by Cara Dee
She was a treat to get to know, and I'd missed her while she was on the road this spring. For the first time in my life—while still outnumbered—there was another strong, female voice around.
It also made me fall deeper in love with Aiden every time Isla and I had a girls' night or went out together. She was a bright, caring reflection of his parenting and him as a person.
"So…should I ask about the purple in your hair?" Isla sent me a sly little smirk as we unpacked the car outside the inn. "It feels like there's a good story behind that one."
I laughed, playing it off with a shrug, and closed the trunk. "You'll have to ask your father." We'd kept the history of Gypsy Girl between us, aside from the suspicion Gray already had. It was our little secret.
"Figured." Isla tried and failed to give me a dirty look. "All right, let's boss around some hungry men."
Indeed. We really were outnumbered at our family dinners, resulting in a few funny gender wars here and there, though summers made things marginally easier because we could be outside. Less crowded. For a hot second, we thought we'd gained another ally when Gage brought home a date last winter, but that didn’t last long.
This fall should work out our issues about having way too little space. The cottage would be remodeled to be Aiden's writing cave as soon as our new house was ready across town.
It put a ball of nerves—the good kind—in my stomach. I couldn’t wait for everything to be settled and for everyone to have a space in our home.
*
Aiden Roe
"What the hell…?" I frowned, peering into the house as Chloe and Isla flew by with the rest of the food. Was that—I mean…her hair, there was something different, or maybe I'd imagined it. I was doing my best to concentrate on the grill. I'd already burned a few burgers too many. "Don't we say hi when we come home?" I called after them.
"Hi!" they both hollered, already in the kitchen.
I hmph'd and handed over the tongs to Gideon. Not my best option, so I turned to Gabriel.
"Keep an eye on your brother. He's about as good at this as I am," I told him.
"Hey." Gideon was offended.
"On it." Gabriel shoved Gideon out of the way. "Move, bitch."
Oh, boy. I lifted a brow, then shook my head and continued inside.
"Daughter." I patted Isla on the head as I passed her. "My love." Chloe got a kiss before I peered around her to see her neck. "Fuck. You actually…" I grinned, admittedly turned on. She'd told me her hair appointment would be a little different today. "God, that’s sexy." My gypsy girl.
"You like?" She smirked, even as her lovely cheeks went slightly darker.
"I love." I touched her cheek and kissed her chastely, having every intention of going much further tonight. She had another day of working, but my vacation started when writer's block hit me last week, so I'd stopped thinking with the head on my shoulders.
Starting Saturday, we had a two-week adventure far away from here, too. Other than a handful of excursions, I planned on staying in bed with Chloe. Well…it didn’t have to be the bed.
Costa Rica, here we come.
"Mom, we're here!" I heard Gray yell. I assumed that meant Gage was with him.
"Congratulations!" Chloe called back. "Y'all can come here and help out!"
Minor mayhem ensued when everyone pitched in to fill the table outside for dinner, and each time Chloe and I passed each other, we shared the same thought. We can't fucking wait 'til we move. I wasn’t used to living in a crowded space, and Chloe felt she couldn’t balance love and kids when everyone was breathing down each other's necks.
In the beginning of our relationship, we'd taken quick trips down to LA to get some alone time. We'd had to pack up the house there, anyway.
Jack showed up with beer and wine shortly after I'd successfully plated all the meat, and he was quick to get on my ass about missing poker night last weekend. In my defense, Chloe had seduced me. Poker night didn’t stand a chance against her in see-through lingerie.
"I'll be there next time." I took my seat next to Chloe. The boys shared the short ends of the table and filled their plates before the rest of us could even blink.
Major adjustment right there. I was so used to being the only one who ate for two. Now we could manage two or three trips to the grocery store a week.
"I'm just saying, man. You missed guys' night a few weeks ago, too." Jack gave me a pointed look. "We're going to start taking it personally soon."
I chuckled. "Noted."
In truth, I was relieved our friendship hadn't taken a big hit after he chose Isla of all people to fall in love with, but goodness, how many guys' nights were necessary? I didn’t have very much in common with his brothers and friends, either. Actually, William, one his childhood friends, had been easy to befriend. We went fishing sometimes.
Otherwise, I sort of preferred spending time with Chloe's boys. Or one-on-one pub nights with Jack; those worked, too.
"Maybe, but have you seen him?" Gray piped up. "He's hot as fuck."
I tuned in long enough to learn he and Isla were discussing some radio show before I promptly tuned out again. For the twins, everything revolved around sports, and Jack and Gage were talking about the murder that took place in town this spring. Having spent the majority of my life in Los Angeles, I couldn’t say it had fazed me, but it'd shaken up Camassia Cove.
"I think I'm going to start counting the hours soon," I murmured to Chloe.
"The hours until we leave?"
I nodded and took a swig of my beer.
She laughed softly and kissed my shoulder. "I downloaded an app for that on my phone last week."
See? Match made in heaven. I smiled, draping an arm across the back of her chair, and dipped a roll in garlic oil. "You know, Costa Rica would be a good location for a certain question."
"You, my sweet man, are a giant menace." Chloe shook her head in amusement. "It's the third time you've brought that up."
"Can you blame me?" I bit off a piece of bread.
"Doesn’t matter," she laughed. "I called dibs."
"Called dibs on what?" Evidently, we'd gotten Isla's attention, and she glanced between us curiously.
"About three months ago, Aiden and I discussed marriage," Chloe explained, "and it turned into a debate on proposals—"
"She called dibs on who gets to pop the question." I cut to the chase, still a bit miffed.
"Aw, that's all kinds of adorable." Isla beamed.
Jack eyed her. "Dibs. Don’t you dare, sweetheart."
My daughter spluttered a laugh and raised her hands in surrender.
I clenched my jaw, though the only thing I was irritated by now was that he was quicker than me. Adults didn’t call dibs, goddammit. If I'd known Chloe was going to stoop to that level, perhaps I would've been more prepared.
"Who says romance is dead?" Gage cocked a brow and lifted his beer bottle.
"Hold up," Chloe interrupted. Grabbing a bottle of wine, she refilled her glass and then looked at Isla in question. "Some wine, honey?"
"Ah, no, but thank you." Isla smiled politely, appearing uncomfortable for a second.
"She's driving tonight." Jack swooped in and kissed her temple, whispering something the rest of us couldn’t hear. Whatever it was, it made my daughter blush, so it was probably best I remained oblivious.
"I'll toast for all of us, then." Chloe wore a big smile and found my hand under the table. I linked our fingers together and raised my beer, the underage boys following with their sodas. "To family," Chloe continued. "Old, new, and those who've yet to join us."
I chuckled under my breath. "Didn't know we were expecting others to join," I mused to myself, then took a sip of my beer.
"Oh God," Isla mumbled, whereas Jack smiled and shook his head.
"What?" I asked. The tension I picked up was strange. Zero interest from Gage, Gideon, and Gabriel, though Gray was lifting a brow at Isla. "Am I missing something?"
"Absolutely not, my
love." Chloe added another steak and a corn-on-the-cob to my plate. "There. Eat your supper." As she turned to Gray and Gage, starting a discussion about school, the faint glimmer of purple along the back of her neck caught my eye.
It was distracting enough to forget the odd tension, and I was swept away by filthy thoughts of purple nights in Costa Rica with the woman I loved. Perhaps the thoughts weren't appropriate for a barbecue with the family, but if I'd learned one thing this past year, it was that appropriate was sometimes highly overrated.
###
In Camassia Cove, everyone has a story to share…
Adam
Alessia
Finn
Katie
Jameson
Gray
William
For more, visit: www.caradeewrites.com