by Rayne, Piper
“She’s new and fresh and I can make her a star.” Van leans in closer. “Stop with your perfectionism.”
I refrain from arguing since we’re in the middle of a carnival where everyone is having fun—or supposed to be anyway. “That’s my job.”
“Technically you quit your job.”
Van’s cocky smirk only makes me want to wrap my arms around Phoenix and protect her even more. I thought Van wanted to have long-standing career musicians, not one-hit wonders.
“Phoenix just agreed to work with me. If you decide to go to her directly, I’ll sign her on a contract with me beforehand.”
“You have no say over her,” Van says.
“Listen, guys, can we get coffee and put this whole pissing match aside? My balls have icicles hanging off them.” Trey’s attempt at lightening the mood fails.
“If you take her now, she’ll have one album that’ll get mediocre reviews. If you wait until I’m done, you’re going to have a star. A woman who will make a name for herself, which in turn will put money in your pockets for years to come.”
Van huffs once more. “You’re going to give me first listen?”
“We’re friends. You can trust me.”
He nods. “Fine. But I’m giving you two months max. She better be perfect enough by then.”
“Maybe I’ll be done with her sooner.”
“I have a feeling you’re never going to be done with her,” he grumbles.
Maverick runs off the ride toward us. “Can we play that game?” He points at the pyramid of clowns you try to knock down with a baseball.
Van pulls out a twenty and hands it to him. “Definitely.”
Maverick runs over and waits in line behind a bunch of adult men razzing each other. As we get closer, I see the four guys are Denver, his two brothers, and his brother-in-law, who I met when we were staying at the resort. The four of them turn around when we approach. We go through all the introductions and Trey takes Wyatt’s hand.
“You’re related too?” Trey looks at Van. “It’s like the damn Brady Bunch around here.”
Denver spots Maverick waiting. “Hey, Mav, you want a turn?”
“Maverick,” he corrects.
I chuckle to myself that he won’t allow them to shorten his name.
Denver rustles his hair. “That’s right. Come on. I bet you can take my brothers.”
Rome and Austin glance over. Austin has a baseball in his hand and is winding his arm around in a circle as if you get more than a stuffed animal for winning. My guess is bragging rights is really what they’re after.
“My team was state champs,” Rome says. “And this guy was recruited for college ball right out of high school.” He thumbs toward Austin.
From what I know, Austin is a biology teacher and the coach of the high school baseball team. I wonder how he ended up back here?
Their intimidation tactic doesn’t change Maverick’s mind though, and he grabs the baseball out of Denver’s hand. He throws the ball, and it lands short, never hitting a clown.
“Here.” Austin hands his baseball to his brother and comes up behind Maverick. Denver puts another baseball in Maverick’s hand, and Austin shows him how to bring his hand back and throw it straight. “Push off the foot and end with your arm—”
“You’re not teaching how to pitch for the majors,” Rome says, throwing his ball. All but one clown falls down. “Seriously? This is rigged.”
“Arguing about a carnival game, babe?” Harley comes over, pushing a stroller with Calista and Dion holding on to each side. She has impressive mom skills, being able to get them to behave so well at a carnival where there are a thousand and one distractions.
“I just wanted to win you a stuffed animal.” He bends over the stroller and kisses his wife.
“You’ve given me enough but thank you.” She smiles sweetly.
Rome laughs, picking up Dion. “Never too early to learn, buddy.”
“What about me?” Calista abandons the stroller and runs over to her dad.
Rome turns around, and Harley’s eyebrows are high with the implication that he picked Dion because he’s a boy.
“Definitely.” Handing the woman money, Rome gives both of his kids a ball, showing Calista how to throw while Dion’s ball hits the ground.
Denver runs over and grabs Dion.
“Man, how many of them are there?” Trey whispers next to me.
“I lost count.”
“Kinda cool how they all do things for each other. I just had my ma growing up.”
I see the envy in Trey’s eyes, and any regret I had for moving Maverick up here vanishes in the mountain air because he’s right. These guys barely know me or my son, and look at Austin kneeling on the ground, really showing Maverick how to throw a baseball. Something a boy should do with his dad.
“You’re a natural. Ever think about playing Little League?” Austin gives Maverick a high five when he gets four of the clowns down.
“I don’t like sports.” Maverick gives his usual answer.
For the first time, I realize I might be the one to blame for that. I never encouraged any extracurriculars. Maverick has spent majority of his life with a nanny, in a recording studio, or in a trailer on set with his mom. We raised him in an environment where people are out for themselves. But that’s not the case in Lake Starlight.
“Way to go, Maverick!” Phoenix exclaims, walking past. She raises her hand, and Maverick’s smile grows wider as he hits her hand.
“Thanks.” He grins wide at me and looks like he might want to hug me for a second, but then he looks around at everyone and takes a step back.
“I just told him he should play Little League this summer,” Austin tells her.
All the Bailey women come over, inundating the area.
“Shit, look at all of them,” Trey says next to me. “Any of them single?”
“Um, I think only Phoenix and Juno.”
Trey leaves my side and heads to Juno after I point her out.
Van slides into Trey’s spot next to me. “You should’ve said they’re all taken. You know as well as I do Trey isn’t looking to live in Mayberry like you.”
“Someone might’ve said the same thing about me not that long ago.”
Van nods and he pulls his vibrating phone out of his pocket. “I gotta get this. I’ll catch up.”
“Okay.”
I watch him disappear into the crowd with his phone pressed to his ear. I’m still a little pissed about him trying to take Phoenix before she’s ready. Meaning he only really has concern for himself, not Phoenix. Has he always been that way? Then again, he’s in the business to make money.
“You’ve never ridden a Ferris wheel?” Phoenix’s screech brings me back to the Bailey clan in front of me.
Sedona looks at Phoenix, and they nod in unison. Must be a twin thing.
“We’re taking him on a ride on the Ferris wheel. Is that okay?” Phoenix asks me.
“Sure.”
“I wanna go,” Calista whines.
Rome picks her up. “What my princess wants…”
“Princess?” Harley asks.
“She can be my princess and throw a killer curveball.” Rome stalks away.
Harley laughs, catching up to me. “It’s fun to give him hell.”
Denver runs by me, holding Dion up like an airplane, Cleo not far behind.
“I have no idea how you do it with three. I barely survived with one.”
Harley peeks through the stroller window and smiles at her baby girl. “We’re fortunate to have a lot of family who love our kids just as much as we do.”
As she says that, Wyatt’s wife comes over and takes the stroller. “Phoebe’s time with Auntie Brooklyn.”
Harley smiles at me. “See what I mean? I barely have them.” She laughs harder so that I understand that’s not really true. She sobers after a few seconds. “Truth be told, I didn’t have a lot of family growing up, and at first, they scared the crap out of me
. I wasn’t used to people caring without a hidden agenda, you know?”
I nod. Do I ever.
“But they’re genuine. Sure, they fight with each other, but the love is deep, and it’s fierce.” She puts her arm through mine. “Come on. Let’s go get a funnel cake.”
Phoenix and Sedona are talking to Maverick as they wait in line for the Ferris wheel.
The two of us go to a food truck that’s still in view of the ride. Harley orders two funnel cakes. She digs money out of her back pocket and hands it over.
“She really is great. Phoenix, I mean.”
“Oh yeah.” Please tell me this wasn’t her whole reason for approaching me. To convince me to like Phoenix. I like her so much it’s going to be a problem. “I know she is.”
She grabs a stack of paper napkins and stuffs them into her jacket pocket. “I know you know, but speaking as someone who isn’t her family, I wanted to tell you that she’s still finding herself. She’s young and insecure, though you’d never guess it. She appears confident, but…”
She continues talking as I search out Phoenix, finding her and Sedona on either side of Maverick, now in a cart on the Ferris wheel. The two of them are laughing, and Maverick is forcing a smile. Phoenix puts her hand over Maverick’s on the bar and squeezes as they rise for another cart to load.
“But I like you, Griffin. I think you’re a good fit for her. I know I’m only a Bailey by marriage, but if you hurt her, I will be the first in line to junk-punch you.”
My head circles her way, and she’s smiling. I reflexively squeeze my legs together.
“Funnel cake?” she asks as if she didn’t just threaten my ability to have more kids.
“No thanks.”
She shrugs. “I’ll save this one for the kids to share then.”
Harley sits on a bench next to Holly, but Austin comes over right away, holding his hand out for his wife.
Holly shakes her head, but Austin doesn’t move his hand. “I’m not accepting no.”
Harley nudges Holly. “Go.”
Holly finally takes his hand, and he leads her over to the Ferris wheel. I sit on the bench, leaving a bit of space between Harley and myself.
“You just never know what life has in store for you.” She stares at the couple as they get in line and Austin takes Holly in his arms, nuzzling her face into his chest. “One minute I was a broke single mother who had no family, and now I’m a married woman with three healthy kids and an amazing husband whose family has taken me in as their own.” I’m not even sure she’s talking to me because her eyes are on Austin and Holly. “Be careful, Griffin. Sometimes you have no idea what your future holds, but it’s the people around you who’ll get you through it. Speaking as someone who never had a family of her own, the bigger the better.”
We sit there, and I find Maverick on the ride. He’s now raising his hands as the Ferris wheel goes down. He’s only got them halfway up while Phoenix and Sedona have their arms all the way in the air, laughing. I can’t deny this town and its inhabitants are having a lasting effect on not only me, but my son too.
Twenty-Three
Phoenix
It’s only been a week since I moved back in, and things are back to normal. The first few nights I spent up in my room and not downstairs with Griffin. But by the third night, he asked if I wanted to work on some stuff with him. I reminded myself that the entire reason I was here, other than Maverick, was so Griffin could help me.
As I sit here trying to help Maverick with his diorama project for school, I find my mind wandering to Griffin’s and my interaction last night. He wants me to have an original song before going into a recording studio, which he’s footing the bill for, in a month. Of course he wants my input on the lyrics to make them meaningful to me. But it’s hard to communicate without admitting I like him. Not just as the father of the child I nanny. Not just as a music producer who’s taken me on. But in the way a woman likes a man.
“Fuck!” Griffin’s rough voice interrupts my thoughts. A wrench clatters to the floor a moment later.
“Swear jar,” Maverick says.
I smile, noticing Maverick’s staring at two fingers that won’t come apart because he’s glued them together.
“I know. I know.” Griffin’s head pops up over the counter. “I am not this stupid.”
“We could call a plumber.”
Griffin glares daggers at me.
I put my hands up in front of me. “Or not.”
“The sink is mine.”
Cedric is finished with the house now and asked Griffin no fewer than ten times if he could install the sink. Griffin politely refused each time, saying he had it under control.
“We have a bigger problem,” I say.
“What?” He finally notices what I do—his son watching his fingers not separating.
“I have to head to the store to get nail polish remover.”
Griffin shakes his head. “I’m done with filling pots of water up from the bathroom sink.” He grabs his keys and wallet off the counter. “Come on. We’re going to eat.”
“Okay, then make sure you get the nail polish remover with acetone and some Q-Tips. Wet the tip of the Q-Tip—do you want to write this down?”
He stares at me as if I teleported in from space. “Why would I need to write it down?”
“So you know what to do.”
“You’re coming with us.”
Maverick stands from the table. “Yay!”
“Oh, I don’t have to—”
“I’m taking all three of us to dinner. Get in the truck.”
I nibble my lip to stop my smile from growing too wide as I go to the closet and grab our jackets. After putting Maverick’s over his shoulders and putting mine on, I meet Griffin by the back door, and we climb into his truck.
After stopping at the pharmacy, we sit in the gazebo in the town square so I can unglue Maverick’s fingers.
Griffin stands beside the bench, looking out at Main Street. “Where do you want to go to dinner?”
“We could go to the diner. Or we could go to Rome’s restaurant. Or Grandma Dori’s retirement center.”
Griffin gives me the same look he did back at his house. “I don’t want instant mashed potatoes.”
I chuckle. “We can go out of town if you want.”
“Perfect. You tell me where to go.”
As I work the Q-Tip, Maverick’s fingers pull apart. They’re still sticky but separate when he pulls them apart.
“Here, I’ll do a little more on each finger,” I say.
“Thanks.” Maverick’s eyes swim with gratitude and it brings a warm feeling to my chest. Sometimes I can’t believe he’s the same kid I met not that long ago. Are kids really this resilient?
As I’m gathering our garbage and tossing it in the trash can, Juno walks toward us.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asks.
“Maverick got his fingers stuck together with superglue, so I just separated them for him. Now we’re going to dinner.”
“Where are you guys going?” she asks.
“I might take them to Greywall or Sunrise Bay.”
Juno looks… unhappy. Which isn’t like her at all. Usually she’s my peppy sister. The one who always sees the positive in everything.
“You okay?” I ask.
She nods.
“We can leave you two if you’d prefer?” Griffin suggests.
If my sister needs me, I’m there for her. But I kind of hope she doesn’t need me because I really want to spend time with Griffin and Maverick. We’re finally getting our groove back after the fight.
“No. You guys go. I’m good.” Juno waves us off. “Have a good night.”
I watch her for a moment, and Griffin comes so close to me all I smell is him. He’s never asked me to pick up body wash when I go to the grocery store, but I kind of wish he would so I could know what he uses to smell so delicious.
“If you’d rather go with your sister, feel free,
” he says.
As I’m contemplating skipping the pseudo-family dinner and running toward Juno, Colton comes around the corner. They both stop, looking alarmed for a second. After a few words between them that I can’t make out but wish I could, Colton joins Juno and they walk over to her apartment.
“She’s in good hands,” I say.
“Who’s that?”
“Colton. Her best friend. I thought she had feelings for him, but with the way she was at the carnival with Trey, I’m not so sure.”
Griffin and I walk as Maverick runs ahead to the truck. “I wanted to apologize for that. Trey is… opportunistic. He means well, but sometimes he acts before he thinks.”
I side-glance him. “My sister’s grown. She makes her own decisions. No worries.”
Visible tension rolls off his shoulders. “After what happened with us, I didn’t want you to think… I mean—”
I rest my hand on his forearm, and we stop. He watches Maverick climb into the truck and shut the door.
“That’s behind us now,” I say. “I don’t want this to be awkward between us.”
“Me either,” he rushes to say, holding my gaze.
My breath hitches with the way he’s looking at me—as though he’s doing everything in his power not to cross the line with me. “Griffin…”
“Yeah?” He steps forward, and I feel the heat from his body through my coat.
The words are on the tip of my tongue—to tell him that I can’t stop thinking of him, that I lie in bed at night, wondering what he’s doing, what he’s thinking. Is he thinking of me like I think of him? But it’d be unrealistic to think that he’d look at a woman eleven years younger than him as anything more than a hookup. He agreed to help me achieve my dream, and I can’t look a gift horse in the mouth and want more.
“Nothing.” I shake my head.
Before I can get away, he grabs my arm and circles me around. “Phoenix, talk to me. It’s just us right now. Set aside the outside noise. Tell me what’s on your mind.”