Come Home with Me

by Susan Fox

  On shore, Luke was taking pictures with one of their phones, but he put the phone in his pocket as they reached shore. He caught the bow of the kayak and used the attached rope to pull the boat in a bit, and then he assisted first Brandon and then Caleb to climb out. He then pulled the boat even higher so she wouldn’t get her feet wet, and even though she didn’t need the hand he offered, she took it anyhow.

  “This is fun,” she said, letting her eyes tell him that she was referring to his company, not just the outing.

  When she noticed Brandon eyeing their linked hands, she casually let go, claimed her camera, and walked a few feet along the beach, shaking out her arms and shoulders. “Paddling is harder work than it looks.” She snapped pictures of her daughter, who looked adorable in her little orange life vest. “Having fun, sweetie?”

  Ariana’s brown eyes were dazzly with sunshine and excitement. “Fun. I kay-ak!”

  After Miranda had taken pictures of Luke and the boys, they climbed back into the boats. Caleb and Brandon swapped positions, and this time Luke put Ariana in the front seat of his kayak. “Now remember,” he said, “that you have to sit. You can’t stand up.”

  Miranda was glad that he didn’t go on and tell her that if she did, the kayak might tip them into the water. Ariana wasn’t big on cause and effect yet, but if she did manage to grasp his point, she just might want to tip the boat so she could go swimming.

  Fortunately, her daughter behaved herself as they paddled back, and when they arrived they found that the park was busier than before. Luke carried the kayaks and vests back to his SUV and returned carrying a cooler and Miranda’s backpack. The dogs bounded ahead of him, delighted to be released from confinement.

  For a few minutes, it was a jumble of kids and dogs, but Miranda didn’t mind one bit. All up and down the beach, and in the park by the picnic tables, the same thing was happening.

  This was what real families did on weekends. Parents didn’t leave their kids alone in dingy apartments with empty cupboards. They didn’t bring back men with rough voices and needles full of drugs.

  She shook away the past, noticed a group leaving one of the picnic tables, and hurried over to claim it. Luke herded the kids and dogs in her direction.

  A squirrel scampered over, probably anticipating handouts. Ariana cried out in delight, “Skir-rel!” She ran toward it, and the squirrel darted away and scrambled up the trunk of a tree and out on a limb, where it perched and scolded them.

  “Skir-rel!” This time her daughter’s cry was a frustrated one. Her face scrunched up and Miranda had that just-before-a-thunderstorm feeling of apprehension.

  She went over to Ariana, hoping to forestall a TTT, but it was too late. With a sense of inevitability, she picked up her now-shrieking daughter. The calm had been too good to last. The adventures of the day had overstimulated Ariana, so no wonder she was now unraveling. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she murmured. “The squirrel just got scared. Settle down now so we can enjoy our lunch. We’ve got all sorts of goodies.”

  “We do,” Luke affirmed, beginning to lay out food on the picnic table. “Look, Ariana, we have peanut butter and jam.”

  But the little girl continued to wail.

  Miranda said, calmly but more firmly, “Stop crying now, Ariana. There’s nothing to cry about.” Her daughter was getting old enough to understand that TTTs weren’t acceptable, and that she could control her behavior.

  Brandon pitched in, saying in a disparaging tone, “Big kids don’t cry.”

  “Ethan cried,” Caleb said more objectively. “He broke his arm. He’s twelve! And Jang-mi cried when her mommy was sick.” He turned to his dad, whose back was turned as he put paper plates on the table. “Daddy? Did you cry when Mommy died?”

  Luke’s back stiffened, and Miranda’s heart went out to him. Slowly he turned, then he squatted and put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Yes, Caleb. I cried a lot. You’re right, everyone cries sometimes. But I think what Brandon means”—Luke reached out with his free arm to draw his other son close—“is that big kids don’t cry unless something really bad happens.”

  Swallowing a lump in her throat, Miranda realized that Ariana had stopped howling to listen. Seizing the opportunity, she told her daughter, “Listen to Luke, sweetie. You saw a cute squirrel, and that’s a good thing. Not a bad one. We went kayaking and saw fish and ducks. That was a good thing. And now we’re going to have peanut butter and jam sandwiches. It’s all good, Ariana.”

  Glancing past her daughter, she saw Luke smiling at her, and she smiled back. Yes, it really was all good.

  Soon they were seated at the table, the boys on one side and she and Luke on the other with Ariana between them. Everyone had a can—or sippy cup in Ariana’s case—with his or her preferred cold drink, and a paper plate with a collection of snacks. Honey and Pigpen sat in the shade under the table with a bowl of water and whatever scraps the boys could manage to sneak them without Luke noticing.

  “Caleb has lipstick,” Brandon said, pointing at his brother. “Just like Grandma Sonia.”

  “Do not,” the boy protested.

  Seeing a smudge of red above Caleb’s lip, Miranda reached across the table and removed it with her thumb. Smiling at him, she said, “Brandon can’t tell lipstick from strawberry jam. And speaking of which, these are excellent sandwiches somebody made.” They did taste good, oozing messily with an overabundance of peanut butter and jam. The slices of cheddar and mozzarella and the veggie sticks, in contrast, had been cut with surgical precision.

  “We did, we did!” Brandon crowed. “Me and Caleb.”

  She pretended surprise. “Wow, you guys are really good cooks.”

  Caleb studied her and then said, “You could come for dinner tonight.”

  “For dinner?” Wow again. Was she winning one of the twins over?

  “We have hot dogs,” Brandon chimed in.

  She wasn’t sure whether he really wanted her to come, or was just trying to outdo his brother. Nor was she sure she wanted to go. She could always plead the family dinner at SkySong as an excuse, but really, there’d be no problem missing it. She had spent lots of time with Eden’s family over the past month, as they all helped Helen, Jim, and Kelsey get settled in their new house.

  “And salad,” Caleb said. “Our grannies like salad.”

  “I like salad, too,” Miranda confirmed. Ah yes, the grannies. The women who thought Luke deserved better than her. She touched her dragon, on proud display below the short sleeve of her pink T-shirt. She hadn’t let Sonia’s and Annie’s opinions stop her from coming today—and she’d had a wonderful time.

  “And cake,” Brandon said. “Or pie. Sometimes cake and pie.”

  “Cake!” Ariana contributed.

  “I definitely like cake and pie,” Miranda said, smiling, letting herself be tempted.

  “It’s the family Sunday night dinner,” Luke said, and she gazed at him, trying to determine if he was warning her off or if he wanted her there.

  “Mom and Grandpa Randall are both great with desserts,” he said. “You should come, Miranda.”

  She met his warm gaze and thought, with that same unexpected realization as earlier, I’m happy. When Sonia and Annie had asked if she was happy, she hadn’t known how to answer because she’d never let herself think much about happiness. But now she knew she was a person who could be happy. That knowledge, combined with her dragon courage and Luke’s support, told her she could face the two older women with at least some measure of confidence.

  “I’d like that.” She smiled at Luke and then across the table to his sons. “Thanks, guys.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Luke was glad the boys had started warming to Miranda. Now if only his parents and in-laws would behave.

  Three hours after he’d dropped Miranda and her daughter back at SkySong, he was ushering the pair into the kitchen at his house. It was a bit of a chaos zone since everyone had arrived at more or less the same time.

  Mir
anda certainly looked good, in a long-sleeved blue top that matched her eyes, worn with tan pants. Sea glass earrings danced like miniature wind chimes when she moved her head. They’d shared a hug at the door, which was all that seemed appropriate in the circumstances, but each time he was with her, he felt a growing need to touch her in increasingly intimate ways.

  Inside the kitchen door, Ariana glued herself to her mother’s side and stared at everyone as he made the introductions. Then he said, “Boys, how about you take the dogs and hang out in the playroom?”

  After their noisy departure, Annie, a gleam in her pale gray eyes, addressed Miranda. “So you didn’t let Sonia and me scare you off.”

  “Mom. Annie.” Luke glanced from one to the other with a hint of warning. He had respected Miranda’s wishes and not asked what they’d said to her at the community hall. But when he’d told them she was coming tonight, he’d said he expected them to be courteous.

  Before either responded, Miranda said, “Maybe for a moment or two. But you made me think. And here’s what I realized. I’m not perfect.”

  “No one’s perfect,” he said, because it was true.

  “No, they’re not,” Miranda said. She looked at his mom. “As for me, I’m a much better person than I used to be, and I’m a person who can be happy.” She turned to Annie. “I know how to love with all my heart and if you have any doubts about that, just ask my daughter or my brother.”

  Luke was proud of Miranda for standing up to them. Whatever insecurities plagued her, she seemed to be getting past them.

  “So, I’m here,” she said evenly. “I’ve come for dinner.” Holding up a cloth tote bag, she added, “And I’ve brought cheese puffs. Or gougères, if you want to be fancy about it.”

  “Mmm,” Forbes said, stepping forward to take the bag from her. “Sounds delicious. Welcome, Miranda.”

  Was Luke the only one who noticed that Miranda’s shoulders sagged a little, as if a burden had been lifted? He stepped closer and said, “Gougères? Did you make those?”

  “They’re a bread basket specialty at a restaurant where I once worked.” She spoke loudly enough so everyone could hear. Then she tipped her head up to him and whispered, “When Chef Emile dumped me and got me fired, I stole his recipe. I don’t feel an iota of guilt.”

  He grinned. “Nor should you.”

  Fingers tugged at the leg of his jeans and he looked down to see Ariana staring up at him, looking unhappy. He bent and hoisted her up, and announced to the group, “Ariana went kayaking for the first time. She did great.”

  Now she smiled, confirming, “I kay-ak.”

  “Tell them what you saw,” he prompted.

  “I see fish! I see ducks. I see kitty . . . kitty . . .” She gazed up at him for help.

  “Pussy willows,” he supplied.

  “Yes! Soft.”

  Miranda smiled at her daughter and then turned to Luke’s stepfather. “Forbes, I really enjoyed B-B-Zee the other night. Your music was great. And you have a terrific voice.”

  Sonia linked her arm through her husband’s and teased him, “Looks like you have a new groupie.” The smile she gave Miranda was warm and Luke realized that he should have told Miranda that the way to his mom’s heart was through praising her husband.

  She grasped the point quickly because she raved a little longer and then said, “I love Julian’s music, too. I’ve been a big fan ever since I first heard him years ago.”

  And there was the way to Forbes’s heart—even more than complimenting his own music.

  Luke bounced Ariana in his arms, sensing it was time to find her something more fun to do than listen to adults. His mom must have the same idea because she came over and said, “Hi, Ariana. Aren’t you the prettiest little girl?”

  “I pretty,” the child agreed, smiling at her.

  “My name is Sonia and I’m Luke’s mommy.”

  “Luke!”

  His mom glanced at Miranda. “I could take her to the playroom, if you don’t mind trusting me with your adorable little one.”

  “Of course. That would be great.”

  Sonia touched Ariana’s hand. “How would you like to come with me, honey? I bet we can find a stuffed animal to play with.”

  “Kitty?”

  “Maybe not a kitty, but I know there’s a doggy and a—”

  “Pig-pen! I play Pig-pen,” she said happily as Luke put her down.

  After confirming that Miranda was good with that, his mom took Ariana’s hand and the pair left the kitchen.

  It didn’t take the rest of them long to organize the food and get the serving dishes for the main course onto the dining room table. Earlier, when he and the boys had set the table, he’d had to think about where to seat Miranda and Ariana. Everyone else had a customary seat, and the only vacant chair was at the other end of the table, where his pregnant wife had once sat. But life went on, and he tried not to give too much meaning to putting Miranda there, with a booster-seated chair for Ariana beside her.

  He was both sorry and glad that she was so far away. There’d be no inadvertent or not-so-inadvertent brushes of hands as they passed food, or of elbows as they ate. Given how attracted he was to her, that was probably a good thing, with all the older generation eagle eyes watching.

  When everyone was seated, they dished out the food, with the twins even accepting servings of veggies. As usual, there was an eclectic assortment: lasagna, a green bean and almond casserole, Waldorf salad, Miranda’s gougères, and the promised hot dogs.

  They all dug in, and when he tasted the light, tasty cheese puffs, he told Miranda how great they were. Others echoed the compliment, and then his mother said, “Well, Miranda, I’d sure never have recognized you as that same high school student I taught. I must say, I do like the changes.”

  To Luke, that sounded like a bit of a backhanded compliment, and maybe Miranda felt the same way because her chin came up and her eyes narrowed, but all she said was a calm “Thank you, Sonia.”

  “What have you been doing in the years you’ve been off island?”

  Luke saw tightness in Miranda’s shoulders, but she didn’t avoid the question. “Until I got pregnant, I was enjoying being single in Vancouver. Oh,” she hurried to add, “nothing too wild and crazy. But it’s a great city with so much to offer. Lots of places to walk, free events on the streets, art galleries and stores you can browse through, lots of music and theater. And of course a fantastic library. That was my favorite place.”

  “What work did you do?” Annie asked.

  Miranda turned to her. “Mostly I worked in retail or in restaurants. The salesclerk jobs usually had better hours but waitressing had better tips. Plus I’d often get a meal, and leftovers to bring home. That was especially important since I had Ariana.” She glanced back at Sonia. “I know that dropping out of high school wasn’t the brightest move. Aaron was always after me to get my GED, but I wasn’t motivated because no particular career appealed to me.”

  She leaned toward her daughter and broke a chunk of lasagna into smaller, more manageable portions for her to spoon up.

  “But now you do have your GED,” his mom said. “Luke tells me you’re taking courses online in early childhood education?”

  “Yes. Last year, I realized that I needed a better job, one with regular hours and a regular paycheck, to provide properly for Ariana. And I’d learned from being with her, and with our sitter’s grandchildren, that I really love kids. I know daycare and preschool work doesn’t pay a lot, but I’d enjoy doing it. Besides, I’d be able to take Ariana to work with me until she’s ready for kindergarten.”

  Luke smiled at her, glad she’d found a career direction that suited her. He only hoped that once she got her certificate, she’d look for a job on Destiny.

  “Loving your job is more important than how much money you make,” Annie said.

  Miranda straightened her shoulders and Luke could almost see her deliberating, and then she said evenly, “Sorry, but I disagree. The mo
st important thing about a job is making enough to support your child.”

  His smile widened. Points to her for having the guts to differ with his strong-minded mother-in-law.

  Annie blinked. “You’re absolutely right. I of all people should have added that qualifier. I grew up poor. My parents always managed to keep us fed and clothed, but the clothes came from thrift shops and sometimes dinner was from a food bank.”

  Luke knew that Annie still grabbed much of her clothing from the island’s thrift store but, thanks to Randall’s love of cooking, their meals verged on gourmet.

  “I had no idea,” Miranda said.

  “I was lucky. Neither of my parents are particularly bright, nor are my two siblings. But some genetic quirk made me a genius.” She stated it as a fact without a hint of arrogance. “I whipped through school, got scholarships, started developing video games. A couple of supportive professors helped me make the right connections and, almost overnight, I had more money than I or my family had a clue what to do with. So you see, I realize how much luck plays into things. I had the luck to be born brilliant.”

  “And I had the luck to fall in love with Annie,” Randall said, “and have her fall in love with me.” He leaned toward his wife, clearly intending to kiss her cheek, but she intercepted the move and met his lips with hers. Chuckling, he said, “Yeah, I’m definitely lucky. But as I was saying, when I was a teen who wanted to be a photographer, research told me it was a tough way to make a living. As it happens, I’ve done okay, but Annie’s income took the pressure off my shoulders.”

  Luke had considered himself the luckiest guy in the world to be Candace’s best friend, and then for the two of them to fall in love. But that luck had turned out to be a mixed blessing. Yes, he had two wonderful boys, and generous and supportive in-laws. But when you had loved so long and so well, it left such a hole in your life and your heart when you lost that person.

  And now there was Miranda. Pretty and warmhearted and sexy, yet prickly and damaged. She wasn’t Candace. No one could replace Candace. But she was special in her own right, and she came with a bonus package: a little girl who made his heart lift each time she crowed a delighted “Luke!”