Destined To Be A Dad (Welcome To Destiny Book 9) by Christyne Butler

look at her. “Cassalyn Elizabeth—”
    “Oh, it’s never a good thing when she brings out the full name.” Reaching the end of the boathouse, Casey jerked her thumb around the corner. “Your mum said stairs would lead up to the flat. Is this them?”
    “Yes, a light should come on when you get to the top...” His voice trailed off as Casey disappeared, her footsteps echoing up the stairwell. “Is she avoiding me all of a sudden?”
    “No, it’s me she’s trying to get away from.” Missy couldn’t stop from stealing glances at the beautiful front porch on Liam’s home, so close now that it seemed to tower over them as they walked along the back side of the boathouse. “I apologize for her rudeness.”
    “Like I said, it’s okay. I have a feeling she’s going to have quite a few questions for us in the coming days.”
    “You’re probably right.” She followed him around the corner of the building, surprised when she saw a second-level porch had been added to the front of the boathouse that faced the water, creating a covered area over the three boat slips she remembered. “My, more changes.”
    “I told you.”
    “Yes, you did. Well, I should—” She stopped when the glow from the outdoor lighting suddenly disappeared, leaving them in darkness except for the light coming from the upper landing. “What—what just happened?”
    “It must be ten o’clock. The lights are on a timed system with the majority of the accent features going off for the night. Don’t worry—the outside lights on everyone’s homes, as well as the pathways, are motion activated, in case you need anyone for...well, anything.”
    Meaning she was to go to him? The queen would give up the throne first. “Well, as I was saying, I should get upstairs and answer some of those questions.”
    Liam studied her in silence. Was he going to insist on being part of this discussion? Missy honestly didn’t think she had the strength to include him, as terrible as that sounded.
    Not after everything that had happened today.
    Being back in Destiny, staying in the boathouse, standing so close to him she could reach out and touch—
    “Yes, I guess you should,” he finally said. “Let me take the bags up for you.”
    “I’ll take them.” Casey reappeared, clomping down the stairs. “Sorry for popping off like that. I think the time difference has me a bit knackered.”
    “If memory serves, that means tired, right?” Liam asked with a grin, handing over the luggage. “And apology accepted.”
    Casey smiled, and then turned to head back upstairs. “You coming, Mum? Wait until you see the loo! There’s a giant claw-footed tub that sits in front of a huge glass window looking right out over the water.”
    Missy faltered, grabbing at the handrail as she started to follow. She swung her gaze back to Liam, even as she called after her daughter’s departing figure. “There—there is?”
    Liam retreated, the shadows not completely hiding the way his mouth lifted at one corner. “When I said it didn’t look the same, I wasn’t talking about the
entire
space. Some things are exactly how they used to be.”
    * * *
    It was after midnight and she should be lost in dreamland, but Missy couldn’t slow her mind enough to allow sleep to come.
    Her talk with Casey had gone surprisingly well, her daughter handling the story of what happened all those years ago between Missy and Liam with ease. Of course, her anger with her grandparents was palpable, mixed with even more tears over her grandfather’s recent death, leaving the poor girl confused about what she should be feeling.
    Still, she seemed more interested in what had happened sixteen years ago here in Destiny. Missy shared some of what her time here had been like. But after one too many yawns from Casey, Missy had pleaded exhaustion herself and shooed her daughter off to the smaller of the apartment’s two bedrooms.
    After checking and finding her daughter sound asleep, Missy then