I took in a shaky breath. I’d promised I wouldn’t lie to them. But I didn’t want to scare them unnecessarily, either. I looked over to where Kristin sat on the couch with Lyla, clearly playing some sort of game on her phone. “Thank you so much for bringing them over here.”

She pushed to her feet, giving me a kind but concerned smile. “Anytime.” She squeezed my arm as she made her way to the door. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as the door shut, Justin asked again. “What happened?”

“Your grandparents are in town.”

Lyla’s eyes went wide. “We don’t have to go with them, do we? I don’t want to.”

I crossed to the couch, sinking down onto it and pulling her into a hug. “No. They can’t take you anywhere.”

“Not yet,” Justin muttered. I looked at him, and he shrugged. “I looked some stuff up on my tablet last night.”

Kennedy cleared her throat. “How about I make everyone a snack while you guys talk?”

“Thanks, Kenz.” It wasn’t like she wouldn’t be able to hear everything we said from the kitchen, but it gave some semblance of privacy. “Come here, Jus.”

He moved slowly and opted for a tufted footstool instead of sitting next to me and Lyla on the couch. “I read that the judge will ask us who we want to go with. We’ll say you. Right, Lyla?”

She bobbed her head up and down, holding onto me tighter. “We want to be with you.”

“I want you guys with me, too.” I took a deep breath. “How would you feel if we went to live with Mason?”

Justin looked confused, but Lyla was excited. She straightened, eyes shining. “That would be awesome. He has that lake at his house. He was going to teach us to fish before…”

Her words trailed off. I’d completely forgotten about his invitation to go fishing with him before Chelsea had died. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Justin’s eyes narrowed. “Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?”

I chose my words carefully, trying to avoid a lie. “We’re planning on getting married. But only if you’re okay with it.” If they weren’t, I’d find another way. Running. Hiding. I didn’t care.

“Married?” Lyla asked in a reverent whisper. “With a big dress?”

“Probably not a big dress. Mason and I don’t want a big, fancy wedding. It’ll probably just be the two of us.”

Lyla’s shoulders slumped. “That sucks.”

“Lyla,” I chastised. Chelsea had not been a fan of sucks or shut up or any form of cursing.

“I mean it stinks.”

I sighed. “Maybe we can have our own little party after. But what I want to know is if you guys would be okay with that. I know there are a lot of changes happening right now.”