Irrevocable Trust (Sasha McCandless Legal Thriller Book 6) (36 page)

“
Careful of the pie,
”
she said, as she hugged the girl back. She wondered how daily doses of affection were going to change Hank. It would be fun to watch.

“
Ooh, pie. Is it homemade?
”
Cole asked, appearing in the doorway.

Connelly tilted his head and waited for her to respond.

“
Um
…
I
’
m sure whichever Whole Foods team member made it has a home,
”
she said.

Cole laughed and took the pie from her hands. Before he headed for the kitchen, she reached out a hand to stop him.

“
Are we okay? You and I?
”

There hadn
’
t been an opportunity since the day in the alley to talk about what had happened.

Cole blushed.

“
Yeah. I probably owe you an apology. Hank
’
s set me up with a counselor. We
’
re gonna work through my, uh, father issues.
”

She hid her smile.
Good for Hank.

“
As long as we
’
re okay. I don
’
t want to have to challenge you to a set of suicides to settle things between us.
”

He rolled his eyes.

“
I should get this to the kitchen,
”
he said.

“
You two come with me,
”
Brianna ordered, dragging Sasha and Connelly into the rarely-used formal dining room.

The table had been set
—
obviously by children, judging by the random array of silverware. Wild flowers sat in a Mason jar in the middle.

“
I picked the flowers,
”
Hal announced.

“
They
’
re beautiful,
”
Connelly told him.

Two seats were squished together at the head of the table with light blue balloons tied to their backs.

“
You sit there,
”
Leah pointed.

“
Isn
’
t Naya the guest of honor? We
’
re celebrating her unbelievable grade point average,
”
Connelly pointed out.

Naya
’
s head appeared in the doorway from the kitchen.

“
We have a lot to celebrate,
”
she informed him.
“
Grades, guardianship, the first salad made entirely of vegetables from Leah
’
s garden. I gotta finish up making this dressing before Carl gets here and starts bragging on my grades again. Now put your butts in the chair.
”
She pointed.

They sat.

“
Good call,
”
Mark observed over his shoulder as he queued a playlist on the iPod.

“
Dinner music even,
”
Sasha observed.

The kids piled into chairs as the music began. Naya came in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“
Where
’
s Hank?
”
Connelly asked.

“
And Calla?
”
Sasha added, scanning the room.

The door from the backyard banged open. Leah clapped her hands. Hal bounced excitedly in his booster seat.

Sasha caught Connelly
’
s eye and made a
‘
what
’
s going on now?
’
face.

He shrugged, wide-eyed.

Hank and Calla walked into the room through the kitchen. Hank was a half-step in front of the girl.

“
We know you
’
re gonna miss all the fun you have with us,
”
Hal said.

“
And Uncle Hank
’
s going to make us go to
school
next year, so we won
’
t be around as much to play,
”
Mark added with a punctuating eye roll.

“
So we got you something to remind you of us,
”
Cole said, with a meaningful nod at the baby blue helium balloons bobbing behind their heads.

“
Oh my lord, not a baby?
”
Sasha blurted, her porch conversation with Connelly fresh in her mind.

Peals of laughter rang around the table. Leah and Brianna were laughing so hard they could barely breathe.

“
Close,
”
Hank rumbled.

He stepped aside. Calla walked forward holding a leash. Attached to the leash was a fluffy chocolate lab. The dog
’
s paws were way too big for its body. It tripped toward them and nosed Connelly
’
s hand.

“
It
’
s a puppy!
”
Calla squealed, handing the leash to Sasha.

“
It
is
,
”
Connelly agreed.

It was definitely a puppy. A very scared, overwhelmed-looking puppy.

“
We named him for you,
”
Leah offered.

“
They came up with Mocha,
”
Hank explained.
“
But they agreed that you can change it.
”

“
Mocha
’
s perfect,
”
Connelly announced.

The dog seemed to concur. He launched himself onto Sasha
’
s lap and started nuzzling her ear with his hot, wet nose.

A smile crept across her face. Its twin bloomed on Connelly
’
s lips.

Sasha looked around the room at the joy reflected on each face from the tiniest cherub-cheeked Bennett to Hank
’
s lined and distinguished countenance.

Family
, she thought.

She turned back to Connelly and lost herself in his soft gray eyes.

My family.

And then in an instant, his smile vanished, replaced by a horrified expression.

Now what?

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
she asked, suddenly worried.

“
Java
’
s going to be livid.
”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melissa F. Miller is a
USA TODAY
bestselling author and a commercial litigator. She has practiced in the offices of international law firms in Pittsburgh, PA and Washington, D.C. She and her husband now practice law together in their two-person firm in South Central Pennsylvania, where they live with their three young children, a lazy hound dog, and three overactive gerbils. When not in court or on the playground, Melissa writes crime fiction. Like Sasha McCandless, she drinks entirely too much coffee; unlike Sasha, she cannot kill you with her bare hands.

THANK YOU!

Sasha and Leo will back in their next adventure just as soon as I can write it!

If you enjoy this series, I
’
d love it if you would help others enjoy it, too.

Share it.
This book is lending-enabled; so please lend your copy to a friend who might like it.

Review it.
Please consider posting a short review to help other readers decide whether they might enjoy it.

Connect with me.
I
’
d love to hear from you by email at [email protected]. Or you can stop by my Facebook page for book updates, cover reveals, quotes about coffee, and general time-wasting at
https://www.facebook.com/authormelissafmiller
.

Sign up.
To be the first to know when I have a new release, sign up for my email newsletter at www.melissafmiller.com. I only send emails when I have book news
—
I promise.

Finally, you can always find an up-to-date list of the entire series
here
,
and you can find
Critical Vulnerability
, the first book in my Aroostine Higgins spin-off series
here
.