"This is fantastic yogurt Shells with these strawberries in honey, but I'm so not in the mood to witness your happy couple glow right now," Syd grumbles at us over the rim of her coffee cup from where she's sitting at the kitchen bar, hunched over her laptop.

"Didn't Nils tell you he figured out where the key was?" I ignore her grumpiness and hand her Theo's journal with the letter. She appears even more frazzled than yesterday. It's probably the adrenaline finally wearing off.

"No! He's upstairs primping to impress his cool new father," she says, unfolding the letter and starting to read, "I've been sitting here looking at all of the new stories popping up about our delightful, blended family drama."

While she shares a few examples, Rune makes coffee, and I resist looking online myself and instead take out the yogurt and strawberries to make bowls for the two of us.

"Oh wow," Syd exclaims as she read, "what a sick fuck Franklin is!"

"Tell me about it," Rune says tightly, handing her the first cup of espresso he makes.

"Oh, Ruination," Syd sighs, "I'm so sorry. Let's think of a way to bury this asshole with his own actions somehow."

Rune just squeezes her shoulder and sits on the barstool beside her.

"I think we need to tell Dad about this," I say while I sprinkle pecans over our yogurt, and then hand Rune a bowl, "I'm not up for speaking to Mom, but you can, Syd if you want to."

"No," Syd folds up the letter and puts it back in the journal, "Gunnar's yelling at me enough already via text. I don't need to listen to her histrionics right now."

I nod in agreement and go into the office to make my call. Dad picks up on the second ring.

"We've convinced your mother to speak to the police," he says without preamble, "I was just going to call you. Rune's father is setting us up with a lawyer from his Los Angeles office as well."

"Wow, that's great," I say, relieved as I sit in front of my large monitor and turn it on, "What changed her mind?"

"Several things," Dad admits, "seeing Nils's image on one of the gossip sites already last night, then Franklin sending a new warning before we got on the phone with Rune's father. The man's smart, he laid out the case for fighting back very persuasively."

"I know what Mom's afraid Franklin will make public," I rush out before I can lose my nerve, "We found a letter from Theo about it."

"Oh," Dad pauses for a long time before saying, "I imagine that could be helpful."

"I think so," I tell him, "It's shocking but understandable under the circumstances. Do you want me to photograph it and send it to you?

"Please, Shelby, and tell Rune your mother is interested in being interviewed by the podcast."

**

Lorelei and Nils are downstairs when I come back into the kitchen. Lorelei has brought Butterscotch back to spend the morning with us while they go and run errands.

"Dad says we'll be back after lunch, so text us if you need anything," Lorelei says brightly, happy to be escorting her handsome new friend she doesn't know yet is her brother. I hope she's not too upset when she finds out the truth.

"Shells, I think we should just sign the barn over to Gunnar and Rune," Syd says after the kids have run out the front, excited to be going off to find Rune a birthday present.

"You're not going to let Gunnar design your dream home in it?" Rune asks, starting to collect up his laptop along with my Horse Girls folder.

"Where are you going? I thought we were going to brainstorm?" I ask, confused, hoping he won't escape now that we're finally ready to focus, "Oh and before I forget, Dad says Mom is interested in being interviewed by the podcast."

"Oh wow, one of Mom's favorite one-eighties," Syd snorts.

"Okay, good. But let's go on the back deck. I'll feel less like Franklin's closing in on me there," he tells us, also picking up his coffee.

"Amen, let's do it," Syd sighs, "Rune, Gunnar's never going to speak to me again other than public niceties, so building a house for me in the barn is mute," she tells him as we move outside and get situated.

"Give him some time," Rune tells her, "He's in a particularly bad place right now."

"What time is Jenna supposed to be here," I ask, remembering we still have that awkwardness to deal with, as I lay Theo's letter out on the big wooden outdoor table to photograph.

"Sometime around eleven," Rune says, sitting on the couch next to me.

"I'll make a note in my calendar so I can disappear while she's here," Syd says, typing into her phone.

"Probably wise," Rune agrees, as we all open our laptops.

It's a beautiful, clear, sunny, and even a little warm morning. If it weren't for the fact that a madman is trying to destroy us with gossip, my mother isn't speaking to me, the crazy awkward reveal of Nils's surprise paternity, and an angry former fiancée coming over soon it would be the perfect morning.

"Rune, you're doing a good job for someone who loathes social media," Syd tells him as she studies his Instagram feed.

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"That's all Seashell," Rune admits, "I don't mind it as much if it can be about something other than me simply existing."

"I think your idea of focusing on raising money for these rescue horses is brilliant," Syd says as she starts flipping through my sample calendars, "Can we go take video of them soon to create stories with?"

"Stella has her hands full over the weekend, but I bet we could go out on Tuesday," Rune tells her.

"Don't you want to take Nils someplace to finish your vacation?" I ask, surprised.

"Trying to kick us out of your love nest?" Syd teases.

"Of course not," I say, my face heating, "it's your house too…"

"I'm teasing Shells, I think it would be better if we stay here and let Nils get to know Gunnar a bit since he's got to start a new school soon in Seattle, and we've got all this crazy hanging over our heads."

The hours melt by as I walk them through where I'm at with the crowdsourcing campaign, and we brainstorm ideas. A little before eleven, Rune takes Butterscotch next door with him to wait for Jenna. My followers and likes have jumped exponentially now that I've been outed as the girlfriend of a celebrity. Most of them, I'm sure, are looking for possible photos of Rune to swoon over.

It's tempting to go down rabbit holes reading both the positive and negative comments filling my feed. We've been weighing the pros and cons of shutting them off. It would be better for our mental health, but there's also a chance we can keep an eye on what Franklin's strategy is. We're sure Pamela's sending people to say nasty things on our accounts.

"Do you want an iced tea now?" I ask, standing up and stretching, my body sore from sitting too long.

"I'd love it," Syd says, not looking up.

I slip into the house and fill a pitcher with ice while the tea water boils. Life is so strange. Here I am in the best romantic relationship of my life, looking forward to bed tonight yet still freaked out by the lies Franklin's churning out.

I'm lost in thought as I move through the laundry room when I glimpse Jenna through the screen door coming up the stairs at the back of the deck. Her face is red with emotion. Suddenly, life switches to slow motion. With a shock I realized Jenna's running towards my unsuspecting sister.

"Syd, behind you!" I shout. Unfortunately, Syd looks at me. Before I can yank the screen door open, Jenna has slammed into her, shoving her hard between the shoulders with one hand and sending her laptop skittering with the other.

As I burst through the door, Syd's head slams against the heavy wooden table. Her laptop skids across and careens into the deck railing before flipping over the side.

"You fucking stole my life," Jenna screams at Syd, "you ruined everything!"

Without thinking I dash the whole pitcher of tea and ice at Jenna's face. This stuns her long enough for me to toss the pitcher aside, grab the front of her sweatshirt, and push. I speed walk forward, propelling her backward across the width of the deck. With this momentum, I somehow manage to hold her upright as we go down the stairs. I skip forward and she stumbles backwards until we hit the ground. I use all of the built-up force to heave her sprawling butt down on the grass.

"What are you doing?" Jenna's friend Kim is running up to us, but I realize she's yelling at Jenna, not me. Her face is white with shock, "Oh my God! Jenna, you just assaulted someone."

"And she assaulted me!" Jenna snarls as she staggers up, pointing at me with one hand and wiping her wet face with the other, "And you're a witness. Her fucking sister deserves it; she destroyed everything."

Kim and I are both staring at Jenna in amazement. I'm wondering if an alien took her over. Where's the hyper, constantly optimistic person she was before? It's obvious she hasn't slept much. Dark circles rim her eyes, and her hair could use a wash.

"Quick! Find Rune at the other house," I tell Kim over Jenna's continued ranting. She nods warily, obviously afraid to leave me alone with this new crazy Jenna. But Syd is coming down the stairs, holding the back of her hand to her lip.

"We've got this," Syd sniffs. The two of us have several inches and pounds on Jenna. Kim nods runs off, leaving us to deal with Jenna's loud litany of complaints.

**

The next few hours blur by as I take Syd to urgent care. Fortunately, she doesn't have a concussion but did need a few stitches in her lip, which put her in an extremely unhappy mood.

By the time we get home (after a quick stop for the milkshake Syd was craving because we missed lunch and her mouth is too sore to chew), we can see Gunnar's truck in his driveway. Jenna's SUV is in front of our house, fully loaded, so she's still here.

"Shit," Sydney swears for both of us as we exit the car, her voice is a little muffled because she's holding an icepack to her lip to keep the swelling down.

Inside, Jenna, Rune, and Kim are at the dining room table, with Gunnar glowering from where he's leaning against the kitchen bar.

"You'll be lucky if I don't sue your young, very skinny ass," Sydney growls at Jenna as she stalks past into the kitchen. We all watch warily as my sister opens the fridge and takes out a bottle of rose with a flourish.

Jenna is still defiant but tear-stained and starting to fold in on herself a little. Interestingly, Gunnar reddens slightly under Syd's gaze as if the age gap between he and Jenna is only now dawning on him.

"We're working on a solution with Gunnar's lawyer if you're open to hearing it," Rune says as he glances over the notes Kim hands him.

"First, let me have a drink, and tell me where Nils is," Syd says, pouring herself a glass of wine, "Anyone else need one?"

"I do," I say, and get more glasses since Rune wants one too. Both Jenna and Kim shake their heads.

"The kids are in the barn working on a couple of projects," Gunnar tells Syd, "I'd kill for a beer."

While Syd finds a beer, I pour Rune and I glasses of wine and offer Kim and Jenna more tea. As angry as I am, I've been raised to be a good hostess. Plus, Kim doesn't deserve to suffer because her friend, her boss, or whoever Jenna is to her is a total idiot.

"So, catch us up," Syd says, scooting onto the kitchen bar chair next to Gunnar as she hands him his beer.

"If it works for you, Syd," he says, "in exchange for not being sued, Jenna will sign a non-disclosure agreement about what happened today and anything regarding our families and any of the shenanigans Franklin and his team are up to."

"Sounds excellent," Syd toasts us all with her wine glass before taking a long sip, "good job team."

"I still think you should all have to sign that you won't use my reality show idea," Jenna grumbles, but to the table, not looking anyone in the eye.

"Jenna," Rune says tiredly, standing up and rubbing his eyes before he comes over to kiss my forehead as I hand him his wine, "We've been over this. Your idea for a reality show is based on places and skill sets that aren't yours."

"I thought you owned the farm on your own," Jenna says to Gunnar with a mulish expression on her pretty face, "that the show would be good for your business and launching mine."

"Don't put this on me, Jen," Gunnar says sharply, starting to pace, "I was clear about the farm, but you didn't listen. Plus, your crazy, secretive actions put my daughter's life in danger," Gunnar tells her sharply, his well-built arms now folded across his chest, "who knows what would have happened if Shelby and Rune hadn't swung into action."

"Fine," Jenna huffs, still not looking at him, "the sooner I can sign it and leave here, the better. Am I allowed to go outside to get some air since you've got my phone, keys, and hotel room card?"

"Sure," Rune tells her, "just don't go far."