Starstruck Read online

  “Hello, my dear,” Arthur’s wife, Louise, said brightly from her seat by the bookcase, as though they had just popped in from next door.

  “What on earth are you doing here?” Liv asked, stunned. “I thought you’d had enough of us to last till Thanksgiving at least.” They had seen Joe’s parents only last month at a lake in Minnesota. She thought the chaos of that week, joyful though it had been, would satisfy them for quite a while. Obviously she was wrong.

  “They’re baby-sitting for the weekend,” Joe told her.

  “All the way from Sioux City?” Liv sputtered.

  “Absolutely,” Arthur Harrington said firmly. “A man can’t see too much of his grandchildren.”

  Joe looked at Liv and rolled his eyes. “Humor him,” he told her. “It’ll work in our favor, I promise you. We’re spending a weekend at the Sheraton, just you and I. Undisturbed.” He reached behind the chair where his mother was sitting and pulled out an overnight bag he had already packed. “Come along, my love,” he said, taking her arm.

  “But—” Liv stared at him in wonder, then looked at his parents, who beamed and urged her out. Shrugging she bent to give Nick a quick kiss. Then, marveling at the resourcefulness of the man she had married, she followed him, still bemused, out the door. “I can’t believe they’re really going to take care of the kids,” she said as he helped her into the car.

  Joe grinned. “Believe it. My father would walk across the Sahara for you and those kids.” He bent over and kissed her lingeringly on the mouth before going around and getting in on the driver’s side. “He considers marrying you the smartest thing I ever did.” He touched her cheek tenderly, the love of a lifetime there for her to see in his eyes. “He was right, Liv,” he said softly. “It was.”

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