Summer laughed in surprise. “They don’t drink scotch.”

“They don’t usually hot tub it either, but your mom found some old stuff in the boxes that came out of the warehouse.”

“What stuff?”

“Your dad’s. Just an old partially written manuscript and some notes. And the bottle of scotch. She decided it’d aged enough.”

“Maybe I should come over and try to cheer her up.”

“Actually, she’s not sad,” Bill said. “They’re out there laughing and talking. And singing, let’s not forget the singing. I think it’s therapeutic. Me, I need a run to the racetrack for my therapy.”

“Too bad Del Mar isn’t open all night, huh?”

“Babe, you ain’t kidding.” He huffed out a breath but she could tell he was smiling. “Want me to give her a message?”

“I’ll call her tomorrow. Just watch after them, okay?”

“I always have.”

In the early dawn light, Joe leaned back against the trunk of the Camaro. He was watching Chloe’s condo and sipping a Red Bull. It’d been that or a dozen doughnuts, but he refused to go back to stress eating simply because his life had been turned upside down.

And it had been turned upside down. It wasn’t work either, though he was in the middle of several difficult cases, with Creative Interiors at the top. He’d had many such problems this year. He’d learned to separate out his emotions from the practical aspect of his job.

Or so he’d thought.

But enter one Summer Abrams. Or reenter.

From behind him came a whine. He’d left Ashes asleep on the passenger seat of the car, having some sort of a dream that involved twitching her feet and ears. Probably dreaming about eating his files, her favorite pastime. Reaching through the window, he stroked a hand down her little body, over her plump belly, and she quieted. Just because of his touch.

Hard to believe he’d gotten to the ripe old age of thirty and could still have such a small thing grab him by the throat, but it did. He’d never had any pets as a kid, hell it’d been hard enough to survive without that worry. As an adult, he’d always been too busy. The people in his life were important to him: Kenny, his other coworkers, the women he’d dated…but none had ever required his care the way Ashes did. He’d always figured he’d think of such a responsibility as a chore.

But he didn’t.

With the jolt of caffeine humming through his system, he straightened as the front door of Chloe’s apartment opened, and out came the man he’d been waiting for.

Joe knew the exact moment Braden saw him. Not that the younger man’s feet faltered, or that his body language changed in any noticeable way.

But his face went carefully blank.