“Fine,” James said and squeezed the back of his neck before walking away. Tate winked at me and followed her husband.
My eyes shifted to Pepper Jack. “Don’t make a liar out of me, dude. And stop eating all the damn food!”
His mouth opened in a puppy-dog grin, complete with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. I strolled over to the recent expansion on James’s gym, Raise the Bar. He’d added a kids’ area with a trampoline and foam pit. It was closed most of the time, but it was open during community dinners. Hudson was bouncing on the trampoline with his stepdaughter Lilly. She was in gymnastics and would climb on anything, jump off anything, and scare Ava half to death. And it only made it worse when Hudson joined in.
Ava was watching her husband and daughter launch themselves from the trampoline, over the six-foot gap, into the foam pit. I wrapped an arm around Ava’s shoulders. “Heart in your throat?” I asked.
“Always is with these two,” she grumbled. She gave me a side hug but kept her eyes on Hudson and Lilly. Hudson was now tossing Lilly in the air and letting her fall to the trampoline. She was giggling and swiping her long blond hair out of her face.
“Blueberry and I are perfectly safe. Don’t worry, bluebonnet. You aren’t getting rid of me that easily,” Hudson joked and winked at Ava.
“Throw me again, Dad!” Lilly shouted.
Ava groaned and covered her face. “Come on,” I said. “I need your help letting Harper know that Pepper Jack ate her peach cobbler.”
“He didn’t,” Ava gasped and giggled, covering her mouth. “She’s going to be so upset.”
Pepper Jack’s tail thumped against the ground. There were times when I swore he could understand exactly what I was saying. “Come on,” I said and gave a slight tug on Pepper Jack’s leash. Ava strolled next to me as we went searching for Harper. She was sitting on one of the chairs at a long table, already set for guests to arrive, and rubbing her belly. Avery and Caden were running around next to the table.
“Uncle Ki Ki!” Avery shouted and sprinted toward me. She lunged on her last step, and I scooped her up in the air, placing her on my hip.
“How’s my best girl doing?”
“Cedric stole my dolly you gave me, and Caden hit him in his nose!” My gaze shifted to Caden. His little chest puffed out and I chuckled. “Who’s Cedric?” I asked Avery.
“A boy at school.”
“Gross,” I said and she nodded seriously. “Nice job, little man,” I said to Caden. I held my hand up for a high-five, and he slapped it as hard as he could. He crouched down on the ground and petted Pepper Jack.
“Tell her,” Ava whispered.
“Tell me what?” Harper asked.
I grinned my most charming smile, and she tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes. “What’d you do, Kiernan?”
“I didn’t do anything, but Pepper Jack might’ve eaten your peach cobbler.”
Harper groaned and shook her head. “You know, any other day I might care, but today I’m too tired. I’ve been pregnant for fifteen months, and I’m ready to have this baby!”
“It’s only been eight, sweetie,” Ava said gently and patted her shoulder.
“I brought extra desserts today,” Harper said. “Besides, Pepper Jack is too cute to be mad at.”
I snorted. “Sure.”
My phone started ringing in my pocket. I glanced at the screen, put Avery down, and stepped away from the group so they couldn’t hear me. “Hey, sweetness.”
“Can you tell me how to rewind the cameras at my house so I can watch what happened earlier?” Caroline asked, passing right by a greeting. Her voice sounded frazzled..
I froze. “What happened?”
“Someone egged my house and I want to know who. It’s still so hot outside, and it’s going to start to smell if I can’t wash it off.”
“I have a power washer. I’ll pick it up and come over and help.”
She sighed. Her voice wobbled when she spoke again. “You don’t have to do that. I know you’re busy tonight.”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. My lips tugged up at the corners. When was she going to get it? “You’re more important. Go to the security panel in the living room. That one has a screen.”
“I’m already there.”
I walked her through the steps and approached James, covering the mouthpiece with my hand. “Hey, man. I’ve got to go.”
He arched one brow to question me. “I’ll explain later.” I headed out through the open bay door without saying goodbye to anyone else. They would have too many questions that I wasn’t ready to answer.
“That freaking asshole!” Caroline screeched as I got into my truck.
“You know who it was?”
“Yes,” she grumbled and released a long breath. “You know, I’m just glad to know who it was. Dean, that guy I had to fire. He’s the one that egged my house.”
“I’ll be over soon,” I said, starting my truck. Before I picked up the power washer, I had one little stop to make first. After I hung up, I remotely logged on to my laptop at work, from my phone, and ran a fast background check on Dean to find his address. I smiled when I saw he wasn’t far from where I was and wouldn’t detour me for too long before I got to Caroline’s.
I pulled up to the curb at Dean’s townhouse, leaving Pepper Jack in the running, air-conditioned truck. I knocked on his door and turned my back to it, waiting for it to open. As soon as I heard the latch opening, I swung around and rushed him, grabbing him by the shirt collar and shoving him against the wall next to his door.
“Nice to meet you, Dean,” I said.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, trying to push me off of him, but he wasn’t any match for me.
“Caught your fun on camera earlier.”
He
