I walk to the sink and wash my face off and then dab it with the towel. “You ready?” Jacob asks, and I look at him. “Let’s get some food in you.”

We walk downstairs and into the kitchen where my mother looks like she spent the night and morning cooking. “I’m so hungry.” I sit in the chair and look over at my father, who just smiles at me, and then look over at Casey, who side-eyes Olivia. “What’s with him?”

“Nothing,” Olivia mumbles, looking over at him. “Let’s eat.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Jacob

“What time will she be here?” Charlotte asks from behind me, and I look up. I’ve been sitting outside since I called my mother, trying to calm down. I’ve been trying not to lose my shit, to be honest. When I heard what my mother said, I wanted to jump into the truck and go to her house and yell at the top of my lungs.

“She should be here soon,” I say. She smiles at me and walks back into the house, and the door opens again.

“Hey,” Kallie says softly, and I look over at her and smile. Fuck, she makes me so complete. She makes me want to have it all and do it all. “You okay?” She puts her head on my shoulder and wraps her arm around mine.

“You need to calm down.”

“I am calm,” I lie, and she just looks at me. “Okay, fine, I’m raging.” She gives me time to talk. “There is so much.” I shake my head. “I’m not holding back this time.”

“Jacob.” When she whispers my name and leans in to kiss me, we hear the crunch of rocks, and both of us share a look. “Let’s get ready to rumble.” She jokes with me, and I look over at my mother as she gets out of her car. She looks at us, and you see the frown on her face right away.

“Well,” she says when she gets close to us, “what is this all about?”

“Hi, Mom.” Standing, I wait for Kallie to get up, and I slip my hand into hers.

“Hi, Cristine,” Kallie says, and my mother just nods at her. “We should get out of this heat.”

I wait for her to walk into the house, and I look at my mother, but she avoids my eyes, which makes me even angrier. I wait for her to walk in before me, and I hear shouting right away.

“You can’t use biscuit in that sentence.” I hear Casey say followed by Olivia shouting at him.