Sage Advice

by Katie Graykowski

  “You never know.” He laughed as he picked up a red dress. “I could totally rock this.”

  “Yes, you could. That red is great next to your skin tone.” Of course, he would probably look fantastic in everything. Oh God, what if her clothes were too big on him? That would be embarrassing.

  “So, fake engagement planner, what’s your plan for today?” She added another pillow under her foot.

  “We’re starting at Zilker Park. You and Noah will be wearing parkas, because we’re pretending it’s winter.” He picked through the clothes.

  “Won’t someone comment on our wearing coats when it’s eighty degrees outside?” Surely someone would notice two famous football players hanging out with a lady dressed in a parka in April. Pierce would need to at least wear a hat and dark glasses to avoid attention.

  “The best thing about Austin is that no one really cares. Sure, people will notice, but do they care enough to comment?” He held up an off-white cotton sundress. “What do you think about this for the Umlauf Sculpture Garden?”

  “It’s very Marilyn Monroe.” It was a beautiful dress. “I hope I don’t spill snow cone on it at Zilker.” She grinned.

  “You won’t.” He shot her an exaggerated frown. “They don’t start selling snow cones until after one on Sundays. We’ll be long gone by then.”

  “You did that on purpose.” She threw a pillow at him.

  “Yes, I did. All of that high-fructose corn syrup and red dye number three is bad for you. I’m just watching out for you.”

  “You’re no fun.” She would have thrown another pillow at him, but she was using all of the other pillows.

  “After Zilker is Umlauf, then the Thinkery, and then the two of you standing outside Stubb’s like you’re waiting to get in to see a concert.” He pulled out a couple of outfits. “I think this one for the Thinkery and this one for waiting in line at Stubb’s.” He held up a denim miniskirt outfit and a shorts and T-shirt outfit.

  “You’re shockingly good at this.” She had no doubt that he’d removed lots of women’s clothing, but she’d had no idea that he’d helped them put it back on too.

  “I have an eye for it. I like nice clothes.” He laid the clothes he’d picked out on the chair in the corner of her room. He checked his watch. “You need to go take a shower. Noah and Debra will be here in thirty minutes for hair and makeup.”

  “Are you worried that these photos will seem staged?” She worked her way to the edge of the bed.

  “No, I’m going to make sure they look casual.” He came over to the bed and put his arm around her. “Let’s get you into the shower.”

  He helped her into the bathroom and slid the garbage bag over her cast. He secured it with the stretchy headbands.

  “You know, if the whole football thing doesn’t work out, you would be great at in-home healthcare.” She waited outside of the shower for him to leave.

  “I didn’t know I had it in me.” He eyed the hem of her sleep shirt.

  “I can get the rest by myself.” They needed boundaries.

  “You’re sure?” He looked like he really wanted to stay and help.

  “Yep, I’m a grown-ass adult. I’ve been showering by myself since elementary school.” Possibly younger than that. All she remembered was a string of nannies caring for her until she was old enough to go to boarding school. When she had kids, or, well, if she was lucky enough to find someone to love and they made the decision to have kids, she was going to give them all of the love she’d wanted.

  “Okay, but I’ll be right outside the door.” Reluctantly, he backed out of the bathroom and closed the door.

  Great. Wonderful. A sexy man was waiting right outside the door while she showered. That wasn’t uncomfortable at all.

  As quickly as she could, she soaped, shampooed, and conditioned. In record time, she was standing on the bath mat, wrapped in her white robe with a towel twisted around her wet hair.

  She hopped her way to the separate tub and sat on the edge.

  Soft knocking started up on the bathroom door. “Need any help?”

  “Nope, I’m good.” She slipped the bag off her foot, eased up onto her crutches, and laid the bag and hair bands out to dry on the side of the tub. She made sure her robe was secured, and then she hobbled to the door and opened it.

  “Good, you’re done. Noah and Debra just got here.” Pierce hefted one of her kitchen chairs. “We’re doing hair and makeup in the bathroom.”

  He set it down, centering it in front of the double sinks to take advantage of the huge mirror covering the wall behind both sinks.

  An hour later, Chloe was riding in the last car on the Zilker Zephyr train. As the kiddie train sped up, wind teased the bit of hair not stuffed inside her stocking cap. Just as Pierce had predicted, no one asked why they were wearing winter coats, hats, scarfs, and gloves. He snapped a bazillion pictures and somehow managed to avoid being recognized and asked for his autograph.

  She and Noah took turns pushing each other on the swing set.

  Noah picked up burgers and lemonade at Shady Grove, and they ate in the parking lot of the Umlauf Sculpture Garden.

  Afterward, they strolled through the garden and took photographs by a copper turtle, standing on one of the many wooden bridges, and posing in front of a sculpture that looked like a giant ball of stainless-steel barbed wire.

  Noah dropped her and Pierce off outside the Thinkery.

  “I love this place.” Chloe was exhausted but exhilarated. The Thinkery was a children’s museum, but it was one of her favorite places on earth. “There’s so much to do here.”

  “Come here often?” Pierce made it sound like they were in a bar.

  “Yes. Although they do look at you strangely if you come without children, so I usually bring a group of my patients here at least once a quarter.” It was more like once a month, but who was counting?

  “I’ve never been here.” He looked around, taking it all in. There was almost as much stuff to do outside as inside.

  “Come on, really? How long have you lived in Austin?” He must be new to the area.

  “Almost ten years.” He smiled down at her. “You look as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.”

  “That’s because with the exception of Disney World, Universal Studios, Six Flags, and SeaWorld, this is the best place on earth. Wait until you see Currents water lab. So fun. We’ll have to come back next month when they have their wood-burning art lab.” Her voice was all high and excited, but she couldn’t help it.

  “You really love it here.” His eyes searched hers, and he leaned into her. It was almost like he wanted to kiss her, but that must have been wishful thinking on her part.

  “An entire museum where you can play with every exhibit … what’s not to love?” She leaned into him ever so slightly, and his head lowered a fraction of an inch.

  “You’re Pierce Rogan.” A man in a Thinkery T-shirt walked toward them, rolling a wheelchair. “I thought your sister might need this.”

  Pierce sighed loudly and whispered, “I hate being famous.”

  He stepped back and the moment was gone.

  “Um …” She really wanted to refuse the wheelchair, but her forearms and armpits hurt from the crutches, and she was tired. “Thank you.” She settled in.

  “Would it be too much trouble to get a picture with you, Pierce?” The man held out his phone to her, and she read his nametag, which said “Rich.”

  Rich must have been new. She didn’t know him, and she knew almost everyone who worked at the Thinkery.

  “No problem.” She took the phone and snapped a couple of pictures.

  “Hey, Chloe,” said a familiar voice from behind her.

  Slowly, she turned the wheelchair around. “Hey, Evan.”

  The seven-year-old boy ran straight for her, and she caught him in a hug. She glanced up to Rich and Pierce. “This is Evan. He’s one of my patients, and sometimes he helps his mom when she works here.” She glanced back at the bo
y. “Isn’t that right, big man?”

  “Yep. Today I’m helping show people around.” His eyes fixed on her wheelchair. “How come you’re in a wheelchair?”

  “I had an accident and broke my foot. Want to sign my cast?” She unzipped her purse and pulled out a purple Sharpie and handed it to him.

  He took the marker and wrote “Evan Colton Latzer” across the front of the cast. “How come no one else has signed it?” he asked.

  “You know how grown-ups are.” Chloe rolled her eyes. “They don’t think of doing really cool things like kids do.”

  “Hey, Rich, sign her cast. Her name’s Chloe.” He handed the marker to Rich.

  “Okay.” Rich signed his first name.

  “I’d like a turn,” Noah called from the curb. “Y’all are crowding my fiancé.”

  Rich’s eyes turned huge. He looked at Noah and then at Chloe and back at Noah. “You’re marrying Noah Hansen?”

  He didn’t sound astonished but more awed.

  “It appears that way.” She hated lying.

  “I didn’t know you were getting married, Chloe. Can I come to the wedding?” Evan was very excited.

  “It’s probably a long ways away, but sure, why not?” She hadn’t counted on lying to her friends. Why did that seem so much worse than lying to total strangers?

  She should have known that some of her friends and possibly even her family would find out. This was harder than she’d thought it would be.

  Chapter 15

  “Want a ride?” Chloe looked at Evan and patted her knees.

  “Saddle up, partner.” Noah grabbed the handles of the wheelchair before Pierce could get to them. It made sense that her fiancé would push her around, but Pierce was getting very tired of watching Noah fawn all over Chloe. He was really starting to hate his best friend. Deep down Pierce knew Noah only felt friendship for Chloe, and vice versa, but that knowledge didn’t help his newfound jealousy over the situation.

  “Are you sure it won’t make your foot hurt?” Evan eyed her lap like he wasn’t sure she was strong enough to hold him.

  “I’ll be fine.” Chloe grabbed him by the waist and set him in her lap.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Pierce didn’t want her to make her injury worse.

  “It’s fine.” She wrapped her arms around the little boy.

  He knew that she counseled children, but she was so good with them. He hadn’t expected that. She probably wanted to have kids too. That would be nice. He wouldn’t mind a couple.

  “Both of y’all hold on.” Noah popped a wheelie with the wheelchair.

  “Oh my God, you’re going to kill them both.” Pierce almost wrenched the wheelchair from him.

  “Tell Uncle Pierce to kindly remove the stick from up his butt.” Noah set all four wheels back on the ground.

  Evan giggled at the butt comment.

  “Does your mom know you’re out here?” Chloe looked down at Evan.

  Pierce could see the love on her face. More than anything in the world, he wanted to see love on her face when she looked at him.

  “Yep. She said I could come say hi to you, but I wasn’t supposed to,” he used his fingers to count off, “talk to strangers, take candy from strangers, leave with strangers, help a stranger find a puppy, or get kidnapped.”

  “That sounds like a good plan. Your mom’s a smart lady.” Chloe leaned into the little boy and stage-whispered, “I think we have two rookies here. They’ve never been to the Thinkery before.”

  “Really?” Evan made that sound like a total impossibility.

  “I’m afraid so.” She hunched her shoulders. “Hard to believe, I know. I think we’re going to have to show them everything. Should we start at the top and work our way down, or at the bottom and work our way up?”

  Evan’s face screwed up like he was really giving it some thought. “Do we have to show them the baby stuff?”

  He sounded so grown up.

  Chloe nodded. “I feel like they need to see it all.”

  “Okay.” Evan nodded. “I think we should start with the …” he gave Chloe a sneaky sidelong glance, “Currents.”

  “Me too.” She waggled her eyebrows at him.

  She’d be a great mom. She’d probably have her kids at the Thinkery every single day. She’d feed them junk food and run around playing with them. The laundry would pile up and dinner would be late, because she’d put having fun with her kids above everything else.

  Pierce smiled to himself. He would have liked that kind of childhood. What kid wouldn’t? And he was willing to bet that she hadn’t had that kind of childhood either.

  “What’s Currents?” Noah leaned down and whispered, “And what are you two not telling me?”

  “You’ll see,” Evan and Chloe said in unison.

  “That doesn’t make me feel better.” Noah pushed the wheelchair through the front entrance.

  “There you are.” A woman with short, blonde hair walked toward them.

  “Hey, Mom.” Evan grinned at his mother. “These two guys have never been to the Thinkery. Chloe and I are going to show them around.” He gave her an exaggerated wink. “We’re starting with Currents.”

  “You should have lots of fun.” The short, perky blonde squatted down beside Chloe’s wheelchair. “Are you okay? I saw you on TMZ this morning.”

  “I’m fine. Just some broken bones in my foot.” Chloe nodded. “Really, I am.”

  “You never mentioned being engaged.” The woman glanced up at Noah. “I didn’t even know you were dating anyone.”

  Chloe wouldn’t make eye contact with her friend. “It was all kind of sudden.”

  She looked at Pierce and then at Noah. “This is Lucy, mother to the fantastic Evan.”

  Lucy stood and shook Pierce’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  He shook it and smiled down at her. “I’m Pierce. Nice to meet you too. Your son is hilarious.”

  She beamed. “Yes, he is.” She turned to Noah and held out her hand. “Nice to meet you also.”

  Noah’s eyes were huge as he stared down at her hand. He swallowed a couple of times and then nodded. “Good.”

  An awkward silence hung heavy in the air as everyone tried to figure out what Noah meant by “good.”

  Lucy dropped her hand. “Okay then, we’re off to the elevator.” She glanced down at her son. “Should we march?”

  Carefully, Evan climbed down from Chloe’s wheelchair.

  “Yes.” The boy started a high-knees, exaggerated march along with his mother. He looked back at Pierce. “March.”

  Pierce had no choice but to march. He hadn’t marched in, well … probably never. He glanced around. No one seemed to care that they were all marching. In fact, a couple of young kids who looked like they had just learned to walk started marching too.

  They marched their way to the elevator. A few of the parents did a double take when they caught sight of Pierce marching and Noah pushing Chloe’s wheelchair, but thankfully no one stopped them or asked for a photo.

  Noah wheeled Chloe into the elevator and held out his hand for Lucy. “Hi, I’m Noah.” His voice was overly loud.

  “I know. I’m Lucy.” She looked up at him like she thought he might be a little slow, and then she took his hand and shook it, but when she tried to let go, Noah held onto her hand.

  He finally looked down and realized he was holding her hand and dropped it.

  “Noah, are you feeling okay?” Chloe looked up at him. “It’s been a long day, so if you want to leave we can.”

  “No, no.” He was sweating profusely. Using the sleeve of his shirt, he wiped his brow. “I’m good.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t look well.” Pierce clapped a hand on his friend’s shoulder and noticed that he was staring at Lucy like he wasn’t sure what exactly to do with her. It was uncomfortable.

  “I’m okay.” Noah wiped his brow again. He looked like he had the stomach flu or something.

  The elevator dinged.r />
  “Actually, I need a bathroom.” Noah practically hurled himself out of the elevator.

  “It’s right over here.” Lucy put her arm around Noah and urged him to the bathroom across from the elevator. “Y’all go ahead. I’ll stay with him.”

  Noah looked completely horrified. “No, I’ll be fine. I’m good by myself. Don’t wait for me.”

  The look on his face implored Pierce to make sure Lucy didn’t stay behind and watch him be sick.

  “He’s good.” Pierce took the handles of Chloe’s wheelchair and pushed her out of the elevator. “He’ll meet us at the exhibit.”

  “Are you sure?” Lucy watched Noah throw the door to the family, single-stall bathroom open. “He looks sick.”

  Pierce plastered a confident smile on his face. “Sometimes he does this. He’s fine.”

  To Pierce’s knowledge, Noah had never been sick. Injured, yes, but never sick.

  Reluctantly, Lucy followed them to the Currents lab.

  Chloe was watching Pierce very closely, so he sent her some Noah-needs-some-space vibes. She nodded that she’d gotten the message. “He’ll be fine,” Pierce said.

  Evan opened a heavy glass door and said, “Welcome to Currents.”

  He slipped off his cowboy boots, slid his feet into one of the pairs of Crocs lined up against the wall, and shoved his arms through the armholes of a long plastic apron.

  Pierce looked around. Kids of all ages were playing in water. Some were playing drums floating in a pool of water while others were using bamboo-flute-looking things to catch water and divert it onto the floor.

  “This looks messy and like so much fun.” He didn’t see any adult-sized Crocs, but there were two adult-sized aprons. He pulled one down and placed it over Chloe and handed the other one to Lucy. He wanted to dig into the lab, but first he needed to check on Noah.

  He leaned down and whispered close to Chloe’s ear, “Why don’t y’all go have some fun. I’ll be right back. I’m just going to check on Noah.”

  “Think he has food poisoning or something?” She looked like she was mentally reviewing everything he’d eaten. “We all ate the same things.”