with himself but finally shook his head. “Ezra and Paddy hooked me and my parents up with hotel rooms for today. We also talked about tonight and the show and we’re all agreed that we’re waiting to see how Maddie is today. I’m not going anywhere, Kel.”
Kelly nodded. Even though she knew he hadn’t been before. She’d needed him and he just hadn’t been there. She nodded, even though she knew he could easily rip her trust to shreds if she gave it to him, so she wasn’t going to risk her trust. Especially not when it came to her daughters. And yet what point would there be in saying all that? Why call him out and start something when they were both on edge and stressed?
Vaughan loved his daughters. They adored him right back. That was important. That was what she always had to remember.
This was about Maddie, who would undoubtedly benefit from having her dad around. And Kensey, too, because she’d be worried about her big sister, and her daddy would be around to make her feel better.
“All right.”
“Thank you.”
THE FOLLOWING DAY, Kelly really wondered just what the hell she’d been thinking when she’d invited all these people over. Her house nearly groaned at the seams with Hurleys. All Vaughan’s brothers were there and each of them had a woman along. Mary, Damien’s wife, was hugely pregnant and yet she’d moved through Kelly’s kitchen with ease, continuing to produce food at a rate that made Kelly begin to wonder if the other woman didn’t have one of those magic bags that Hermione had in the Harry Potter books.
They all happily bustled through Kelly’s house, comfortable with one another. Even just a year before it would have made her feel lonely. So alone. But this place was hers. At one time she’d been far more comfortable on the other side of the camera, but in the years since she’d retired from the runway, she’d made herself at home taking photographs. The walls were covered in memories.
Every pillow, picture, plate and towel existed as a sort of talisman for Kelly. A bit of magic that made her feel safe. This was her home, her heart. Even Sharon Hurley being in her kitchen wasn’t enough to shake that.
Though it stung to see how warm Sharon Hurley was with everyone else’s women. Not once had the woman showed even a sliver of that toward her.
A knife shaped like jealousy and doubt sliced through her, and Kelly ruthlessly pushed it aside. It didn’t matter. She left and that was that.
Ross had recently left, taking his daughters along with him. His oldest had a piano lesson and after that, they had their weekly family dinner. At his ex-in-laws’ house. Yeah, that was sort of annoying. He still hung out with his ex-wife and her family weekly, but what could she say when her house was full of Hurleys?
So, Kelly had urged him to keep their schedules. Things needed to get back to normal. And to be honest, she really needed to think about how much hostility Ross had shown—in private, of course—over Vaughan and his family being around so much. He thought their lifestyle was bad for the girls to be around.
But that lifestyle was their world. Their dad was a musician. There was no getting around that. She didn’t want the girls to be ashamed or conflicted about it. It wasn’t Ross’s place and she pushed back but he didn’t like it much.
Blended families could work. They did work. But if he continued to attempt to get between the girls and their father, it made success impossible.
And damn if Vaughan wasn’t making it worse. He kept looking at her. Not in a where’s the food sense, like most people looked to one another in these situations. But an I like your boobs way.
Their sexual chemistry had never dimmed. Ever. Years ago Kelly had accepted she would always burn for Vaughan. But aside from his general flirty behavior—he had always been like that—he tried to keep it light. He certainly didn’t stare at her as if he wanted to rub on her the way she’d caught him at a few times that day.
When it was time to eat, he’d tried some monkey business, placing Kelly at the opposite end of the table from Ross but next to Vaughan. He’d put her in a corner and she didn’t like it one bit.
So Kelly had picked up her things and headed down to sit with Ross and his girls. Vaughan was up to something and she had no idea what the hell it was. But she was not pleased that he’d manipulate her like that.
But like so many things with Vaughan, she couldn’t call him out. Not in a crowded house. Not with his daughter around. There were always reasons and it normally just made her sad. But now? She was mad. And she’d take mad over sad. Yes, she would.
Anyway, it was easier to resist him when she was mad.
Kelly headed out a side door, into the backyard. She needed some alone time for just a few minutes so she sought the privacy, and chocolate, of the tree house.
She’d made a nice little nest up here after the girls had gotten bored with the custom play space they’d begged for. Predictable, she knew. Why not make lemonade out of those lemons?
Kelly settled in the low folding chair and pulled the pretty blue mason jar from the little built-in table.
Inside, a sensual rainbow of delight. Chocolate bars of every type, wrapped in a variety of colors and textures. Pale lavender with silver writing, midnight blue with gold stars, the saffron yellow with bold green. All her favorites.
Kelly looked to the tick marks on the inside of the lid and allowed herself to select the lavender. Salted caramel with almond. She made a quick note and closed the lid. Settling in with a sigh as she kicked off her sandals.
She slid a fingertip down the seam, baring the glossy dark chocolate inside. Six squares.
Snapping off two, she broke that in half again and that’s when Vaughan’s head popped in through the open hatch.
He started, clearly surprised to see her there. “Oh! Sorry.” He started to go. And she should have let him but instead, she called him back.
“Is everything all right?”
He popped in again. “Yes. I just...”
“Needed some quiet?” Kelly asked.
Relief flooded his face. “Yes.”
She held the candy bar his way. “Come on, then. I have chocolate.”
He gave her a look and settled in, criss-cross-applesauce style. He probably did yoga to move with such ease.
She handed over a square of chocolate and popped the other into her mouth, not letting his presence ruin the luxury of that first taste. Yum.
“Thanks for inviting my family over here. I know my mom can be...”
Kelly held a hand up to stop him. “Nope. Not going there with you. We’re not married anymore and your children are nowhere in sight. I don’t have to be nice so whatever. I don’t want to talk about her. You were all worried about Maddie. You all got hungry. My house is here. Kensey is delighted to have her uncles and grandparents here. That’s all I need to care about.”
“You’ve changed your tune.”
Seriously, her chocolate Zen was really getting messed up by this. “Not really, Vaughan. This thing with your mom isn’t about me at all. It’s about you and I’m not paying for your sins. Not anymore.” She broke off two more squares, handing him one.
“I guess that’s fair.”
“You guess.” She snorted.
He gave her a lopsided grin. “Did you take medication and sneak some wine?”
“I wish. I’m drunk on indignation, I think. It’s the only kind of libation I can have until the only Hurleys in this house are me and Kensey.”