Linda looked up at her first-born and grabbed his cheeks. “Hi, baby. How’s work?”
“I have a ton of work to do while I’m here.” He held up the three storage tubes of blueprints he brought with him. “New hotel.”
“Deadlines,” Linda said with a sigh. “Aren’t those fun?”
“No,” Brandon said. “But it comes with the promotion, I suppose.”
Brandon Mathews, the oldest and self-proclaimed wisest of the bunch, had found major success as an architect, a job that enabled him to move around and travel freely, as long as he could work on the road. He came and went as he pleased, but somehow always seemed to use that time to head into Phoenix. Whether it was because he enjoyed being home, was worried about Charlie, or just took being the man of the house to a ridiculous extreme, Charlie couldn’t be sure. All he knew was that he wished Brandon would get a life and stay in California.
Linda gave Brandon’s face a little pat and moved on to Hugh. “Are you really a cabana boy?” she asked, biting her lip to stifle a laugh.
Hugh let out an exasperated sigh and leaned into her hand. “No.”
“Well, that’s good. Let’s try not to make an exhibition of ourselves, hmm?” She kissed his cheek and moved on to Jonah, her youngest son and Dylan’s twin. “And you, my darling boy? How’s school?”
“Eh,” Jonah said, and shrugged. “It’s going, I guess.”
Linda raised her eyebrow and put her hands on his shoulders. She took a deep breath. “What exactly does that mean, love? Do I want to know?”
Jonah smiled and gave her a little wink. “Self-exploration is known to be one of the best times of a man’s life. I’m on a journey, Mom, and I should get it in while I’m still young.”
Linda nodded. “Duly noted. As long as you have a job while you explore. You may be young, but a twenty-four-year-old man still needs to have a job.”
Jonah nodded a bit too quickly, Charlie noticed, but decided against pointing it out until his mother was gone. Even he was afraid to ask, though. Jonah seemed to have an eternal question mark over his head when it came to what he wanted to do with his life. He didn’t know anyone who had as many college credits as Jonah did. As many times as he changed his major, however, most of those credits—and all the loans he gained in the process—were worthless.
“Where’s Jack?” Charlie asked his mother.
Linda covered her grinning mouth and squinted. “I couldn’t wake him up. You should see the way he’s sleeping right now. His legs are up the side of the crib and he’s got his little finger in his mouth.”
“I’m gonna wake him up,” Jonah said with a smile and headed toward the stairs. “I want to see this new walking thing.”
“Don’t freak him out,” Charlie instructed, as the entire group followed Jonah’s lead. “Who the hell would want to wake up to a bunch of Mathews staring down at him?”
“Who wouldn’t?” Brandon corrected.
They all crept into Dylan’s room and gathered around Jack’s crib. Charlie had offered to get Linda a portable crib that she could keep in a closet, but she’d said that would be very un-grandmotherly of her to allow. So, instead, she set up a nursery in Dylan’s old room.
In the room, where ocean sounds played in the background and twinkle lights shined softly on the ceiling, they all hovered over Jackson’s crib and watched as he slept.
“Little Mathews,” Jonah whispered.
“Isn’t he precious?” Linda asked.
“Don’t let him suck on his finger like that,” Brandon said with a frown. “It’ll ruin his teeth.”
“I’ll be sure to share that information with him.” Charlie shook his head. “Idiot.”
“What?” Brandon asked. “It does!”
“He’s a baby, you moron,” Hugh said through a burst of laughter that made Jackson startle and pop his eyes open.
Charlie smacked Hugh on the arm. “Nice.”
They all gawked at Jackson, who rubbed his face and stared back. His little green eyes moved to each face above him, until his chin began to quiver and he sucked in two quick breaths.
“Well, now you did it,” Linda said, and bent down to pick him up. She cuddled him and rubbed his blue blanket against his cheek. “Those mean ol’ boys waking you up.”
Jackson reached his arms out wide and leaned forward to grab his father. Charlie pulled him into his arms and smiled when Jackson put both hands on his cheeks, rubbing his five o’ clock shadow. He never tired of that feeling. Jackson always seemed to look at him with wonder and a love Charlie hadn’t known existed before his son came along.
“Hi,” Charlie said, and laughed when Jackson buried his face in his neck. “I’m sorry, buddy. I should have known your uncles would scare you.”
Jonah rubbed Jackson’s light brown hair. “Uncle Brandon has some dental issues that he’d like to discuss with you.”
“Shut up,” Brandon said, and rolled his eyes. He stepped closer and smiled at Jack, who had finally peeked out from under Charlie’s chin.
Gently bouncing as he walked, Charlie began to leave the room. “Uncle Hugh’s gonna change your diaper,” he said, his tone like baby talk.
“Hell, no, I’m not,” Hugh said as the group followed Charlie.
Jonah patted Hugh on the back. “Oh, c’mon. It’ll give you practice for all those cougars you mess with.”
Exasperated, Hugh stopped in the middle of the hallway and threw up his arms. “That’s all you get. Now drop it.”
“How old are we talking, here?” Linda asked with a grimace. “No. Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Downstairs, Charlie wrestled with Jackson and tried to get his pants back on. “He just wants to be naked—naked all the time.”
Linda laughed as she poured milk. “He’s just going to yank them off again. Why even bother?”
“I don’t know.” Charlie grinned at his son, who grinned back, and said, “Da-yee.”
“Hey, Mom,” Jonah said, “can you watch him tonight? We want to drag Charlie out.”
“No,” Charlie said. “I have to work in the morning.”
“Like Mike’s going to fire you. Give me a break,” Brandon said.
Linda gave Charlie a sympathetic look. “Go out with your brothers. I’ll come over and watch Jack at your house so you can just come home and go right to bed.”
Charlie shook his head and sighed. “I can’t be out late. I have to go in tomorrow or those guys won’t get anything done.”
“Midnight—tops,” Hugh said.
“Midnight is late,” Charlie said. “I meant late according to adults.”
“Take your dress off and hang out with us,” Brandon teased. “You age ten years every time I see you, man.”
“Whatever.” Charlie put Jackson in his high chair. “Just for a little bit.”
There was no point in fighting it. He knew they wouldn’t stop until he gave in. Maybe he did need a night out, anyway. It just never seemed right, leaving Jackson with his mother and going out for a night of fun. His responsibilities had changed. Hell, his whole life had changed.
It was a bittersweet experience, and one he felt guilty about enjoying most of the time. Everything he and Meredith had planned—as well as her joy over preparing for the baby—was all drifting away in the alternate universe that was now his life. He never knew what was right and what was wrong anymore. Was it wrong to enjoy this life without Meredith? Before he could even answer that question, he had to figure out if it was even possible.
The outlook seemed pretty grim.
Linda smiled at all her boys sitting around the kitchen table. “I wish your sister was here.”
Hugh twirled his forkful of spaghetti. “She’s coming in soon, right?”
“Ben’s pretty busy, so I doubt she’ll leave him right now. She’s taking some time off soon to come into town and get things going with that benefit,” Jonah said.
Dylan had fought Charlie with everything she had to put on this benefit:
For the Love of Art and Meredith Mathews, an art show that would raise money for the charity that Meredith founded, which provided inner city kids with food, clothes, backpacks, and scholarships to different camps all over Arizona. He knew it was a great honor, but he just hadn’t been ready to face the idea of a memorial. Dylan had become increasingly impatient with him, but one semi-heartfelt phone call from Ben snapped Charlie out of his selfishness and got the ball rolling.
“Olerson’s donating a ton of food, too,” Charlie said.
“Really? That’s wonderful,” Linda said. “I’m not surprised, though. He’d still do anything for Dylan.”
“I think Ben’s had enough of that,” Hugh said and chuckled.
“Nah, he’s not worried,” Jonah said of Ben, who was also his best friend. He grabbed another piece of garlic bread and dropped it onto his plate. “That ship has sailed.”
“The guy’s harmless,” Brandon said. “He just needs to move on. By now, I’m sure Ben thinks it’s funny.”
Charlie wiped Jackson’s mouth, which was covered in sauce. “Ben knows she’s not going anywhere.”
The Ben-Dylan-Olerson triangle was a saga no one cared to revisit. Michael “Ollie” Olerson loved Dylan, Dylan loved Ben, and Ben hated Ollie. Each time Charlie thought Olerson had moved on, he seemed to ask about Dylan even more. And, when he offered to donate the food, Charlie was hesitant to even ask Dylan. Surprisingly enough, she jumped at the chance to save some money.
Linda took her plate to the sink and grabbed a washcloth for Jackson. “You boys go get ready. I’ll take care of Jackson and head over to your house, Charlie.”
“Boys night out,” Hugh exclaimed with a little clap.
“On a Tuesday,” Charlie said and rolled his eyes.
“Knock it off,” Brandon said as he smacked Charlie on the back of the head. “You’re going.”
“And you’re going to have fun, whether you like it or not,” Jonah added.
Linda picked Jackson up and snuggled him close. “Grandma’s gonna spoil you tonight,” she said into his bare belly, and laughed when he squealed.
Charlie shook his head and sighed. He took his plate over to the sink, knowing full well that his brothers did not intend for this to be a calm evening. He wanted to go home, slip into his pajamas, and sit on the couch while his son play on the floor. He wanted to go to bed at nine and wake up, the same way he did every day of his dreary, Meredith-less life.
His brothers, of course, would never allow that. They always had a plan.
* * *
“It’s good, right?” Lucy leaned over the counter, snuck her pinky finger into the creamy frosting of the cupcake in front of her, and took a little lick. She closed her eyes and exhaled in satisfaction when the sugary taste burst on her tongue.
She watched as her best friend and roommate, Grace Webber, took a bite of the cupcake. Lucy couldn’t help but laugh when Grace closed her eyes and chewed as if she were making love to the treat instead of eating it.
Grace was probably one of the wildest women Lucy had ever known. They’d met their freshman year of college and clicked right away. With her penchant for bad boys, short skirts, and tequila shots, Grace was the yin to Lucy’s yang. Sometimes Lucy wondered how in the world they got along so well. Of course, Lucy was always dragged along whenever Grace had an itch to do something unwise and flat out batshit crazy. Lucy was definitely the submissive one in that relationship.
“Hell yes,” Grace said with her mouth full. “It’s like pineapple, banana, and some kind of nut or something.”
Lucy nodded. “It’s a Hummingbird cupcake. Do you like the frosting? I put honey and almond butter in it.”
“But there’s something else … I can’t place it, though. Cinnamon?”
Lucy pointed to her head and winked. “Maybe.”
“Trust me, girly, I couldn’t care less about your Nana’s secret recipes. I just want to eat them.”
Lydia Haynes, Lucy’s boss and cousin, emerged from the kitchen with her own cupcake. She was gorgeous, all five feet, nine inches of her. Her blonde hair was tied in a perfect ponytail that ran straight down the middle of her back. She was the beauty of the family and everyone knew it, even Lucy.
Lydia smiled and unpeeled the pink wrapper before taking a bite. “Damn, Lucy,” she said with her mouth full of cake.
“Hey, Lydia,” Grace said. “When is that bachelorette party?”
Before she answered, Lydia looked around. “Where the hell did April go?”
Lucy covered her mouth and tried not to laugh, knowing full well that Lydia was not going to like the answer. “She called in. Her cat again.”
“Could she come up with something better? That girl couldn’t be any dumber if she tried.” Lydia put one hand on her hip and looked up at the ceiling, a movement she did often. Lucy sometimes wondered if she was praying for patience. “That’s it. I have to put an ad out to get somebody new in here.”
“Fire her,” Grace said, her eyes wide with frustration. “Why do you keep her on?”
“I have to replace her first,” Lydia said, as if that were the most obvious answer ever.
Lucy groaned at the thought. “Please replace her first. I really like my Saturdays off.”
“You and me both, babe, so don’t even get me started.” Lydia pointed at Lucy. “Oh, and the bachelorette party is on the twentieth. It’s a Friday.”
“Okay, perfect. I have it off,” Grace said with a happy little clap.
Lydia had begged Lucy and Grace to go with her to the party. The bride-to-be was an old friend from college that she hadn’t seen in five years. There was a limo, dancing, pin the penis on the sexy man, and, more importantly, free drinks at every turn. Grace had jumped at the promise of a night out, but Lucy had a suspicion that this was another one of Grace and Lydia’s ploys to get her out and back into the land of the living.
“Before we go out, we’ll meet for drinks at … I don’t remember her name … the maid of honor’s house in Tempe.” Lydia rolled her eyes. “That part will be boring as hell, just so you know. But the limo will pick us up there and then we can do our own thing.”
“Sounds fun!” Grace smiled.
“Don’t count on it. These women are utterly boring.” Lydia grabbed a pile of receipts
and headed back into the kitchen.
“Seriously,” Grace began after Lydia left, “sell these cupcakes. And I don’t mean here in the café.”
“It’s just something I do for fun.”
Grace wiped her mouth and narrowed her eyes. “Exactly. Make money while you have fun.”
Lucy scrunched up her face and shook her head. “Now’s not the time to think about pipe dreams.”
Grace sighed and looked around the café. “Yeah, it’ll mess up this glorious thing you have goin’ on here.”
“Shut up,” Lucy said, and rolled her eyes.
Grace’s expression turned considerate. “You know what? I’m not going to push.” She smiled. “You seem to be making strides. These past two months have really been good for you.”
“What do you mean?” Lucy asked, knowing exactly what she meant. She just didn’t know how to explain it herself.
“You laugh now.” Grace shrugged and slid her finger against the side of her cupcake to gather up a dollop of frosting. “You’re coming back to me.”
Lucy let her shoulders fall as she looked at her thoughtful friend, who wasn’t usually so honest and sincere. “I’m starting to feel better,” she said, not caring to mention her rendezvous at the park.
“Good. Have you heard from Adam?” Grace asked between bites.
Lucy rolled her eyes and swiped more frosting before taking another lick. “No.”
Lucy’s ex-boyfriend was a med student and trust fund baby. He also happened to be the one she thought she was supposed to someday marry. Needless to say, her past year of depression was more than likely a tiresome experience for everyone involved. She did totally lose
it, of course. Who would want to deal with that?
He was good-looking and driven—supposedly everything she should want. Her mother had begged her to get it together so she didn’t lose such a “great catch.” Looking back now, however, she was pretty sure his attraction was purely physical. That part had been really important to her when she first met him. Now, after witnessing such a true loss, it just made her feel shallow.
“Waste of a good-looking man, that one.” Grace sighed. “He wasn’t even that great in bed, though, Lucy.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Lucy asked, horrified.
“I never heard anything that sounded mind-blowing coming from your bedroom, so I just figured.”
Lucy blew out a breath and laughed. “You’re terrible.”
“Ain’t roommates grand?” Grace asked, wagging her perfect eyebrows, and took another bite.
“So grand,” Lucy said, and headed over to greet a customer.
She took the customer’s order for a raspberry white mocha. As the machines began to blast the ear-piercing sounds she had grown accustomed to, she blew out a breath that lifted the blonde hair from her blue eyes. Grace came to visit her at the café just about every day on her way home from the night shift. Once in a while, they would get to talking, making Lucy feel as though she was merely hanging out with her girlfriend over a cup of coffee. Each customer who approached the counter seemed to yank her out of this little fantasy, reminding her exactly where her life was now.
It was a long way from her nights as a nursing student. Here she was, a twenty-four-year-old barista with tons of student loans.
Grace had graduated and landed a job at the same hospital Lucy had left behind that horrible night. The only thing Lucy regretted was the fact that she hadn’t really made another plan after being a total failure in the nursing program. Thank God for Lydia, who insisted that Lucy help out at the café for a little while until she could get back on her feet. Unfortunately, a little while had morphed into a full year. The one thing she was sure of, however, was that serving coffee was not her future; it was simply her right now.
She swiped the customer’s card and gave him his receipt before heading back over to Grace, who was at the counter, silently buried in her cupcake.
Beyond the Orange Moon (Mathews Family Book 2) Page 3