High-Stakes Bounty Hunter by Melinda Di Lorenzo

Author:Melinda Di Lorenzo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-02T13:37:38+00:00

Chapter 12

“Norah and I were almost twelve, when our baby sister, Greta, was born,” said Noah, and he was genuinely surprised that saying his little sister’s name aloud didn’t send a searing pain through his chest. So he said it again. “Greta. She was tiny and perfect. But I mostly kept my opinion about that to myself.”

He went on, explaining how he let Norah take the lead in the older sibling role. How his twin sister’s natural affinity for bottle feeding and getting the baby to sleep—and even diaper changing—earned her the nickname of Little Mama. He told Elle about his parents, who were both dedicated to their high-powered, time-consuming careers, and who’d been totally surprised by the late pregnancy. How, once their mother finished her maternity leave, the whole family began to rely on Norah to help out. They hired a nanny, but when Norah was home, Greta was in her arms or at her feet. Even as they got a little older, the two were inseparable. Matching blond curls, matching love of purple, and quick giggles. They liked to dance and sing, and Norah had endless patience for Greta.

“I used to say that they were more like twins,” Noah said, hearing the roughness in his voice, and he cleared his throat before adding, “At least twice a week, I teased Norah that somehow, Greta and I had managed to switch places right before I was born. Like a freak science fiction–style accident. It made her mad every single time.”

“It sounds like you were pretty good at playing the little brother role,” Ellie replied.

“Oh, I was. For sure. Probably still would be, if Norah would tolerate it.” He smiled, but the happy memory was quickly superseded by what came next. “When Greta was three, my parents took a mini vacation, just the two of them. On the fourth day after they were gone, the nanny came down with a stomach bug. So Norah volunteered to take our sister to the park. And she roped me into it, too.”

Noah closed his eyes as he recalled the day. Sunny and bright, but crisp. Just before autumn got into full swing, and just a week before he and Norah would turn fourteen. He pictured Greta’s little face. Her hazel eyes, the very same shade as his own. The pert nose and the rosy cheeks and her tiny, perfect teeth. In his head, he could still see the fluffy, lilac-colored coat she’d been wearing. She’d had on stretchy dark purple pants, too, and brown boots that were a touch too big. It’d been gorgeous out, and Noah would rather have been anywhere but surrounded by snot-nosed kids and their parents.

He opened his eyes and swallowed, cleared his throat yet again, then said, “I let Greta go up to the top of this big curvy slide. Norah thought it was too high, but I told her there were even littler kids going up and down just fine. We argued about it. Norah said I was making a scene and embarrassing her.

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