good thing he hadn’t admitted anything. But at the same time, it only made her more anxious for him to leave.
Her brothers and father had immediately launched into a discussion with Hunt about what was best for her after that, and unable to listen to a minute more of the men in her life trying to decide her future, she pushed back from the dining table and looked toward her niece Emma, playing on the floor in the living area with two trucks and a Ken doll she’d dismembered. “Hey, Em. Wanna go downstairs with me and play cards?”
Emma jumped to her feet in her cute little pink dress and yelled, “Yes!” Rushing over to where the adults were sitting, she wrapped her little hand around Kelsey’s and dragged her toward the staircase that led down to the daylight basement. “I know where Thomas keeps his special cards too. I’ll show you. They’re in his room. Some of them have naked boobies on them.”
Alec, Rusty, and Ethan all busted out laughing. From the end of the table, Ethan said to Thomas, “As your former counselor, I can officially diagnose you as seriously screwed.”
“Ethan McClane,” Hannah admonished.
“Sorry, Mom, but it’s true.”
Thomas’s face turned beet red, and he lurched out of his chair, chasing after Kelsey and Emma. “I told you to stay out of my stuff, Em. You’re in big trouble now.”
Kelsey let Emma drag her downstairs while the rest of her family returned to the topic of her psychotic stalker. Since Thomas had taken over the lowest level of her parents’ house, it was a total man cave. There was a small bar area to the left that was never stocked with alcohol since Thomas was only eighteen. A pool table sat in the center of the room, and a couch and chairs on the far side faced a flat-screen TV surrounded by bookshelves filled with Xbox games. Another wall of windows looked out over a covered patio and view of the lake. And what used to be her dad’s exercise room but was now Thomas’s bedroom opened through a doorway to the right.
Emma let go of Kelsey’s hand as soon as they stepped off the bottom stair and raced toward Thomas’s bedroom door with a squeal. “I’ll show you where his cards are.”
Shoving past Kelsey, Thomas rushed after her. “Don’t you dare touch my stuff, Em.”
Kelsey looked after them, crossing her arms over her chest as she shook her head. She’d thought getting away from all the chitchat upstairs would make her feel better, but it hadn’t. All she could think about was the fact Hunt had been in this house for several hours but still hadn’t said a single goddamn thing to her. Was everything in California just a complete lie?
“Kelsey.”
Her heart picked up speed at the sound of Hunt’s voice behind her, and a little thrill shot through her, one that only angered her more because she knew if he touched her she’d probably completely back down like the weak woman she didn’t want to be.
She dropped her arms and faced him. “Just go back up—”
Emma’s high-pitched scream drew both of their heads around.
“I swear to God, Em,” Thomas yelled, “if you don’t get out of my room, I’m not gonna let you play on my Xbox ever again!”
From the staircase above, Alec yelled, “What the hell is going on down there?”
Kelsey took one breath and glanced up, ready to holler back that he should get down here and intervene, but before she could get the words out of her mouth, Hunt lowered his body, wrapped his arms around her legs, and hefted her over his shoulder.
She grunted as the air left her lungs and the room tipped. “What the hell, Hunt?” Pressing her hands against his back, she wiggled against his grip. “Put me down.”
Seconds later she was in the wine cellar—or what used to be the wine cellar before Thomas commandeered the basement and her parents turned it into a downstairs pantry for his snacks—and was dropped to her feet. Hunt shoved the door closed after them, locking them both in darkness.
“What do you think you’re do—”
His mouth closed over hers, cutting off her words. She didn’t see him move. Couldn’t see a damn thing in the dark. But she felt him. She felt him everywhere as he closed in at her front, wrapped his arms around her waist, pinned her against the shelves, then devoured her until her brain was complete mush.
She was seconds away from kissing him back, from caving and giving him what he wanted. Then she remembered all the times she’d caved with Julian, and it was enough to shore up her strength so she could shove her hands against his chest and push him back.
“You can’t just kiss me and expect that to make everything okay.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.” His breath was hot against her lips. Hot and close and so damn tempting it was all she could do not to grab him and pull him back. “I’m not kissing you to make everything okay. I’m kissing you because I’m an idiot. The biggest idiot on the planet. You have every right to be mad at me for what I said to you in the car. I have no excuse except that it scared me. It scared the shit out of me to know he was that close to you and I didn’t even know. The whole drive down here, all I could think about was what would have happened if he’d had another bomb or if, God forbid, he’d had a gun. I wouldn’t have been able to stop him because through that whole damn conversation with Trey Foster, all I’d been thinking about was getting you back up in my bed.”
Kelsey’s heart raced in the darkness. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. Hadn’t expected him to be so honest with her. Or so open. And the tremble she felt against her confirmed just how scared he still was.
She swallowed hard, knowing he hadn’t meant to upset her, but at the same time knowing she could not let that happen again. “You can’t make my decisions for me.”
“I know that.”
“And I’m not going to let you tell me what to do. My brothers have been doing it for years. They’re upstairs trying to do it now. And Julian used to do that to me all the time. I’m not going back to that kind of relationship.”
“I don’t want you to. And I don’t want to tell you what to do. I promise.”
Her anger ebbed, and she slowly curled her fingers in the fabric of his gray button-down. “It scared me too, you know. We were both in that coffee shop, and you were in just as much danger as I was. If Foster had done something and you were hurt, how do you think that would’ve made me feel? He’s not trying to target you. He wants me. You don’t get to corner the market on fear and guilt.”
“I know.” He pressed his forehead against hers. “Forgive me,” he whispered. “Please forgive me for being a jackass.”
The desperation in his voice pushed aside the last of her anger. Lifting her mouth to his, she kissed him. Maybe it made her weak, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want to fight with him anymore.
He groaned, opened to her kiss, and slid his tongue into her mouth. And as he pressed her harder against the shelf, she wrapped her arm around his neck to pull him closer, lifted to her toes so she could kiss him deeper. But something sharp on the shelf scraped against her back, jerking her back from his lips. “Ouch. Wait.” She tried to twist around to see what had scratched her. “Let go for a second. There’s something—”
The door swung open, and light spilled into the small room, blinding them both. Kelsey immediately slammed her eyes shut and lifted her hand to block the glare. “What the he—”
“You son of a bitch.” Rusty’s voice filled the small room. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted.”
Things happened so fast, Kelsey barely had time to react. One second Rusty was pushing Hunt against the shelves on the opposite side of the pantry, the next his arm was swinging back and his fist was plowing into Hunt’s jaw, cracking Hunt’s skull back against the shelf behind him.
Kelsey screamed and scrambled between her brother and Hunt, eyes wide and completely shocked. “Rusty!” She shoved hard against his chest. “Stop!”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs outside. Voices echoed. Thomas was frantically asking what was going on. Ethan and Alec were hollering at Rusty to calm the hell down and struggling to pull him out of the small closet. But the only thing Kelsey could focus on was Hunt standing in a pile of cracker and candy boxes, swiping at a bloody lip.
“Oh my God, you’re bleeding.” She ripped a paper towel off a roll to her left and held it up to his mouth. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She searched his eyes for any sign he wasn’t. Yes, he was bleeding, but it wasn’t bad. He’d had worse from wrestling with Alec, she was sure. But he didn’t look angry. He didn’t look ready to swing back like Julian would have done in the same situation.
Her temper shot right back up, only this time it was directed at her brother. She whipped around and faced Rusty, standing in the doorway of the pantry, trying to shake off Ethan and Alec’s holds. “What the hell was that?”
Rusty stiffened, his black hair mussed, his obsidian eyes a little less violent, but still entirely too on edge for Kelsey’s liking. “You know exactly what that was. I heard you.”
Alec’s blue eyes narrowed. “Heard what?”
Rusty’s jaw clenched down hard. “I heard her tell this asshole to stop and let her go, then when I opened the door, I saw him pinning her up against the wall as he shoved his tongue down her throat.”
Alec and Ethan both tensed and seemed to grow two inches as they puffed out their chests. Even Thomas, behind them, got all brotherly bent out of shape, which was absolutely not going to help the current situation.
“Holy fuck, O’Donnell.” Alec’s eyes flew wide. “What the hell did you do?”
“Oh for shit’s sake.” What was left of Kelsey’s patience bubbled right up and over. “For your information, I’m a grown woman who can make her own damn choices. I don’t need any of your approval.”
“So what was going on in here?” Ethan asked calmly, ever trying to be the peacemaker.
Kelsey glanced over her shoulder at Hunt. But he didn’t meet her eye. He didn’t look at her brothers either. He just stared down at the floor with a guilty expression. One that told Kelsey loud and clear he did not want to be having this conversation.
She narrowed her eyes, unable to believe he wasn’t going to say anything. Especially after that amazing little speech he’d given her. Was he really just going to keep quiet about them now that they’d been found out?
Hunt finally sighed and scrubbed a hand through the back of his hair. “Kels. Gimme a minute with your brothers, why don’t you?”
Gimme a minute. Which meant, let me take care of this on my own. Without your input.
Her jaw clenched down hard because they’d just had this damn conversation.
Shaking her head, she turned away from him and pushed past her brothers. “Fine, whatever. Kill each other for all I care.”
Her father was standing at the bottom of the stairs with a concerned expression. “What’s going on?”
“Men being idiots.”
Emma rushed up and grabbed Kelsey’s hand. “Way to tell ’em, Aunt Kessey. Wanna go run over Ken with my trucks?”
“Why yes, Em. I think that sounds like more fun than I’ve had all day.”