Bringing my book out here was completely pointless; I couldn’t take my eyes off of Lucy and Piper when they were in the water. Plus there were a group of idiots out on the water this morning, driving their WaveRunners around like lunatics. Twice now they had come in too close for my liking. On the third trip around the lake, I stood up and screamed at them at the top of my lungs.

“Don’t come in this far again, you jerk, there are kids playing!”

The guy looked back at me, waved and took off.

“What was that about?” Mom asked, walking up behind me.

“Those guys are driving around like they own the place!” I glared at her.

“Okay, calm down.” She held her hands up defensively. “I agree with you yelling at them, but you’re yelling about everything this morning.”

She walked over and sat down on the stump next to me.

“Sorry,” I snapped, not very apologetically. “I’m just … in a mood.”

“I can see that, care to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Would you rather talk to Brody about it?”

“What?” I swung around to face her. “Why would you ask me that?”

“He’s here.”

“He’s here?”

“Yep, just walked in. Want me to watch the girls for you while you talk to him?”

I didn’t even verbalize an answer, I just grunted and stalked up the hill toward the house. I got to the back door and paused, taking a deep breath before I went in. He was sitting at the kitchen island with his chin resting on his hands, looking straight ahead, smiling … at her.

She was here.

The redhead.

From last night.

In my house.

“Hey!” he said cheerfully when I walked in.

“Hi,” I replied flatly, trying to get my blood pressure under control so I didn’t kill him with my own bare hands.

She stood up and beamed at me as I walked into the kitchen, holding her hand out. “You must be Kacie. I’ve heard so much about you. Nice to meet you.”

“Kacie, I’m glad you’re here. I really wanted you to meet Shae.”

“Hi Shae.” I reached out and half-heartedly shook her hand.

“I’m sorry to run off so fast, but Brody, I have to use the restroom bad. Where is it?”

He pointed up the guest stairs. “Up there, third door on the right, across from our room.”

A lump formed in my throat the size of Texas, as rage, not oxygen fueled my bloodstream. She scurried up the stairs, barely out of earshot before I turned and lost it on Brody.

“Your room? You’re staying here? Both of you?” I spat with my fists clenched at my sides.

“Yep.” He smiled at me, looking me up and down. “You look great.”

Completely ignoring his compliment, I continued, “What the hell are you thinking?”

“What?” He sounded clueless.

“This. Her. Here.” I couldn’t even form a sentence anymore. The logical part of my brain was dead, filled instead with seething anger.

“Shae is great, really sweet. I wanted you to meet her, I think you’ll get along.”

I swear I heard my heart shatter like glass as sadness replaced the seething anger. “How could you bring her here? Why would I want to meet her? My replacement. Why are you throwing this in my face?”

“I’m not throwing anything in your face. You made your decision. You said you didn’t love me,” he accused.

Tears burned my eyes. Angry tears, hurt tears, devastated tears. No way were they ever spilling out though, I pinched my arm hard to distract myself from the emotional pain and make them go away.

“Yes, I said it, but that…” I waved my hand toward the stairs she’s just run up. “That is just cruel. To bring her here, to make me stare at the two of you all weekend. Why? To torment me, teach me a lesson?”

He stood up from the island and walked over in front of me, staring straight past my eyes and into my soul.

“Do you love me?” he asked.

“What? Why now? Why would you ask me that now?”

The bathroom door opened upstairs and I startled, taking an automatic step away from Brody. Shae skipped down the stairs and looked out the back door, her bright red hair flowing down her back. “This property is beautiful. I’m gonna step out on the deck and look at the lake. You coming?” she asked, turning toward Brody.

He grinned at her, driving the knife further into my heart in the process. “I’ll come out in a minute.”

“Okay. It was nice to meet you, Kacie. I’m sure we’ll talk later.” She smiled sweetly at me as she opened the door. “Oh, and you were right, Brody, Mom and Dad would love this place. We need to bring them here.”

My eyes were glued to where Shae was standing, my brain trying to process if I’d just heard her correctly.

I whipped my head back to Brody who had backed up and was sitting on a stool, facing me with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“Mom and Dad? As in, you two have the same mom and dad?” I asked, feeling like a complete idiot.

“That would be correct. That’s my baby sister, Shae Murphy.”

“Were you testing me?”

“That would also be correct.” He could barely contain his happiness at my complete meltdown at the thought of him with another woman.

“Why?”

“I had to see your reaction. Someone who doesn’t love someone doesn’t get that mad when that someone is with someone else.”

“Oh my God… I’m going to kill you. I feel so stupid, and your sister probably thinks I’m a total bitch.” I put my hands over my eyes, wanting to die of pure embarrassment.

He tilted his head back and forth and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about it. “Probably, but lucky for you, she grew up with me. She’s learned to forgive.”

He reached out and grabbed my hips, pulling them close to him. I didn’t fight. I missed him, everything about him. His smell, his smile, his expressive eyes, the way he made my problems melt away with one hug. I’d never missed a person the way I’d missed Brody the last few weeks.

“So, I’m gonna ask you again … do you love me?”

Before I could answer yes, the back door flew open and Shae stood in the doorway, trembling and white as a ghost.

“Call 911, a little girl in the lake just got hit by a guy on a WaveRunner!”

Everything around me went into hyper speed. As soon as Shae came to the back door and yelled that one of the girls had gotten hit, before I could even take my phone out of my pocket, Kacie was out of my arms and sprinting toward the lake as fast as she could. I dialed 911 and rushed out of the house past Shae, who stood frozen in the doorway.

“Was it one of Kacie’s daughters?” she called out in a panic.

“Think so!” I yelled as I gave the operator Kacie’s address.

When I got to the bottom of the hill, Piper’s little body was on the shore with a huge gash in her head. Just the sight of her lying there like that made me light-headed. Kacie was kneeling over her, trying to keep her awake. “Piper! Piper! Stay with me, baby. Talk to Mommy. Piper!” Her voice cracked as she slapped Piper’s face, trying to keep her awake.