My Last First Kiss

by Weston Parker

  I had Braxton strapped to my chest as we climbed out of the limo at the arrivals terminal at the airport. Rein hurried along up ahead of me, her hand wrapped around Bella’s, and the two of them continuously looked back at me and called for me to hurry up.

  “I’ll catch up with you,” I said, mindlessly rubbing Braxton’s back as he slept with his cheek against my chest.

  The two girls darted inside the airport, and I trailed behind until we arrived outside the gates to wait for Gracie.

  Rein looked up at me as I came to stand beside her and smiled. “Thank you again for doing this.”

  “Of course,” I said, smiling back. “I thought it would be the perfect way to kick things off. All the business obligations we had are done. We can finally just enjoy ourselves now.”

  It was true. The papers for the sale of my estate had been signed. I no longer owned Hennie Enterprises. Everything was settling down, and I was so happy to be with my family.

  The gates slid open, and Rein stretched onto her tiptoes to get a look over the heads of other people waiting to pick up friends and family. At least half a plane’s worth of people filed out before I spotted Gracie making her way toward us.

  She spotted me and waved.

  I waved back and tugged Rein closer to my side to point Gracie out to her. Rein sprinted toward her, weaving through all the people like a mad woman, and I lost sight of her in the crowd.

  I heard the two of them greet each other before I saw them. They let out shrieks of excitement and joy that drew my attention to them as they stood in place hugging, rocking back and forth. When they had it out of their system, Rein brought Gracie back to us, and Bella and I each gave her a hug. I was careful not to crush Braxton between us.

  Gracie leaned in to get a look at Braxton. “He’s so much bigger now. I can’t believe it. Time goes so fast when they’re this young!” She ran a gentle finger over his plump cheek.

  “I know. I wish it would slow down just for a bit.” I shifted the straps of Braxton’s holder on my shoulders. “It’s good to see you, Gracie.”

  “You too.” She smiled.

  Her lips, like always, were painted a vivid shade of red. Her hair was lighter than it used to be and pulled up, leaving wispy blonde strands hanging around her cheeks. She looked like a true Californian now with a bronzed glow, torn up jeans, and a white tank top.

  Gracie turned to Rein and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. “So, what’s the plan, mama?”

  ***

  We all went back to the hotel, and I showed Gracie to her room. I had reserved the one beside us for her. It was equally as nice as ours, but it only had one bedroom. She gushed over the view, much like Rein had, and then went through the entire room to see what there was for her to enjoy.

  “I will most definitely be having a bath in that later,” she said, pointing at the clawed foot tub.

  “Isn’t it gorgeous?” Rein asked, leaning up against the doorway to the bathroom.

  “You women and your bathtubs,” I muttered.

  Braxton started squirming in his holder. I distracted him by rubbing the top of his head. He found it soothing, but I knew I only had a couple more minutes left before he got antsy.

  “I think Braxton needs to eat soon,” I said. “Gracie, why don’t you get settled into your room? Rein and I will give you some time to yourself.”

  Gracie nodded but grabbed Rein’s hand. “Would you mind if she stays with me while I unpack? We have a lot of catching up to do.”

  I nodded. “Girl talk. I get it.” I looked around for Bella, who had her face pressed to the window and was looking out at the beach. “Come on, kiddo. Help me feed and change Braxton? Then maybe we can head down to the beach for a bit before dinner tonight.”

  Bella followed me out of Gracie’s room, and I let us into our own suite. Bella went to Braxton’s baby bag and unzipped one of the side pouches. “Carrots, yams, or peas?” she asked.

  “You pick,” I said.

  Bella came back to me and held out her hand. She had tried all the baby food when we first bought it to make sure we weren’t feeding her baby brother anything she deemed horrible. I took the yams in a jar from her. They had been her favorite, so I wasn’t at all surprised by her choice.

  We fed Braxton together, who was always a messy eater. I had to wipe his face off after, which he didn’t like. He pulled away from me and cried a bit, but I talked him down. Afterward, I changed his diaper and got him dressed in his swim trunks and matching shirt.

  Bella changed into her suit and then watched Braxton as I got into mine. I packed our beach bag, slathered Bella in sunscreen, and then picked up Braxton and balanced him on my hip as we left the hotel room.

  We stopped and knocked on Gracie’s door. She and Rein both answered and looked us up and down.

  “Beach time?” Rein asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah. I thought we’d go down and have some fun before dinner. You girls can stay up here and chat if you like, or come join us.”

  Gracie looked at Rein. “I wouldn’t mind working on my tan.”

  Rein rolled her eyes and laughed. “Your tan is already perfect. But I’m in. Did Brayden tell you we have our own private cabana? We can order some drinks and appetizers.”

  “You had me at cabana.” Gracie grinned.

  I waited out in the hall as the two of them got ready. Then, when we were all in our swimsuits and flip flops, we set out for the beach.

  I claimed our cabana once more and put in drink orders. I rented a little umbrella and planted it in the sand out front of the cabana so Bella could have some shade while she worked on the sand castle she had started the previous afternoon. Braxton seemed intrigued by the sand and what his sister was doing, so I put him down on a towel and kept an eye on him. Bella watched him too and talked him through what she was building.

  I couldn’t wait to see how much he was going to learn from her as they got older.

  Rein and Gracie were leaning back against the plush pillows at the back of the cabana, sipping on strawberry daiquiris. I had a cold beer and sat across from them, one leg hanging off the edge so my toes were in the sand. I wanted to stay close to Braxton in case he got tired of the sand.

  “So, Gracie,” I said after sipping my beer. “How’s California?”

  Gracie sighed and put her drink on the tray. “Well, to be honest… I hate it.”

  Rein and I exchanged a surprised look. Then Rein turned to her friend, her brow creased in concern. “You hate it? This has been your dream for years. What don’t you like about it? Is the yoga studio not working out?”

  “Oh, it’s working out,” Gracie said. “I was so busy within the first few months that I had to hire three other instructors to run my classes. Business there is great, but I’m just starting to realize that it really isn’t what I wanted.”

  “What do you want?” Rein asked, sipping her fruity concoction through her straw.

  “I’m moving back to Valdez,” Gracie said. “I can’t stand being away from home or being away from you. Especially now that you have a family. I want to be part of that. I already hate how much time I’ve missed.” Her gaze drifted over to Braxton, who was giggling as he tried to pick up sand with his fingertips. It slipped out of his grasp every time.

  “It will be nice to have you back in town,” I said. “Rein talks about how much she misses you every day.”

  Rein nodded. “It’s true. I do.”

  Gracie smiled brightly. “I’m excited to come home. It’s so funny how I didn’t realize that I had everything I wanted in Valdez. It was right there in front of me the whole time, and I took it for granted.”

  “Are we still talking about me and my family?” Rein asked. Then she cocked her head to the side. “Or are we talking about a particular plaid wearing gentleman with a nice beard?”

  Gracie rolled her eyes. “I just want to come home.”

  “Well, regardless, Emmett will be happy to see you,” Rein said.

 
I tried not to let Gracie catch me smiling at her. Emmett would be more than happy to see her again. He talked about her almost more than Rein did. I wasn’t a fool. I knew what that meant all too well. She had consumed his thoughts.

  “What about you guys?” Gracie asked as she leaned deeper into the pillows at her back. “Are you thinking of expanding the family? Making more babies?”

  “We’ve talked about it,” Rein said bashfully.

  “Talked?” I chuckled and stroked my chin. “We’re trying, actually.”

  Gracie’s eyebrows shot upward. “Are you really?”

  Rein blushed but nodded. “Yes. We have been for a couple months now. We’ll see what happens.”

  Gracie clapped her hands together in excitement. “Oh, this is such wonderful news. Let’s order another round of drinks to celebrate!”

  Rein and I laughed, and then I called the waiter over. I put in another order, and when the drinks arrived, we all toasted to family and to home.

  “Where are you two going for dinner tomorrow night?” Gracie asked.

  “We haven’t picked a place,” Rein said.

  “Oh yes, we have,” I said smugly. Both the girls looked at me. “What?”

  “Where are we going?” Rein asked.

  “I’m not telling. It’s a surprise.”

  Gracie sighed dramatically and sipped her drink. “I need to find me a wealthy man.”

  “Emmett’s well off,” Rein said slyly.

  Gracie fixed her with a sharp stare. “Mind your own business.”

  “No.” Rein giggled.

  I listened to the two of them bicker playfully like they used to with a smile on my face and a warmth in my belly. I wasn’t sure what I had done to be so lucky in life, but I was sure of one thing: I would never take any of this for granted. Ever.

  Rein

  The Shore was an elegant restaurant on the first floor of the hotel. It had a large outdoor patio that hung over the sand on the beach, and it was on that patio that Brayden had booked us a table for dinner. When we arrived, there was already a booster seat at the end of the table for Braxton. We put him in it, and I sat down beside him. Gracie sat across from me with Bella beside her, and Brayden sat at the opposite end of the table from his son, who was kicking his little feet to the tempo of the soft jazz music playing from the outdoor speakers.

  “This place is gorgeous,” Gracie said as the waiter appeared to pour iced lemon water into our glasses. They immediately started to sweat in the thick humidity, leaving little wet rings on the white table cloth. Gracie picked up her glass and sipped her water as she stared out at the ocean. “And to think, we’re all giving this up for Valdez.” She scoffed and shook her head in incredulity. “How dim are we?”

  Brayden chuckled deeply. “Small towns have their own unique charm.”

  “And smells,” Gracie muttered.

  I laughed and shook my head at her. “Come on. Valdez isn’t that bad.”

  “Obviously not,” Gracie said lightly, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t want to go back. Truth be told, I haven’t stopped thinking about it in months. The crisp air in the morning that smells like pine and ice. The gulls that never shut up whenever you’re near the harbor. The—”

  “The diner with the cute owner who makes you custom vegan orders every time you go?” I said without looking her in the eye.

  “And maybe him. Yes.”

  Brayden and I both shared a look but didn’t say anything. We didn’t want to jinx it.

  Gracie sighed and began stabbing the lemon wedge in her ice water with the end of her straw. “It’s funny that what I needed was right in front of my face all along, and I never even noticed.” It seemed that she was speaking more to herself than to the rest of us.

  “I know what you mean,” Brayden said beside me.

  I turned to him and put a hand on his thigh. I gave him a squeeze and then patted his leg. “Well, you both came to your senses, it would seem.”

  “It took awhile,” Brayden said. “But yes, we did. Don’t beat yourself up about it, Gracie. If you never went to California, you’d never have known that Valdez was where you want to be, and you’d be miserable wondering what could have been. That’s a worse regret than discovering it wasn’t the right fit.”

  I nodded to show my support for my husband’s statement. Gracie still looked unsure. “Don’t you remember how much you wanted to get out of Valdez?” I asked.

  She shrugged one shoulder and ceased her destruction of the lemon wedge. “I guess.”

  “Well, I definitely do. You hated it. You would wake up every single day angry because you truly believed you were meant to be born in California. Now you know that’s not the case, and you’ll be able to appreciate our little hometown for the gem it really is.”

  Gracie sighed dramatically and turned to look down at Bella beside her, who was reading the dinner menu. “What do you think, Bella? Do you like Valdez?”

  Bella nodded without looking up from her menu. “It’s nice and quiet. I like that. And I like our house. And Emmett always makes me the best grilled cheese.”

  “There you have it,” Brayden said. “There is no greater wisdom than that.”

  The three of us shared a laugh, and I could see some of the tension leave Gracie’s shoulders. It was obvious that my friend was torn up about her situation. I tried to put myself in her shoes and feel what she was feeling right now.

  Disappointment, probably. Disappointment that the thing she had been dreaming about doing for years wasn’t what she wanted out of life after all. All that time and energy had been invested into something that, in her eyes, was a waste of time.

  I supposed I would likely feel the same way if I discovered that after ten years of painting, I hated it. Although I didn’t move across the continent to pursue it.

  “Come on. Let’s get a drink. Brayden, what’s a nice bottle of white wine we could order for the table?”

  Brayden scanned the menu and pointed out his selection. When the waiter popped by, he ordered the bottle and some appetizers for everyone to share. He asked for an orange juice with sprite for Bella in a champagne flute. He was always sure to include her in some way or another in the special festivities, and I adored that fatherly side of him. His children would always feel special, and loved, and cared for.

  So would I.

  When the appetizers arrived, we did not behave like the classy group we should have been in such a fine restaurant. We dug in and ate the shrimp with our fingers. We had fresh salads with vinaigrette dressing and garlic bread smothered in creamy cheese butter. It was absolutely delicious, and by the time our dinners arrived, I knew I was stuffing myself past my maximum capacity.

  When dinner was as scrumptious as the plate of seared halibut decorated with a pineapple and mango salsa, it was hard to stop eating.

  When our plates were clean, we all leaned back in our chairs. Brayden made a joke about wanting to unbutton his jeans to let his gut out, and we all giggled. Bella seemed horrified by his joke and flushed a bright shade of pink when the waiter overheard. Brayden waved it away. He never cared what anyone thought of him.

  “Gracie,” he said a little while later as we were sipping after dinner teas. “How can I help with the moving process?”

  “Oh,” Gracie said, a little caught off guard. “I have it under control. Some friends are going to help me have a yard sale, and I’ll sell most of my furniture. It’s a pain in the ass—” her eyes widened and she shot a look at Bella, who was too preoccupied playing with Braxton to notice her auntie cussing. “Butt,” Gracie amended. “It’s a pain in the butt to fly everything home. I just want to bring the necessities back with me.”

  I detected a hint of sadness in her voice. “How much stuff do you have in California?” I asked.

  Gracie shrugged. “Most of what I own. I thought I was making a clean break when I left Valdez, so I took it all with me. Or I sold it.”

  Brayden’s brow furrowed, and he leaned forward to rest his
elbows on the table. A cool breeze blew off the ocean and pushed his hair off his forehead. I admired the line of his jaw and found myself staring at the steady pulse in his neck. I was eager to have the following night alone with him, that was for sure.

  He was magnificent.

  “Gracie,” he said seriously. “Let me fly your personal belongings back to Valdez for you. I’d hate to think you had to part with things that you worked hard for.”

  Gracie blinked a couple of times and then shook her head fiercely. “I couldn’t possibly ask for you to—”

  “You’re not asking. I’m offering. Please let me help. You have to realize, this is no burden on me.” He was trying to politely state that the cost of flying her belongings back to Valdez wouldn’t even make a dent in his wallet—our wallet.

  “Let us help, Gracie,” I encouraged. “It will make the move so much less stressful for you.”

  “I’ll fly you home on my jet, too. You can leave Cali in style, as you should.” Brayden toasted his coffee cup to her. I bet he wished he was still sipping wine so his toast would have had a bit more cool factor.

  Gracie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I don’t like accepting handouts.”

  “It’s not a handout,” Brayden scoffed. “You’ve done us a huge favor by coming down here and helping out with the kids.”

  “Not really. You paid for my flight and my accommodations and my time.”

  Brayden paused, but only for a second. “Regardless, you still have to spend a night alone with these hellions.” He tipped his head toward Bella and Braxton. Braxton was giggling as Bella blew gently into his face. “And that’s well worth what I’ve paid to have you here.”

  Gracie giggled and shook her head. “Always the smooth talker, Brayden Hennie.”

  “How do you think I became so rich?”

  Gracie and I both laughed. I looked my friend in the eye. “Seriously. It’s no bother. We’re also personally invested in wanting you to come home. So, if we can make it happen faster for you, let us. It benefits everyone.”