by Jody Holford
“It’s an internship at Posh Fashion. With Kael Makhai,” Lucy blurted, unable to keep the excitement off of her face. Kate continued to stand there, her face blank, as if she was waiting for Lucy to tell her the punch line.
“What did you do?” she finally whispered. Kate shook her head, her face pale. Lucy’s heart stalled and then rebooted in high gear. She set the book on the bed and moved toward Kate.
“Kael Makhai. He’s won Fashion Designer of the Year three times. We don’t even know anyone who can afford to buy his clothes. Kate, this is huge. I know you didn’t want me to say anything, but—”
“Stop. Stop talking,” Kate snapped, shaking her head more vigorously. Kate began pacing the length of her room. She walked to her desk, and Lucy saw her close her eyes and inhale deeply several times.
“Kate. I know you want this,” Lucy whispered, unease tickling her skin.
“Of course I want this. Who wouldn’t want this?” she demanded as she whirled and stalked up to Lucy. “But I can’t have it. Which is why I put it aside. And now you’re throwing it in my face and calling it a gift.”
“Everything okay girls?” Julie poked her head in the room. Both girls flinched and turned her way.
“Everything is fine, mom,” Kate assured, her voice even, as though it hadn’t been laced with accusation and anger only seconds ago.
“Are you trying to make your sister do your chores again, Lucy?” Julie joked. Lucy wasn’t in the mood to walk down memory lane and be reminded of how she used to con Kate into making her bed and cleaning her room.
“Yes. Because I’m still twelve,” Lucy snapped, immediately regretting her words. “Don’t take it out on her,” Kate said, giving Lucy an icy glare.
“Girls, what is going on?” Julie asked. She came into the room. Her brown hair was tied back loosely to the side. She wore a thin, flowing sweater that was slightly longer in the back over a pair of black leggings. She looked very earthy, and Lucy’s fingers twitched for her camera.
“Nothing mom. I was just borrowing a book from Kate,” Lucy said, picking up the book off of the bed. She looked at Kate. “I thought maybe I had one she would like. I was wrong.”
Kate crossed her arms over her chest and looked down as Lucy walked past. Julie stopped her with a hand on her waist, and Lucy placed a kiss on her mom’s cheek.
“You look really pretty, mom,” she said quietly.
“Thank you, sweetheart. I’m going to make some lunch. Do you want some?”
“Nah. I’m not hungry.”
Julie looked back and forth between her girls, assessing them with that mothering eye, her hand holding Lucy still. “Me neither,” Kate claimed.
“I have some errands to run, and then Char is bringing the kids over. Do you need anything?” Lucy asked to the room in general.
“I have some items I need from the store. Your dad was going to go, but this will save him the trip. He’s monitoring exams, so I’m sure he’d appreciate it,” Julie answered. Lucy nodded and looked back at Kate, who was still looking at the floor.
“I was going to do some yoga. The breathing and calming poses are very good for restoring your balance and energy. Do you want to join me?” Julie asked, looking back and forth between them, ever the peacemaker. Lucy gave her mom a one-sided smile.
“How about later? We could do it on the porch?” Lucy suggested, using her own ability to assess. The porch was certainly big enough, and most of it was covered and screened. Studying her mother’s face carefully, she noted that her jaw tightened, her lips opened, closed, and then drew into a firm line.
“Actually, I have a DVD I use, so I need to do it in the living room,” Julie said, looking at Kate. Lucy bit her lip. Something made a steady pinging noise in the washer.
“Okay. Sure,” Lucy agreed. Her heart ached as she looked at both women—neither of whom she could help. She shook her head slightly and left the room. She was pretty sure she could handle the laundry without messing things up, so she figured, for now, she’d stick with things she understood.
When the call came in for a two-car accident about twenty minutes from town, in the general vicinity of his father’s house, Alex told Cam and Elliot he would cover it. He left through the front of the station, grabbed one of the three department cruisers sitting in the lot, and made his way to the town’s edge. Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he drove, he tried to think of why his dad would come home early. Why it was bothering him that he had. Something wasn’t sitting right. He’d just drop by and ask Chuck how his time at the cabin was after he dealt with the accident that he already knew had no serious injuries.
“Ah, boss?” Cam’s voice crackled through the radio. Alex shook his head at the deputy’s ability to make him feel like he was ancient. “Yes, Cam?” Alex answered back.
“You—uh … well, you know—”
“Spit it out, kid!” Mick’s voice boomed through the radio instead, making Alex chuckle. “What’s up, Mick? And what are you doing there? It’s your day off,” Alex said.
“I picked up some supplies for the lunchroom and was dropping them off. You know someone’s done some shitty artwork on your truck?” Mick asked, breaking into a fit of coughing.
“What? What are you talking about?”
Alex pressed the button to lower the window, letting the fresh air and smell of trees push out the stale air and mingling scents of cigarettes and sweat. “Your passenger door. I parked beside you, was bringing in a couple cases of soda. There’s a bunch of squiggles and shit all over the door,” Mick replied. Alex tightened his grip on the steering wheel, then banged his fist on it.
“No. I did not know that,” he ground out. The noises last night. “Listen, I’ve got to deal with this accident report first. I need to swing by my dad’s. Take pictures for me, okay? I’ll be back within a couple of hours.”
Mick agreed, and as Alex pulled up on the accident site, he tried to get his head focused on one annoyance at a time. Two teens were leaning against the hood of a white Honda Civic. A girl with long, loose braids leaned on a boy’s shoulder. Beside them, another girl with hair darker than the asphalt was pacing back and forth, texting on her cell phone. Alex sighed as he pulled the cruiser up beside them. One thing at a time.
Lucy glanced over at Julie, who was bouncing the baby in her arms and cooing something unintelligible. Carmen was staring intensely at the cards in her hand while Lucy watched in amusement. They were on the carpeted floor of the living room. Jake and his Neverland Pirates were singing a song that Lucy knew would be stuck in her head later. Carmen eyed Lucy over her cards.
“Do you have any fours?” she asked.
“Go fish,” Lucy said, unable to stop the smile. Carmen sat ramrod straight and puckered her lips. With her brows drawn, she looked serious and older. She picked up a card from the scatter of them on the floor and gave Lucy a toothy grin, looking her age again.
“Success!” Carmen laid down her pair.
“Cookies are almost ready,” Julie said between trying to make Mia laugh, or at least smile.
“I was thinking we could go for a walk after we have a snack. Your mom brought the stroller. We could take your sister,” Lucy suggested to Carmen. She looked over at her mom. “What do you say, Grandma?”
“Grandma doesn’t like to go outside,” Carmen said. Lucy and Julie both whipped their heads toward Carmen. Looking back at her mom, Lucy saw that her cheeks had reddened. Lucy felt bad for continuously pushing but was happy that the obvious had been said by someone who likely wouldn’t receive Julie’s anger.
“That’s not entirely true,” Julie said quietly, bringing Mia over and handing her down to Lucy. Lucy took smiling Mia into her arms and kissed her forehead. Julie sat down beside Carmen, who hid her cards.
“Don’t look, Grandma. And mommy and Auntie Kate say that you don’t like outside. But that’s okay. I don’t like it that much, either,” Carmen said. “What about the park?” Lucy asked, trying to take the heat
off of her mother, even though she’d intentionally thrown it at her.
“There are a lot of germs at the park. But I like the swings. It’s your turn, Aunt Lucy,” Carmen stated.
The buzzer for the cookies sounded and Lucy could smell the warm chocolate. Her stomach growled at the same time Mia began to fuss.
“We’ll put the park aside for another day then,” Lucy said, looking at her mom and seeking forgiveness with a small smile. Julie nodded and rose to grab the
cookies.
By the time Char and Luke picked Carmen and Mia up, Lucy had lost at Go Fish four times, eaten six cookies, and been spit up on twice. Char looked tired when she shuffled in through the back door of the Aarons’ house. Carmen continued to focus on the cards, even when Char kneeled down next to her.
“Hey. How’s my favorite five-year-old?” Char asked.
Luke kissed Julie’s cheek when he came into the kitchen where they had been sitting. Lucy’s family was fond of food, so they generally ended up in the kitchen.
“I’m almost six,” Carmen said.
Char smiled. “True. Say hi to daddy.” Carmen tried to shuffle the deck. “Hi daddy.”
“Hey sweet girl,” Luke said, kissing Carmen noisily and coming to steal Mia from Lucy’s arms. “Hi other sweet girl.” Lucy put a hand to her chest and tilted her head in jest. “Aw. Luke, you’re so nice. Oh, did you mean Mia?”
“Nah. You’re kinda cute too,” he said.
“How did everything go?” Julie asked. She had been typing something while Carmen drew pictures and Lucy cuddled Mia. Luke and Charlotte exchanged a glance.
“It was good. We found out a lot of helpful information,” Char said cautiously, her eyes not leaving Luke’s. Luke shook his head, a seemingly frustrated gesture, and began to pack up the girls’ bags.
“We can discuss it another time,” Julie offered, closing her laptop.
“Yeah,” Char agreed, looking from her mother to Lucy. “How’s it going with Sheriff Hottie?”
“Nice,” Luke snorted.
“Shut up,” Lucy replied.
“Shut up isn’t a nice thing to say. I’m not allowed,” said Carmen.
The adults laughed, which startled Mia and saved Lucy from having to answer.
Alex was greeted by two smells when he let himself into his house. Something burning and toast. Furball met him at the door and brushed his legs.
“Hi there. Do we have company? Is she hot?” Alex asked, bending down to pick up the cat. He carried him into the kitchen, where he found Lucy standing at the sink, washing her hands. Her hair was loose and flowing down her back. It looked a little damp, as though she’d just gotten out of the shower, and he felt a stab of regret that he’d missed out. She was wearing an almost see-through T-shirt and a pair of cropped pants. Her feet were bare, and he could see her toes were brightly colored. Watching her in his home, knowing she loved him, uncurled a need and tenderness in him that he hadn’t known was lying dormant in his heart. It scared him to think that she could become—could already be—everything to him.
“She is hot,” he murmured to Furball.
“Hey,” she greeted, turning off the tap and grabbing a hand towel from his stove. Two plates sat on the island counter, laden with toast and scrambled eggs, which didn’t look burnt.
“Hey yourself,” he said, rooted to his spot, unable to do more than just smile at her. She came to him, pet the cat, then reached up on tiptoes to kiss his lips. He leaned in and took the sweet greeting she offered. He put the cat down and pulled Lucy in for more, enjoying the feel of her arms winding around his neck, the feel of her breath on his face, and the weight of her body leaning against him.
“You made breakfast,” he murmured.
“Dinner. Well, breakfast for dinner. I warned you I could only handle eggs.”
“There’s toast.”
She laughed.
“Yes, and toast. Though I burnt the first slices.”
“I like eggs and toast,” he said, taking the kiss deeper, until he felt her sink against him; into him.
“Did you have a good day?” she asked, pulling away and grabbing the two glasses of milk she had poured. Other than the tagging, paperwork, missing her, and not being able to check in with Chuck, he figured it wasn’t a bad day. Alex took the plates, charmed to see that she had already set the small table by his kitchen window with cutlery and napkins.
“I should have been more thorough in my check last night when I thought I heard something,” he said, sitting across from her. She took a long swallow of milk—almost half the glass—and he arched his eyebrow. She shrugged sheepishly and set her glass down.
“Why?”
“My truck was tagged. The idiot painted up the passenger door. Mick noticed it when he parked beside me at the station,” Alex told her, taking a large mouthful of eggs.
“Do you think it’s the same person? Or people, I guess it could be.”
“Definitely. There’s a symbol on all of the tagging that my dad and I noticed, and it’s on my truck.”
“Hmm. What’s the symbol?”
“Some heart thing. I’ll show you after dinner. Which is good, by the way,” he said. “Yeah, my talents know no bounds,” she answered and took another bite of her eggs. “I agree.” He winked at her, making her laugh.
“I watched my nieces today. It was fun. Tiring and somewhat humiliating when I lost at Go Fish repeatedly, but fun.”
“Go Fish is a tough one.”
“Shut up. Oops, Carmen told us ‘shut up’ was not nice to say,” she said, laughing while pulling the crusts off of her toast.
“She’s not wrong. Just wait until she finds out there’s worse. Where were Luke and Char?” he asked, taking her crusts and popping them into his mouth.
“They went to a meeting about autism. Char seemed to think it was good, but Luke seemed kind of reserved about it. We didn’t get a lot of details, but I’m glad they’re realizing that they’ll need help with Carmen.”
“Can’t be easy. Admitting that something might be wrong with your child. Facing that must be breaking them a bit,” Alex said quietly.
“I think it is. But if they don’t face it, what good does it do Carmen? Or them? She’s still their little girl. It doesn’t change that or how much they love her. It just helps them find the best way to support her,” Lucy returned, finishing up her last bite of eggs.
“True. All true. But it still must be hard. Did you tell Kate about the internship?” Lucy groaned and rose from the table, clearing her place.
“That bad?” Alex followed her with his plate and glass. Furball meowed at their feet. While Alex loaded the dishwasher, Lucy grabbed the cat food out of his pantry and shook some into the cat dish, earning Furball’s everlasting adoration.
“She was seriously pissed.”
“That seems weird.”
“It’s occurring to me that my family is a bit weird. I thought I was the only one,” she remarked, and Alex laughed loud.
“Did you think you cornered the market on strange? I don’t even think you are that strange. You seem pretty normal to me, and so do the rest of the Aarons’. You’re all pretty good in my book,” he said, still laughing. He saw her face tighten when she turned from the pantry.
“I’m not just like them. I’m … missing pieces of what makes them, them.”
He didn’t like the sound of her voice when she spoke as though she were on the outside looking in—her tone was vacant, far away. He walked over and took her hand, pulled her into his arms, and hugged her, happy that she returned the embrace immediately.
“Kate’s probably just in shock. Give it some time. And from where I’m standing, I think you have the best parts of all of them,” he said, trying to reassure her.
“Not all of them,” she murmured into his chest. He kissed the top of her head. “What does that mean, Luce?”
She shook her head, leaned back and looked up into his eyes. Hers were clouded and he wished he could
clear them. He wanted to tell her everything would be okay, but how could he know for sure?
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Right now, all that matters is this. Us.”
“Oh yeah? I like the sound of that.”
“Surprisingly, so do I. I didn’t see this—see you—coming.”
“Sometimes the things most worth having are the things we aren’t prepared for. If it helps, I didn’t plan on you, either.” He kissed her lips, then trailed his mouth to her chin, bending his knees to scoop her up against him.
“But you love me anyway?”
“I really do. I love you. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of telling you,” he whispered against her ear. He felt the small shiver go through her body, and his own body tightened with need for her. She kissed his neck and ran her hands over his chest—restless, needy. Her fingers moved quickly, tugging at his buttons. Alex pushed her hair off her neck, touching his lips to the spot that made her sigh. His hands touched and explored, lowering over the curve of her hips, greedy to pull her as close as possible.
“I’ll never get tired of hearing it, either,” he encouraged. He felt her smile against the skin of his chest.
“I love you,” she whispered, walking backward, leading him through the kitchen. He smiled at the sly smirk on her face and the way her eyes danced in the dim light of his house. “I love you,” she repeated, then turned and ran toward his room. He did what he’d been doing since he was twelve—he followed Lucy, heart on his sleeve. Only this time, hers was there, too.
Chapter Sixteen
“Okay. If this is a regular occurrence for you, I will happily become a photographer,” Kate said, a swooning lilt to her voice as Sam, Luke, and a two of Alex’s deputies joked around, shirtless. Lucy had asked them to toss a football around for now, to lighten up and relax. None of them were particularly shy, except maybe Cam, but it still wasn’t common practice for guys to meet up and take off their shirts.
Lucy and Kate were both enjoying the view, however. She had received permission to use one of the empty rooms at the town hall for the day. It was open, with good light coming through the wall of wide, long windows. Kate had grumbled about helping her set up the lighting Lucy had also borrowed.