by Rayne, Piper
She laughs. “Want to wallow in your heartbreak?” She makes her voice babyish-sounding, and the urge to physically remove her from my house is fierce.
My phone dings in my pocket, and I welcome the distraction.
Van: She signed this morning. Jannie will be representing her.
Me: Thanks.
Van: You sure about this?
Me: Yes. This is the right thing to do.
Van: I get it, but I miss you. I can’t lie, I’d hoped she was the reason you’d move back.
Me: This is home for the foreseeable future.
Van: You’re already back in Alaska?
Me: Arrived this morning. No reason for me to be there anymore. Just… look out for her, okay?
Van: Don’t worry. Trey’s mothering skills are top notch and he’s on the case.
Me: Thanks.
Van: That’s what friends are for.
“Is that her?” Maggie interrupts me.
“You need to go. Make your plans now because we’re divorced, and I don’t need or want you in this house.”
She stands. “You’re so welcoming. Jeez, she really did a number on you.”
Yeah, she did, but my ex-wife is the last person I’m going to open up to.
A half hour later, an upset Maverick hops in a car with his mom to go stay at the Glacier Point Resort and I get to sit in my house filled with memories of Phoenix. I’m not sure I got the better end of the deal this time around.
* * *
The next afternoon, a familiar truck pulls up my driveway. I’m in the garage, trying to keep my mind off of Phoenix by being somewhere she didn’t spend time. But having a new SUV means I can’t pretend to fix my vehicle, so I’m installing shelves. To hold what? I haven’t figured that out yet.
“You going to hide out indefinitely?” Denver walks up the driveway. He pulls out a large bucket of paint the painters left behind and sits on it.
I don’t look over. “I’m installing shelves.”
“I see that. They’re crooked.”
I step back, and sure as shit they are. “Fuck.” I throw my wrench and it hits the drywall, leaving a huge hole. Just like the one in my chest.
Denver slides over another bucket of paint and slaps the lid. “Let’s have a chat.”
“Is this where you’re nice before you kick my ass?” I sit down beside him.
“Why would I kick your ass?”
“I broke up with your sister.”
When I texted him to tell Sedona to call Phoenix, he didn’t say anything other than “Done.” I feared a late-night knock on my door once I returned.
“You’re forgetting one key thing. You selflessly broke up with my sister.”
“What are you talking about?”
He laughs. “You love her, don’t you?”
I say nothing but stare down between my legs. I should own the feeling, but somehow, admitting it out loud feels like it will make the heartache that much worse. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It kind of does.”
I pick up my head and look at him. “Why?”
“Well, you’re making the decision for the both of you.”
“Please don’t.”
“Don’t what?” he asks, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his thighs.
“Don’t try the reverse psychology thing. I’m older than you, remember? I did what needed to be done and it’s over. Your sister has a great career ahead of her and I have a great life here in Lake Starlight. This is where our story ends.”
He stands and blows out a breath. “So that’s it? No talking you out of it, huh?”
“It’s done. Believe me, she’ll find love again. Not that she necessarily loved me. But she’ll recover from the hurt once she sees her name on a billboard or hits number one on the charts.”
Denver smiles and puts his hand out between us. “Then I guess there’s only one more thing to say.”
I shake his hand. “What?”
“Thanks. Thanks for helping Phoenix get the opportunity to shine.”
I huff and stand. “My pleasure. And to think you were worried about her being my nanny.”
“I guess it turned out okay, huh?”
I shake my head. “Stop it.”
He laughs. “Okay, but you know I won’t be the last Bailey to visit you, right? There are two more.”
“Am I in the Christmas Carol movie?”
He walks backward to his truck. “Remember, the Ghost of Christmas Future is always the scariest. I think we both know which Bailey that will be.” He opens his truck door.
“Who?”
Laughing, he sticks his head out the window. “G’ma D, of course.”
He pulls out of my driveway and I can still hear him laughing. When he reaches the end, he waves goodbye and speeds down my street.
I pick up the wrench and start disassembling the shelf so I can start over. No way he’s telling the truth. Why would the Baileys care whether I date Phoenix or not?
Thirty-Three
Griffin
Two weeks later, Maverick and I have avoided downtown Lake Starlight, but in the process, we’ve discovered other parts of Alaska—like I’d hoped to do with my son. We’ve hiked trails, discovered waterfalls, and he was in awe when we saw our first moose.
But even though we’re moving on, it still feels as if something’s missing. I can’t find anyone to watch after Maverick—at least not anyone who feels right. I’m not sure if it’s because Phoenix was a part of our lives from day one or if her presence left a lasting impression we just can’t fill, but I lie awake at night, wondering what she’s doing. If she’s okay. I trust that she’s strong and independent and can get through this on her own. Besides, Van and Trey are there as her safety net.
My doorbell rings in the middle of the afternoon while Maverick is in school, and when I glance out the side window, I see an auburn-haired girl at the door.
I don’t get the door all the way open before she pushes her way through.
“Juno?” I say, recognizing her now.
“So you’re over her now, right? I gave you two weeks. That should be long enough.” She pulls a bunch of papers out of her bag. “This is a standard contract, and don’t worry, I would never give you a crazy date. You’ll only get the best ones.”
“What?” I shut the door and run a hand through my hair.
“I’m a matchmaker, remember? And you can’t be alone forever. I figure you should hop back on the horse, as the saying goes, and get fixed up with a new woman. We don’t have a lot in Lake Starlight.” She pauses, hopefully to take a breath. “When I say a lot, I mean we don’t have a huge selection. It’s Alaska. The male population is naturally higher than the female one, but I can ask you a series of questions to narrow down your options.”
I shake my head. “I’m not looking for anyone right now.”
“Yeah, you told me that once before and then you nailed my sister and left her in LA with a broken heart.” She waves me off. “But no worries, she’s doing great there. Denver thanked you for all of us, right? We all appreciate what you did.”
“Uh-huh.”
She grins. “So I have this one woman. She’s a bit older and just lost her husband. Is fifty too old?” She’s dead serious.
“Well—”
She waves me off again. “Phoenix was young, and you seemed to like that, so I have this one girl—technically, she’s a senior in high school, but she’s already turned eighteen and she graduates in a month.”
I stare blankly at her, and she smiles.
“That’s a no. Okay.” Digging through her papers, she pulls out one. “Do you like strong women?”
“Sure.” Why am I answering these questions?
“This one is a homesteader, which means she lives off the land. She doesn’t have a ton of time in the summer months, but all winter she’s yours. It might be a little bit of a trek for you.”
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not interested.”
She sits on the couch, finally breathing. “Why? I’m a believer in true love, so I want everyone to be with someone. No one wants to live their life alone, right? One day Maverick will move on from here, go to college or something, and you’ll be sitting in that chair, wondering when he’ll return. But he’ll have his own life and the visits will grow further apart and soon that gorgeous hair of yours will be white and who knows, maybe you’ll even be balding. It’ll take you a little longer to get out of the chair. Then he’ll marry and have a family of his own, probably down in the lower forty-eight. During our long winters when it’s hard to visit people, you’ll grow isolated and lonely and probably start having conversations with yourself.”
“Um.” I clear my throat. “Okay?”
She shrugs. “Love makes the world go around.” She nods and her eyes are wide.
Looking at her, you’d never guess she was Phoenix’s sister.
“How about I’ll think about it?” I say.
She stacks her papers in a neat pile. “Yeah. This isn’t a decision to rush, but the quicker you get out there, the quicker you can live a fulfilling life with a partner. Plus.” She leans in. “When the arthritis sets in, it’s harder for you to… you know…”
“Okay, Juno.” I take the papers from her with no intention of looking through them. “Sorry to rush this visit, but I have to install the sink.”
She circles around and heads into the kitchen.
I blow out a breath.
“Is this the sink?” She inspects it. “You know, one of our brothers could do this for you.”
“I’m almost finished.”
She leans her hip on the counter. “Yeah, Phoenix told us it was important for you to do it on your own. She made Denver take it apart when you two went to Anchorage and he installed it. Luckily, she called and told him, otherwise you’d have a usable sink and wouldn’t have to go into the bathroom to fill your pots.” She laughs, patting my shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“Wait.”
Juno twirls around with extra flair. I’m sensing that she’s the dramatic one. “Yeah?”
“So Denver had the entire thing together and Phoenix told him to take it apart?”
She nods and shrugs. “None of us understood it, but Phoenix was adamant that you’d get it done and didn’t need anyone’s help.” She waves. “Bye, Griffin. Let me know who you choose, and I’ll get the women lined up.”
I wave back. “Yeah.” My voice is barely audible.
The slamming of the front door jars me back to the present. I look at the sink.
Today, this bitch is mine. If I accomplish nothing else, I will fix this sink.
Thirty-Four
Phoenix
“Sedona Bailey.”
We all stand and cheer when the dean calls her name. Jamison whistles with two fingers in his mouth while Sedona crosses the stage, shakes hands with the men and women there, and accepts her diploma. She leaves the stage with red-tinted cheeks, never one to want too much attention.
“She did it!” Savannah wraps her arms around me. “My two little sisters are getting everything they ever wanted.”
Hearing someone in my family say how happy they are that things are working out for me in LA is surreal. I secured the agent Van told me about, and he was right, she’s great. I ended up signing the contract as it was written. Jannie told me that Van and Trey included some things they wouldn’t normally and was curious why they were being more generous with me than some other artists. She even asked if I was sleeping with Trey. I guess he’s got a reputation in LA.
“I was thinking about coming down in a few weeks so we can look for a place. You have your advance now. You shouldn’t be wasting your money on rent,” Savannah says on our way down the stairs of the auditorium.
“Maybe. We’ll see.”
“Can you at least get an apartment? I mean, you’re still staying at a hotel!”
Savannah doesn’t get it, and I can’t blame her. The thought of making LA so permanent that I have my name on a lease—or god forbid, a mortgage loan—feels suffocating. I’m not ready. I’m still hoping Griffin will change his mind. We’ve been in New York since last night and I haven’t had the guts to ask if they’ve seen him. It’s probably better this way. The last thing I need to know is that he’s living it up in my old town.
“I know. I don’t have a lot of time to look though.”
She glances at me.
“How are you enjoying your soccer career?” Liam asks Jamison from behind me, and I stifle a laugh picturing the cringe on Jamison’s face.
“Call it what it is, football.” Jamison laughs.
He’s been on his best behavior, as have I. Case in point, I pretended to be happy when I went to their apartment last night and saw all my sister’s things mingled with his.
Griffin sent all my stuff to me in LA. Well, he sent them to Trey and had him deliver them to me. At least I never have to go somewhere we’ve been together. I dodge the restaurant we almost ate at and the sidewalk where he broke up with me. It’s easy enough—only a mile out of my way.
When we reach outside, Juno comes to my side, shivering. “I think New York is colder than Alaska.”
“How do you think I feel? My blood is already thinning in LA.” I shiver along with her.
Liam wraps his big arms around Savannah. I bet she’s warm. So is Brooklyn, who’s wrapped in Wyatt’s. We had some last-minute guests crash our girls’ trip. Harley couldn’t come because Phoebe has her first cold, and Holly is absent for unexplained reasons. Reasons we didn’t ask about. No one wants to broach that subject, especially with Austin.
“Trey says hello,” I tell Juno.
And he did. When I told him I was going to New York to see my sister graduate, he said he’d fly me on the record label’s plane and be my plus one. I informed him it wasn’t that type of event, but I’d take him up on the offer of the private jet. It’s like a whole new way of flying, and since being in Griffin’s, I didn’t want to go back to economy class.
Juno knocks her hip against mine. “Shut up. No one knows.”
“We all know,” Brooklyn says. “Hard to miss you on the back of a guy who looks like he should be on the cover of Extreme Sports Weekly.”
“It was one night. Nothing happened,” Juno insists.
Lucky for her, Sedona emerges and comes right into a huge hug with all of us. We congratulate her, hug her, and kiss her cheek. Jamison kisses her and whispers something before we all decide we need to warm up.
“Isn’t it spring? Damn it,” Juno says.
Wyatt laughs. “Here I thought you guys were all tough being from Alaska.”
Brooklyn slaps him on the stomach. “You’re from Alaska now too.”
He swoops her up in his arms. “I know. Happy to be a resident of Lake Starlight.”
I watch them with awe and envy. They came from two different places but made it work. Wyatt relocated to Lake Starlight from Manhattan.
He lowers her back to the ground in a true prince move, and Brooklyn smiles at him as if he’s her world. Which I know he is and for good reason.
We all file down the street, and Wyatt flags down one taxi and puts as many of us as he can inside before grabbing a second one, the true New Yorker in him coming out.
Jamison ends up next to me in the taxi. I really need to stop disliking him. I think I hold some resentment because in a way, it feels as if he took my sister away from me. But I can grudgingly admit—at least to myself—that she seems happy and he appears to take good care of her. Maybe now’s the time to make amends.
“So do you ever play in LA?” I ask him.
He looks my way, appearing surprised that I’m talking to him. “Aye.” He clears his throat. “I do. I’ll check the schedule.”
“Do you think you could bring Sedona with you?”
“She canna go with the team, but I can ask Coach if I could travel separately. Maybe if we have a few days between games, we can stay a while.”
He smiles.
I remember back to our childhood home, when he’d always be on the couch next to Sedona. Maybe some people just find their person young, and for others, it takes a while.
Brooklyn was engaged before Wyatt. Surely she loved her first fiancé? Maybe that’s what Griffin was to me. Just my first real relationship before my forever one. Though I feel as though I’m breaking apart every day I’m without him.
“I’m sorry,” Jamison whispers. “It sucks. I know.”
“You do?” I look at him as though he’s lying.
“When I went back to Scotland and your sister was in New York, we couldn’t make the distance work and it was horrible. That’s why the minute I got back in New York and knew we had a chance again, I called her. Missed her like crazy. I know we haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, but I do love her. I love her so much sometimes it hurts.”
I like the way the word hurt sounds when he says it with his accent. It sounds less painful.
“Love isn’t supposed to hurt.” I sigh.
He smiles. “I worry one day she’ll wake up and say, ‘I deserve a guy who doesn’t travel all over the world for his job. A man who will be home to cook me dinna every night.’ That’s why it hurts. Like I hurt for heartbreak that has yet to come.”
I had no idea he had this side to him. I always thought he was a cocky, self-assured soccer player with the looks to match his confidence. “My sister loves you so much. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I hope not.”
Before the taxi pulls up to the curb of the restaurant, I share a moment with who I suspect will be my brother-in-law one day.
“I get it though,” he says while we wait for everyone to get out.
“Get what?” I ask.
“Why Griffin broke it off. I wouldn’t be able to live in a different city than your sis. It’d make me crazy, loving someone from so far away. Too much can go wrong. Too many misunderstandings. Too much missing one another.”
