The Fix (Carolina Connections #1)

by Sylvie Stewart

  “But I’m not on a special diet,” he answered as only a kid can.

  “Don’t worry, Rock, we’ll get you one of your mom’s cookies when we get home,” Gavin reassured, never one to deny my kid something sweet.

  “You know, Gav. You should be happy I talked you into this. It could be a boost for your career,” I teased. “It’ll give you a chance to suck up to not just the boss but the big boss.”

  “Ha ha. I don’t want to look like a douche.”

  “What’s a douche?” Rocco asked.

  I gave Gavin the evil eye. “It’s just an adult thing, Rocco. You should never say that word.”

  “But what is it?”

  “It’s a special kind of soap for adults,” answered Gavin, never understanding that in a kid’s hands, too much knowledge is too much power.

  “No, Rock, it’s a bad word some adults say. Just ignore your uncle.”

  Gavin came back to the original topic. “I don’t want to suck up – I’m just gonna stay quiet while Nate spends the evening checking you out.” An overly dramatic shiver coursed through his body. “I can’t believe you’re dating my boss.”

  “I’m not dating him! And this is definitely not the time to talk about this.” I motioned to the listening ears in the booster seat behind us.

  “Whatever. I know what’s going on even if you don’t. All I have to say is you’d better not mess this up for me, Laney,” he warned.

  “I’m not messing anything up. We’re just having dinner at their house.”

  “Said the most clueless human on the planet. Oh, and just make sure to keep it wrapped this time around.” I had to slap him even if he was driving at the time.

  We arrived ten minutes later at a beautiful two story brick home in an elegant community with big lush lawns and gorgeous crepe myrtles dotting the tree-lawn all along the street. Rocco and I got out first and headed to the door while Gavin grabbed some things I’d brought along from the back. I carried a bouquet of flowers as well as a tin of heart-friendly muffins I’d baked for Nate’s dad, and I let Rocco ring the bell. The door immediately opened and there was Nate in all his perfect scruffy handsomeness. Sigh. He wore another pair of faded jeans and a vintage Rolling Stones t-shirt, his hair looking like he’d been running his hand through it. Maybe he was nervous too.

  “You made it,” he greeted and leaned over to place a hand on my waist and a light kiss on my cheek. “Come in.” He moved to the side to allow us entry. “Hey Rocco, how’s it going?” Rocco just gave a silent little wave accompanied by a nose twitch and stuck to my side.

  Nate seemed to let it roll off his back. “My mom is in the kitchen doing some last minute stuff or she would have greeted you herself.”

  “Oh, I totally understand. No problem. Gavin’s just grabbing some stuff from the car – he’ll be here in a minute.” My nerves were eating at my stomach as Nate led us into a living room and invited us to take a seat. I remained standing and I could hear some banging coming from the kitchen. “Are you sure I can’t help your mom with something?”

  Nate looked unsure. Then a loud curse came from the kitchen. “Uh, maybe we should.” I followed him to the kitchen, flowers and muffin tin in hand.

  “Rocco, go help Uncle Gavin bring the things in from the Jeep, okay? I’ll just be right in the kitchen.” And that’s when I got my first glimpse of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. He was bent over looking into the open oven and cursing a blue streak while she was slapping at a burning dish towel with a spatula.

  “Mom!” Nate exclaimed and grabbed the towel from her hand, throwing it directly into the sink and turning the tap on.

  “I just asked if it was overcooking! I didn’t tell you to light your damn self on fire!” came the gravelly voice from over by the oven.

  “I was just trying to pull it out. It’s not my fault the towel caught on the heating element! Nate, can you pull the chicken out of the oven for me?” asked Mrs. Murphy, blowing her swath of blond hair from her eyes and peering into the sink at the smoking towel.

  “I’m not a cripple, Erin! For Christ’s sake, I can lift a damn pan from the oven.”

  “Not yet, you can’t – not until the doctor okay’s it.”

  “Nate, hand me that towel. No, the other one. I’m pulling this thing out before your mother burns the house down.”

  Nate shot me a look that said he regretted inviting me over more than anything he’d ever done in his entire life. I just sent him the brightest smile I had. Oddly, the chaos in the room served to calm my nerves completely. Turns out my mom was right – everybody does have their own brand of crazy. And the Murphy’s brand involved yelling and spazzing out and cussing and I couldn’t have felt more at home.

  “Uh, Mom, Dad, this is Laney.” Two heads swung simultaneously to me.

  “Oh my word. Laney.” Mrs. Murphy brought one hand to her hair and the other to her ample hip. “You must think we’re insane. I am so sorry!”

  “Not at all,” I laughed. “It actually reminds me of home. It’s lovely to meet you, Mrs. Murphy. Oh, and I brought these for you.” I extended the flowers and muffins.

  She came over, grabbed the offerings and shoved them in Nate’s hands and then proceeded to envelop me in a full body hug the likes of which I’d never experienced before. “Call me Erin.” In that moment I think I missed my mom more than I’d realized. “And thank you for the gorgeous flowers and whatever’s in that tin – I’m sure it will be delicious,” she said, still hugging me.

  The sound of the doorbell caused her to finally release me and she turned toward the foyer.

  “That’ll be Laney’s son and her brother,” Nate explained as Erin hurried off to answer the door.

  “So, Laney,” Mr. Murphy began. He was just as tall as Nate and I could immediately spot the resemblance. They shared the same blue eyes and although the older man’s hair was peppered with gray and he carried some extra weight, the similarities were undeniable in father and son. “I hear you’ve been spending some time with my son. I hope he’s treating you right.”

  “He’s a perfect gentleman.” Well, most of the time. “He’s helping me out a lot around my house. Thanks to him my doorbell no longer sounds like a drowning cat and I don’t trip over my uneven floor anymore on my way to the kitchen.”

  “Good, well you just let me know if he steps out of line and I’ll straighten him right up.” He smiled at me and wouldn’t you know it, there was an identical copy of that damn dimple.

  Nate just rolled his eyes at his dad. “You’re looking good, old man, but I still think I could take you.”

  “Yeah, you just try,” he responded, the affection between the two obvious and so heartwarming.

  It was then that Rocco bounded into the kitchen followed by Gavin who wore an indiscernible expression. He approached Nate and said quietly, “Dude. I don’t want to alarm you but your mom just groped me in the entryway. I think I might be pregnant.”

  Nate snickered. “Ah, the pat-down. She was just checking for contraband. Don’t worry – your virtue is safe.”

  I didn’t even want to know what that was about so when Erin re-entered the kitchen I quickly made introductions. Rocco was shy, as usual, and I noticed a few nose wiggles but with three familiar adults in the room and Erin’s innate warmness he was soon emerging from his shell a bit.

  The surprise of the evening, though, was how taken Rocco seemed to become with Nate’s dad, whose name I learned was Riordan. The older man held a seemingly endless store of kid-friendly jokes and he soon had Rocco laughing out loud in fits of giggles. I couldn’t help it when my eyes teared up a bit. Nate immediately noticed and laid a hand on the small of my back, not removing it until his sister Bailey arrived with a friend and we all sat down for dinner. Nate’s arm then moved to the back of my chair and remained there throughout the entire meal.

  Erin had set the flowers I’d brought as the centerpiece to the table and she’d thanked me profusely for the muffins I’d made using apple sauce instead o
f butter. Who knows how they’d taste, but it was worth the effort.

  Conversation over dinner was lively and I couldn’t remember laughing so much in a very long time. The company definitely made up for the almost inedible chicken and one look around the table showed all parties’ creative attempts at hiding their uneaten chicken on their plates using various strategies. Thankfully Rocco didn’t blurt out any embarrassing comments about the food. Instead he just stuffed his face with rolls and exchanged more jokes with Riordan. Within the flow conversation around us, I noticed Bailey not so subtly checking me out throughout dinner. But with Nate’s regular grazes of my shoulder and neck I maintained my composure and just tried to smile back at her.

  I could see some resemblances between Bailey and the rest of her family. She shared Nate and Riordan’s blue eyes, but her hair had clearly come from Erin. It was a beautiful shade of blond and she wore it in a ponytail with a big swath of bangs angled across her forehead. She was also fairly tall – I’d guess maybe 5’7” – which was no surprise considering the height of her brother, and she seemed to share my preference for casual clothes.

  While Bailey conversed naturally with everyone throughout the meal and entertained us with some stories (as well as some incredibly well-timed insults at Nate’s expense), her friend Kia was less than entertaining. She chattered like a sixteen-year-old girl on a caffeine drip and seemed not to realize that none of her stories were hitting the mark. We were all too polite to let it show, of course, responding instead with head nods followed by a change in subject. I caught Nate shooting looks at Bailey every once in a while, which she responded to with wide smiles. It was after a particularly mind-numbing tale of a nail appointment gone wrong that Gavin decided he was done being polite. Why he thought it was a good idea to provoke a confrontation at his boss’s dinner table I have no idea, but as I’ve stated before, Gavin is an idiot.

  “Hey Kia, do you by any chance have an off button, or maybe just a pause button. My head is about to explode.”

  I was completely mortified. Kia’s jaw hit the table in indignant shock. Erin covered her mouth with a napkin that hid what I thought might have been a smile. Riordan stole another roll. Nate and Bailey shared a look across the table and then simultaneously burst out into gales of laughter.

  Assholes!! What was going on here?

  “You.” I pointed at Nate. “Hallway.” I stood, and to the rest of the table I simply said, “If you could excuse us for a moment we’ll be right back.” I could see Erin smacking Bailey on the arm and Kia standing up in a huff to gather her purse. Gavin sat back with a smirk, too damn cocky to consider he could have just blown his professional reputation. Ugh!

  Riordan and Rocco went back to business. “Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A guy with a peg leg walks into a bar–”

  “What’s a peg leg?”

  In the hall, Nate was ready for me and was already defending himself before I could draw in a breath. “Look, you have to understand Bailey. We live to torture each other and when I told her she had to invite someone to dinner to make you feel more comfortable she decided to choose the most annoying person on her contact list. I should have seen it coming but I was so nervous about not freaking you out and about getting this evening to go well I completely missed the opening I’d given her. It’s my fault, but I promise everyone in there, with the exception of Kita or Kia or whoever, thought that whole scene was fucking hilarious.”

  What was I going to do with him? Having no answer I decided to settle for punching him in the arm. He laughed and pulled me into a hug.

  ***

  After many thank-yous and another round of hugs goodbye we all headed to the front door. Riordan opted to stay in the kitchen to wash dishes but he fist bumped Rocco goodbye and gave us all a wave.

  “What is all of this?” Erin said as we approached the front door and she saw a couple boxes and a tall cylindrical case leaning against the wall.

  I bit my lip. “I didn’t want to be presumptuous but I had all of this fishing equipment from my parents’ house that I was planning on using with Rocco. We haven’t had the time and it’s just been sitting there so I thought maybe Riordan might be interested in trying his hand at it. There are some great ponds and reservoirs around here. It’s probably stupid, but I used to love to fish with my dad and he always said it was one of life’s best pastimes. Like I said, it’s a silly idea but if you’re interested feel free to use it,” I finished, suddenly feeling shy.

  Erin wrapped me in another enormous hug and whispered in my ear. “You’re an angel, Laney.” I guess it wasn’t such a silly idea after all.

  On the front walkway Bailey stopped me for a moment. “Sorry if that whole Kia thing made you uncomfortable. I was so focused on annoying Nate I didn’t really think about making it weird for you. Honestly, that girl has had the biggest lady boner for Nate for so long I’m actually relieved that I brought her here tonight. Hopefully she’ll leave me alone about it now that she sees he’s officially taken,” she said.

  I had no response. Luckily, she seemed to not need one as she waved and jogged to her car.

  Nate walked the rest of us to the Jeep. He opened Rocco’s door for him and then mine. Before he closed my door he leaned down toward me. “Text me so I know you got home safe.”

  All signs indicated Laney Monroe had just gotten herself a boyfriend.

  Eek!

  Chapter Thirteen

  It’s a Gray Area

  Nate

  Nate: So what night is best for you this week?

  Laney: For what?

  Nate: For our second date?

  Laney: When did I agree to our first date?

  Nate: It was implied. You had dinner with my parents and a psychotic person. I really should count that as two dates.

  Laney: Ha.

  Nate: Just so you know, Gavin is available to babysit on Wed or Thurs.

  Laney: You’re involving my brother in this? That’s extortion – you’re his boss.

  Nate: It’s a gray area. How about Wednesday? I’ll cook for you. Don’t worry, I didn’t learn from my mom.

  Nate: I’m getting gray hair over here waiting.

  Laney: Wednesday. I can be ready at 6:30.

  Nate: I’ll pick you up. Later, Laney.

  Laney sure knew how to get under my skin. Not to be cocky, but I knew she was into me so I couldn’t figure out the reluctance on her part. I’ve never had to work so hard to get a girl to date me and there has never been a girl I was so eager to date before. She did things to me I couldn’t explain. I must have replayed our two kisses in my head a hundred times, many of those times occurring in the shower with my hand in full participation, I am not ashamed to say. I also found myself thinking of her at the oddest times – like when I went to the grocery store and saw some chocolate chip cookies, it reminded me of the one’s she’d made (and the kiss that involved). Or when I picked up some supplies at Home Depot, I bought a flashlight because I’d noticed Laney didn’t seem to have one. This girl was firmly rooted in my head.

  Maybe the reluctance on her part was because of Rocco – I suppose that made sense. I’ve never dated a single mom before so it’s bound to be more complicated. I confess I don’t know the first thing about kids, but I like them well enough. I’ve just never had the chance to spend a lot of time with them. Rocco seems like a cool little guy – maybe a bit shy and kind of unpredictable but that’s okay. It was becoming clear that being a single mom was no picnic, but Laney seemed to be doing a stellar job from my inexperienced viewpoint. Rocco was well-behaved and everybody seemed to love him.

  Hell, I was beginning to think maybe my mom had the right idea about pairing up my dad with the kid. They’d been having their own little club meeting at the dinner table last night. Truth be told, I was a bit jealous. Huh, that was unexpected. I wanted Rocco to prefer me to my dad – maybe that was a bit juvenile but there it was. I made a mental note to look up some G-rated jokes on the internet.

  Bu
t I’d gotten a “yes” from Laney for Wednesday and I was determined to win her over. Crap, now I had to impress her with my cooking, which I may have oversold a touch. Since spaghetti is just about the only thing I can cook it looked like we’d be having Italian.

  ***

  On Tuesday I got a call about another hiccup with a project out on the east side of town so I spent most of the morning there. Bailey and I had met with Doug yesterday and, just as my mother had predicted, he was eager to step up and help us out with some of this troubleshooting, paperwork, and scheduling. Today’s debacle sealed the deal in my mind and I was determined to call Doug in on this new issue and have him take it over. This new resolve had me grinning on my walk to my truck this afternoon. That’s when my phone rang. Laney. My grin turned into a full out smile and I believe I may have started to swagger.

  “Hey, Beautiful, what’s up?”

  “Nate, thank God.” She sounded harried.

  “What’s wrong?” I felt my stomach drop.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to panic but I’m in a bit of a bind and I didn’t know who else to call.”

  My breathing returned to normal. “I’m glad you called me. What can I do?”

  “I’m completely stuck here at work. We have a deadline that there is no way we can meet if we don’t all stay late. Rocco’s daycare closes at 6:15, Fiona is out of town, and Gavin’s not answering his phone. It’s already almost 5:00 and I have nobody to pick him up. Can you please, please, please pick him up for me and stay with him until I can get ahold of Gavin? Or can you somehow find Gavin and have him pick Rocco up? Anything!” She was sounding panicked again.

  “Calm down. I got it. I’m done here so there’s no reason to involve Gavin. I can swing by and pick up the squirt. Where’s the school?”

  She sighed hugely. “Thank you, Nate. Thank you so much. I’ll have to call the school and authorize you to pick him up first, but that won’t take long. He usually expects me at about 5:15 so do you think you can go soon?”