Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (57)

Instantly reading me, Wylder’s focus flicked to Nova. “Later.”

Jack wanted to know more, but I artfully dodged his questions as I ate a turkey club that I barely tasted. When he left, I breathed a little easier but was still on alert. I watched every customer who came to the bar, each person who stared at Nova for too long.

And that was a task because some knew her story and watched her because they were curious. Others watched her simply because she was stunning. Those acres of raven hair swished around her as she moved like a goddamned ballerina. Her dark jeans hugged every curve I shouldn’t be studying like they were the key to acing my next exam. She wore a flannel shirt over a Boot tee that stopped right at her waistband, except when she reached for something, a tiny sliver of skin showed—skin I wanted to trace with my tongue.

Fuck.

A hand landed on my shoulder. “Look what the cat dragged in,” Brae said with a grin.

“Hey,” I greeted, trying to force my version of a smile.

“I’m about to clock out. I have an errand to run before I pick up Owen. You need me to get Sky?” she asked.

I checked my watch, doing the mental math on how much time I had. I could make it work. “I’m all good, but thanks.”

“All right. Enjoy those fries.” She gave the rest of the crew a wave as she headed out.

I knew she’d know about the missing woman soon enough, but I’d let Dex tell her. It would bring things back for Brae—memories of her best friend disappearing practically in front of her eyes—and she’d need him.

“Done?” Nova asked, cutting into my thoughts.

I nodded. “Thanks.”

She cleared my plate and then refilled my soda.

“Hey, will you do me a favor?” I asked.

A puzzled look spread across her face. “Sure.”

“Come pick up Sky with me.” The words were out before I could stop them. But I realized I didn’t think I could leave her. Not with all the worry bearing down on me.

Understanding swept into her eyes. “I really am okay, Kol.”

Her saying my name … it was just one syllable, but it echoed in my mind forever. “I know you are. But maybe I’m not.”

It took a lot for me to admit weakness, that maybe I needed something. But that was all it took for Nova to accept.

She leaned across the bar, that sunbaked-cherry scent invading my space. “I have one condition,” Nova purred.

I arched a brow in question.

“We get pie after pickup,” she told me very seriously.

A soft chuckle left my lips. “I think we can make that happen.”





Sky bounced up and down in her booster seat as we drove away from the Grove Griddle toward home. “Chocolate cream pie and boysenberry and peanut butter pie and lemon meringue?”

Nova twisted in her seat to grin at my daughter. “I have pie-decision paralysis. I can’t choose.”

Sky giggled. “I like not choosing. Then I get everything I want.”

I grunted at that. Between the two of them, I’d been helpless to protest, despite the threat of sugar coma, or worse, a sugar high.

“Daddy usually only has us split one,” Skylar explained.

Nova let out a huff as I turned onto the ranch road. “Amateur.”

“I’ll be looking to you at midnight when this one is hopped up on sugar and refuses to sleep,” I said as I hit the remote for the gate.

“If I can have leftover pie for breakfast, then I’ll sleep,” Sky offered.

Nova shot her hand in the air in some sort of victory celebration. “Dang straight.”

Skylar copied her move. As Nova pulled her hand back, she hurried to cover the scars on her wrist. The action had me clenching my jaw. I hated that Nova felt she needed to hide them. That she even had them in the first place.

“Let’s have a picnic on the back deck,” Sky singsonged. “We can put out a blanket, and Tink and Pepper can come.”

“They’re gonna try to eat your pie,” I pointed out.

“They can have one bite each,” she acquiesced.

Nova’s mouth curved. “Can mini-Highland cows and goats eat pie?”

“Goats eat anything,” I grumbled. “And so does Tink. Just no chocolate.”

“She’s a growing girl, that’s why,” Skylar said sagely.

The moment I pulled up to the house, Nova and Skylar were out of the truck. I watched in fascination as they raced inside to create a picnic fit for a fairy warrior princess. And Nova was all in.

While I looked on from the deck, they grabbed a quilt and spread it out. Then they brought out dishes, including wineglasses that hadn’t been used in years. They pulled out all sorts of items from Sky’s dress-up trunk, and Nova ran to get the flowers Skylar had picked for her from her room. In a matter of fifteen minutes, the feast was laid out on the deck, and Pepper and Tink were already meandering over from one of their various pastures. Sky, of course, let them out to join the party.

I swallowed hard as I took in Nova and Skylar, wearing tiaras and boas and toasting with wineglasses filled with milk. Sky hadn’t ever had this before. Not really. My brothers and I would play make-believe with her anytime she wanted, but having a woman along for the ride, someone who knew how to create the perfect picnic? It was different.