Life as We Know It: A Treasure Key Novel

by Sarah Bates

  So far I think the score was fairly even, as it turned out both Butler brothers excelled at the game. They were also a tad competitive, especially when facing off against each other.

  Shaking my head as I watched Delaney win the current round, I looked back to Kat and smiled as I lifted my glass of unsweetened iced tea – I might be a Florida girl now, but my taste buds were still Yankee – and took a sip. “It was amazing,” I told her. “We had so much fun. And having the chance to skate again was…” I shook my head, as there truly were no words to describe how wonderful it had felt to be on the ice again. “Next time I go, you should come with me,” I said, taking another sip of my tea.

  “That’d be great,” she said, and her smile widened as she brought the selfie of Hayden and me back up on the screen. “This is definitely a framer,” she said, turning my phone to show me. She turned the screen back to her and shook her head. “Jeez, you guys look happy. I mean really, truly happy.”

  “That’s because I was,” I told her. “I am,” I added when she looked back to me.

  She studied me closely, and her smile softened. “I can see that. And I’m glad,” she said, handing my phone back to me. She hesitated, then cleared her throat as she lifted a hand and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I know that you didn’t want to come here,”

  “Kat,”

  “Let me finish,” she said before I could say anything else. “I know you didn’t want to come, and I get it. I do. The only other time you’d been here we were so little that you probably don’t even remember it. Honestly, I don’t really remember it, either, just some impressions, and what I’ve seen in my mom’s photo albums. And for you, on top of the not remembering, it’s so completely different from what you grew up with, and you’d been through so much with everything that had happened between your mom and dad, and you and your dad. You’d lost the only home you’d ever remembered having, and so many other things had been taken away from you in such a short period of time. So I understand why you were so upset and sad when you got here.”

  She reached out and rested one of her hands on mine when I rested them in my lap. “I know it wasn’t easy to have everything in your life upended that way. But,” she added when I opened my mouth, “I’m so, so happy that you’re here, and that we’ve gotten to know each other. I’m so happy to see you so happy. You and your mom deserve it after everything you’ve had to deal with.”

  I cleared my throat and set my glass of iced tea aside, then reached out and hugged her. “Thank you,” I said, holding her tightly. When I pulled back I laughed and wiped a tear from my cheek. “I’m happy we came, too. I wasn’t at first, you’re right about that. But it didn’t have anything to do with any of you,”

  “I know that,” she assured me. “We all do.”

  I nodded, then sighed gustily, and smiled brightly. “I wasn’t happy at first. But now I can’t imagine what my life would have been like if we hadn’t come here. Getting to know all of you, getting to be a part of our family for the first time, meeting Hayden…these are some of the best things that have happened to me in…well, longer than I can remember.” I took her hand in mine and gave it a quick squeeze. “You’re my best friend, Kat.” My smile brightened even more when she smiled and a couple of tears slipped down her cheeks as well. “And now that I have a place where I can go to skate, I really do have the best of both worlds. Because now I get to be here with you and all of the others, I get to be with Hayden, and I can still be me. I can still do what I’ve always dreamed of doing. And that’s the best feeling in the world.”

  I gave her another quick hug, then we both glanced over when the guys let out loud whoops of laughter, and grinned as Leo did a victory dance, then slapped five with Hayden and Delaney, while Jamie, Zach, and Donovan all hung their heads in shame.

  “Looks like our guys won,” I said, looking back to Kat.

  Her smile widened, and she got that happy, dreamy look in her pretty blue eyes that she always got whenever Leo was mentioned. “Looks like,” she said, and she stood up and brushed a wrinkle from her sundress. “Come on, let’s go congratulate them, and celebrate their victory.”

  “What an excellent idea.” I picked up my glass again and stood up, then hooked an arm around her as she hooked an arm around me, and we started over to the others.

  “Hey,” Hayden said when we reached them, and he grinned as Kat pulled away from me, and he looped his arms around me.

  “Hey.” I pushed up on my toes and kissed him softly. “I take it congratulations are in order?”

  He chuckled and snuggled me close. “It was a close call, but yeah, Leo clinched it for us.” He cocked his head, his brow furrowed softly. “Were you crying?” he asked, lifting one of his hands to brush his fingers over my cheek.

  “Happy tears,” I said.

  “Happy?”

  “Happy. Because there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be than right here, with you, and everyone else,” I told him.

  “Not even the tundra?” Scott asked, overhearing this as he joined us. Derek, who had come with him, snorted out a laugh.

  I smirked as I shifted in Hayden’s arms and reached out to poke my cousin in the belly. “You guys do know that there are actually four seasons in Minnesota, right? It’s not just a desolate winter wasteland of ice and snow all year round.”

  Scott smirked and swatted at my hand when I poked at him again. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll take your word for it.” He hooked an arm around Derek’s waist and leaned into him as he studied me. “You look happy, Coco.”

  “That’s because I am,” I told him. “I meant it; there’s nowhere else I’d rather be, than right here with all of you.”

  “Ah, shucks, Coco, you’re gonna make us blush,” Margo said as she and Maddie joined us. She grinned when Scott and Derek each gave her a bland look, and adjusted the strap to her purse on her shoulder.

  “Well, I try my best,” I said, and I gestured to her. “Are you guys heading out?”

  “We all are,” she said, and she rubbed her hands together as she grinned gleefully. “Jenny just called. Seth Baxter’s back, and he’s throwing a party at his place.” When everyone else groaned, she put her hands on her hips. “Oh, come on people, where’s your sense of youthful excitement and fun? It’s freaking Saturday, and the night is still young!”

  “Do you not remember what happened at the last party you all went to?” Scott asked her, shaking his head in exasperation.

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. That was Neal’s party, and his fault it all sucked. This is Seth Baxter. Whole other ballfield.”

  “Who is Seth Baxter?” I asked, looking from her to everyone else.

  “Senator Wallace Baxter’s son,” Jamie replied before anyone else could.

  “You know the son of a politician?” I asked, blinking in surprise.

  “Ah, hello. Maddie and I are the daughters of a politician.” Margo gestured between herself and her sister. “And, you know, you’re the niece of one.”

  “He’s the mayor, Margo,” Maddie said in a bland tone. “And the first politician in the family. We’re hardly the Kennedys.”

  Zach snorted out a laugh, and everyone else smirked while Margo gave her a narrow-eyed look.

  “Right, well,”

  “Before you say no,” Margo said, looking back to me, just as I was about to, in fact, say no, “Seth hates Neal Humphrey. Like, passionately, so there’s no chance either Neal or Ava will be there. Plus, I’ve heard through the grapevine that Ava’s actually under house arrest – figuratively, of course, by her dad – over the whole shoplifting thing. Apparently he’s getting tired of having to pay his lawyer by the hour to bail her and Neal out. Anyway, no Humphreys, and there’s bound to be way better music and…refreshments.”

  “We didn’t just hear that,” Scott said in a bland voice.

  She shrugged. “Judge not, cousin.”

  “Do as I say, not as I do, cousin,” Scott countered, but he shook his head
and looked at Derek. “I know nothing,” he said, and he kissed him quickly and then turned to head back to the house.

  Derek grunted as he watched him go, then glanced at Delaney and Donovan. He narrowed his eyes in contemplation, then sighed when Donovan smiled hopefully at him. “Fine, you can go. But if you so much as touch anything that isn’t soda or plain water, then you’re grounded with absolutely no privileges or social lives until Mom and Dad get back from Hong Kong, and that might not be until next spring,” he added.

  Apparently unconcerned by the threat of a possible extended punishment period, Donovan grinned and mimed a halo over his head, then he and Zach each hooked an arm around Maddie, and the three of them headed toward the house.

  “Del,”

  “I’m not going to play babysitter and monitor his every movement,” Delaney said to his brother before Derek could finish. “You said he could go, so what he does is on you. I’m going to Esme’s.” He bumped his fist lightly against Derek’s shoulder when he grimaced. “You’ve got to learn to trust him eventually.”

  “Right.” Derek sighed and watched as Delaney headed for the house as well. “Well, the rest of you have fun, but not too much,” he said, and he followed Delaney.

  “So,” Margo turned to face us all hopefully. “What do you all say?” she asked, and she smiled brightly.

  The others all looked at each other, then shrugged.

  “It’s Saturday,” Jamie said. “Why not.”

  “Yay.” She clapped her hands happily, and glanced at Hayden and me. “And you, two?”

  “You know, after last time I don’t think,”

  “This will be totally different,” she promised, and she crossed her heart.

  While I wanted to continue hanging out with her and the others, I wasn’t all that keen on experiencing another party. And added to that, now that I knew about Hayden’s past, I knew going to another one would be the last thing he would want to do. “Margo,”

  “I actually know Seth,” Hayden said before I could continue, and when I glanced at him, he shrugged a shoulder. “He’s a good guy. And Margo’s right, he hates Neal. Then again, Neal hates him, too, so the feeling is mutual. Still, it could be fun.” When I blinked in surprise, he shrugged again. “I wouldn’t mind going dancing with you, Coco. But if you’d rather do something else,”

  “I like dancing,” I said. Then I sighed when Margo grinned. “Okay. We’ll go and check it out,” I continued before Margo could say anything. “But if it’s anything like Neal’s party when we get there, I won’t stay.”

  “I totally understand,” she said in way of agreement, then she grinned and turned excitedly to hurry toward the house.

  We all watched her go, then glanced at each other.

  “Well, this should be interesting,” Leo said, and he hooked an arm over Kat’s shoulders. “But at least it won’t be a dull night.”

  “Just watch yourself and your hands, Leonidas, or I might just remind you of your manners the way I did Humphrey,” Jamie called after them as they followed Margo.

  Leo snorted and glanced over his shoulder. “You could try, James.”

  Jamie sighed and shook his head, then shifted and looked at me when I reached out to poke at him. “You guys riding with us?” he asked.

  “I think the van will be a bit crowded,” Hayden said as the three of us started to follow after the others. “We’ll take my truck, that way if we decide it’s not for us, we can leave and y’all can stay.”

  “That’ll work,” Jamie agreed. He paused just as we reached the back door and gave Hayden and me a good, long study. “I’d tell you to mind yourself and your hands, too, but I think you already know that goes without saying.”

  “I think we’ve already established the fact that I can take care of myself,” I said before Hayden could reply. “But thank you for caring, cousin,” I added, and I pushed up on my toes to kiss Jamie’s cheek.

  He opened his mouth, but closed it when I lifted my eyebrows. “It’s what brothers and cousins do,” he said simply, and then he turned and went inside.

  I watched him go, then shook my head and looked up to Hayden, smiling happily, when he brushed a hand over my hair. “You know, even if it’s still an okay party we can always leave and go spend some time back at your place,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist, mindful of the glass of tea I still held.

  His lips curved into that sexy lopsided grinned I loved so much and he snuggled me close. “You know, I kind of like the way your mind works.”

  “I thought you might.” I grinned when he chuckled and pushed up on my toes to kiss him softly, then pulled back, laughing, when Margo shouted for all of us to hurry up, because good Lord, we were all taking forever.

  Shaking my head, I let Hayden lead me into the kitchen, and set my glass on the island counter on our way to the hall.

  “It’s about time,” Margo said when we joined everyone at the front, and she thrust her hand out, holding my purse out to me. “I swear, sometimes sloths take less time to move than the lot of you do put together.” She shook her head, then turned and hurried out the door, her phone already in her hand as she texted out a message to someone else – probably harassing them to hurry up, too.

  Kat and I exchanged a smirk as we all followed after her, and as we all parted ways, climbing into various vehicles, ready to head out for what would undoubtedly turn out to be an interesting and maybe even entertaining evening, I thought about my conversation with Kat, and how much my life had changed since my mom and I had moved here.

  So many things were different now, I thought as I snuggled against Hayden’s side as he settled in behind the wheel. I was different. But I realized as I sat there beside him, my head on his shoulder, that that was okay. I didn’t have to be the same person I was before to still be me. And sometimes, I thought as I laced my fingers with his, life might not go the way you plan. But that’s okay, too, because sometimes the last place you thought you’d end up turns out to be the exact place you were meant to be all along.

  About the Author

  Sarah Bates was born and raised in New Hampshire. She has always loved the Maine coast and so it plays a large role in many of her books. When she isn’t working on her latest book Sarah enjoys going for long walks, going out to see the latest blockbuster movies, and curling up with a good book on a rainy day.

  You can follow Sarah on Twitter at @SarahBates149