“Alexa, please tell me again why you’re moving away from us? This drive out to Arizona has been miserable.”

My heart started to race, and my throat tightened with anxiety as I heard my sister speak on the other end of the phone. In a moment of ineptitude, my hand lost its grip, and the phone nearly met its demise in a sea of shattered glass. I could feel the sweat pouring down my neck. Moving boxes and talking on the phone in the blistering Arizona heat was no joke.

While lifting boxes, my husband, Elijah Cooper, grunted and found a way to shrug. “Alexa, not again!” His voice went a few tones higher, but not out of anger, more out of disbelief at my clumsiness.

This was my third phone in less than two months. Any husband would be going ballistic by now.

Not Elijah. He was too sweet and genuine to care about all my faults. Oh gosh, I have so many of those. Of course, we are still in the newlywed phase, always kissing the second we see each other, holding hands in public, and calling each other sweet names. Having been married for only six months, our honeymoon stage was still in full force, from what I understood. And would hold out as long as possible.

“Hey, Cheyenne, are you still there?” I asked, picking up the shattered phone. I heaved a sigh once I realized the phone was okay. “Elijah got into medical school. We had no other choice, remember? I wish we could stay up in Idaho with you, but sometimes one has to leave the nest.”

She grunted with displeasure. “You’ve already said that, but it doesn’t give you an excuse to leave me up there for no reason. Sisters stay near each other forever. Everyone knows that.”

“I’m sorry. You’ll always be in my heart.” I laughed at my own remarks.

“We are only an hour out. Had to get food for the boys. Can’t wait to see the house you picked out.”

Elijah handed me a water bottle from the cooler.

“Can’t wait to see you guys too. Be safe. Bye,” I said. I stood there, chugging every ounce of water from my bottle.

I took a moment to hydrate and let it sink in that Cheyenne was bringing her husband and all three of her sons to help with the move. She was an angel sent down from the heavens.

Our age difference had never made a dent in our sister relationship. In fact, when her boys were tiny babies, I was always there to help her babysit. Now, they are tall teenagers who’d rather have nothing to do with me because of how much I embarrassed them in front of all their friends. What aunt doesn’t take advantage of telling stories about changing their diapers to their best friends?

All jokes aside. Without Cheyenne and her husband, and the boys helping, this move would not have been possible. Elijah’s family made it clear they had other priorities in California. They had offered to pay for moving services, but I was too cheap and independent to take freebies when we could do it ourselves.

Elijah stepped into the kitchen behind me with the last boxes. He took his shirt off, wiped his face, and wrung the blue shirt with a fast twist over the kitchen sink. Sweat dripped down it like a leaky hose. He stared at me with those hypnotic hazel eyes. His abs were flexing, and the light glinted off his chest.

Even after dating for a year and being married for six months, he always made my heart rate spike, my legs tremble, and my tongue water at the sight of him. It was miraculously unbelievable that I got to spend the rest of my life with this tall, dark, and handsome human being. He was all mine.

“As I recall, your sister left Idaho at the same time as us. Why is she so far behind? Moving the rest will only take the two of us thirty more minutes at most.”

“You know teenagers have to eat, and she wanted to pee. She says her bladder can only last two hours tops after having kids,” I said, laughing.

“So, are they close?”

“They will be here in an hour.”

“Uh-huh,” Elijah answered. “Guess we need to get you a new phone tomorrow.”

“No, it’s fine. I will make it work for a few more days.”

“Suit yourself.” He threw his shirt to the corner wall. “By the way, I’m not having you move any more furniture. I can’t risk my wife getting hurt. Most of what’s left are the heavy couches, and we will need the others to help with those.”

I scowled. Most of the time, I would fight him on the matter, but this time, with the heat blazing out all the energy inside of me in a matter of minutes, I was going to let this one slide. My only thought was jumping into a cold swimming pool.

“I’ll start unpacking the boxes in the house then. Why don’t you take a break while I wait for them to arrive?”

“Or . . .” His voice was deep and serious.

I knew where this was going. “Or?” I lowered my shoulders, shaking my way slowly over to him, my eyes locked with his.

“Let’s break in the new house, shall we? Make it all official.”

He swayed over to my side, giving me a smoldering look no woman would resist. My heart galloped up to my throat. The swimming pool idea was no longer on my mind. He was.

“Let’s.”

*****

“What an amazing place!” Paul commented, lifting an eyebrow as he walked around the perimeter of the house.

The sun was beginning its descent, streams of gold reflecting off the desert sand. Cheyenne and her three boys had helped unpack the kitchen, so she could start dinner. They’d made another pitstop on the way to our house and insisted on cooking while I said we could order out.

There was no winning that one with my sister. She claimed that since she’d made the long drive here and was only staying for three days, she was going to feed us every meal from scratch. We all knew that with my new job as an accountant, I wasn’t going to be cooking much around here, not with an hour-long commute to work every day. Everyone living in a city dreaded commuting.

Elijah nodded, holding his beer. “We got an amazing deal on the house. Hopefully, it sells when we are done with school here. Right, Alexa?”

“Oh, goodness. I hope so. The housing market is always unpredictable, if you ask me.”

Paul glanced at Elijah, who was lying flat on the turf grass, a pound of ice underneath him. Paul never had a sagging gut, no matter how much he ate. His body was one of those natural, lengthy types that, no matter what he ingested, you never knew where it all went. He must have a tapeworm, was all I could think of.

“You guys have a lot of years to go here. You okay with that, Alexa?”

“Yup, I will do anything to see Elijah reach his dreams. Moving is the worst, and I don’t even have kids to move. Is it just me, or does it feel like when you pack, you notice a lot more junk you have?”

“It’s not you. I think everyone goes through that phase when packing up a home.”

“Elijah, it must be nice to be able to take over your father’s business when you’re done,” Paul said. “What a great setup. I wish I had something like that to fall into. Maybe I would’ve been a doctor too.”

“Be careful what you wish for.” I gave a disconcerting look.

After residency, we were moving next to Elijah’s parents in Avalon, California. My heart hammered every time I thought about that situation. My jaw flexed at the thought. One thing that frightened me most in the world was Elijah’s mom. Mrs. Savannah Cooper. Thinking of her name rattled my bones, sent shivers up my spine, and gave me goosebumps. She was fierce, direct, and didn’t take no for an answer.

Paul laughed. “Is the food almost ready?”

“Not yet. Cheyenne said we have to let the meat rest for twenty minutes before we can eat.”

“Twenty minutes? By that time, I’ll be asleep,” Elijah said, still cooling off on top of what little ice was left.

“Don’t blame me. My sister says the meat needs the juices to settle in. She claims it makes it have more flavor.”

“Alexa, tell her we don’t care about the meat resting and that we are hungry men waiting to eat.”

“Fine, you two have your man-to-man talk. I’ll go pester my sister in the kitchen.”

Cheyenne was moving around in the kitchen in a serpentine motion, full force in serious-about-cooking mode. The smell of garlic lemon made me realize how hollow my stomach was and how it had been sixteen hours since I last had a full meal. With the unpacking and the scorching hot sun, I hadn’t noticed it until now.

My nephews—Mike, Thomas, and Joe—were all napping on the small sectional I’d owned since I moved out of my parents’ house six years ago. It was old, torn, and smelled like weed when you laid down on it. Even though Elijah and I didn’t smoke, it was the trade you get when inheriting old furniture. One that gave our home a certain character.

“How’re the Coopers doing?” I heard my sister say from the kitchen.

I glanced briefly over at her, noticing the table set with plates and drinks already. The only thing we were waiting on was the twenty minutes of meat resting.

“Well, his mom hasn’t called in the last couple of hours, so that’s a good sign.”

My sister snorted. “Man, you really did marry a Norman Bates.”

“Be nice. She’s a good person. All of them are good people,” I lied because I didn’t want everyone in my family to know how she frightened me. Word spread fast in my family, and I didn’t want small tea talk to turn into something negative.

“Sorry, sis, I’m not buying it. I seem to recall the time all the Coopers joined you on your honeymoon. Not to mention how she calls two to three times a day, and has him use her credit card. The father even flies only Elijah out once a month to see them, and not once have they invited you even though you’re married now. I see it getting to you.”

“How?”

“Every time they come around, you get quieter and shut down around people.”

“I only say things to you in the heat of the moment. They are good people. Plus, you’re my sister. That’s what you do for me, listen to my complaints. Please don’t go telling Mom and Dad all of those stories. The last thing I need them to do is worry about me when every marriage has its faults.”

“Please, please, tell me you’re going to stick your head in the oven tonight if you hear his mom call again. My boys will love you forever! They thought it was funny when you did it earlier. Because you called it when you said she calls five times a day.”

I shrugged. “I only did it because I was annoyed, and I was joking around with you. I can’t believe they saw me. Who needs to stick their head in the oven when you can walk outside in one? And I was joking about her calling five times a day.” I walked closer to her, watching the door to make sure Elijah didn’t walk in and hear our conversation.

“You called it. She’s already called three times, and the day isn’t over.” She winked at me, walking over to the sliding door, opening it wide. “Come and eat!” She walked back over to the dining room. “Don’t worry. Your secret will be locked in our sister vault.” She tapped her chest a few times, referring to it as her vault.

My eyes darted nervously from Cheyenne to Elijah, who had just walked in, checking to see if he had heard.

“Finally, we can eat!” Elijah said with a friendly smile, Paul not far behind.

I sighed in relief that he hadn’t heard us. Because if there was one thing I knew, Elijah’s mom would do anything for her son. My only concern was ifElijah would do the same for me.