She nudged her shoulder against his in silent comfort. Reeve had given up dreams of the police academy to become a security guard at KTU—because that had been the only way the Holders could afford to support Victoria’s dream. The discount, some help from their uncle, Reeve’s work, and the grants Victoria had managed to secure all made school possible without too much debt.
“His aunt’s a cop too,” he continued in the same voice, “apparently it’s a family thing.”
Natalie raised her beer thoughtfully, giving herself a little more time to mull over the words as she swallowed a healthy mouthful. “Maybe if things work out they can help you get on the force.”
Reeve shot her an unamused glare. She raised her hands defensively. “Look, she won’t be at school forever and you’re still young. Maybe you can take a few courses while you’re here, too. I know KPD requires a certain amount of college hours. The pay is decent, better than you’d get in a smaller town.”
His glare softened as he turned back to watch his sister and her new boyfriend. “Maybe,” he conceded.
Natalie smiled to herself, distractedly pulling her cell phone from her pocket when it vibrated. The display indicated a new message from Adam. She slid the bar of the notification to read the message.
‘Hey, Natalie! Happy Thanksgiving. Sorry to bug you, but Maddie was wondering if it would be alright to give her your number?’
She smiled at the first part but swallowed involuntarily at the rest. Her heartbeat picked up and she felt warm. Her body’s stupid attraction to Brittney’s mom was embarrassing and aggravating at the same time, but it wasn’t Maddie’s fault.
No, it certainly wasn’t Maddie’s fault that she took care of her body and took pride in tastefully showing it off.
“Are you sexting? You’ve got a weird look on your face.”
Reeve’s amused voice made her cheeks heat.
“Gah, no, Reeve.” She fidgeted with her phone as she avoided his gaze. “Hey, you and I have been friends for a while now, right?”
“We’re family,” he affirmed as he leaned forward to set his beer down on the coffee table. “What’s up?”
Natalie took a deep breath, inhaling slowly and then letting it out just as slowly. “I know you can keep a secret.” She looked around the living room quickly, noting that Steven was dead asleep on the other couch. “No one ever found out about our thing with Tiva.”
Reeve grinned and Natalie did her best not to roll her eyes. They’d both been flirting with the bartender for months before she’d agreed to date both of them. It had been a unique arrangement, though Reeve’s interest in Tiva had waned long before Natalie’s had.
“Well you can’t stop there,” he intoned curiously, trying to prod her into continuing.
Natalie began peeling the label of her beer bottle. It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, exactly.
“You can tell me, Nat.”
The nickname made Natalie’s lips twist. “I have a problem.”
Next to her, Reeve straightened. His expression became serious, a furrow appearing between his eyebrows.
“Brittney’s mom is really fucking hot,” she blurted out.
The serious expression on Reeve’s face cracked. He stared at her incredulously—and then burst into raucous laughter.
Several feet away on the long couch, Steven began to stir. Natalie punched Reeve hard in the solar plexus, pleased when his laughter became a wheezing chuckle.
Natalie glared at him as he tried to regain control of himself, his hands rising to wipe at the tears that had gathered at the corners of his eyes.
“That, uh,” he gasped out before another laugh escaped, “that uh, sounds like a real problem.”
His expression crumbled as he laughed again.
Annoyed, she responded to Adam’s text in the affirmative since there was no logical reason for her to say no.
It took Reeve another minute to regain full control of himself. Natalie was less than pleased.
She swiped through her phone without looking at him. “You done?”
Reeve cleared his throat and affected a contrite look. “Yeah. Go on.”
Natalie flipped her phone and held the device up for him to inspect. He let out a low whistle once he realized what he was looking at.
“You weren’t kidding,” he said, sounding impressed. His hand came up to take the phone so he could zoom in. The family photo of all three Garrets had been taken at Adam’s behest. “Does she always wear dresses like that?”
“When she’s not working, yeah,” Natalie said softly. “She’s really nice, too. God, and her voice…”
Reeve stared at the image a few beats longer. “Does Brittney know you’re lusting after her mom?”
Natalie shot him a dead-eyed look. “What do you think? I’m trying to get it under control. It’s not like I pick when this happens.” She sullenly crossed her arms. “Stupid biological responses.”
“Well, you can’t really distance yourself from her, which never fucking works anyway. Just stay cool and hang out. I’m sure you’ll get over it. You did get over me, after all.”
Natalie snorted. “Don’t flatter yourself. You might be pretty, but you’re not that pretty.” Despite her snarky words, she was smiling.
“You know just how to compliment a gal,” Reeve squeaked out in a falsetto voice as he batted his eyelashes. Dropping the act, he leaned forward to grab his beer and simultaneously backhand her leg. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. If you need to talk more, buy me a six-pack first. Still cheaper than a shrink.”
She laughed, strangely at ease despite the fact that nothing had changed. Reeve was pretty down-to-earth and his lighthearted response made her feel better. Being attracted to Maddie was no big deal. It didn’t mean anything.
Her phone buzzed and she flicked the message open. It was an unknown number but the sender was hardly a mystery.
‘Happy Thanksgiving, Natalie. Adam went ahead and gave me your number. I just wanted to personally wish you well, and I thought it was best we had each other’s numbers just in case.
-Maddie’
She balefully ignored how sweaty her palms had gotten and managed to tap out a polite response. The front door opened as she hit ‘send’, derailing the likelihood of overthinking the simple exchange.
“Oh man, you guys don’t know how many people I had to fight for this whipped cream! I swear I can’t trust that bum son of mine with anything!”
Both Natalie and Reeve stood up from the couch like they’d been caught doing something bad. They relaxed; Steven had been in charge of picking up the pies the previous day and, of course, he’d forgotten the most important addition.
Steven’s dad bustled into the kitchen, a thick hand holding up a tub of the light, creamy treat triumphantly. “One of those soccer mom types kicked me in the shin to try and get this.”
Pops offered everyone in the kitchen a large grin, his white teeth peeking out from his coarse greying beard. “Natalie, get the pumpkin pie out. Reeve, go dump some cold water over my slug of a son.”
“You need me to do anything, Pops?” Victoria stood from her stool as Natalie and Reeve scurried off to complete their appointed tasks.
“You can get out the plates if you like.” Pops paused and brought a paw-like hand up to rub at his beard. “Deacon, you’re more than welcome to take one for your aunt. It’s a shame she was on duty today.”
Deacon’s teeth glinted as he smiled. “Thanks, Mr. Holder, I know she’ll appreciate it. Usually, she just gets pizza or something.”
The large man narrowed his hazel eyes at Deacon. “Call me Pops or just Sean; any friend of Victoria’s is family to me.”
Deacon’s smile widened. “I’ll go with Pops to avoid confusion. Steven was telling me about you earlier and couldn’t remember your real first name.”
Pops rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s my fault. I might have dropped him one too many times as a baby.”
“Well that explains
a lot,” Natalie chimed in as she arranged the pies on the counter. That done, she retrieved the pie knives and a spoon to serve up the dessert.
“Stop lying, Dad,” Steven said with a yawn as he stepped into the kitchen. “Mom always said he was too scared to hold me as a baby.”
The assembled group all paused to stare at Pops as he looked elsewhere. He cleared his throat. “That was after I dropped you the first three times.”
Steven’s mouth dropped open as everyone else laughed.
Natalie shook her head and cut into the first pie. She carefully scooped the heavy piece up, set it on a plate, and then hefted a spoonful of whipped cream on top. With a flourish, she offered it to Pops.
She’d never tell Steven that Pops had been joking, having heard the real story of Pops’s fears before. Reeve attempted to scoop some whipped cream up with his finger. Natalie smacked his hand away repeatedly, only giving up when she’d served her own dessert.
It wasn’t until she was sitting on the couch, Reeve and Pops on either side, that she allowed herself a moment to bask in the comfort of being surrounded by family.
With a secret smile, she took her first bite.
Chapter Six
Natalie shifted her position on the couch, letting out a tired yawn as she checked her phone for messages. She was grateful that Pops had sent her home with a loaded plate of leftovers the previous day—she’d needed the homemade meal after a long day listening to Jimmy complain at work.
A message from Brittney made her smile. They’d texted off and on over the holiday, and Natalie was looking forward to seeing her in Sage Falls the following day.
‘Hey, could you do me a favor?’
‘Yeah, sure,’ she tapped out quickly. She dropped her phone to her lap as she waited for a response.
The apartment was quiet with both of her roommates out, and she was enjoying the silence. Her phone buzzed after a minute, pulling her from her post-food stupor.
‘Do you think you could come down tonight instead of tomorrow?’
Natalie stared at the message as if it were written in another language. She and Brittney were friends, but they didn’t really do sleepovers.
‘Any particular reason why?’ She nibbled at her bottom lip before sending the message. She liked hanging out with Brittney but wasn’t sure spending the night with the Garrets was a good idea.
‘Idk. My parents were being really annoying yesterday but apparently my mom’s best friend in college was gay. I was thinking it might be time.’
Brittney didn’t have to say more, though Natalie was curious about how the subject had come up. She typed out a quick ‘I’ll leave soon’ and stood.
She checked the time on her phone. It was still pretty early. She could get to the Garret home before ten if she hurried. She looked around as she tried to think of what she would need for an overnight stay, scrambling to get a few things together as quickly as possible.
She scribbled a message on the dry erase board in the kitchen for Reeve. Steven never knew what the hell was going on anyway, but Reeve usually preferred to know if she was going to be out all night.
With backpack packed and her toolbox already stowed in her car, she took a last look around the apartment before heading out. She enjoyed driving, and yet couldn’t help but feel a little anxious on Brittney’s behalf.
Things had been hectic the last few weeks as finals drew closer and more essays and projects were due, and they’d only managed to hang out a handful of times before Thanksgiving break.
She buckled her seatbelt and turned the ignition, flicking to a random playlist as she settled into her car. Reeve had asked her before if she regretted being Brittney’s sole support. The truth was she didn’t mind at all. Focusing on helping Brittney was keeping Natalie from getting involved with anyone new, something she’d needed after her last failed attempt at a serious relationship.
With a determined grunt, Natalie backed her car from its space.
*****
The white credits against the black background made Maddie release a pleased sigh. She turned to ask Adam what he’d thought of the movie, only to stop and smile. His head was tilted back on the couch, eyes closed, and lips just slightly parted as he slept.
Near the beginning of the movie, Brittney had placed a pillow on Adam’s lap when she discovered they were watching something she liked. Her head was half-turned towards Adam’s stomach as she slept.
Maddie’s smile widened as she grabbed her phone and took a quick picture. She quietly placed it back down as she considered her options. Normally she’d wake them and tell them both to go to bed, but instead she resolved to let them sleep a little longer.
Natalie was due to arrive in a while. A nap would do Brittney some good before her guest arrived.
Maddie rose up from the couch with a stretch, stiff after sitting for so long. She picked up the blanket she’d been using as she maneuvered around her husband’s legs. Brittney shifted slightly as Maddie tucked it around her.
Unable to resist, Maddie absentmindedly brushed a few loose blonde curls away from her daughter’s sleeping face. The familiar movement gave her pause. It was hard to confront the fact that her baby girl was technically an adult, especially with how young she looked while resting.
As tempting as it was to maintain the contact, Maddie forced herself to pull away. She didn’t want to wake Brittney. She retrieved the remote from the end table to turn off the TV, then swapped it for her empty wine glass.
She turned the lights off as she left the room—save a table lamp that cast a soft orange glow through the living room. She didn’t want Adam or Brittney stumbling around blindly if they were to suddenly wake.
Maddie hummed under her breath as she moved to the kitchen and poured herself a little more wine, softly swirling the contents as she tried to decide what she wanted to do.
She set her wine down. Still somewhat wired from the comedic film, Maddie was glad she’d be awake for Natalie’s arrival. Someone had to be.
With that in mind she pulled a sweater and blanket from the hall closet, tugging the first on and cradling the second as she went back to retrieve her phone and wine.
The porch was her destination of choice, and she stopped only briefly to turn its light on. It was a clear, crisp night and she couldn’t resist the gentle twinkling of the stars or the pale glow of the moon.
She deposited her wine and phone onto a side table, then sat and settled the blanket over her legs. Despite the coldness of both the night and her chair cushion, she was content. She ignored her phone as she sipped her wine and gazed up at the sky.
Her mind drifted aimlessly and she was content to let it do so. She thought of Brittney and college—and just when she’d been reminded of Kaili again, headlights drew her attention to the driveway.
The car slowed and stopped. Maddie smiled when Natalie hopped out of the still running car to approach her.
“Hey, Maddie,” Natalie’s face scrunched up as she gestured back to the driveway. “Uh, where should I park?”
Maddie smiled and nodded towards Adam’s side of the garage. “You can park behind Adam. I have to work early in the morning but he won’t be leaving until after two.”
Natalie nodded her thanks and hurried back to her car, smoothly and neatly parking it behind Adam’s truck. The young woman re-emerged a few moments later, familiar backpack in tow.
As she approached Maddie and the porch again, Maddie held up a hand. “Will you join me for a few moments? Adam and Brittney passed out on the couch a while ago, and I wanted to speak with you. If you don’t mind.”
Natalie swallowed and forced a smile on her face as she tried to decide where to sit. There was a second lounge chair to Maddie’s right, and a padded bench further to the left. Maddie patted the closer lounge chair, and Natalie sighed to herself before sitting sideways on the offered seat.
She wanted to say that Maddie looked silly bundled up in a sweater and blanket, but she found the sight endear
ing. Maddie’s hair was pulled into a loose bun, bangs framing her face attractively. Natalie hugged her backpack to her chest as she waited for Maddie to speak.
“Relax, honey, I just want to talk about Brittney for a bit.” Maddie’s voice was soft and her expression was open. She obviously wanted to put Natalie at ease.
Natalie only relaxed a little. Had Brittney come out already? Or was it about something else?
“What’s on your mind?” Her knees were almost brushing Maddie’s blanket, so she scooted them back as subtly as possible.
Maddie sighed and looked out toward the night sky, a wistful smile on her lips. “I just worry about her.”
Natalie twisted and eased completely back into her chair, her hands relaxing their death grip on her backpack. “You don’t need to worry,” she declared with quiet confidence.
The husky chuckle Maddie released sent a tingle along Natalie’s neck—which she ignored.
“I’m a mother. I can’t help but worry.” Maddie turned her head to regard Natalie.
Natalie’s lips twitched. Though she’d never known her own mother, Reeve’s mom had always treated her like another daughter. She swallowed when a lump attempted to form in her throat. “You raised Brittney well,” she reminded Maddie.
Maddie’s eyes drifted down as she tugged the edge of her blanket. “I hope so.” She looked up. “You seem incredibly put together for a young woman your age. Could you just… look out for her a little?”
“Brittney is more than capable of looking out for herself, but I can do that.” Natalie sucked on her lower lip. “I’ve kinda been doing that anyway. I can step up my game a bit.”
“Oh, please do. When she drove down for Thanksgiving she looked so damn tired. I’m her mother, so she’s inclined to disregard most things I say. You’re her friend; if you tell her she’s studied long enough or she should really remember to eat dinner, she’ll probably listen.” Maddie didn’t seem upset, her words laced with a level of amused self-deprecation.
Meeting Mrs Garret Page 6
