Thick & Thin (Thin Love Book 3)

by Eden Butler

  She was nearly a foot shorter than him, but that expression, the way her big blue eyes could go cold as steel would rattle any man, especially my father. For a second I only sipped from my beer, not watching, but then I couldn’t keep my eyes off them. It was like anticipating a dynamite flash—the flicker of a spark, the slow sizzle right before the massive explosion whenever they were around each other. My mother stared silently at her husband, eyes lit with spite and resentment. He didn’t flinch, he didn’t do much more than return that stare. But with my father, there was no anger. I’d seen that look from him before. It was always directed at her and it always preceded them alone for hours in their room with the door locked and the headboard rattling against the wall. I doubt if that would happen today, though. In fact, I knew it wouldn’t. There had been a wedge between them the entire time I’d been back home and I worried how much wider that wedge would grow after I left for Miami.

  “Yelling and embarrassing is not discipline, Hale.”

  Shit. She only called him Hale when she didn’t want to sully her mouth with his full name. He knew it, and the clipped tone and shortened name bothered him more than he let on. His jaw clinched and worked into a grind as he looked down at her, yet still his gaze moved around her face, then lower, over her body like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to yell at her or kiss her senseless.

  “Keira…”

  “Don’t you think, birthday boy,” this came in a low, deadly tone as Mom stepped closer to him, keeping her arms crossed and those eyes lethal, “that maybe you should practice a little patience? He’s a kid.”

  “He was disrespectful.”

  A slow shake of her head and she frowned. “He gets it honest, doesn’t he?”

  Dad stepped toward her and she dropped her arms, like there would be violence—on her part at least—and she was ready for it.

  “Guys,” I started, stepping to my father’s side as he lowered his beer and let it hang at his side. Around the patio a couple of my parents’ friends were arriving and I offered a flippant wave in their direction. “You’ve got more company.” Then I saw Makana making a bee line towards the fire pit. “Mack’s headed this way.”

  And just like that, Dad stepped back, and Mom walked away to pat Makana’s shoulder as she passed her on the patio, pausing for a second to say something to the girl. My little sister wasn’t the wiser, didn’t seem to know anything had happened and shot a huge, heart cracking smile my way as she nodded at me.

  “Dad,” I started, voice low as I looked behind us, hoping to keep what I said away from prying ears. “What the hell is going on?” A glance at his face, at the slow pull he took on his bottle and my worry intensified. Kona never looked helpless. He did just then, even when he jerked his attention to me and returned back to his daughter as she came closer.

  “I made a mess, keiki kane.”

  “Of?”

  He looked at me directly, head shaking like he couldn’t believe what flirted on the tip of his tongue. “Everything.”

  “Ransom! Guess what?” Mack’s approach ended my father’s confession and I managed a look at him, a silent promise that I wasn’t going to let him off without an explanation before my little sister stood between us, tugging on my sleeve. “Guess what I did?”

  “What, pēpē? Tell me.” The worry I felt got pushed aside as the girl smiled up at me, lips pink against her dark, smooth skin.

  “I invited Aly over.”

  It was a simple enough answer. Something innocent, something sweet, just like that little girl with the big doe eyes flashing up at me, looking proud of herself. “Keiki,” Dad started, forgetting his anger or whatever it was that had brought in the cloud hovering over he and my Mom. Kona knew what I’d done to Aly. He knew that I was pushing when I shouldn’t. I still told my parents everything, even when they didn’t want to know it. “That wasn’t your place.”

  “What?” Mack blinked, gaze moving between me and my father. “Did I do something bad, makua kane?”

  Dad knelt down, getting eye level with his daughter. He sighed before he spoke and I knew it was the slip of his temper and him lashing out at Koa that had him exercising extreme patience with Mack. He’d already scared one of his kids today, it was likely he didn’t want to scare another one. Instead, Dad pushed back the waves from Makana’s face, glancing up the small, short line of baby hair around her forehead.

  “Nani kaikamahine,” Dad started, “things are a little messed up with your kunāne and Aly. She’s got a new man now and we can’t expect her to come to us whenever we ask.”

  “But Makua, you always said Aly was family.” She glanced away from our father and up at me, looking as though she expected me to back her up. “Right, Ransom? Ohana just doesn’t…stop.”

  Jesus, my chest hurt at that. That sweet, heart shaped face, those wide, trusting black eyes that seemed to be bottomless—Makana had so much faith in the things she’d been taught. Our lives, the shelter of our family and who that family included, had been such an important part of who these kids were, who’d they’d be one day, that it was only then that made me realize what Aly meant to my family.

  Seeming a little lost, Kona shifted his gaze to me, asking a silent question on what I wanted Mack to know about Aly. I took the opening he gave me.

  “Kaikuahine, come here.” And she did resting against my thigh when I knelt down in front of her. I could just make out the confusion on her face, how what I’d say seemed to be the answer she searched for and, God help me, I wouldn’t take anything from her. Not that little girl. Not then, not ever. “You’re a sweet girl. Thank you for thinking of me and asking Aly to come.” I glanced at Kona when he stood, seeing his nod of approval. “Makua is right. Aly has a new man and maybe one day she’ll have her own family with him.” Mack opened her mouth, and a small noise that sounded like an argument shot up her throat. “Now, hang on before you have a fit. We all love Aly, don’t we?” She nodded, but it was a slight, disgruntled movement. “And we want her to be happy, right?”

  “Yeah, but brah…”

  I covered that tiny mouth with three fingers trying not to laugh when she bit my palm. “Let me finish.” The expression on her face was serious, for her anyway, but I ignored it, wiping my damp palm on my jeans. “Aly might have her own family one day and you’ll have to adjust. We…we all will. That doesn’t mean she isn’t always welcomed here, but you should ask first if it’s okay that she come to us. Yeah? And no, pēpē, ohana doesn’t stop. Not with Aly, not with anyone.” I kissed her cheek then, returning the smile she gave me. “Ohana is always.”

  That seemed to satisfy her. When Mack spotted Aly coming through the back gate, she jumped away from us, taking the steps two at a time to run up to Aly as though it had been a month and not just a few days since she’d last seen her. Makana hugged Aly, taking her hand to lead her further onto the patio. She faltered only once when Ethan came up behind them, closing the gate. I couldn’t hear what he said to Mack, but it took my little sister a minute, which she used to shrug at him once, glance over her shoulder at me, wait for my nod and then direct her attention back at Ethan, saying something to him that made the man laugh.

  “This,” Dad said, jerking his jaw at Ethan as he walked behind Aly, shaking hands with Cass and nodding a greeting at my mother. “Him being here, is not normal.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Next to me Dad adjusted his stance, dragging gravel underfoot, taking slow, cautious sips from his Abita. “There’s no reason for him to be here. Aly gets invited to her ex’s place to be with his family and the lawyer tags along? She’s been over for dinner at least three times since the spring and not once has he come along with her.” He pointed his bottle at Ethan’s back when the man stood next to Aly as she continued speaking to my mother. He hadn’t moved his hand from the small of her back. “Ethan’s a nice guy, but this is him staking a claim.”

  I laughed, spreading my legs to adjust my footing as my father kept his attention on the pat
io. “That rock on her hand should be enough for that.”

  “Please. That ring means nothing. Him being here?” Dad glanced at me, head shaking. “That’s for you alone. She wants you to know she’s taken.”

  “Like I didn’t fucking know that.”

  He shrugged, watching the patio again when a few of the coaches’ wives came out with extra plates and glasses. “Seems like that needed a little reiteration.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was Aly and her man that made my father stare over the crowd or if he was still stuck on catching every move my mother made. Then Cass leaned next to Mom and whispered something in her ear, which made her smile and my father handed me his bottle, popping his neck once before he moved away from the pit and greeted Aly.

  Cass backed up, nodding to my father when he touched Mom’s elbow, ignoring the cowboy’s greeting completely before he shook Ethan’s hand and kissed Aly’s cheek. Watching my folks, how Dad whispered in Mom’s ear, how she followed him inside without any hesitation eased some of my worry, but only some of it.

  I kept back, just watching, seeing the way Ethan moved around Aly, how he shook hands and let each stranger he met hold his attention. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was angling for a future in politics the way he worked the small crowd. But I didn’t approach. I knew I didn’t need to. Aly was likely still mad at me for getting in her face a few days before. Now it was my last night here and I’d blown my chances to see her or speak with her without bringing up the past or looking for a way back into her heart.

  Pride is a motherfucker when you’ve got a lot of it to cram down your throat. But, I didn’t want her mad at me. For once, I’d take my mother’s advice and be the friend to Aly that she needed. It was going to hurt damn bad. I knew that.

  Her quite laugh stopped completely as I approached, as I greeted my parents’ friends, then walked right up to Ethan.

  “Ethan. Good to see you,” I said, offering the lawyer my hand. Something shifted in his eyes just then. It was a familiar glimmer I’d seen a thousand times during fan meet and greets or when someone recognized me on the street. This guy was a fan, I got that, but if he was a little star struck, he didn’t let it show, blinking away his immediate excitement by returning my handshake.

  “Thanks for letting me tag along,” he said, standing next to Aly who wouldn’t look at me. “So, you’re headed out tonight?”

  “Yeah. Practice first thing in the morning. We generally don’t get a rest even on bye weeks.”

  “Ah. That’s rough.”

  I laughed, shaking my head. “It’s really not, man. I work my ass off but at the end of the day, I just tackle people for a living. That’s not a real job. I’m not curing cancer.”

  “You do other things,” Aly offered as though she didn’t like hearing me lessen the work I did. “The charity stuff and the Habitat house builds.” She glanced at Ethan when he moved his hand to the back of her neck, recovering from the insult she felt on my behalf. “I just mean, it’s not all games and practices. Those players entertain, but they also help out when people need them.”

  “Thanks, nani. I appreciate you saying that.” A small blush worked up her neck, coloring her already tawny skin and I smiled at her, loving to see that I could still flatter her.

  “Nani?” Ethan asked, looking between us. Aly opened her mouth, a little surprised, but didn’t speak.

  Shit. I didn’t mean to cross a line. God knows I’d done that enough the other day when Aly came to see me, so I tried to tamper any drama before it happened, shrugging at Ethan like the endearment was not big deal. “It’s Hawaiian for ‘beautiful.’ Um…no offense meant. Habit. I’ve always called her that.”

  Ethan watched me carefully, biting the inside of his bottom lip like he needed a second to organize his thoughts before his fingers massaged Aly’s shoulder and he laughed. “Well, it’s true.” He kissed the side of her head with his hand still on the back of her neck. “I’m not worried over little pet names, man.”

  Aly remained still, the expression on her face a blank and I understood what she was doing. There was always something at play between us. It had been there when she was just my kid brother’s sitter, then when she was just someone who worked for my cousin Leann at her dance studio. Then she became more, but still just a friend. Those expressions she tried to hide were more evident the harder she tried pretending that she wasn’t affected by me or anything kind I might say to her.

  The game had altered somewhat and maybe now she didn’t want to play it at all, but I could still see that latent urge to laugh with me, to be friendly without any flirtation or reading anything more into what was happening. She was fighting her inclination to talk to me, to be comfortable around me just to make Ethan think she wasn’t interested.

  The complement about my charity work had been a slip and me calling her nani in front of her man was something she hadn’t expected. By the blush fading from her cheeks, I got that it had pleased her, that it might have also worried her. But damn, what was she trying to prove?

  “So, can I get you something to drink?” I asked both of them, stepping back toward the glass door before Aly shook her head.

  “I’m fine for now,” she said, but Ethan didn’t seem to believe her.

  “Nonsense,” he said. “There are bottles of water of there. I’ll get one for you, baby. You’re looking a little flushed.”

  He was off before she could stop him and I glanced at her, spotting the little flash of a worry she tried to keep off her face, the one that morphed into a grateful, grin when our gazes met.

  Like that? I said silently, moving my eyebrows up.

  Aly returned that unanswered question with the smallest shake of her head and an expression that seemed to say Mind your own damn business, bata.

  I got it then—the behavior when he was around, the dynamic of their relationship that was a little one sided. Ethan liked to cater to her. That was good. I could respect that. God knows I should have tried more of that.

  When the steaks were ready and plates were being filled, Ethan refused to let Aly fix hers, instead piling food on the small plate she held in her hand as though he expected her to finish it all. It was small things I noticed, things I knew no one else would. Things that I saw clearly bothered her. If she didn’t want something, she told him and he at least pretended to listen. But her complaints came when I was out of sight, seemingly when she thought I wasn’t around.

  She didn’t want me to see their interaction. That was fine with me. I wasn’t too hyped to see the woman I love pretending to be happy with some other guy.

  Mark and Johnny finally showed an hour later, loaded down with bags from the market, mostly liquor. Mom greeted her best friend and his partner with a tight hug that lingered, but didn’t get too worked up, though I did notice Mark whisper in Mom’s ear. They’d been friends so long I could tell when a discussion was inevitable.

  “Hey, man,” Dad greeted Mark and then took the grocery bags inside, ignoring their loud laughter as Koa and Makana approached and our adopted uncles converged with hugs and kisses, going on and on about how much we’d all grown—which they’d like still do when my siblings and I were old—and fawned over Aly, casting skeptical looks at me when they noticed her ring.

  “Girl! It’s gorgeous,” Johnny had told Aly, scooping her in a hug. Johnny was smaller than Mark, his waist narrower and he wore his blonde hair short on the sides, longer on the top and he was always impeccably dressed. Today he sported starched jeans and a blue polo that made his gray eyes look like crystal.

  In contrast, Mark had the look of a man that had been very handsome when his was young and time had only enhanced those strong features. He was pale with dark hair, a full salt and pepper beard and didn’t give a shit what he wore. T-shirts and khakis were usual his self-mandated uniform.

  Until I was fifteen, Mark and Johnny were the only father figures I’d had. Until Mom and Dad reconnected. Over the years, they still kept up, despite all
the traveling they did with the medical charities they were involved in. But no matter where they were, we always got time with them. Like now, celebrating Dad’s birthday. They’d fly back with me to Miami for a two week visit.

  Mark eyed me close, examining my expressions as his partner started in on questions about wedding planning. “What the hell?” he asked me, standing next to me with his back facing the others, but I waved him off.

  “I’ll tell you about in on the plane.”

  My godfather nodded, but I could tell the trip that he and Johnny took with me to spend the week at my place would be a long one. Both men were even more meddlesome than my mother.

  After dinner, Koa and Tristian shot out of the house with a basketball bouncing between them followed by a few of Koa’s friends from school and one of the other interns Tristian was rooming with downtown. Koa was still a kid and Tristian was pushing twenty-six. My cousin hadn’t let med school or his internship at Tulane keep him from the game he loved, and he always tried like hell to keep up with Koa.

  Ridiculous.

  Aly sat on Ethan’s lap across from my mother and Makana sitting on the lounge chairs talking about the new competition season when Koa stopped next to them, throwing the basketball back to Tristian as he ran toward the small court on the other side of the pool.

  “Hey man, you ball?” Koa asked Ethan. When I met his eyes, my little brother smirked, moving his head a little to the left before he focused on Ethan again. The kid was smooth, I’d give him that. “Mack said she’s seen you and some of your clerks playing on the courts behind your office. You up for a game?” He wanted to divide Ethan’s attention. Koa loved Aly. She’d help bring him up and still took up residence in his heart all these years later.

  “Sure, man.” Ethan tapped Aly on the leg getting her to let him up and he looked at me as I sat on the bar next to the grill with a fresh Abita between my legs. “How about you, Ransom? Three on three?”