by Tijan
An overwhelming sense of peace rose up in me.
I squeezed Mason’s hand and showed him the pictures. The way he laughed, so full of tenderness, almost beat out the way his eyes softened. Almost. Not quite.
He melted for his little girl, and I knew what Logan was worried about wouldn’t happen.
We were not our parents.
We would be better.
12
Samantha
I was staring at heaven.
Mason was shirtless, lying on the bed beside me and Maddie was curled in his arms. Her head was turned into his neck and he was cradling her and just watching her.
After we got to Fallen Crest, we headed to Malinda’s and my dad’s house. We were back in my old bedroom in the basement. I’d needed sleep. Any time you go camping, there’s a necessary recuperation/hibernation time period afterwards and Mason, bless him, and had volunteered to stay up with Maddie when she got fussy.
Seeing I was awake, he said softly, “Hey. You feel more rested?”
I nodded, sitting up, and I reached for her. It was just automatic. That was my little girl.
He shifted, handing her, then bending down and kissing her forehead first and then mine. He eased out of bed not to wake her as she started nestling into me. “Bathroom. Be back.” He trailed a hand down my arm as he left.
She’d need to be fed soon, but until then, I eased back against the headboard and held Maddie, breathing her smell in. Heaven. Pure heaven.
It wasn’t long before Mason came back and eased right back in his place. He moved up to sit next to me, curling an arm around me so he was holding both of us, and he moved his head, kissing my temple. “Malinda’s obsessed.”
I grinned. He wasn’t lying.
We came back and Malinda had a whole scene where she tried to get us to leave again. We didn’t, but she was firm. “Now, you go. Shoo. I need more grandma time.” When she got that we weren’t actually leaving, she caved, but we got grumbles and glowers for the next couple hours before I went down for a nap.
I said now, “Maddie was in a good mood when we got back. Mama Malinda needs to be called Grandma Malinda now, and if we ever moved back, she’d be our nanny.”
His arm tightened around me. “Maybe we should do that.”
I looked up, frowning. “What?”
His eyes were on Maddie. “During off-season. We could get a house here, come back and stay. You can train wherever. And I know you love running up in the hills. Then when we need to go back for football, we go back.”
I smoothed a hand down Maddie’s little back. “You’d be okay with that?”
He shrugged. “Yeah. Why not? I mean, there are reasons you want to be closer to Heather too.”
Yeah.
“We can afford two houses?”
He nodded. “Oh yeah. I mean, I have a good salary with the team, but Logan and I both have money from our dad’s company too. We’ve not really touched that money, or I haven’t. I don’t think Logan has either.”
I’d forgotten about that money.
“It’ll be fine. We don’t need to worry about that stuff, and if we did, we could downsize at one of the houses. Real estate is usually a good investment too.”
Maddie moved, and we both held our breaths. Waiting.
Then she settled back in, just moving her head, finding me, and her entire body relaxed.
Mason smiled faintly. “She knows she’s in her mom’s arms.”
I smiled back.
Man. I loved my family.
Running another hand down Maddie’s back, it wasn’t just her. It wasn’t just Mason. It was all of them. Logan. Taylor. Heather. All our friends. But my dad. Malinda. Even Analise was better. James was still an asshole, but he was mostly fine to me. He kept the asshole parts to deal with Mason and Logan, and Mason usually never let me hear about those calls. But I knew they happened.
James wanted both boys at his company. Both boys didn’t want that. There were arguments.
But also Garrett, my biological father, and Sheila.
Yes. I was blessed, very blessed.
Mason spoke up, “I think Logan and Taylor are heading to Cain tomorrow to see her dad.”
“So we have tonight.”
“We have tonight.”
I glanced around, but didn’t see the clock. “What time is it?”
Mason stiffened, but said, “Almost time to go. Heather texted your phone thirty minutes ago. I told her we’d be late, that I didn’t want to wake you.”
“You did?”
He shot me a look. “You need sleep, Sam. Heather understood. Everyone understood.”
“Oh.” I relaxed again.
“But Malinda is chomping at the bit. She wants grandma babysitting duty while we get ready and go. Heather mentioned there’s a Roussou thing going on, so Channing’s friends will be at Manny’s too.”
I shook my head as Mason got out of bed, then went to the door. “It still makes me laugh that when Roussou has things going on, they come to a bar in Fallen Crest.”
Mason gave me a grin before he opened the door.
Malinda was there. “Ooooh! There’s my girl.”
Both of us hushed her, and immediately Malinda’s voice went from a six to a one and she was cooing all over Maddie. She came over, slid her arms under my little girl, and stood back, cradling her to her shoulder. She skimmed over me. “You’re looking more rested. Your color’s a bit better.”
She leaned over, adjusting Maddie, and ran a hand through my hair.
“Oh yes. You need another night with friends.” She straightened back up, moving to the door. “Off you both go. Shower. Get ready. I’m going to call Roy to come and drive you guys—”
“No.” Mason stopped her. “I’ll drive.”
“Roy’s like our own taxi driver. He’s local and young. He’ll be—”
“No. I’m not going to drink more than one beer. I’m good to drive us home.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”
He dipped his head. “I’m sure, but I appreciate the thought.” He nodded to Maddie. “You helping out so fast is more than enough of a thank-you. We know we won’t always have a babysitter at hand.”
Malinda stared at him, long and hard. Then she started blinking, and she kept blinking. She looked at me and sniffled. “You’re my kids. Neither came from my loins, but you’re my kids. Means the world to me. You know that. And this little girl, she’s the first and I’ll always want to babysit. As long as I can get around in a wheelchair, I get grandma duty. You got that?” Her voice rose and she gave us both sharp looks.
“Got that?”
We hadn't answered quick enough.
“Got it.” Mason smiled, gentling his tone.
She gave me a pointed look. “You gotta say it, Sam. I get grandma duty first because I know the rest are already starting to wake up, getting their heads out of the asses, but I’m already here. I’ve been here since the first day I met you all.”
She had, and I had no problem telling her she got grandma duty first.
She heard my words, and she kept blinking, then a tear slipped free and she said gruffly, “You both get ready to go. I’ve got a grandchild to love on.”
Mason shut the door behind her. His eyes darkened, taking me in. “You need to pump?”
I did. I was hurting. I’d pumped yesterday and this morning, but I needed to do it again. Pump and dump.
He left, coming back with everything I needed. After that, he showered and got ready. When I was done, I bypassed him for the shower. When I came back, he’d taken care of everything. The bed was made. My purse was sitting on top. My phone next to it, and even my sandals were on the floor right next to the bed.
He’d thought of everything.
Grabbing my things, I headed upstairs and Mason was playing with Maddie. Her happy shrieks filled the entire house.
Malinda and my dad were standing in the kitchen. I moved to both, giving each a hug and a kiss on the c
heek, then I had a whole moment with Maddie. Moms needed these sometimes. I needed mine, and no one said a word. I had to do a hug, a kiss, then another hug. Then I needed to nuzzle into her neck, getting my own gleeful shriek from her, and then I was okay until later tonight.
Mason waited at the door.
I handed Maddie off, another soft kiss to her forehead, and he held his hand out.
I took it. He led me outside.
He held my hand the entire drive to Manny’s.
13
Samantha
Manny’s was full, and when I say full, I meant cars and trucks were parked on the street. There was a line getting into the door, and I’d never seen Manny’s this packed. They’d been spreading out at a constant pace over the last couple years. Opening the back end. Renovating the back end. Adding on to the back end. Revamping the section behind Manny’s. Then revamping and adding on to the right side of Manny’s, not to mention at some point they’d totally redone the outside front section too. I knew that’d been done a ways back, but I had no clue when.
“Wow.”
Mason frowned, pulling up to the front entrance.
I glanced at the side door. It was still there, but the chairs Heather and I used to sit at for our breaks were no longer there. I missed our ‘smoke’ breaks, meaning that Heather smoked and I sat, and we both took our breaks together.
The bones of the old Manny’s were still there, but everything else looked shiny and new.
I’d never admit this to Heather because business was booming for her, and that meant good things like franchising, but I missed the old Manny’s. I missed when only the regulars like Gus knew about it, but this was very, very good for Heather. Hence, me not even uttering those words to anyone except in my own head.
“I’ll drop you off, then park somewhere.”
“You sure?”
Mason nodded, scanning Manny’s behind me. “Logan said they’re in a corner table inside. I can see why we aren’t outside.”
Yeah. The outside looked overrun by high school students. Or college students.
I reserved the right to now put them all in the same category, because they all looked young to me. Even though we were only out of college not far ourselves.
Heading in, I used the side door (sentimental reasons), but a giant guy was suddenly there and in my space. He was giant and bald, and he was holding a beer. He was also looking at me like I was dirt under his shoe. “This door’s closed. You gotta go to the front if you’re coming in.”
One, the door wasn’t closed. I walked through it just fine.
And two, I was just pissed. I had no number two.
I opened my mouth, but suddenly Brandon was hurrying down from behind the bar. “Moose, she’s good. That’s family.”
Moose didn’t seem convinced. I wasn’t under his shoe anymore, but he was doing a good impression of a mean girl. I was just under his nose this time. “Your name?”
Brandon cleared his throat, now coming from behind the bar. “This is Samantha Kade.” And he was catching me up, giving me a hug. “It’s good to see you, Sam. Heather said Drunk Sam made an appearance last night, and I know those appearances can hold her over for a year.”
I laughed, but hugged Heather’s brother back. “It’s good to see you.”
Brandon let me go, his eyes trailing over my shoulder. “This is Heather’s best friend. Chill or Heather will rip your balls off.”
I looked and the giant goliath now was looking more like a teddy bear. His cheeks were a little pink. “I’m real sorry. I should know who you are.”
I didn’t get that, but I just shrugged. “You’re one of Channing’s, right?”
He gave me a brief nod. “You’re correct.”
Brandon’s hand came to my arm, just as he started to return behind the bar. “Heather’s in the office. We had some staff issues, but you can head on over. They’re at the table on the other side of the bar.”
We had prime seating. There was another door, one that wasn’t being barred, to one side of our table. The restrooms were just down the hallway. The bar was within four feet of us, and the kitchen staff were coming and going from the counter on the other side. Oh yes. Heather put us here on purpose. I knew my girl, and this way she could keep an eye on everything in Manny’s and still see us.
I loved my girl. Brilliant.
I was just heading to the table when said girl was coming out of her office, looking aggrieved. Her eyes lit on me and she nodded, her face brightening. She passed the table, heading my way, and we hugged as our greeting.
“This is insane, right?” She pulled back, glancing around.
“Kinda, but good for you. Right?”
Her eyebrows went up. There were bags under her eyes. She started to massage at her temples. “Roussou is having a festival this weekend. A bunch of alumni from the high school are in town, so somehow that translated into coming over here.”
“Where’s Channing?” I scanned the table. He wasn’t there.
“He’s at his bar. They’re overrun with college kids.”
I frowned. “Wasn’t that a biker bar?”
“It was, until the college kids moved in. It is a biker bar during the week, but during the weekend, they started coming over here.” She gestured in the back. “You don’t see ’em, but there’s a bunch of bikers in the back back. Not the back room, but the back section between here and the house. I had them move all their bikes to the other side of the house too.” A worried look flashed, and she hesitated a second. “I need to warn you that I heard rumors Shannon Broudou was in town.”
Whoa.
Blast from the past, and not a welcomed one.
“What’s she doing nowadays?”
Heather shrugged. “Not a clue. I heard once she was dead, then I heard she was divorced. Next I heard she was in a trailer park somewhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if she came here on the back of a bike.”
I frowned. “I thought there were issues with a local MC?”
Another shrug as Heather returned to scanning the place. “There was, but I don’t want to get into it. It’s complicated now, but they stop for a beer here and at Channing’s place.” She nodded in the direction of where I’d first come in. “Chan sent some of his guys here for crowd control and if anything starts up.”
So, same old Manny’s because things tended to ‘start up’ here. And frequently.
I relaxed a little hearing that. It felt more familiar.
“Where’s Mason?”
“He dropped me off and went to park.”
“Shit. I should’ve texted you guys. I kept a couple spots open by the house.”
I was about to suggest I could text him when I turned, and he was coming in. Unlike me, Moose didn’t stop him. He saw Mason, dipped his head, and held up his beer in salute. Mason reached over, his fist meeting Moose’s fist around his drink, and they exchanged a few words. Moose pointed at me, and Mason turned. Seeing me, his eyes hitting mine, he said something more to Moose before starting his way toward me.
That’s when the buzz started.
Buzz that it took a second to penetrate because I was lost, just watching Mason. Yep. I was still feeling the hormones from a happy baby, happy family, and feeling how he’d taken care of me today and a whole bunch during the night.
Then the looks started.
The whispers.
Mason ignored it all, coming over to me, and nodding to Heather at the same time he tugged me in front of him. My back was to his front, and he linked one arm around my chest, anchoring me to him. “How goes it, Heather? Place is looking good.”
Heather wasn’t listening to him.
She tuned into the reaction Mason was getting and cursed under her breath. “Forgot about this. I shouldn’t have. I remembered it when we picked our campsite, but you’re you and I’ve known you for years now. And you don’t act anything except normal, but yeah. You’re in your hometown, and if you haven’t clued in, Mason, you’re a bit of a star
here.”
Mason grimaced, tightening his arm around me. “Let’s just ignore them?”
Heather laughed. “That’s not going to do a damned thing.” Her eyes trailed past us and she nodded. “See. My point. I’m going to have to figure something out because this could get bad.”
“Mr. Kade?”
It was a little kid.
Which startled me because Manny’s was a bar, but I forgot that during day hours, it was a restaurant pub for families too. We were getting to the cutoff time when families needed to head home, but until then, a little dude who looked ten years old was looking at Mason like he could leap mountains and move rivers.
“Can I have your autograph?” He held up a pen and paper, then leaned in and whispered loudly, “It’s for me, but it’s really for my dad. He’s too embarrassed to come over, but I’m not supposed to tell you that. So I didn’t actually tell you that. K?” And he blinked, smiling so wide that I melted all over again.
I wanted a little boy now.
I had my girl, but I wanted a boy.
Mason knelt down and did his thing.
He was always good with the kids and the teenagers. Every now and then, we’d get a teen with an attitude, and when that happened, the old Mason came out. He was able to ‘check’ the teen quick. Only a few times did they get pissed, but people got weird when they’re close to fame. I hadn’t a clue why, but I noticed it enough to know it happened.
It was the women he had no time for, and sometimes the older guys got a bit much too. If a guy wanted to have a beer with Mason or wanted to sit and become his best friend. The women wanted to sleep with him, and if I was with him, I got eyed up as to who I was and how they could get me gone. Those were the moments I knew the old Mason was still there, because when I said that Mason could be a dick, he really could be a dick.
Tonight, I wasn’t sure what we were going to end up with, especially considering Logan was with us too.
A line had started, but Mason gestured for me to go sit down.
I did, but only because he moved over so he was standing right next to me. I kept a hand on his back, a touch that I knew he appreciated, and the rest of us tried to pretend everything was normal.