by Piper Rayne
She nods, pride and resignation on her aging face.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because I had to know what was going on with each of you. I don’t have eyes and ears everywhere. It was a good way for Lake Starlight as a whole, and a way to keep tabs on you all.”
“You could have just asked us what’s going on.” I pull the computer closer, looking at all the archived articles she unpublishes at midnight. There’re years of gossip from this town sitting there.
“None of you ever would’ve told me. When your parents died, I knew it was up to me to make sure you all ended up happy and none of you ended up with dimwits. This seemed like a good way to do that. It meant everyone else was looking out for each of you, even when I couldn’t. Soon people were obsessed with the Bailey kids getting their happily-ever-afters.”
“Jeez, Grandma, why are you telling me this?” I slide through article after article.
“Because you’re going to take it over now. I’m old, and I want to enjoy my great-grandchildren now that you’re all happy and in love.”
“Me? But you could have picked anyone.”
She pats my hand. “None of the others can write. Do what you want with this. Make it your own. I’m sure you youngsters know ways to make this profitable, if that’s what you want to do.”
My shoulders slouch. “Are you sure? I think people will miss your voice. I can’t believe this entire time I never knew. I actually thought it was someone who hated us.”
She laughs. “I tried to spin it sometimes.”
“Wait. How did you set up this entire thing? No offense, you were a wonderful businesswoman, but you’re not very tech-savvy.”
“Well, Ira who used to work at Bailey Timber, his son is pretty good with computers. They live in Hawaii. I told him if he told anyone, I know people who could make him disappear. I’m not sure he was scared though. I think he’s just a decent man.” She pats my hand again. “So it’s all yours now.”
Tears well in my eyes that she’d trust me with such a huge thing.
“But you can’t tell anyone.” She points at me. “Not even Jamison.”
“Um…”
“Fine, but only Jamison. That’s your one confidant. I had Ethel, you have Jamison.”
That makes me feel better. “Okay. Don’t you worry that you’ll be bored? Now that you’re giving this up and we’ve all found our happily-ever-afters?”
She tsks and stands. I shut the computer, holding it out to her.
“I didn’t say I’m going to stop meddling. You kids don’t know everything about life. I still have to offer my guidance and wisdom. Do you think marriage and raising children is easy? I have an entire arsenal of advice to give. Besides, I have a new mission.” She pushes the computer back toward me. “It’s yours now.”
“Are you sure?”
She waves me off. “Just keep the thing.”
I hug her, and she pats my back before stepping back. “Thanks for trusting me.”
“Don’t let your head get too big. I’ll let you know if you’re steering it wrong.” She grins before heading to the front door. “Ethel’s in the car. Did you hear the good news?”
“What?” I follow her.
“Calista’s team is playing Ethel’s grandson’s team today.” She stops at the door and lowers her voice. “The Baileys better kick their ass. I had Cleo make noisemakers and signs.”
“Isn’t it just a bunch of eight-year-olds?”
She stares at me as though she’s wondering if we’re related. “It’s never too early to learn that second place is just the first loser.”
I nod and purse my lips. “How did we turn out so normal?”
She opens the door, and just as fast as she came in, she’s gone. Not even stopping to answer my question. Grandma Dori climbs into her Cadillac, and Ethel backs it up so fast she almost hits the mailbox.
I close the door and say a little thank you that Grandma Dori’s part of our lives. Not a lot of grandparents would start a blog just to stay connected to their grandkids’ lives.
I walk up the stairs and open Palmer’s door. She’s sitting in her crib, playing with the plush mini soccer ball Jamison gave her when we moved in.
Good nap?
She nods and stands for me to get her out. When her feet hit the floor, she rushes over to her dollhouse, but I tap her on the shoulder.
She glances at me, and I sign, Let’s go. Daddy waiting.
As if she forgot, Palmer charges toward the door, but I swoop her up and put her on the changing table. I pretend to tickle, and all she signs is hurry over and over again. It’s rare I’m with her without Jamison nowadays, so I savor the moment. Oh, how our life has changed.
I’m not sure how long Jamison will wait to propose. The man has no pause button, but I’m learning that it’s okay. Maybe his gut does lead him, but it kept bringing him back to me, so that’s just fine.
A half-hour later, I pull up to the new facility. The parking lot is pretty full, and I take Palmer by the hand and walk up the sidewalk. Two guys are outside, talking.
“I told you the mix was shit,” one of them says.
I look back at him and then at my daughter. He doesn’t know she’s deaf.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the one says.
Ma’am I mouth to myself. Ouch. I think he’s older than me.
“Let’s just go back to the brewery after this game. I can’t believe we all got guilted into coming here.” The guy opens the door for Palmer and me.
“You know Grandma. She always gets what she wants,” the other says, following right behind me.
“Isn’t that the truth.”
I feel a kinship with these guys. I assume they’re Ethel’s grandkids. Little do they know how much worse it could be.
Inside, all my siblings are present and accounted for. The kids and Cleo are handing out noisemakers.
I sit with Palmer on the bench.
Jamison runs over and kisses Palmer and me. “Wish us luck.”
“Good luck, but you guys got this.”
Cleo sits down next to me. “Doesn’t this seem crazy? I mean, when I was eight, I was playing Barbies. Calista looks like a beast out there.”
My gaze goes to the field, and sure enough, Calista’s got eye black on under her eyes, her hair is in two braids, and there’s a bandana around her head. “If Jamison gets his way, that’s going to be Palmer in six years.”
Cleo mindlessly runs her hands over her stomach but says nothing.
“You feel okay?” I ask.
She looks at me with a panicked expression. “Yep. Just something I ate.”
I nod. “For a second, I thought you were pregnant.”
She waves me off. “Denver would never keep that quiet.”
Note to self, Cleo cannot lie. Her one eye is twitching. I think I just got my first gossip for Buzz Wheel tonight. Shit, I can’t give away my family secrets. On the other hand, I need to keep Grandma Dori’s legacy going.
“How far along?” I whisper.
“Eight weeks. Twins.”
My mouth falls open. The money was on someone in our family having twins, and of course it’s Denver. I hope for Cleo’s sake, it’s not two boys. That would be karma sticking it to Denver, but Cleo would be the collateral damage.
“Congratulations,” I whisper, not making a big deal. “You and Harley and…”
“Phoenix,” she says. I’m not surprised she told her, given that she’s pregnant as well.
Damn this family. What is it with everyone getting pregnant at the same time?
Denver slides in next to Cleo. He grabs the plastic bottles with pieces of plastic and ribbons tied to it, shaking them over and over again. “It’s starting.”
Palmer bounces on my lap and claps.
“Go, Rylan!” a woman says from the bleachers next to us.
Denver stands. “Go, Calista!”
“Oh great, we’re going to have a competition on who can be the loudest,” Cleo mu
mbles.
Phoenix stomps on the bleachers, and the other family does the same.
The whistle is blown, and Calista gets the ball. She jets down the field. We’re all cheering. Then a kid steals it from her and the other bleachers cheer.
It’s easy to figure out Rylan is Ethel’s grandson, Rylan Greene. He and Calista go back and forth, the two of them the best on their teams. At one point, Rylan accidentally trips Calista and I swear Kingston has to keep Denver and Rome from jumping onto the field. My attention is mostly on my man, who’s running up and down the field with the girls, yelling out instructions and plays that they’re actually following. When they have a break in the play, he gives high fives and tells the girls what a great job they’re doing.
I kiss Palmer’s head. We’re so fortunate to have a man like him in our lives. She claps and signs Go Go when Calista has the ball.
It’s touch-and-go, and funny enough, after forty-five minutes, the game ends in a tie. Calista’s team and the other all slap hands while we stand to leave.
Grandma stops us. “I want to introduce you all to Ethel’s grandchildren.”
As though Ethel told her grandkids the same thing, we end up lined across from one another. The Baileys on one side. The Greenes on the other. Through the introduction, I figure out that the two men from outside are Cade and Jed. Mandi, I recognize from the SunBay Inn. Other than that, the names are a blur. The only difference between us and them is they have no little ones. In fact, there are no plus ones at all in their group, which makes me think I need to move Buzz Wheel up to Sunrise Bay. My gut tells me that this is Dori and Ethel’s next mission. Lord help the Greenes.
We all shake hands and say hello. It’s polite and friendly, if a tad awkward.
“Firstborn too?” Austin says to Cade.
Cade nods.
As though Austin has read my mind, he says, “Good luck to you.”
Cade looks confused, and his gaze falls to his brother next to him like what’s this guy wishing me good luck for? Us Baileys laugh as if we’re in the know of an inside joke. Which we kind of are. We all say our goodbyes.
I’m walking with Palmer when a low voice says from behind me, “Excuse me, ma’am, but I’m going to have to frisk you.” Jamison grabs Palmer and throws her in the air.
“If I get ma’amed one more time today, I’m gonna lose it.” I watch Cade and Jed walk past me, oblivious to the fact they ruined my day with one word.
“Don’t worry, yer a definite MILF,” Jamison says with Palmer still in his arms.
“I’m technically a SMILF,” I say.
He’s purposely not signing to Palmer and she grows agitated. She’s cluing in on the fact she doesn’t get sign language when it’s something she shouldn’t know.
“Yeah, I burned that shirt in the bonfire we had two days ago.”
“What?” I screech a little too loudly and a few heads turn.
Calista runs over to us. Hi, Palmer. I’m happy you came.
“Yer not single,” Jamison says.
I hold up my left hand. “Technically, I am.”
We both look down to see Calista signing what we’re saying.
Jamison hands her Palmer. “Go show her your moves.”
Calista happily agrees, but they only get so far before they’re stopped by Austin.
Jamison crosses his arms. “You know I’d ask you if I didn’t think you’d strong-arm me.”
“Who said I’d strong-arm you?”
He eyes me as though he’s trying to read my thoughts. “I do wonder how you convinced your sister to accept a marriage proposal, but you won’t take the same advice yourself?” He tilts his head, waiting for an answer.
“We could stand here and debate this subject, or you could sneak me into your office, and we could make-out.”
He grabs my hand and tugs me, weaving through the throngs of people until we’re secure in his office. “You said something about making out?”
I push him to the wall, and he stumbles until his back hits it. Rising up on my tiptoes, I press my lips to his, but he’s the one who places his hand on the back of my head, turning us so he can cage me against the wall. He locks me to the wall with his hips, and his thick length hits me in the stomach. Damn, I had him this morning and I could go again.
He slows the kiss, leaving me breathless and a little faint. “Marry me and I’ll kiss you like that every day.”
“I think you’ll kiss me like that every day without me marrying you.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “You know me too well.”
“I do. Thank you for admitting that.” I lift on my tiptoes again. “But don’t go thinking I would say no if you asked.”
“If I ask you now and you say no, I’m going on a sex strike.”
I giggle. “I’d like to see how long you’d last.”
“Prepare yourself.” He rounds the desk and fishes out a ring box. Falling to his knee, he opens it. “I had this whole thing planned with Palmer, but I think this moment is just for us to share. Like we didn’t do it all out of order anyway. Although I’d change nothing. Well, that’s not true.”
I nod, knowing full well what he would change. I would change it too. We wouldn’t have spent the first year and a half of Palmer’s life apart. But that’s behind us now.
“Sedona, will you make my dream come true and marry me?”
“Is this just so you can hang that Ferguson sign on the door?”
He shakes his head. “You caught me.”
“You did pay good money for that sign. I suppose I should marry you then.”
He waits for a real answer, so I fall to my knees and put my hands on his holding the ring box.
“I was thinking you could take my name though. Jamison Bailey has a great ring to it.”
“Sedona,” he says, clearly growing annoyed.
“Okay, I guess I’ll be Mrs. Sedona Ferguson. If I must.”
“You must.” He needs no time to put the gorgeous round diamond, set on a platinum band, on my hand. “That never comes off.”
I laugh and kiss him. “I love it, and I love you. Now for the wedding date.”
I stand, and he kisses me again as though it’s our last one for years. “Don’t make me fly you to Las Vegas.”
“No worries. Courthouse will do.”
“Next week?” he asks.
I shrug. “Sure.”
“Man, yer easy.”
“Watch it.”
He chuckles, then his lips are on mine and I’m nestled in his arms like the cherished treasure he’s always treated me as.
After my parents died, I doubted whether my siblings and I could ever really be happy again. But time and community and family taught us all that we can. It doesn’t mean that we don’t miss our parents and wish they were here. But life moves on and we did our best to move on with it. In the end, life cannot get any sweeter than this moment. The one where you know the rest of your days will be surrounded by love.
Let’s fast forward in time, shall we?
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*Cue Grandma Dori and Grandma Ethel’s next mission*
My Beautiful Nemesis is a fish out of water, enemies-to-lovers steamy romance in our brand new small town family series, The Greene Family.
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If only she knew who he was before she fell for him.
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Chapter One
The conductor comes on the speaker to announce the name of the train line and route we’re on
before the train jolts to a start. I close my eyes and lean my head against the vinyl seat. Even with the ladies in my brothers’ lives helping me in the kitchen on Sundays, I’m still tired. My hands are dry from the dish soap like they always are. Doesn’t seem to matter how thick I lather the lotion on afterward. My stomach is bloated from all the salt in Mama’s food.
My family is the typical Italian family. Big dinners, big personalities—big everything. Mama is over the moon about my brothers finding the love of their lives. Dom and his wife, Valentina, are expecting my parent’s first grandchild. Annie and Enzo are planning their wedding. And I’d bet Carm has a ring for Bella already hidden, ready for an impromptu proposal.
All three of my brothers are successful. We’re talking advertising executive, high-end real estate broker, and a Wall Street trader. They have more money in their bank accounts than I’ll probably ever see in my lifetime.
“HOLD UP!” I hear someone yell and my eyes pop open. There’s a man running alongside the train like in one of those romance movies where the guy has to get on the train to declare his love for the woman of his dreams.
He has a backpack secured on and carrying a plastic bag similar to mine filled with Tupperware. Inching toward the glass, I watch him grab the metal handle of the train, running along like he’s trying to rev up more energy to make the final jump. Oh shit, he’s going to hit the steel beam. His feet move faster and just before, he jumps on the step and the train breezes by the steel beam.
I mentally hope he decides to come on this car instead of the one in front of me. I’d like to see the type of guy who can pull off that stunt like he’s filming a movie.
Sliding to the edge of my bench seat, I tip my head to see him and the conductor talking through the residue covered glass window. He hands him a plastic container and the two do some type of handshake before he mindlessly presses the button for the doors of my car to open.