Parker’s snicker had Erin shaking her head. “Did he now?”

“Stop it.”

Her friend walked into the kitchen and picked at the coffee cake Erin was slicing up. “You know he called at the butt crack of dawn.”

“That wasn’t necessary.”

“He likes you. He wants to get here early and he’ll make excuses to stay late just to earn one more smile from you.”

“Shhh.” Erin looked at the open door. “He’ll hear.”

“Oh, please . . . they’re in the garage collecting man crap.”

“That’s funny coming from you.”

Parker licked her fingers. “I had to learn how to use all the stuff my dad has in there out of necessity. They use it for fun. There’s a difference. Men buy tools they don’t need because they’re cool, or maybe one day they’ll need it. Women are like . . . nope, if I need it, I’ll borrow from the neighbors.”

“We do that with dishes.” Erin removed two cups from the cupboard she’d filled with multicolored cups and plates.

“I don’t. Well, shovels maybe. I did buy a lot of shovels this winter.”

“That’s because you needed them.”

Every day had a physical exercise plan mapped out for anyone who lived or came near The Sinclair Ranch. The mudflow from the canyon left a mess that required big and small equipment to clean up. And while the largest of the excavators were long gone, the drifts of mud were still piled in plenty of spaces all over the property. Picking up a shovel and using every muscle available to clean up those mud drifts had everyone canceling their gym memberships.

Erin stopped short and stared out the kitchen window. “I just thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

“What kind of wedding gifts are you going to ask for? You already have everything you need, times two.”

Parker picked up one of the plates filled with coffee cake and grabbed a fork. “I haven’t even thought about it.”

Erin remembered her own wedding and all the gifts.

Expensive gifts.

The kind rich people gave to other rich people to show off their wealth. There wasn’t one toaster or Crock-Pot in the mix. The memory of a two-foot crystal vase crashing against the wall beside her surfaced and the spatula in her hand fell to the floor.

Parker put the plate down and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You okay? You’re white as a sheet.”

She sucked in air slowly, pushed it out. “I’m fine.”

Parker picked up the spatula and bent to the floor with a kitchen towel to clean up the mess. “You were thinking about him, weren’t you?”

She felt the blood returning to her head. “I was remembering a wedding gift.”

“Remind me not to ask for whatever you were thinking of.” Parker hesitated as she stood. “Wait, you were married? I thought he was an ex-boyfriend.”

Matt’s and Colin’s voices carried in from outside.

“Another time.” Erin dodged the question and plated another piece of cake. She ignored Parker’s slack jaw and walked out the door with a hostess smile on her face.

“A little something to get you started,” Erin said to them both.

Matt reached her first and took one of the plates. He looked her in the eye and his smile fell. “You okay? You’re a little pale.”

“I’m fine.” She handed the other plate to Colin. “Coffee?” she asked him.

“That would be great.”

She slid past Parker and back inside.

“You do that entirely too well,” Parker whispered to her.

“Do what?”

“Pretend nothing is wrong.”

Erin forced her hands to stop shaking as she poured two cups of black coffee. “Do you want some?”

Parker was silent.

Erin looked up, found her frowning.

“Sure.”

She picked up both cups and headed back outside. “Cream is in the fridge.”

Matt took his sweet time with the coffee, cake, and conversation. He was going to milk this day for as long as he could. Colin knew it from the look in his brother’s eyes.

“I picked up sensors for all the windows and the doors, a motion detector for inside, and an outside camera we can mount facing the entry.”

“I bought a camera for the gate,” Colin added. “That’s going to take a little more work and won’t be in until we dig a longer trench.”

“You mean we’ll be able to see who is coming and going through the gate?” Erin asked.

“It will be wired with the monitor in the main house, not down here.”

She tried not to show any disappointment. It would be nice to know who was coming and going. At this point, the only people who let themselves in were those who lived there, the handful of people that mowed the lawn, cleaned the pool, and read the meter . . . the garbage company and dozens of county public works employees over the past few months. So approximately half of Santa Clarita, give or take a few.

“How do you let people in from the gate now?” Matt asked her.

“I don’t.”

“The control is with the house phone,” Colin told him.

“So what do you do when you have company? Give them the code?”

Erin looked at Matt. “I don’t have company.”

“What do you mean you don’t have company?”

Her confession made her sound like the poster child for introverts. “I’m new here.”

That seemed to help the expression of worry on Matt’s face. “All we need to do is run a landline down here,” Matt suggested. “But that means you’ll hear it ringing when it isn’t for you.”

Erin shook her head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“What about when we’re in Cabo? I know Austin will be in and out, but it might give you peace of mind to know who’s driving through the gate.”

Parker’s younger brother, Austin, was in his final months of high school and had friends over quite a bit. So she could add half of the male teenage population to the list of visitors on the property.

“I think you should just stay up at the main house while we’re gone,” Parker said.

“Won’t that cramp Austin’s style?”

It was Colin that pointed out the obvious. “He’s eighteen, you staying in the main house will deter any Animal House–type parties.”

“I don’t think Austin has it in him.” Parker smiled at Colin.

One glance between Colin and Matt and they both shook their heads. “It’s in him,” Matt said with complete confidence.

“Fine. I’ll stay in the main house and keep the peace.”

“He can have friends over . . . just no parties.”

“I get it,” Erin assured Parker. Austin was a good kid, and his friends had always been polite. She didn’t think there would be any problems.

Colin pushed back from the table and stood. “Well, are we going to talk about this all day, or get it done?”

“How long do you think this is going to take?” Erin asked.

“All day,” said Matt.

“A few hours,” Colin said at the same time.