Welcome to Pembrooke: The Complete Pembrooke Series

by Jessica Prince

  “I love having her in there,” I continued as we came to a stop in the kitchen, the large wooden dining room table nearly groaning with brightly wrapped presents. I placed mine down and turned to face Quinn’s mother. “She’s a lively one.”

  Eve laughed. “That’s a good way of putting it. The girl’s wild. Definitely gives her father a run for his money. I didn’t think it was possible for a kid to be more hyper than Quinn was when he was a boy, but Sophia managed to top him.”

  “Ah.” I giggled. “Karma at work.”

  “Oh, absolutely! And well-deserved. I’ve been dying my hair since I was thirty-two because of him. It’s only fair he has a taste of his own medicine.”

  “My mom says my time’s coming.”

  “Smart woman.”

  The sound of kids yelling and laughing pulled my attention to the back door just as it opened and Quinn appeared, looking flustered and exhausted. “Mom, if we don’t cut that cake soon, they’re going to riot.”

  At that, I let out a full-blown laugh. His head jerked toward me and surprise registered across his handsome face. “Lilly. I didn’t know you were in here.”

  “Just got here.”

  Eve moved around the kitchen, pulling the fridge door open and unearthing a large cake box. “I had to let her in, that’s why I haven’t gotten the cake out yet. It’ll just be a few minutes.”

  “Why don’t…” He trailed off and pulled in a deep breath, like he was trying to calm himself. “I’ll take care of the cake. Why don’t you go help wrangle all the kids?”

  Eve gave him a look I couldn’t quite decipher but didn’t say a word as she headed out into the back yard. As soon as the door closed behind her, Quinn propped his hands on the kitchen counter, dropped his head, and sighed.

  “Hey,” I said softly, coming up behind him. “You okay?”

  He didn’t bother to move. “Yeah, I’m good. You should get out there. Lilly’s been asking for you.”

  Those familiar shutters started to come down. I opened my mouth to speak, to try and get him to confide in me, but the backdoor opened again, letting in screams of all the kids.

  “Quinn?”

  His head shot in the direction of the voice, and there was no missing the way his back went rigid. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand his reaction to the pretty, middle-aged brunette woman standing in the doorway. And what was even more confusing was the fact that she looked just as uncomfortable as him. She wrung her hands in front of her as she continued speaking. “Sophia sent me to find you.”

  He moved to the cake box and lifted the cake out, setting it on the counter so he could put the candles on the top tier. It was as if he was doing everything in his power not to make eye contact. “Almost finished,” he stated in a flat voice. “I’ll be right out.”

  She looked like she wanted to say more, but forced herself to remain quiet. Moving her gaze to the floor, she whispered, “Okay.” It was almost painful to watch. It was so obvious that, whoever she was, she wanted to reach out to him, but he was just as closed off with her as he was with anyone else.

  Suddenly Sophia’s loud, shouting voice came echoing into the kitchen. “Grandma! Where’s Daddy?” Sophia barreled up next to the woman in the doorway and wrapped her arms around her legs, causing the air to freeze in my lungs.

  Grandma. Oh, God. His wife’s mother.

  Quinn offered Sophia a tense, tight smile. “I’ll be right out, Angel.”

  Sophia’s eyes finally landed on me, and her smile nearly enveloped her entire face. “Miss Lilly!” She disengaged from her grandmother and came at me.

  I returned her hug, loving how genuine it felt every single time. “Hey, Little Miss. Happy birthday.”

  “Thanks! You wanna come outside with me? I can show you my piñata!”

  I looked from her to Quinn, and back again. “Give me just a second, sweetie. I’m going to help your daddy get everything ready.”

  Sophia headed back toward the door, back to her grandmother. The woman smiled down at Sophia and reached for her hand. “Come on, sweet girl. Why don’t we get everyone to sit down so we can serve up the cake?”

  12

  Lilly

  “I’ve got this. You can just head outside.”

  I narrowed my eyes at Quinn. There was something weighing heavily on him, something he was determined to handle all by himself, even though I was standing right there, ready and more than willing to be a shoulder for him to lean on. We were friends. Friends helped each other.

  And I was going to help him whether he wanted it or not, damn it!

  I slid my purse off my shoulder and hooked it onto the back of one of the dining room chairs. The princess-designed paper plates and napkins were stacked on the end of the counter, so I grabbed everything and moved to hold the back door open for Quinn as he headed that way with the cake. As soon as he got close enough, just a handful of inches away from me, I lowered my voice and spoke adamantly.

  “I’m helping you, so get over it. That’s what friends do. There’s clearly something wrong, and if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but I’m helping. Don’t bother fighting me on it because I’ll win. And I’m not above recruiting any damn person at this party to do so, you got me?”

  His green eyes flickered, the dullness from seconds ago slowly creeping out of them as he gave me a tiny smirk. “You finished?”

  I paused just long enough to consider his question. “Yeah. If you don’t force my hand, I’m finished.”

  His smirk grew just a bit more. “No forcing necessary. You made your point and I accept it. But this cake’s pretty fucking heavy, so if you don’t mind…” He tipped his chin in the direction of the picnic table all the children were crowded around.

  “Oh! Yeah, I got it.” I stepped out of the way and let him through. Just as he cleared the doorway, he turned to look back over his shoulder.

  “Hey, Lilly?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m glad you’re here. Really glad.”

  My knees grew a little weak, but somehow I managed to get the plates and napkins to the table without completely melting into a puddle of goo.

  Quinn just seemed to have that effect on me.

  The cake had been served before any of the kids went into shock from waiting. As soon as that was over, Sophia dove into the pile of presents Quinn and his father had moved outside. A few of the mothers from the dance school came up to say hello during that time, but mostly, I stood on the periphery, comfortable enough as an observer. I was having too much fun watching Sophia’s face light up with every single present she opened. I didn’t need to force myself into the very center of it all like some of the other mothers there.

  If it hadn’t sent a spike of jealousy through me, I probably would have laughed at the number of women who were unnecessarily helpful, overly touchy. It wasn’t like I could blame them, really. Quinn was undeniably attractive. Any single, hot-blooded woman would want him, myself included. We were just friends, but that didn’t make watching those women flirt any easier.

  The only good thing about it was that Quinn didn’t seem interested in the slightest. He smiled that smile that didn’t come near his eyes, laughed when the situation warranted. But it was clear — to those watching closely — that he didn’t return their attention.

  Just as that thought occurred to me, I was hit with another, more unpleasant one. He wasn’t interested in any woman. Myself included.

  It wasn’t like I didn’t already know that, but the reminder didn’t hurt any less.

  Just friends. Just friends. Just friends.

  The sound of Sophia’s voice pulled me out of my head and back into reality. “Ms. Lilly! This one’s from you!”

  I smiled from a distance as she held up the wrapped present I brought. Then my heart gave a little jump when Quinn waved me over and added, “Come over here.”

  My cheeks heated as I picked my way through the crowd of unhappy-looking mothers to get to Quinn and So
phia’s side. Quinn leaned in so close I could feel his breath across my neck as he whispered, “What are you doing all the way over there?”

  I tried not to shiver as Sophia ripped into the wrapping paper. “Just watching. Didn’t want to be in the way,” I whispered back.

  One corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk as he turned back to his daughter, muttering, “Impossible,” under his breath.

  I really was going to melt into a pile of goo if he didn’t stop. Luckily, Sophia’s high-pitched squeak distracted me from Quinn’s potency and turned our attention back to her.

  “Daddy, look!” She pulled the pale pink, satin ballet slippers from the box by the long ribbons that would wrap around her ankles. She held them up and stared at them, her face a blanket of wonder and awe. “Wow,” she breathed after several seconds. Turning from the slippers to me, her eyes were wide as she asked, “Can you put them on me? Please, Ms. Lilly?”

  “Of course, sweetie.” I sat down on the bench next to her and lifted her feet up. The ballet slippers didn’t quite go with the princess dress she was wearing for the party, but she didn’t seem to care. I showed her how to lace them up around her ankles and tie them in a little bow, and as soon as I stood up, she and her friends took off like they were on fire, screaming and running around the back yard. It always tripped me out how short kids’ attention spans were. Present time was officially over and it was back to playing.

  “Don’t worry,” I muttered from the side of my mouth to Quinn. “They’re totally machine washable.”

  He let out a deep belly laugh, and I noticed the sound pulled the gaze of his mother, father, and the man and woman I now knew to be his wife’s parents. The four of them seemed shocked to hear him laugh, and I was left wondering what that was all about.

  Before I could think longer on it, Quinn’s voice called my attention. “Well, thank Christ for that, because there’s no way I’m getting those off her feet. Pretty sure she’s going to sleep in them.”

  I beamed up at him and watched in amazement as his eyes traveled down to my lips. That telltale spark I felt every time he looked at me like that ignited beneath my skin, once again, making me feel like there was something deeper between us.

  I knew it was more than likely all in my imagination, and that I needed to brush it off, so in an attempt to do that, I shook my head and began gathering up the plates and other trash scattered around the table from Sophia’s cake and presents.

  “Just leave that,” he began to argue. “I’ll get to it later.”

  “I don’t mind helping. Besides, two hands are better than one, and if we get this cleaned up now, you won’t be stuck with the mess later.”

  That smile of his grew just a tad closer to his eyes as he reached down and started gathering up more trash. “Thanks.”

  The partygoers had started to clear out a while later. I hung around, wanting to help clean up as much as I could before taking off. I was standing at the kitchen sink washing the last of the dirty dishes when a voice spoke up behind me.

  “You’re Sophia’s dance teacher, aren’t you?”

  I looked over my shoulder at the pretty brunette, Sophia’s grandmother. “Yes ma’am.”

  She closed the distance between us as I dried my hands and offered hers up for a shake. “I’m Janice Benson. It’s lovely to meet you.”

  I shook her soft hand as I studied her sincere expression. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

  “She talks about your class every time we have a call.” She must have read my confusion as she went on to explain, “My husband and I live in Seattle. We don’t get to see Sophia as much as we want to anymore, so we have regularly scheduled phone calls three times a week.”

  That was incredibly sad, and judging by what I saw behind her eyes, she felt the same way. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say, what she expected me to say. There didn’t seem like any right words, so all I could offer was a heartfelt, “It’s really nice you take the time to keep in contact.”

  Her face only grew sadder, even with her attempt at a smile. “We miss her… them. We miss both of them.”

  I was about two seconds away from crying if I didn’t get my shit together. She sniffed, clearly trying to hold back her own tears and gave me another wobbly smile. “Is he…” She stopped suddenly and cleared her throat against the rush of emotion that caused her words to break. “Quinn, is he… okay? I mean, does he seem happy?”

  My mouth opened and closed several times before I was finally able to stutter, “I-I don’t… I’m not… I…” I had no clue how to answer that question. The truth was, some days he seemed content, but as far as happy, I just wasn’t sure about that. And I didn’t think she wanted to hear the truth. She wanted hope.

  “He laughed with you, earlier today. He actually laughed. I haven’t heard that in… well, I don’t know how long. That has to mean something, right?”

  I couldn’t let her continue with the worry she was carrying around, not if I was able to do something to help. “Yes,” I whispered. “He seems happy.”

  The weight dropping off her shoulders was almost palpable. “Thank you,” she spoke in a ragged whisper. “Thank you. That means—”

  “Everything okay in here?” We were both startled by the unexpected voice and turned to find Quinn standing in the doorway leading to the back yard.

  “Yeah,” I answered brightly, trying to cover up the intensity of the moment that had just occurred. “All good. We were just finishing up the last of the dishes.”

  He hesitated before stepping fully into the kitchen. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “Oh… I didn’t mind. I—” I was suddenly cut off by the man I’d come to know as Janice’s husband. Quinn’s deceased wife’s father.

  “Janice… you about ready, darling?”

  Quinn’s body went on alert, his posture stiffening as the man stopped just feet from him. Not once did he look over at the man he’d known as his father-in-law. I couldn’t for the life of me understand the dynamic between all these people, but there was one thing I knew for sure. It wasn’t healthy. For any of them.

  “Sure,” Janice smiled and moved toward her husband. “Let me just say goodnight to Sophia.”

  The man looked from his wife to Quinn before saying, “I’ll go with you.” Then, just like that, they were both gone, but the tension still hung heavy in the air.

  “You okay?” Quinn asked, giving me a start.

  “Uh…” A nervous laugh bubbled from deep within. “I’m pretty sure I should be asking you that question. You get any more rigid and you just might crack.”

  He came closer, his face suspicious. “Did she say something that upset you?”

  “What? No, not at all. She was really nice, actually. Why would you think that?”

  I could tell he didn’t believe me. “You looked upset when I walked in, that’s all. Things with them can be…”

  “Can be what?” I asked when he didn’t finish his sentence.

  “It’s a difficult situation, that’s all. They do what they can to maintain a relationship with Sophia, but we don’t really talk.”

  I was shocked to hear him admit something so personal. He was normally so closed-off that his openness about his in-laws was surprising. I had expected those shutters of his to come down. Seeing as they hadn’t, I decided to take my chances and asked, “Why?”

  What he said next broke my heart. The words, coupled with the emptiness in his beautiful eyes killed me. “They blame me,” he admitted raggedly.

  I closed the gap between us in two steps, grabbing hold of his hands in an attempt to offer some sort of comfort, no matter how small. “What? No, Quinn, that’s not—”

  “It’s all right. I blame myself, too. It’s just…” He looked so ravaged, so pained. I would have given anything in that moment to take it all away from him. “I wish things were different between all of us. For Sophia’s sake.”

  “I think you’re wrong,” I told him softly, reaching
up to hold his face in my hands. “She’s worried. She told me herself that they miss you. She didn’t sound like a woman who placed blame, Quinn.”

  His eyes grew dark as those shutters began to lower. “You wouldn’t understand.”

  I was just about to argue, to tell him that maybe I could understand if he’d just talk to me, but Sophia called out from the backyard, interrupting the moment.

  “I need to get out there. Thank you for everything today.” He turned and walked out, effectively closing the door on our conversation and leaving me hurting for him.

  13

  Lilly

  Since my father’s diagnosis it had been hard to keep from stopping by my parents’ house unexpectedly every chance I had. The only thing that kept me from going over constantly was the fact that we’d changed our monthly dinners to weekly, so I was able to keep a closer eye on my father. Other than being tired and losing weight, he’d been in pretty good spirits recently. It wasn’t until I walked into their kitchen the day after Sophia’s party and got a look at my mother’s face that I knew something wasn’t right.

  Her eyes were bloodshot, dark circles made them appear sunken in. Her skin was pale and her normally put together appearance was disheveled. She looked like she hadn’t been sleeping.

  “Mom? What’s wrong?”

  She gave me a sad, tired smile as she slowly chopped a stalk of celery. “Oh, hi, sweetie. I didn’t hear you come in.”

  I walked to her and took the knife from her hand. “Maybe that’s because you’re half-asleep? What’s going on?”

  She let out a weary sigh and all but collapsed onto the barstool at the island. “Sorry. It’s just been a little rough. You’re father hasn’t had a very good week.”