by K. M. Scott
“Really? I don’t remember your mother even being interested in football.”
He rolled his eyes and laughed. “She went to every home game last year. Every Sunday the team was in town, my mother was right there in my father’s luxury box cheering Killian on. I think she goes to games more often than Tressa, and she’s marrying the guy. You should hear my mother talk about the game, too. She’s all about the stats. I’m telling you. Unless you’ve suddenly become a New York fan, avoid getting into any conversation about football with her. You won’t make it out alive.”
“I bet your sister loves that,” I said, trying to imagine Tressa excited about football or any other sport.
“Tress doesn’t seem to think of him as one of the biggest sports stars in the world,” Ethan said before taking a drink of beer. “To her, he’s just Killian. My father still gets that look in his eyes like he’s his biggest fan and my mother is definitely a super fan of my soon-to-be brother-in-law, but my sister doesn’t seem fazed by all the celebrity stuff that surrounds him.”
“What do think of him?”
With a shrug, Ethan said, “I’m like Tress. He’s just a regular guy around me. I guess it’s pretty cool to say I know the quarterback of the local team and that he’s going to be part of the family. We’ve hung out a few times, and he’s okay. I like him, and he seems to be crazy about my sister, so what more can I ask from the guy?”
The conversation seemed to hit a lull, so I looked around at the near empty apartment we stood in. “So, you’re really moving out of this sweet place? I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Yeah, it’s time. When it was just me, it worked. Even when it was just Summer and me, we had enough room, but once Trooper came along, this place started to feel like we needed more room. A dog deserves a place to run, so the house will be good for that.”
“I remember the day you moved into this apartment. It was the coolest place I’d ever seen. I just had to get something like it.”
He nodded. “Which you did not three months later.”
“Yeah. I guess maybe places like this are good for a certain time in your life and then it’s time to move on.”
Ethan raised his beer into the air to make a toast. “To growing up. We made it through our twenties and lived to tell about it.”
I lifted mine and added, “To good friends.”
He smiled, and as he tipped his bottle to his mouth to take a drink, he said, “To best friends.”
* * *
Diana curled up next to me on the new couch in her living room and kissed me on the cheek. “So tell me how it went with Ethan today. He called me right before you got here and asked if he could come over and see the house. He’s coming over tomorrow afternoon.”
I kissed the top of her head, loving the feel of her soft hair against my lips. “It went okay. No hitting and we had a few laughs.”
Leaning back away from me, she studied my face for a moment. “You look unbruised. Do you think you guys are going to go back to how you were before this all happened?”
I thought about her question and shook my head. “I don’t know. He’s always going to be my best friend. Nothing’s changed for me on that. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things go.”
As I turned on the movie we’d chosen to watch that night, she snuggled up against me again. “I hope you two are close again sometime soon. I’m sure he’s missed you as much as I’ve missed him.”
Diana wasn’t wrong. I had missed Ethan being there to talk to and joke around with. When I left his apartment, I felt like I was leaving part of my life behind. We’d had good times there, and now with him moving out of the city with Summer and Trooper, it felt like a chapter in our lives was ending.
For nearly a decade, we’d been single and taking advantage of everything good and bad the city had to offer. We’d lived hard, partied hard, and enjoyed every damn minute of it.
But now, things were different. Ethan settled down with Summer, got himself a dog, and turned himself into a successful businessman. They’d probably have kids someday soon too. He was no longer the player he’d been.
Neither was I. Life had changed for all of us. Diana had her house with a porch where she liked to sit and watch the sunset and a yard where she’d begun planting a garden. Already, just a couple weeks after first putting the seeds into the ground, tiny green shoots had started to come up out of the ground.
I took my brother’s offer to manage his furniture store, and while it would never feel as exciting as running a club, I went to work every day and tried to imagine myself doing something bigger in the future. Then every night, I drove over to see the woman I loved and we did things like cook dinner and watch movies.
Someday, when I achieved enough that I could offer her more than my time and my love, I’d ask her to marry me. Until then, the life I had with her came with so much that I never thought I’d experience. The family I’d always admired from afar for all those years was now one that thought of me as one of them.
The Stone clan had taken me under their wing for real this time. I wasn’t just Ethan’s best friend now. I was the man in love with Diana.
And I couldn’t imagine a better life when it came to that.
Chapter Twenty
Diana
“Cole, check that I put the dip in the bowl, okay? I didn’t want it to be out for too long in this heat, but I think I forgot to put it out on the kitchen table at all,” I called from the bathroom upstairs.
“Got it! It’s almost time. Are you ready yet?” he yelled back from the bottom of the stairs.
“Almost!”
I looked in the mirror and ran my hand over my face as I checked my makeup. Everything looked good. My parents, Ethan and Summer, and Tressa and Killian would be arriving at any minute, so I wanted to look perfect to officially welcome them to my new house.
My long brown hair hung down over my arms, and the temperatures climbing into the high eighties made tiny beads of sweat form along the back of my neck. Fanning myself, I couldn’t help but focus on the scar on the side of my cheek that ran down to my neck. It had faded over the years, but my gaze zeroed in on it every time I looked at myself in the mirror.
Turning my head, I watched my finger as I dragged it down along the faint line on my face. For so long, it had made me feel ugly and broken. Not now, though.
Now, I didn’t see a scar but proof that I’d survived.
I grabbed a hair tie from my makeup bag and scooped my hair up into a ponytail. Smoothing the hair on the top of my head, I tightened the band until the ponytail hung perfectly down my back. With one last look, I smiled and hurried downstairs to make sure everything was perfect for my housewarming party.
Cole waited for me in the kitchen, and I saw he’d set out the dip just as I’d asked. Standing on my tiptoes, I kissed him sweetly on the lips. “Thank you. How does it all look?”
He slid his hand along my hair and smiled. “Beautiful. I like when you wear your hair up.”
“I’m so nervous. This house is so much smaller than all of theirs, but I want them to like it just as I do.”
Suddenly, I couldn’t remember if I’d watered the garden that morning. “Can you remember if I gave the plants a drink today? I need to check. I’ve been raving about my vegetables coming up this summer, but if they’re all wilted and dead, that will be impossible.”
As I rushed around the kitchen looking for where I’d left the watering can, Cole stopped me and held me still by the shoulders. “Relax. Take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Your family is going to love this place. No, it’s not a mansion or huge estate, but they don’t care about that. All they care about is that you’re happy here. Everything’s going to be great today, so relax. You’ve got this.”
I did as he said and took a deep breath. My therapist had told me not to put too much pressure on myself for this day to be perfect. He’d also reminded me how important it was for me to remember how far I’d come from th
at terrified girl too afraid to leave her hotel room. I sometimes let myself forget how much I’d achieved.
“You’re right. And it’s not like my mother and father and mostly everyone hasn’t seen the place yet. I just want them to see what I see in this house.”
Cole smiled and leaned down to press a kiss onto my forehead. “They will. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be great today.”
I looked up at him and let myself get lost in his dark eyes for a moment. Whenever I felt stressed out or like I might unravel at some small thing, I found calm in his eyes.
“Thank you for being here with me for this. I probably would have gone off the deep end if you weren’t helping. I’m just so excited for them to all be here to see my house and hear my news. I’ve been practically bursting at the seams for the past three days to tell my mother and father.”
“You don’t have to be nervous. They’re going to be so proud of you, like I am.”
I took another deep breath as the sound of a car pulling into the driveway told me the first official guests to my house had arrived. Grabbing Cole’s hands, I squeezed them as my excitement began to take over again.
“They’re here! Is everything out? Of course it is. We’re ready for this, right?” I asked, my thoughts tumbling out of my mouth as soon as they came to me.
“We’re ready.”
I ran to the kitchen window and looked out to see who had gotten here first. My brother and Summer opened the doors to his black Range Rover, and I turned to face Cole. “Ethan and Summer are here!”
My heart racing, I hurried to the front porch and waited impatiently for them as they climbed the steps to join me. I did one more last minute inspection of the area to make sure it looked perfect and then looked up to see them smiling.
I opened my arms and took Summer into them for a hug first. “Welcome to my new house. I’ve got food and drink, and I’m so happy you’re here!”
She embraced me and then stepped back to hold up a big pink gift bag in front of her. “Just wait until you see what we got you for your housewarming. You’re going to love it!”
“Thank you, but you didn’t have to do that. I’m just so thrilled you came to celebrate my new place.”
Summer rolled her eyes and laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous. This is a huge day. That’s why I made sure our gift is right for this occasion. I’m going to take it into the house. Is Cole inside?”
I turned to look through the screen door and saw him waiting inside. He and Ethan had talked a few times since that day they got together at the apartment, but this was the first time they’d be together in person. He didn’t want to admit it, but I knew he wasn’t sure how it would be hanging out with Ethan again, especially with the rest of my family there.
“He’s right in the living room,” I said as I opened the door for Summer.
She stepped into the house, leaving my brother and me alone for a moment. He didn’t say a word before he set the bag in his hand down on the porch and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me like we hadn’t seen each other in years.
“I’m so proud of you today, Diana.”
I didn’t want to cry or get overly emotional, but just hearing him say that to me made holding back the tears impossible. Squeezing him to me, I whispered, “It took me a little longer than I’d planned, but I got here. Thank you for always being there for me whenever I needed you.”
Like all those times when I called him to come see me at my hotel room because I needed his support, he kissed the top of my head. “I’m always going to be there for you. I promise.”
He stepped back and picked up the paper bag from the porch. Lifting it in the air, he smiled. “Summer has your gift from us, but this is for Cole.”
I looked in to see him smiling at what Ethan said. “My brother says he got you a gift.”
Cole walked up to the screen door and looked out. “I’m just the dip guy here. I don’t deserve a gift,” he joked.
Tugging the paper bag off with his right hand, Ethan held up a six-pack of beer. “I couldn’t show up without your favorite drink of choice. What kind of best friend would I be if I did that?”
Tears welled in my eyes at him calling Cole his best friend again. Ethan kissed me once more and walked inside to give him a beer, and it seemed like old times again with them.
As I stood on the porch, so happy things had turned out like I wanted them to with Ethan and Cole, I saw my parents drive up to the house. Still the coolest guy I’d ever met or would ever meet, my father parked his silver Porsche next to Ethan’s car and popped the trunk, no doubt holding a present on this special day.
Both my parents had already seen the house half a dozen times. My mother and I looked at it first the day I fell in love with it because it had the porch and yard I wanted, in addition to three bedrooms, two baths, and a kitchen with a farmhouse sink I never knew I wanted until I saw it that day.
Then my father had to come see it to make sure it was safe and in good condition, even though the house inspector said it passed his tests with flying colors. I may have been twenty-eight years old, but to Tristan Stone, I would always be his little girl, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. That day, he walked around the perimeter of the house wearing his most serious dad face as I pointed out all the things I loved about the property. Then we toured the inside, just as I had with my mother, who undoubtedly had told him about every inch of the place after she saw it.
But he had to see it for himself, he claimed. I knew that was just him being overprotective, but I loved him for it. When we stopped in the kitchen so I could show him the sink I’d fallen in love with, he nodded and then smiled in that way that told me he loved the place too.
“You have your mother’s eye for details, Diana. This house is charming.” Then he added, “But a million-two is far too high. I don’t care that the train is only a five minute walk and we’re just a few miles out of the city. Let me talk to the seller for you. Call it a housewarming present.”
I didn’t argue with him that day. I knew my father had skills at business I’d never possess, so I didn’t fight him on his need to haggle. In the end, I paid far less than asking price for my dream home, thanks to my father.
“Diana, you look so great standing there on the porch like that, and you’re wearing your hair up. I love it!” my mother yelled up as she left my father to handle whatever was in the trunk. “Sorry we’re late. I couldn’t decide which dress to wear.”
She lifted the hem of her pale yellow dress and smiled up at me. My mother always looked like the most beautiful woman in the world, no matter what she wore, but today she practically beamed she looked so wonderful.
“I thought maybe it was Daddy who took too long getting dressed,” I joked as she walked up on the porch.
“Your father looks good in everything. It’s really unfair, actually. I figured he’d have some middle-aged pooch by now. Thankfully, you and your sister and brother seemed to have gotten his genes, although you look more like me than they do. I see Ethan and Summer are here. Did you open their gift yet?”
I shook my head and smiled. “No, but now I’m wondering what this present could be. It must be pretty great if you know about it.”
My mother leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “Summer was so excited about it that she couldn’t wait to tell someone. We got you something too. Your father is getting it out of the trunk.”
“Thank you, Mom, but you didn’t have to do that. You two have done so much already with you looking at houses with me and Daddy negotiating the price with the homeowner.”
She waved off my protest and smiled as she looked back at my father. “Are you kidding? He couldn’t talk about anything else for days after he got to make that deal with the man selling this house. If you ever decide to get a car, you better not tell him because he’s going to insist you let him make the deal. You know how he is.”
I nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. As she went into the house to join the
others, my father carried an enormous box that hid his entire torso and head behind it. He reached the top of the steps and put it down, and I saw him smile like he was proud of me.
“Your mother may have gone overboard. Just fair warning.”
“I’m so happy you’re here, Daddy, but you guys didn’t have to get me anything. You said helping me with the sale was your housewarming present.”
In that charming Tristan Stone way, he winked at me and said, “I lied. It’s a father’s prerogative to do whatever he can to make sure his little girl is happy.” Then a look of worry crossed his face. “I saw Ethan’s car. Is Cole here? We’re not going to see round two today, are we?”
With a chuckle, I said, “No, Daddy. They’re friends again. Everything’s okay.”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Good. I want things to be perfect for you today. Today’s your day, honey. I’m so proud of you taking charge and getting this place of your own.”
I couldn’t stop myself from crying now, and as a tear slid down my cheek, my father smiled and wiped it away like he used to when I was a little girl. “No crying today. Today’s a celebration for you, like your own independence day.”
My own independence day. I loved that.
Wrapping my arms around my father’s broad shoulders, I pressed my cheek to the spot above his heart and hugged him. “Thank you, Daddy. I love you.”
“I love you too, honey,” he said above me. “I always knew you’d do it. You just needed to do it on your time and no one else’s. You’re stubborn like me that way.”
I stepped back and dried my tears. “I like that.”
“It’s a good trait. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise.”
A black sports car drove up to the house and honked its horn, telling me my last guests had arrived. My father turned around and watched as Tressa and Killian walked up to the porch to join us.
