Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(50)

Maverick



Harsh, dude. She okay?





Me



Cora and Holly are with her. They brought dinner.





Kol



Family meeting. At the ranch. Now.





Maverick



Shit. He used the f-word.





Family meetings were reserved for emergencies. Like when we found out a journalist was sniffing around town trying to write the dozenth tell-all book about our father’s reign of terror. Or when Waylon told us he had cancer. Or when Kol found out he had a daughter.

No one rejected a family meeting. Not even Orion, who was noticeably absent in our back-and-forth.

Me



I don’t have my car.





Maverick



I got you. Be there in ten.





It took him more like fifteen, but he finally showed. And that was Mav. He might do things in his own time and way, but he always came through.

As I climbed into his truck, I glanced at Cabin Two. I swore I caught the flash of blond hair through the window, but maybe it was just my imagination. She’d be okay. I told myself that over and over. Cora and Holly were with her. Yeti was there. It was broad daylight. It would be fine.

“Dude, are you having a stroke or something?” Mav asked. “Or are you trying to move that house with your mind?”

I shot him a dirty look as he peeled out of the drive. “I need to be back before dark.”

He grinned. “So you can watch over the hot, little badass?”

“Stop calling her that,” I ground out.

Mav’s grin only widened. “You like her.”

“I’m not ten, asshole.”

“You sure act like it. She makes you grumpy. It pisses you the hell off that you like her.”

I scowled at the road in front of us. “Drop me by the station. That’s where my car is. I don’t want you driving me home.”

“That hurts, D-man. But I know it’s only because I see the truth.”

The pisser of it all was that he was right. But I wasn’t about to tell him that.

Mav pulled up behind my car, and I hopped out, but as I did, he rolled down the passenger window. “Why does this feel like I’m dropping you off walk-of-shame style?”

I turned to scowl at my brother but didn’t get a word out before a new voice cut through the air.

“Probably because anyone you’re dropping off is doing a walk of shame.”

I looked over toward the sidewalk, a genuine smile rising to my lips. “Aster Carrington, as I live and breathe.”

Her glower aimed at my brother melted into something much warmer as she turned to me. “So good to see you, Dex.”

I strode toward Aster, taking her in. She wore jeans paired with cowboy boots I knew saw some actual use on her grandfather’s ranch. A white, billowy blouse revealed a turquoise necklace at her throat. Everything about her was designed to put her clients at ease. The boots said she was one of them. The rest said she was professional but not pretentious.

I pulled her into a quick hug. “How are you?”

“She’s jealous she’s not the one climbing out of my truck,” Mav called.

Aster released me and flipped him off without even looking in his direction. “I’m good.”

I had no idea what the hell had happened between them. Mav wouldn’t say. But just before they went off to college, they’d had a falling out. Before then, they’d been thick as thieves, practically attached at the hip after we moved here. There were times I thought Aster was the only one who could truly get Mav to open up. But that wasn’t the case anymore.

“How’s Brae?” Aster cut into my thoughts. “Cora texted. I’m heading over there now. I just had to finish up with a client.”

“How do you and Holly know her?” I asked the question I hadn’t at the cabins.

“Compass,” Aster said in a one-word answer. “It’s a support group for those with missing loved ones. I volunteer time as a facilitator.”

An ache settled in my gut. So many went without answers. Those my brothers and I could help. And those we couldn’t, not without working locally and exposing exactly what we were doing in the shadows.

“It’s really nice that you do that,” I said softly.

She shrugged. “I know what it’s like. Camilla might’ve only been gone for a month, but it felt like a lifetime. I want to help if I can.”

Aster’s twin sister had taken off in high school, scaring her family half to death. As it turned out, she’d taken off to LA and got caught up in the rougher side of things. Thanks to a private investigator, her parents found her and got her into rehab.

“Well, they’re lucky to have you.”

Aster’s smile widened, making her pale-blue eyes shimmer. “Thanks. It’s good to see you. Let’s have a proper catch-up. Maybe we can get dinner with Brae or something. I’ll text.”

“What about me, Ice Queen?” Mav called.

“You’re not invited, Satan,” she shot back, taking off down the block.

I shook my head, turning back to Mav. “What the hell happened between you two?”