by Ciara Shayee
“Sorry, Nana.” Arlo crams the fries into his mouth before blowing her a kiss and settling in to eat his dinner. He’s a cute kid. Goofy and silly, but sweet.
“So, KP. How’re things at Burger Co.? Did you manage to find a replacement for Ashley?” Carson asks between bites of his burger.
I guess my scowl says it all. He cracks up while the others just smile at my obvious misery. “No. I’m in denial. She can work fine with Ivy on her back, women used to do it all the time.”
My indignant tone isn’t fooling anybody. They all laugh while the boys continue talking about some game they like playing.
“I’m sure Ashley would love to hear that,” Bethany laughs. “But you were saying Jones wanted more responsibility last summer. Why not give it to him this year? He’s certainly experienced enough now.”
She’s right, I know that. Jones has been asking for more responsibility and I haven’t given it to him, but it has nothing to do with his experience and everything to do with the fact that I don’t like handing over control.
Burger Co. is my brainchild, my company.
My only distraction from the dismal state my life is in.
Handing over some hours and responsibility to Jones means I’d have more free time, which is something Bethany is always saying I need more of. However, for her, free time is family time. For me, free time is hours spent drinking to dull the ache in my chest and quiet the phantom sounds of a family in my empty house. It’s not fun, relaxing, or enjoyable. At least with Ashley gone for a while, I can bury myself in enough work to keep the memories at bay. Or some, at least.
“I’ll cope,” I finally murmur, taking a big bite of my suddenly tasteless burger.
“I’m sure you will,” Carson says, wiping mayo from his beard. “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask for help, though. You don’t need to struggle.”
That’s not something I’m comfortable doing, and he knows it. “We’ll manage just fine. She’ll be back before I know it, bustin’ my balls about not filing things right or ordering the right stuff for the bar.”
“I don’t know…”
My gaze snaps to Piper as she twirls a fry in the ketchup on her plate before dipping it in the mayo, too.
“She seems really happy spending time at home with the girls. I took Jax, Finn, and Arlo over for a playdate yesterday and she’s loving it.”
Worry coils in my gut for a few seconds before the smile on Piper’s face becomes too much for her to stifle. A light laugh bubbles out of her.
“I’m just kidding! She was complaining about how Brayden gets to escape the chaos for hours a day while she’s stuck changing diapers and breaking up fights over LOL dolls. I’d put money on her begging to come back before Ivy is even six months old.”
“I believe it,” Bethany says. “I’ll take over some more dinners tomorrow. She has her hands full without having to worry about cooking.”
And that’s Bethany all over. She mothers—she’s a real mommy. Her kids are all grown and yet she still babies them like they’re children. It should be annoying, but it’s just her way. Even now, she reaches over to pour Everly a fresh glass of lemonade before refilling her own and adding some more salad to Carson’s plate. She fusses over him even more than she fusses over their kids.
“Why don’t you go work for KP, Piper?” My eyes bounce between Piper’s shocked face and Rosie as she shrugs. “What? You hate your job at the grocery store. At least this way you’d know you get on with your co-workers. You’ve known Kellan most of your life, too, so no asshole boss to deal with.”
Pointing between the two of us with his fork, Carson adds, “He’s like an uncle to you.”
Something about that rubs me the wrong way. I don’t like it, but I don’t know why. That said, Rosie is right. I have known Piper for most of her life. When I met her, she was barely older than Jaxson and Finley are now.
Being called her uncle, though…
“Rosie, Dad…I don’t…” Piper blows out a breath. “You can’t just say things like that.”
“You should go work at Kellan’s, Momma!” Jaxson wears a silly grin and has mischief in his eyes. “Then we’d get free burgers.”
Everyone laughs as the twins share a fist bump complete with crashing noises.
“That’s not how it works, kiddo,” Piper tells him.
“Actually, it is.” She shoots me a death-glare, so of course, I shoot the boys a wink and make it worse. “I bet we could even throw in some fries every now and then.”
What am I doing? Do I want Piper to come work for me?
“See?” Finley says, getting up on his knees on his chair to lean toward his mom. “You should do it, Momma.”
Raking a hand through her hair, Piper shoots her sister and father withering looks before raising one eyebrow at me. “Don’t let them bully you into it, but it’s definitely something I’d consider.”
Taking a moment to mull over my options, I’ve got to admit hiring Piper makes a lot of sense. She’s not going to want a ton of hours because she has the boys to think about, so I don’t need to worry about having too much spare time on my hands. She’s good with people, knows the menu pretty well, and gets on with my existing staff—including me, and I’m well aware I can be less than great company. Plus, it helps her escape my dickhead neighbor. It’s a win-win situation.
So why am I hesitating?
*
After a boisterous dinner followed by quite possibly the loudest, craziest rendition of the happy birthday song I’ve ever heard, the boys beg to be allowed in the pool. Carson caves, of course—he’s a soft touch and the boys know it.
Piper and Gianna make them wait forty minutes for their food to go down, then we watch with grins on our faces as the boys run in to change before reappearing minutes later in their swim gear, declaring a cannonball contest shortly afterward.
While Carson, Sebastian, and I clear away all the leftovers and fill the dishwasher, the ladies supervise the boys and score their jumps out of ten. By the time we join them outside with beers in our hands, Jaxson, Finley, Arlo, and Danny are in fits of laughter and Piper is by the edge of the pool, soaked from head to toe.
“What happened?” Carson chuckles, sinking onto a lounger behind his wife. Bethany leans back against his chest and I look away as he winds his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. Sebastian takes a similar spot behind his wife-to-be, leaving me to take the free lounger between Everly and Rosie.
Scowling at her giggling sons, Piper rings out her hair before twisting it into a messy knot on top of her head. I idly wonder if seeing his mom’s hair like that is the reason Arlo likes his mop in a top-knot so much. Right now, it’s a waterlogged mess floating around his shoulders on the surface of the water.
“A certain somebody—“ I’m assuming the ‘somebody’ is Jaxson as his laughter rings louder “—thought it would be funny to cannonball right as I came to the edge of the pool to take Arlo’s hairband.”
“Ahh,” Carson mouths. “What do you say to your mom, Jax?”
Kicking his legs to propel himself across the pool, Jaxson smirks. “Uh, you should’a stayed out of the splash zone?”
I can’t help but laugh, which earns me a happy grin from Jaxson and Piper’s stink-eye, which is pretty lethal. “What? The kid’s funny.”
“Funny, maybe.”
My eyes widen as Piper slides her shorts down her legs before tugging her tee over her head. Under her unassuming ‘mom-iform,’ as she calls her standard attire of cut-offs and tees, she’s been sporting a yellow and white striped bikini. The bottoms come up high on her waist and the lace-up bra almost looks strained. She’s…matured in a lot of ways since I last saw her in a swimsuit. My poor, distracted brain conjures the memory of her at her eighteenth birthday party—the last time she wore a swimsuit in front of me—but I’m kicked back out of it by the realization that I’m missing one key component of the memory.
>
A pint-size, yellow tutu-swimsuit-clad toddler complete with water wings and a floppy white hat.
Shaking it off, I try to focus on anything but the curves on display in front of me. The swaths of creamy skin bared by Piper’s swimsuit are modest but impossible to ignore. As she shifts to kick off her flip-flops and tug the top of her bikini bottoms higher, I swallow hard.
Clearing my throat into my fist, I watch the boys larking around in the water instead of their mother as she swan dives into the deep end. To my relief, Carson and Bethany are too wrapped up in each other to notice where my eyes were trained—somewhere noticeably south of their daughter’s face. There’s no easy way to hide a semi in the shorts I’m wearing, so I focus on other things to distract myself.
When the boys announce that it’s time for Noodle Races, Piper sits beside me to explain the rules. “You just have to sit in the middle of the noodle and hold the ends up so you’re upright, then you bounce or paddle or do whatever you can to get to the opposite end of the pool before your opponents. To win, you have to be sitting on your noodle when you get there. It’s simple but tiring.”
Sure enough, the boys only complete five races before Arlo complains that he’s tired. Jaxson and Finley race for the tie-break; Finley wins, which doesn’t seem to come as a surprise to his brothers or Piper, if their grins are anything to go by. Then Piper orders them out of the pool to change and get ready for bed. They whine and complain until Sebastian and Gianna scoop Danny from the water and tell him to give hugs before they leave, then they all head inside together.
Sipping my beer in the balmy evening air, I listen to Carson and Bethany talking quietly behind me until they head in, too.
“You’re welcome to stay the night,” Bethany tells me, offering up the den.
“That’s okay, thanks. I’ll finish my beer and walk home. I can grab the Jeep in the morning.” Hopping up, I grab Bethany for a hug. “Happy birthday, Beth. I hope you’ve had a good one.”
Her broad smile is bookended by laughter lines and makes her eyes crinkle in the corners—the same way Piper’s do, I realize. “Thank you, sweetheart. It’s been a perfect day. Thank you for joining us.”
Nodding, I rub the back of my neck and huff a sigh through my nose at her peal of laughter.
“See you soon, KP. Stick around as long as you like.”
Just like that, I’m alone.
The breeze plays with the palm leaves and sends ripples dancing over the surface of the water lapping at my calves. It’s a beautiful evening. I wish I could hear the sea like I can at home. I love standing on the back porch listening to the waves meeting the shore.
I’m so lost in thought, I don’t notice Piper until she’s hovering beside me with her own beer in her hand.
“May I sit?”
Peering up at her, I nod and pat the stone beside me. With more grace than she possessed as a teen, she sits her butt down and slips her feet into the pool to join mine. The water is cool and refreshing.
“I might miss England sometimes, but nothing beats this. I love having a pool again. The boys love it.” Wistfulness sweeps across her face as she tips her face back to the fading sunlight. “They’ll be miserable when we move out.”
“Stay, then. You know your parents would keep you here forever if they thought you’d let ‘em get away with it.”
With a silent shake of her head, Piper faces me. I get lost in her deep gray gaze until she closes her eyes and releases a sigh so full of different emotions, I wouldn’t know where to start with deciphering them.
“I love being here with Mom and Dad, and I can’t even begin to explain how much I love seeing them with the boys, but I’m used to having my own place. It’s weird going from having my own home to sharing with my parents and sisters again.”
“I can imagine.” The thought of having to move back in with my parents, even only temporarily, makes my stomach twist. Giving up my home and my independence after twenty years of striking out on my own…I couldn’t handle it.
“Don’t get me wrong, they’ve been good to us,” Piper says, pulling me from my memories. “I wouldn’t have been able to do all this without them. They’ve been so supportive and helpful, I’m lucky to have them. I just don’t know how long I’d be able to stay without going crazy.” Flashing an impish smile my way after checking the area for her parents, she admits, “I feel like a teenager again. Everything is so similar to how it was when I left.”
“Except you,” I point out. “You’ve changed a lot.”
We fall silent, both content to gaze over the rippling surface of the pool while the sun sinks below the horizon until a sudden shiver ripples down Piper’s spine.
Laughing, she rubs her arms and sighs. “It’s getting chilly.”
Slipping the shirt off my back, I’ve draped it around her shoulders before I can second-guess myself.
Her smile is bright. “Thank you.”
She’s so short that the shirt that fits my long, broad torso drowns her. It makes me feel warm, watching her slide her arms through the sleeves and fasten a couple of buttons. My eyes remain on her as she takes a long pull from her beer.
The ever-present tightness in my chest loosens just a little, just enough for me to suck in a deep breath. It catches her attention, but she doesn’t ask any questions. Instead, she reaches over to squeeze my hand before leaning back on her arms to tip her face back to the darkening sky.
Glancing up, I can’t begin to wonder what she sees that holds her attention. Mine is almost instantly pulled back to her. Sprawled over the edge of the pool with her legs swirling the water around, my shirt draped over her and a brilliant, relaxed smile on her face…
She’s beautiful.
Eight
Piper
All the splashing around in the pool wiped the boys out, just as I hoped it would, so by the time they’ve all trudged downstairs the next morning and shoveled some cereal into their mouths, we’re almost late meeting the realtor Mom arranged for me.
“Sorry!” I wince as we pile out of the car outside potential home number one, finding Betty already waiting on the doorstep.
Betty Tucker, a long-time friend of my parents, has always been super patient. She has to be with six boys to raise by herself, I suppose. Her husband died when I was in my sophomore year of high school with their second-eldest son, Judah.
“Don’t be silly, you’re fine. Let me get a look at you and these gorgeous boys of yours.”
Jaxson and Arlo lap up her attention while Finley hangs back a little. Ruffling his hair as he leans against me, I mouth that I love him and grin at his bashful, rosy-cheeked smile.
“Okay.” Betty claps her hands. “Shall we take a look around?”
Looking up at the slightly weather-beaten home in front of us, I school my doubtful expression. It could be lovely inside.
*
Two mediocre houses and three bored boys later, we’re no closer to finding our new home.
I was, perhaps foolishly, hoping for a place that wouldn’t need too much work. Moving continents, getting a new job, and settling three boys into a new home are all big enough changes for right now. Home renovations definitely aren’t on my wish-list or home search criteria. I’m working on a pretty strict budget, even with my savings and my inheritance, so I’d rather find something move-in ready that won’t need a ton of money plowing into it to make it inhabitable.
Three bedrooms, a spacious kitchen and living area with room for three growing boys, and a yard they can play in—that’s what I sent Betty when she asked for my ‘must-haves.’
I didn’t add ‘space for a dog’ like Arlo asked me to. It’s a possibility, but only once we’ve settled in and found a place to call home.
“I have a few more options, so don’t fret, Piper dear.” Betty wraps me in a warm hug as we stand beside our cars. It’s hard to feel disheartened when she aims her positive smile at me. “You let me know when you’re
available and we’ll get together again.”
“Sounds good to me. Thank you for tolerating…” Waving an arm, I gesture at the boys wrestling on the lawn. “All this.”
“Oh, don’t be silly.” Betty shakes her head. “Three is easy. Try having six in eight years.”
I can’t even imagine. The look on my face obviously says so, because laughter bubbles from Betty and catches the boys’ attention.
“What, Momma? What’s funny?” Arlo yells, running over until he crashes into my legs. “What’s funny?”
“Nosy,” I tease, raking a hand through his messy hair. Somewhere between houses two and three, he lost the hairband holding it out of his face.
“Can we go now?” Jaxson asks, barreling over with his twin.
“Yeah, kiddo. We’re going now so say ‘bye’ to Mrs. Betty.”
“Bye, Mrs. Betty!” they chorus, racing to the car.
Once I’ve wrangled them into their seats, we head away from home, like I promised.
It’s too beautiful a day to let it pass without a walk along the beach.
As soon as their feet touch the sand, the boys shuck off their shoes and run toward the water.
“Remember—”
“The rules!” Jaxson interrupts. “No deeper than our ankles. We got it, Momma!” he yells over his shoulder. Shaking my head, I stuff their abandoned shoes into the beach bag over my arm and follow them along the shore as they splash in the ocean. The salty breeze and relaxing whoosh of the sea works wonders for my chaotic mind. I push away all my worries—finding a house, enrolling the boys in school, figuring out where to store all my stuff once it arrives from England…
For now, it’s unimportant.
“Piper? Piper Fitzgerald, is that you?”
It takes me a hot second, but the woman running through the sand quickly comes into focus. The smile spreading across my face is instinctive.
Back in high school, I like to think I was friendly with pretty much everybody. Bay High is a small school with probably a third of the students in the bigger city equivalents, however, some of those students are more memorable than others. It helps that my high school best friend has barely changed at all in the almost ten years we’ve been apart.
