Come Back Around

by BA Tortuga

  “Tomorrow. I wanted a day to breathe before they came.” She gave him a sideways grin. “Elena frets.”

  “She does. Did she make your cake?”

  “She did. It’s in pieces, ready to be assembled with the help of a baker the wedding planner got. Mason is amazing.”

  “Are ’Uelita and Pop-Pop coming, Daddy?”

  “I have no doubt.” There was no question that he was going to be the bad guy throughout this whole wedding. “Don’t wake up your sister, Luce.”

  “Okay.” She sang to herself, but softly enough he didn’t stop her. God, he was tired already.

  “Hey.” Jennifer put a hand on his leg. “Thank you. I know this is hard.”

  “Yeah.” She didn’t know, though. As dismissive as he was about Mat in public, deep down Reid still loved that man with everything he had in him. It hurt all the way to his toes.

  And now Mat wanted to take his babies. They were all he had left.

  The thought born from desperation wasn’t fair to Mat, and he knew it. They were Mat’s kids too, but Mat had his real family. Mat was married to that office, period. It was the reason he’d lost everything. Hell, half the time Mat didn’t even make his visitation, and all of the sudden the bastard wanted to share custody?

  At least he worked from home, right? And in the last year Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma had picked him up. That was a coup, but it had also resulted in a schedule increase. So he’d needed help. So not a crime. The kids had clearly told Mat about the nanny, because then the papers had arrived….

  He’d panicked and run, taking the girls to Florida to visit their grandparents, to be somewhere someone had his back, completely. One week had turned to a month, and then…. Somehow the visit had gone on and on. Hell, he’d still be there if it hadn’t been for the wedding, completely frozen.

  This part of Western Colorado was beautiful, though, and if he stayed out of Mat’s path, maybe he could get some inspiration for the new line he was in talks with Target over….

  Aspen leaves were something else, right? Something lacy and wonderful.

  “Earth to Reid….”

  “What?” He blinked over at Jen, and suddenly he could see how happy she was.

  “You do remember you’re driving, right? The turnoff is just up ahead.”

  “Oh. Right. Sorry. I was somewhere else.” He slowed down and turned into a road marked Leaning N Ranch Road.

  That was nice, he guessed, having your own road. Mat’s parents had that outside Santa Fe. Mat’s mama’s people had been there forever, so they were on Viejo de la Torres Road.

  His folks lived in a little condo with a pool, and card games in the common room every afternoon. Both girls were ready to head back home.

  Maybe the ranch would be a nice change. There would be other kids too. Both families had tons of cousins for the girls to play with.

  Reid intended to spend his time in his room, hiding. Reading. Sketching. Working, not hiding. He was no coward.

  God.

  “Oh, Lucia, look! Elk!” Jennifer pointed out the window, and Lucia squeaked.

  “Daddy! Daddy, look!”

  At the sound, Daniela startled awake and started crying.

  Lord, three was hard.

  “Shhh, baby. We’re almost there. Look out the window, huh? There’s elk.” A whole damn herd. Crazy.

  “Cows?” She sniffled softly. “Cows, Daddy?”

  “Yes, baby. Cows.” They called female elk cows, didn’t they? Jennifer shushed Lucia, so no one got started crying again.

  “Moo, Daddy.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Moo-ooo-ooo.”

  That earned him a soft giggle. Yay. Just a startled cry, then.

  “Aunt Jenny, is Uncle Alej here?”

  “He is. He came in with your papi.”

  Reid sighed. Here it went.

  “Papi? He’s here? Yay! Yayayayayayay.” Lucia bounced in her car seat, and sure enough, Daniela began to cry again.

  He parked the SUV, and then turned to find a smile for Jen. “Can you find out what cabin we have, please? The girls need some time out of the car.”

  “You bet.” She gave him a gentle smile in return, and a knowing one too. Then she fled.

  “Would you like to get out of the car? You both have to promise to be good. This is a parking lot with cars.” Hell, it was beautiful, but it didn’t seem terribly little-girl-friendly.

  “Okay. I promise,” Lucia said immediately.

  Dani hiccupped. “Papi? I want Papi.”

  “I don’t know where he is, baby.” God dammit.

  “Daddy, please! We’ll be so good—me and the baby.”

  “Okay….” This was a mistake.

  As soon as he opened the car door, Dani started screaming. “Papi! Papi, I here!”

  “Daniela Louisa!”

  As soon as he snapped, Luce started tearing up. “She’s not being bad, Daddy. She’s not.”

  His head was going to explode. Boom. He reached for Dani, but someone shouldered him out of the way, someone who wore a denim shirt and gabardine trousers and smelled like Grey Flannel.

  “Papi!” Dani’s voice was pure, wild joy. “My Papi.”

  He understood. Reid missed him too.

  “Hey, baby girl. I got you.” Mat lifted Dani out of the car. “Oh, mi’ja. Hi.”

  “Daddy?” Luce looked from him to Mat and back. “Can… can I say hi to him too?”

  God, this was breaking his heart.

  “Of course, baby. He’s your papi. I bet he’s missed the fire out of you.”

  “I did.” A flash of those dark brown eyes was all he got, but it was enough to make his heart pound. “Come here, Lucia, and hug me, huh?”

  Dani was clinging to Mat like a monkey, refusing to let go, even as Reid let Luce out of her car seat. Luce ran around to hug her papi, her little arms holding him tight.

  “You smell so good.” Mat was all choked sounding.

  “Daddy buyed us strawberry bubbles for our bath at Aunt Jenny’s!” Luce laughed. “Did you know she was gonna get married?”

  “I did. To Tío Alejandro. Did you know that?”

  All Reid could do was stand there and watch and listen, his heart crumbling to his feet all over again. He felt… he felt like an ass for making Dani cry this way just from seeing Mat. Or not seeing him. And he wanted to hit Mat right on the nose.

  “Reid, honey? You’re in cabin 4B. There’s a place for the girls to….” Jen stopped short, staring at Mat. “Mateo. Hey. It’s good to see you.”

  “Hey, honey.” Mat dragged the girls forward so he could kiss Jen’s cheek, like he had a right to. “Good to see you.”

  “Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Traitor.

  He didn’t say it because he didn’t mean it, but he felt like the outsider here.

  Then Jen turned to him, holding out a hand. “Come on. There’s a duplex of sorts. You’re on one side here….” She led him to a bunkhouse-type cabin with four doors leading out to little porches, all connected.

  “Oh, it’s lovely, thank you.” He went to take Dani back from Mat. “Come on. Let’s go potty and explore, girls.”

  “Papi?” Luce sounded miserable.

  “I’m right next door.” The irony in Mat’s voice was lost on Luce, but not on Reid. Mat did hand Dani over, though, which was a relief. “Once you get cleaned up, you can come tell me all about Florida.”

  “Next door?” He shot Jen a look.

  “There’s a shared covered porch, a sandbox and a play area in the back….”

  “Daddy! Let me in so I can see our room?”

  “Papi come too?” Dani asked. “Please?”

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  “Okay, kiddo.” Mat said it too easily, too damn gleefully.

  “Yay!” Dani smiled at Reid, kissed his cheek. “Love you, Daddy.”

  “I love you, angel girl. Come on. Let’s go potty before I make Aunt Jenny unload the car.”

  Sh
e laughed out loud, backing away. “That’s what cowboys are for.”

  Mat scooped up Luce, following him. “She has a point. They’re crazy efficient here.”

  He nodded and took Dani in, finding the bathroom before she had an accident. There was a huge tub, a ton of natural light—he could relax here.

  Ha. Right.

  “Can you manage, baby?” he asked her.

  “Uh-huh. Leave the door open?”

  “I will. Holler when you’re done.”

  “Okay.” Like Luce in the car, she sang to herself, and he had to smile. Such good babies.

  “…Disney every day, and we made a book with stories to give to you when we got home. We love Granny and Pappy, but we missed you and good tacos.”

  “I missed you too, but Mickey Mouse is pretty cool.”

  He closed his eyes, letting the utter normalcy of Mat and Luce chitchatting wash over him. It was false, of course, but for a moment he could pretend.

  One day, he told himself. One day this wouldn’t hurt so goddamn much.

  “Can I see your house too, Papi?”

  “I think you should go wash up with Hermanita, huh? She might need help. Then you can come.”

  “Okay.” She kissed Mat on the cheek and then ran to the bathroom. “Hurry, Dani! I gotta pee too!”

  He and Mat stood there, looking at each other. Full-on. Staring.

  They hadn’t been in the same room in almost two years.

  Reid thought he’d just pass out. There wasn’t enough air, and it had nothing to do with altitude. He lived almost a thousand feet above Santa Fe….

  “I think we adjoin. The kids can come back and forth without going outside.” Mat sounded like he’d swallowed a frog.

  “They… they’ll love that.” He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t manage to think. He needed a Coke.

  “Okay. Well, should I wait, or—” Mat put a hand on his belly, grimacing.

  “Do you need some milk?” The question was out before he could stop it.

  “I do.” The fact that Mat didn’t deny it surprised him.

  “I have some here in the girls’ bag. It’s in a thermos.” He dug it out and handed it over.

  “Thanks.” Mat wouldn’t look at him now, but took the milk and drank it down.

  “Papi! You drinked my milk!” Dani’s utter shock made him chuckle. It was almost like he’d kicked her puppy.

  “I have more in my fridge. My tummy was bubbly.” Mat reached out to stroke her hair.

  “Oh. You can have it.” She grabbed Mat and kissed his belly. “Better now, my own Papi?”

  “All is right with my world now I have you, baby.” Mat picked her up to twirl her around. “Want to come see my room?”

  “Uh-huh. Daddy?” Dani held her hand out imperiously. “Bring Sister.”

  Reid blinked. This wasn’t…. They weren’t one big happy family. Mat never said a word, though, did he? He just took Dani off across the main room.

  He didn’t know whether to follow Dani or wait for Luce. He swallowed hard, trying not to panic. Where would Mat go?

  It was like the first time they met in a parking lot at the Whole Foods when Mat had moved out. When his babies rode away, he’d had the first panic attack of his life. It wouldn’t be the last.

  He waited, because Luce was still washing her hands. He heard the water running madly. She’d better not flood the bathroom.

  “Come on, Lucia. I’m waiting.”

  “Sorry, Daddy. I was all icky from the car.” She wandered out of the bathroom, her hair all sticking up and wet, her hands and face still damp.

  “Look at you.” He smiled, because she was so pretty, dark like her papi. Dani was her opposite—pale and blue-eyed, just like him.

  “Where’s Papi and ’Nita?”

  “They went to his place. Come on, we’ll find it.” There had to be a door or something. He would drop Luce off and come back to yell at Jen for all this. Which, not, because she was the bride and this was her week, but damn.

  “Okay!” Luce took his hand. “I like it here. It’s pretty.”

  “It is.” Reid felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole.

  “You okay, Daddy? You look sad.”

  “Don’t I always look sad, goofy girl?” He had a face like a hound dog.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, there you go.” They found their way over to the other side of the shared wall, and Mat’s cabin was more like a studio. Nice, though. Very nice.

  “Luce wanted to come over.” He stood at the door, not sure whether or not to come in.

  “Cool.” Mat made an expansive wave, so he guessed that meant he was allowed.

  Luce watched him for a second before letting go of his hand to see what her baby sister was doing. Dani was sitting on the big bed, opening a bag.

  “Pressies, Sister!”

  “For us, Papi?” Luce looked at Mat like he was pure magic.

  “Yep. Flower girls work hard. They need pampering.”

  Luce ran to jump on the bed, squealing.

  “You spoil them.” It wasn’t a complaint really; Mat worked constantly.

  “I have to.” Mat shrugged. “I only get so much time.” It didn’t come out as an accusation, like he expected. Just a resigned statement.

  “You’re married to the office. That’s hard.”

  “You took them to Florida.”

  Like he didn’t know that. He’d been wrong. How many thousand things had Mat done wrong that no one ever once brought up because he was the golden boy?

  “You threatened to take me to court again, you bas—” He’d only gotten his shit together, finally. He’d managed to not be the loser Mat thought he was, and that was when Mat wanted to turn his world upside down again? He didn’t think so. His girls were his entire world. Mat’s world was that law office. He turned to go. “Girls, I’ll be on the porch. Supper is going to be soon with Aunt Jenny.”

  “Okay, Daddy! Look, a purple kitty!” Luce did love a purple cat.

  “It’s almost like he’s your papi or something, silly girl.”

  Her giggles followed him out on the porch, where he slumped into a big wooden chair so he could close his eyes. Jesus.

  Please, God. Please, let me make it through this wedding in one piece.

  Chapter Four

  MAT took the girls to supper, even though all he wanted to do was stuff them in his SUV and run.

  Fuck, it was good to hold them and listen to them laugh.

  At dinner, though, they swarmed over Alejandro, leaving Mat nothing to do but eat his amazing mashed potatoes and watch Reid.

  Reid didn’t eat a bite; he just drank a glass of pinot and sat back in the corner, texting someone. Who? A new lover? Why hadn’t Reid brought the new guy here?

  He needed to eat. Reid looked pale and tired. Damn it.

  Jennifer sat down next to him. “God, those look good.”

  “You want some? There’s an enormous bowl.” He had a feeling the chef, Geoff, loved special requests.

  “I’m not allowed to eat until after the ceremony. Elena will kill me if I don’t fit in my dress.”

  “Not allowed to eat?” That seemed barbaric. “Man, I’m glad I didn’t have to wear a dress.”

  “Yeah, it’s overrated, this dress thing. Alejandro is loving the attention from his nieces.”

  “They adore him.” He met her pretty green eyes. “Thanks for getting them here.”

  “Reid never once suggested that they not come.”

  “Did he know I would be here, though?” He laughed, but it sounded hollow to his own ears. “Don’t. I know he had to. It’s Alejandro’s wedding too. I’m just being an ass. I could sneak you a granola bar later.”

  She began to chuckle; then that turned into laughter. He shot her a look, and she opened her purse. In it were three granola bars—one with Lucia’s name, one with Daniela’s, and the third with Reid’s.

  “Well, your people love you, kiddo.” He winked at her, laughing hel
plessly too.

  “You all do. No question.” She closed her purse and snuck a bite of his potatoes. “Are y’all going to let Patricia eat him?”

  “What?” His mama would never do that. He widened his eyes hugely, going for innocent, which he knew wouldn’t work. “I might let her chew a bit, just for keeping things from me.”

  “Huh?”

  Now he turned serious. “He got a nanny, Jen. Full-time. He’s supposed to disclose stuff like that. His custody depends on him having more time to take care of them. You know that’s the only reason I didn’t fight harder for at least split time.”

  “So he was supposed to turn Pottery Barn down? Williams Sonoma? Come on now, after you ragged his ass and accused him of being worthless? He’s been busting his ass doing everything.”

  “I never said he was worthless. Not once.” He was grinding out the words through gritted teeth, but he knew what he’d said. “When he accused me of avoiding him and the kids by working too much, I told him if he worked harder maybe I could stay home more. Sue me.”

  “Hey.” A hand landed on his shoulder and Jennifer’s. “Y’all stop it. This wedding isn’t about me. I’ll see you at the rehearsal, honey. I’m going to put the girls to bed.” Reid kissed Jennifer’s head. “Night, honey. I love you.”

  “Night.” Jennifer gave him a tiny smile. “Sorry, Mat. I’ll get out of your hair.”

  He pushed his potatoes toward her. “No, I have work to do. Have at ’em.” He wanted to catch the girls and kiss them good night.

  She started to argue, but the girls were already on the move, Reid talking hard to them. Hell, he had to put on a burst of speed to catch up, and honestly he didn’t want Reid telling the girls he wasn’t coming or something.

  “…and after bath time, I’ll see if Papi can come and read us a book, give nighttime sugars, okay? He needs to finish his supper or his belly will hurt.”

  Oh. He stopped dead, not wanting the kids to see he’d been trailing them. That was really decent. Seriously.

  “Can we sleep in Papi’s bed?” Luce asked. “Please?”

  “If Papi says it’s okay, but he might have to work. You remember that, okay, and don’t give him trouble about it.”

  “Okay.” They went right up the stairs to take their baths, and Mat knew he was going to have to let them sleep with him. There was no way he was disappointing them tonight.