“What?” Starr demanded, coming to her feet. “You’re not the boss of him. Or me. Just because you married my sister doesn’t mean you’re in charge. Destiny wouldn’t be upset.”
“Want to bet?” Kipling asked. He pointed at the door. “You get out of here.”
Carter didn’t move. “Not until you promise you won’t hurt Starr.”
“What? Hurt her?” He swore. “Starr, go to your room until Destiny gets home. Carter, get your ass out of here. You hear me?”
Carter and Starr exchanged a look, then they both nodded. There was a whispered conversation as they walked to the back door. Kipling followed. Starr went down the hall, and Carter left the house. Kipling looked at the clock and wondered how long it would take Destiny to get home.
* * *
DESTINY GOT HOME as quickly as she could. She’d abandoned a nearly full cart at the grocery store, something she’d never done in her life. But Kipling had sounded more worried than she’d ever heard him.
He was waiting for her on the front step when she pulled up.
“They were kissing?” she asked as she got out of her car. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither could I.”
“Starr said Carter was stopping by, but I didn’t think anything of it. They’re friends.”
“Good ones.”
Just then a truck came barreling around the corner and skidded to a stop in front of the house. Gideon got out and stalked toward them.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he demanded.
Destiny had met the other man a couple of times, in social situations. He was bigger than she remembered, and a lot more menacing. Kipling immediately stepped between her and Gideon.
Felicia scrambled out of the passenger side and hurried to her husband. “Gideon, we talked about this. Your anger may or may not be justified. I, too, want to punch in Kipling’s face, but we need to get the facts.” She paused and smiled tightly at Destiny. “Hi. We have a problem.”
There was an understatement, Destiny thought. “One we have to figure out.”
“I know what I saw,” Kipling growled and glared at Gideon. “Your son was over here, without permission, kissing Starr. She’s fifteen. If I hadn’t walked in, who knows what would have happened.”
Destiny wanted to say she had faith in her sister, but she also was a product of her wonky genetics. Destiny knew exactly how powerful sexual urges could be.
Felicia sighed. “Teenage hormones are formidable. Sexual desire can override judgment at any age, but when the parties in question are their age, it’s foolish to expect rational behavior.”
Gideon turned to her. “I love you. You’re right, and I still want to rip him apart.”
Kipling took a step toward him. “Go ahead and try.”
Destiny grabbed his arm while Felicia got in front of Gideon.
“You’re not helping,” Felicia said firmly.
“I don’t care about helping.”
“But you do care about Carter.”
Gideon stared at Kipling. “You had no right to yell at my son.”
“I told him to get out. If Starr was your daughter, what would you have done?”
“Stop it! Just stop it!”
The voice came from behind them. Destiny turned and saw Starr standing on the front porch. Tears filled her eyes.
“You don’t have to fight over this. It was just a kiss.”
Destiny hurried to her sister. “We’re worried about you.”
“It was just a kiss,” Starr whispered again. “Stop fighting like this. Stop yelling. What’s so bad about what we did? Haven’t you ever been in love?”
“You can’t be in love,” Gideon said flatly. “You’re too young.”
Felicia touched his arm. “Actually there are studies that suggest age isn’t—” She pressed her lips together. “Perhaps this isn’t the time for that kind of information.”
Love? Destiny had trouble inhaling.
Starr turned to Kipling. “You’re in love, right? So you know what I mean.”
He stared blankly. Starr frowned.
“You have to be in love,” she said. “With Destiny. You married her.”
Destiny had never heard such a loud silence. It grew and expanded until it was all that existed. It was like standing onstage and not remembering the words to a song. No, it was much worse than that. Humiliation burned hot, becoming shame. She wanted to run away but couldn’t move. It was one thing for her to know that her marriage to Kipling had been a practical decision, but another to have that very unromantic fact shared with the world. While she’d never said they were in love, people had assumed, and she’d let them.
Gideon and Felicia glanced at both of them then at each other. Starr’s breath caught.
“You got her pregnant, and you don’t even love her?” Starr surged toward Destiny. “Did you know?”
“We can talk about this later,” she murmured.
Starr stepped back. “Sure. I’ll be in my room.”
She went inside. Felicia cleared her throat.
“We’ll talk to Carter about kissing Starr. That perhaps they’re both too young.”
Kipling nodded. “I’m sorry I yelled at him. It was a knee-jerk reaction.”
“You have the jerk part right,” Gideon told him. “See that it doesn’t happen again. And I’m out of The Man Cave. Find another partner.”