Lost and Found Sisters

by Jill Shalvis

  “We figured it all out. I’m the one with the biggest dental problems. But I can’t afford a dentist, see? So I’ll get free dental.” He beamed. “Win-win.”

  The others nodded in unison again. “And if Joe kicks the bucket before his time’s up,” Big Hank said, “I’ll offer to finish it up for him. My lease is coming up next year and they’re going to raise the rent on me anyway.”

  Mick craned his neck and looked at Quinn, seeming just as amused/horrified/touched as he was. She moved to his side and slipped her hand in his.

  “I’m honored,” Mick said. “But there’s no way I’m letting any of you go to jail for me. And how did you even know what was going on anyway?”

  “Shoot, you’ve been gone from Wildstone too long if you don’t know how this works,” Joe said with a snort. “Lou’s niece’s boyfriend’s sister works in the city offices. The city manager yelled at her last week for spilling his coffee and made her cry. She’s the one that bugged the office using the spy kit. Plus, he slept with the county recorder’s wife—her sister. That’s what everyone’s saying anyway.”

  “Well, then it must be true,” Mick said with a straight face.

  Joe nodded. “The bastard is done.”

  “I appreciate that,” Mick said. “But none of you are going to jail for me. We’re going to give the justice system a chance to handle this.”

  “Can we go downtown and beat him up?” Joe asked.

  “If we stop for doughnuts first,” Lou said. “What,” he said defensively at Hank’s long look. “I’m hungry.”

  “Revenge, then food,” Joe said. “You in, Mick?”

  Mick looked at Quinn. “I don’t need revenge.” He looked at Quinn. “And if you’ll all excuse me, I’ve got something much better to do anyway. I’ve got a hot date with the woman of my dreams.”

  And then, to the hoots and hollering of their audience, he hooked an arm low on Quinn’s hips, his other hand coming up to slide into her hair to hold her head where he wanted her as he kissed the thoughts right out of her head. When he pulled back, he smiled into her undoubtedly dazed face as someone rode down the hallway on a bike.

  Someone with a cast on one arm. “Nice ‘talk,’” Tilly said.

  “You rode over here with only one good arm?” Quinn asked, horrified. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I made dinner, but you left your phone, so I couldn’t call you. I thought you didn’t need a man.”

  “She doesn’t,” Mick said. “Truth is, I need her. In fact, I need your sister like I’ve never needed anyone or anything in my whole life. And,” he went on, smiling into Quinn’s face as he reached out and hooked an arm around Tilly’s neck and dragged her into the hug too. “I’m pretty fond of her nosy, know-it-all sister too.”

  Tilly snorted but she also melted a little, Quinn could tell. She felt her eyes burn even as she laughed and held tight to the two most important people in her life. “I love you both,” she said fiercely. “So much.”

  Tilly sighed with dramatic flair. “You promised no more hugs.”

  “Didn’t promise no more kisses,” Quinn said and kissed her face all over while Tilly squirmed and yelled, “Ew!” Quinn kissed Mick’s face too and that also grossed out Tilly.

  “Right in front of me?” she asked.

  Quinn smiled up at Mick. “We’re a team.”

  “A team,” Mick said. “Tilly?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You okay with me loving your sister and making her mine, since I’m already hers?”

  “Seriously. You two have a problem.”

  “Yes or no, Tilly,” Mick said, eyes locked on Quinn.

  Tilly blew out a sigh, but she couldn’t quite hide her pleasure at being asked. “Sure,” she finally said. “But you should know, she hugs way too much.”

  Mick smiled into Quinn’s eyes. “A team,” he said, repeating her words. “We’re in it together, always.”

  “Always,” she whispered back. She didn’t hear Beth’s voice in her head, and hadn’t since her sister had said good-bye, but she felt a warm peace settle over her as the last piece of her heart clicked back into place.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Quinn found one of Mick’s shirts in her laundry and it made her smile. He hadn’t left it for her to do. She’d stolen it.

  On the nights he was in San Francisco, Quinn slept in it. It should’ve felt like a silly, juvenile thing to do, but wearing it gave her comfort.

  When she’d washed and folded the laundry, she opened the drawer in her dresser that she’d designated as his. She wasn’t even sure how it had happened, but it made her smile as she crouched down and scooted a pair of his basketball shorts aside to make room for the shirt and . . .

  Exposed a little black box.

  A jewelry box.

  She stared at it, whispered, “Oh my God,” and then shut the drawer like she’d seen a bomb. A ticking bomb.

  “Did you say something?” Tilly asked, passing by on the way to her bedroom. She had blue streaks in her hair, like the ones Quinn had worn when she’d first gotten to Wildstone—courtesy of Lena, of course.

  “Nope,” Quinn said, shaking her head. “Didn’t say anything. Not one little thing. Nothing. Nada. Zip . . .”

  Tilly narrowed her eyes and stepped into the room. “Try it again without looking guilty as hell.”

  Quinn pointed at the drawer. “I found a box. A little box. A little black box.”

  Brows up, Tilly came into the room. The past six months had been good for all of them. Tom Nichols was in jail for collusion and an assortment of other charges that would keep him in a cell for five to seven years. Dylan’s mom had been able to make charges against his dad stick and he was also currently sitting out the next few years in jail, making license plates for the state of California. This meant that Dylan didn’t have to work for the guy digging ditches. He was still working at the café—which was more popular than ever—and talking about trying for a scholarship at a local tech college when he graduated.

  Tilly was doing better than Quinn could have asked for. Her grades had held firm, and she had her eye on a liberal arts school in San Francisco. She was quicker to smile and laugh these days, for which Quinn was grateful. She was also driving, legally, and giving Quinn gray hair.

  Which Lena helped her hide with highlights—not blue.

  Tilly moved to Quinn’s side and crouched down in front of the drawer. “Show me.”

  Quinn opened the drawer, where together they stared at the box.

  “It could be a bracelet or something,” Tilly said.

  “You think?”

  “No.”

  Quinn sat on the floor because her knees were weak. “Well, since I’m already sitting . . .” She reached for the box.

  “Figured you wouldn’t be able to help yourself,” Mick said from behind them.

  With a gasp, Quinn jerked around and tilted her head back to stare up at him, the damning evidence in her hand.

  “Go ahead,” he said. “Try it on. You know you want to.”

  “She really does,” Tilly said.

  Quinn shot her a look and then turned back to Mick.

  He kneeled in front of her, took the box from her hand, and removed the ring.

  A beautiful, sparkling diamond ring.

  “Wow,” Tilly whispered reverently.

  Quinn turned her head and looked at her sister.

  “Just saying,” Tilly said.

  Tossing the box to her bed, Mick took Quinn’s hand in hers and pulled it to his chest, over his heart. “I fell for you that very first day when you demanded I come into your room at the B and B.”

  “I didn’t do that,” Quinn said to Tilly.

  “She did,” Mick said. “She wanted me to get the bug out of her tub.”

  Tilly laughed. “That, I believe.”

  Mick looked at Quinn again. “And then I tasted your crappy pancakes and I fell for you, hook, line, and sinker.”

/>   “Those were crepes!”

  He smiled. “Loved them. And your smile. And your strength. And your kindness. And—” He looked at Tilly. “Cover your ears for a second.” He turned back to Quinn. “Your sweet ass. Love that a lot, actually. Love everything about you, Quinn.”

  Tilly sighed dramatically. “Oh my God,” she said to the room. “They’re being gross again.”

  Quinn wrapped her arms around Mick and pressed close. “Keep going.”

  He slid his hands into her hair, holding it back from her face. “I’m over commuting back and forth from San Francisco. I’m moving my office to Wildstone to be with you and Tilly. You’re my entire world, my heart and soul. I love you. The forever kind of love.”

  “Do I get to be in the wedding?” Tilly asked.

  “If there is one,” Mick said, eyes on Quinn. “I can do with or without the ceremony, babe; as long as I have you, I’m good. Your call.”

  Quinn wasn’t prepared for the wave of emotion that swamped her. “First,” she managed. “I love you too.”

  “The forever kind,” Tilly added helpfully, nodding at Quinn encouragingly when Quinn once again met her gaze.

  Quinn turned and looked up into Mick’s steady, dark eyes, feeling the love he had for her enfold her. “The forever kind,” she agreed.

  “And second?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She’d never been more sure of anything in her life.

  Mick hauled her in tight and kissed her, and from far, far away, Quinn heard Tilly sigh dramatically.

  “They’re at it again,” the teenager told Tink, who’d come in to see what the commotion was about.

  “Mew.”

  “Tell me about it . . .” Tilly scooped up the cat and cuddled her in close. “Seems we’re a good fit after all.”

  A great fit, thought Quinn. A forever fit . . .

  P.S. Insights, Interviews & More . . .*

  About the Author

  * * *

  Meet Jill Shalvis

  About the Book

  * * *

  Author’s Note

  Reading Group Guide

  Read On

  * * *

  Coming Soon . . . An Excerpt from Chasing Christmas Eve

  About the Author

  Meet Jill Shalvis

  New York Times bestselling author JILL SHALVIS lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold, and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-themountains adventures.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  About the Book

  Author’s Note

  I started writing when I had three kids under the age of five and badly needed an escape. I wanted to write something real but not depressing. So I started with romance—hugely cathartic for someone whose daily wish was just to make it to the bathroom alone.

  I wrote a lot of books while surrounded by little kids and sticky fingers. I wrote some more while raising—count ’em—four teenagers. Girls. I still shudder at the memories of all that estrogen. But with a little distance, I realize how much fodder that gave me to do something a little different for me. Something where I could still be funny (hopefully), still a little sexy and sassy, still create warm, close relationships . . . but also more. Like the complicated relationship between sisters including the good, the bad, AND the ugly.

  For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of Quinn’s character. How many of us haven’t wondered at one time or another what it would be like to find out you’re adopted? Would it rip the foundation from beneath your feet? Would it make you wonder how much you knew of yourself wasn’t . . . you? Or would it be like finding a whole new beginning?

  As I outlined the book, I really believed it was going to be all about Quinn learning about her adoption. But once I started writing, I realized it was so much more than that. It was about a woman devastated by the loss of her sister to the point where she’d stopped feeling. It was about that same woman finding out she’d been betrayed by the people who she thought loved her more than anything else. And then she was further staggered to realize that though she’d lost one sister, she’d suddenly found another. And more than that, Quinn wasn’t the only one experiencing loss and grief.

  Enter Tilly, stage left. Honestly, I didn’t see her coming. But from the moment we first see teenage Tilly hiding in the tree, chipped black fingernail polish and untied sneakers—as big a wreck as Quinn—I was in love. Another thing I didn’t see coming? Dylan. (Or Mick, but I can admit, I fell a lot in love with Mick so he got a bigger role than planned . . .)

  In any case, I hadn’t raised four teenage girls without learning about young love. A whole lot, as a matter of fact. Going through it was . . . traumatic, to say the least. But writing about it with 20/20 hindsight? Heaven. I absolutely fell in love with the idea of Tilly and Dylan being in love, so I make no apologies for the extra romance.

  Now, normally in my books, the relationships between the men take center stage but Lost And Found Sisters was all about the girls. Quinn. Tilly. Carolyn. Beth . . . It was about love and loss and life coming full circle, about what it’s like to have something come back and bite you on the patoot and to make it out on the other side all the stronger for it. I think we can all relate to that in different ways.

  And no story about the story would be complete without touching on the setting of Wildstone, a character in its own right. So much so that I intend to revisit Wildstone with a whole new story soon. So stay tuned . . . And thanks to all for coming along for the ride!!!

  Happy Reading!

  Jill Shalvis

  www.jillshalvis.com