Sable Peak (The Edens, #6)

by Devney Perry

There were too many Edens.

Hahahaha

It was the playful grin that set him apart. The mischievous smirk on his soft lips. The sharp corners of his stubbled jaw and the twinkle in his blue gaze. This kitchen was full of beautiful people. He put them all to shame.

“Hey.” He dipped his chin, like he was tipping an invisible hat. “I’m Mateo.” That name locked into place for all time. Mateo.

Why was I still talking?

“You can head on in.” He jerked his chin for the door. “I’ll grab the rest.”

He was the light. My light. The shining star that chased away the dark.

I’d worked so hard these past two years. On the dark days, when I’d almost given up hope, I’d kept going. I’d come so far.

“He’s allergic to shellfish,”

“His favorite color is blue. He loves snap peas but only if there is ranch to dip them in. Almost everything he buys for his daughter is purple.”

“He’s a pilot but he doesn’t fly anymore. I don’t know why. He’ll drop anything to help his sisters or brothers. He wears brown boots with a black belt even though they don’t match.”

“He’s a morning person. He drinks black coffee. He’s really good at math and can add numbers in his head faster than anyone I’ve ever met. He looks magical when he’s riding a horse. And light follows him. It’s always sunny when he’s around.”

“He won’t treat you like you’re broken, even when you are,”

“I’m done waiting for you to see me.”

She was beautiful. Vera had a beauty not a soul would miss.

Something shifted beneath my feet like moving sand. Things in my chest, around my brain, rearranged. It was like a deck of cards being shuffled. There was before. This was after.

“You’re flying an airplane, Peach.” Peach? Where the hell had that come from? It had just . . . slipped out. Like I should have been calling her Peach for years. Like the way I’d started calling Alaina Sprout. One day she didn’t have a nickname. The next, she did. And Peach was Vera’s.

Clear and a million. Today, I was seeing clear and a million. “Will you teach me to fly?” she asked. Spend hours and hours with her, alone and above the world? “Absolutely.”

“It’s different.” “Bad different?” “Different, different,” he said. “There are times when I feel this pressure. Like everyone is waiting to see what I decide to be. That they’ll be disappointed if I don’t do something grand or bold. But I never thought less of Briggs because he wasn’t in charge or running a business. I admired him for knowing his strengths. His weaknesses. Hell, most days, I feel more like I’m walking in Briggs’s footsteps than Dad’s. He did what he loved. His only expectations were his own.”

“I see you.”

“I see you, Vera.”

“We’ll find our way together,”

There weren’t many secrets between my family members, but Mom was the vault.

“Peach. Throw me a bone.”

“Because your hair reminds me of a sun-ripened peach on a hot summer day. Because you’re sweet. And because it’s my favorite fruit.” “No, it’s not. You like strawberries best.” “Not anymore,”

His hands kept me pinned and he hummed a word I couldn’t quite make out, but it sounded a lot like mine.

My heart stopped. Mateo, blue eyes blazing with fury, stood with his arms crossed over his chest. “What the fuck is going on, Vera?”

Oh shit