Uncontrollable

by Shannon Richard

  “A hippogriff.” He giggled as Duke continued to lick his face.

  “Yeah, a hippogriff.” She turned back to Beth and Tripp. “He rode that with Nora.”

  “Sounds like you guys had an adventure,” Tripp said.

  “We did.” Penny turned to him, holding out her arms and indicating she wanted Tripp to hold her now.

  He immediately complied with her demand, pulling her from Beth’s arms. She stretched up and placed a kiss to his scruffy jaw before resting her head on his chest. “I missed you too, Tripp.” Twipp.

  And there was that now-familiar sensation of her heart clutching because of how he was with her kids. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Nora coming up the path, so she turned from the scene to focus her attention on her older niece.

  Nora walked straight up to Beth and threw her arms around her aunt. Beth was more than a little shocked by the sheer force of the hug. It had been months since Nora had shown this much affection.

  “Hey,” she whispered as she pulled Nora close, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her niece’s head.

  “Hey,” Nora repeated, not looking up as she hugged Beth harder.

  “I’m glad you’re home.”

  It was a couple of seconds before Nora responded in the softest of voices. “Me too.”

  * * *

  The dinner table that night was a crowded one, with Cassandra, Dennis, and Wallace joining Tripp, Beth, and the kids. Tacos had been a relatively easy meal to get together and once everyone had eaten their fill and everything had been cleaned up, they’d all played a couple of rounds of dominos. Penny was the only one who couldn’t play by herself, and she’d taken turns flitting between Beth’s and Tripp’s laps to help them play.

  When nine o’clock rolled around and Penny was struggling to keep her eyes open as she leaned against Tripp’s chest, Beth called an end to the evening. All three kids made the rounds saying good night to everyone, and Cassandra and Dennis asked if they could tuck them all in. Wallace was out the door not long after, and once Duke had done his business in the backyard, Tripp locked all the doors. As was the norm now, Duke made his way to Grant’s room and curled up on the bed.

  Tripp closed the bedroom door behind him just as Beth walked in from the bathroom. She was wearing one of his old Mirabelle Fire Department T-Shirts. It was faded gray and long enough so he could only just see her pajama shorts peeking out.

  “You know,” he started as he pulled off his shirt. “It’s no wonder that Duke missed Grant more than me. The dog has become accustomed to sleeping in a soft, comfy bed.”

  “This is very true.” Beth nodded as she went to her dresser, leaning her head to the side as she started pulling out her earrings.

  He came up behind her, unclasping her necklace before he kissed her neck. “And we all know I won’t be sharing my bed with anyone save you.”

  She turned to look at him and his hands went to either side of her body, bracing himself against the dresser and caging her in.

  “This is also very true.” She grinned up at him. Her hands went to his chest, palms sliding over his skin. “Thank you for this weekend. I had a perfect time.”

  “Perfect, huh?” He grabbed her right hand, brought it to his mouth, and kissed her palm. He gently bent her fingers down so he could see the ring that sat on her finger, the only piece of jewelry she hadn’t taken off.

  There was something about her wearing it that made him happy beyond all reason. Hell, being with her made him happy beyond all reason. He wanted this life with her. Wanted this life with the kids. Wanted it all.

  He’d be putting another ring on her finger, except it would be on the opposite hand. And that fact didn’t scare him at all.

  Not one fucking bit.

  * * *

  Monday morning was business as usual when the alarm went off at six, though settling back into the daily routine was not so instantaneous. That took a couple of days. Sleep schedules were understandably off for everyone, including Tripp and Beth. The two of them couldn’t make love into the wee hours of the nights and sleep in late the following mornings.

  Now that wasn’t to say he was no longer making love to Beth regularly, because he was; it was just at more reasonable hours. He couldn’t help himself around her; the need for her was constant.

  He wasn’t complaining, though.

  But after their days’ long struggle of getting back into a somewhat regular routine, they were thrown out of whack again the following week. A few new volunteer firefighters at the house needed to be trained, not to mention that Tripp put his guys through the paces regularly to make sure they were up to scratch.

  As the majority of the firemen were volunteers, they also had day jobs, so they weren’t able to come to the station until after five in the afternoon. He decided to take advantage of those hours, as well as the entirety of Saturday and Sunday.

  That Wednesday he didn’t get home until close to nine. On Thursday it was after ten. Friday was going to be even later as it was officially the weekend. Before they got started on that night’s drills, he headed outside with his cell, pulling up Beth’s number.

  “Hey,” she answered on the third ring, the pleasure in her voice clear.

  “Hey yourself. You home yet?” If she wasn’t already, she was on the way there.

  “Walked in the door fifteen minutes ago. And guess what? Nora is making dinner.”

  “Really now?”

  “Yes, spaghetti and homemade meatballs. Tripp, she made the sauce from scratch, too. She also put together a rather elaborate garden salad. Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers in the shapes of stars, those crinkly carrots. It’s pretty impressive.”

  “It sounds like it.”

  “So because she’s cooking, I’m currently sitting on the back porch with a glass of wine and watching Grant swinging on the tire swing.” The tire swing Tripp had put up a couple of weekends ago.

  “Well, doesn’t that sound like a lovely evening.”

  “It would be better if you were here.”

  “You know I’d be there if I could. I’d probably be massaging your feet as we speak.”

  “Hmmm,” she hummed. “Or something else.” Her voice had dropped low in his ear and he could just imagine her sitting on the back porch, legs curled up on the sofa with that glass of wine in her hand.

  “God,” he groaned, thinking about just what it was he’d like to be massaging. “What color scrubs are you wearing?”

  She burst out laughing, the sound of it filling his chest. “They’re blue,” she attempted to say in a sultry voice once she got a grip on herself.

  “Ohhh, really now?”

  There was a muffled sound in the background, a door opening and Nora saying something.

  “Yes, really. But I’ve got to go,” Beth told him. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

  “You will indeed. Enjoy your fancy dinner. I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  * * *

  Mirabelle High School had another basketball game that Saturday night. It was the first day of Nora’s freedom; her grounding after the belly button piercing incident was over.

  So when she asked if she could go with Gretchen and Monica—and that the usual nine-thirty curfew be extended to ten o’clock—Beth complied. Nora had earned it with her exceptional behavior over the last two weeks, especially since she’d helped out with Penny and Grant that afternoon while Beth worked out in the backyard.

  Though Duke’s destruction from months ago had long been cleaned up, Beth hadn’t done any replanting. Spring was in full bloom, and there wasn’t a better time. She had every intention of taking full advantage of the weekend.

  It was close to five when Beth came in, wanting to take a shower before Nora left to go to dinner and the game. She had just finished scrubbing the dirt from underneath her nails when her cell phone started buzzing on the counter. Mel’s name flashed across the screen.

  After wiping her hands with a towel she picked it up a
nd put it to her ear. “What’s going on?”

  “Bennett is going to the basketball game with Hamilton and Dale and I have no desire to go. Nor do I have any desire to sit around this empty house. Too much energy to sit still.”

  “Come over and have dinner with us tonight. I’m making fried chicken.”

  “I’m there. See you soon.”

  It had been a few weeks since the two of them had really talked and Beth was looking forward to catching up. So much so that she was beaming when she opened the door an hour later.

  “I brought ice cream,” Mel whispered, holding up a green shopping bag when she walked through the front door. “It has about five different kinds of chocolate.”

  “God bless you.” Beth took the bag and stuck it in the freezer when they got to the kitchen.

  “Okay, what’s first?” Mel asked, looking at all of the ingredients Beth had pulled out and put on the counter.

  “Mashed potatoes.”

  “Can I help, too?” Grant asked, coming into the kitchen. Duke trotted in after him. Pretty much the only time that the dog even spent at Tripp’s now was during the day when no one was home and he needed access to a doggy door. Otherwise he was over at their house.

  “You can help me peel potatoes,” Mel said as she went to the drawer by the stove and pulled out two peelers.

  “I want to help toooooo!” Penny came charging into the kitchen, Paxton the platypus’s head popping up from where she had a chokehold around his neck, his body flailing around behind her.

  “All right, PenPen.” Beth nodded. “But both of you go wash your hands first. And Penny, Paxton can’t help us cook so put him in your room.”

  “Okay, it’s time for his nap anyway,” her niece said matter-of-factly before she charged out of the kitchen, Grant and Duke on her heels.

  “You want some wine?” Beth asked as she headed for the refrigerator.

  “Not tonight.”

  “What?” Beth turned around, surprised. The wine question had been a rhetorical one. “Who are you?”

  “Beth, I’m four days late.”

  Beth’s entire body froze as she looked at Mel, and then the words processed. Four. Days. Late. “Seriously?”

  Oh, Lord, please let it be true. Please, please let her friend be pregnant.

  “Yes, and you know I’m never late.”

  “Like clockwork, you are.”

  “I haven’t told anyone. Not even Bennett. We’ve both been so disappointed in the past, and I don’t want to get his hopes up yet. But I had to tell someone, and you’re that someone. Besides Bennett, you know more than anyone what a struggle this has been.”

  It wasn’t that Mel begrudged any of her friends the ease with which they’d gotten pregnant. She loved all of them dearly and was beyond happy for each and every one of them. But that happiness didn’t mean it was any easier for her. In fact, it just seemed to make it harder.

  “Oh, honey.” Beth crossed the space to Mel. “I’m glad I’m the person you told. Come here.” She pulled her friend into a hug. They held each other for a good long moment, the joy and nervousness clear. When Beth let go and took a step back, she was full-on grinning. “So that energy you spoke of earlier, the too much you had to sit still. It was nervous energy.”

  “I haven’t been able to think straight at all. It’s been—”

  But exactly what it had been, Beth would have to wait until later to find out. Penny and Grant both came back into the kitchen, hands washed and ready to start cooking.

  * * *

  It was a packed house at the Mirabelle Fire Department on Friday night. Between the full-time fighters and the volunteers, there were now thirty guys in the building and every single chair around the twenty-seat dining table was occupied.

  With the day of training they’d had, all of the guys had sore muscles and raging appetites. Jorge Rodriguez’s wife had made cornbread and two massive pots of Cuban black bean soup. Even with every man in that room eating their fill, there were still going to be leftovers.

  Tripp leaned back in his seat, stretching his legs out as he listened to the great debate going on around him: Dean, Jess, or Logan. The guys had just started watching the sixth season of Gilmore Girls, and the firehouse was divided into three different teams.

  “Logan is a douche bag,” Freddie Griffin said, sounding more than a little disgusted. “Rory is way too good for him. Dean was the much better choice.”

  “Dean? Dean?! The guy who cheated on his wife.” Jorge shook his head. “Not to mention he bailed on Rory when it got to be too hard for him. He’s a pussy.”

  “What do you think, chief?” Dan Thompson asked, looking over at Tripp. “Who do you think is the best man for the job?”

  Tripp shifted his feet, taking a deep breath and letting it out. “None of them.”

  “None of them?” Beau repeated, his mouth splitting into a grin. “Why? Because Rory reminds you of Nora?”

  Okay, so this was a true statement. Tripp had made the connection a couple of weeks ago, and just that quickly he’d come to the realization that he wasn’t a fan of any of Rory Gilmore’s boyfriends.

  Not. A. One.

  “I’m not even going to deny it.” It wasn’t just Beth he cared about; he’d fallen for those kids, too.

  Hook, line, and sinker.

  Tripp pulled his feet back and stood, grabbing his bowl and heading to the kitchen. He went to the sink, turning the faucet on and letting the water heat up. Beau made his way into the kitchen, too, bowl in hand. When Tripp grabbed the dish, Beau moved to the side, pressing his hip into the counter.

  “Sooooo, it looks like everyone in that family has you wrapped around their little fingers. That took”—Beau flipped his wrist as he glanced down at his watch—“no time at all.”

  “Look at you talk, Romeo.” Tripp looked over at his second in command, eyebrows raised high. “If I’m not much mistaken, you’re wrapped, too. How are things going with Denise?”

  “Pretty damn good.” Beau grinned.

  “What about her and Ethan?” As Tripp was now well aware, it was a very different experience dating someone who had kids. They were an added element for sure, one that needed to be handled properly. Their lives were affected, too.

  “Well, I think. He hasn’t really had a consistent female figure in his life lately, so it took him a bit to open up to her. But he likes having her around now. Denise took him to the movies tonight.”

  “It took Nora a bit longer to get used to me than it did Penny and Grant. And I’m not under any delusions that it isn’t a constant uphill battle,” he said as he tested the hot water with his hand and grabbed the sponge.

  “Oh, it’s that for sure. Things are never easy with kids. Once you think you have a handle on it, all hell breaks loose.”

  It was at that moment that the alarm started to blare through the PA system, and the guys on call immediately went into action. They were already heading to the garage when Jeanette Kemper’s voice came over the speaker saying there’d been a car accident at Alligator Lane.

  There actually weren’t very many alligators at Alligator Lane. It was the point where Whiskey River flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and the salt level in the water was too high for them to stick around. With the backdrop of the Bartlett Forest, the four-mile stretch of beach was pretty damn secluded.

  More often than not, it was high schoolers who took advantage of the privacy, either for a party or just going to park and make out…or other things. Tripp had heard more than a few stories from his friends at the sheriffs department about catching overly hormonally-charged kids going at it.

  From the firehouse to Alligator Lane—with sirens blaring—it was less than a three-minute ride. By the time the fire truck and ambulance got to the location, red and blue lights were already flashing from two patrol vehicles parked along the side of the road.

  The high beams from both trucks were on, pointing to a Jeep Wrangler that had crashed into a bank of trees. The engine
was smashed and a massive low-hanging branch caged in the driver’s side.

  When Tripp got out of the truck he spotted one of the officers and immediately recognized Jax in his dark green uniform. Jax was making his way to Tripp at a jog.

  “What’s going on?” Tripp asked.

  “Both the driver and the passenger are conscious. Eighteen-year-old driver has a laceration on his forehead, passenger has a possible broken wrist.” By then Jax was only a few feet away, and the expression on his face was grave. “Tripp, the passenger is Nora.”

  A fear unlike any Tripp had ever known gripped him. He took off for the Jeep at a sprint, his heart hammering hard in his chest.

  Chapter Twenty

  Upside Down

  So when did it happen?” Beth asked pretty much the second Penny and Grant had gone into the other room to watch a half hour of TV.

  Just a half hour, though, so that Mel and Beth could talk, then they’d play whatever game the two kids picked out. To be honest, it was probably going to take them that long to agree on the same game.

  “Well, I’m pretty sure it was the night we went to Caliente’s. We got home and, uh, did our thing.”

  “Ahhh, after the margaritas. You know Harper’s theory on tequila, it gets you knocked up.” This was Harper’s theory because it had actually happened that way for her and Liam. “So there’s that. You take a test yet?”

  “This morning. And it was positive.”

  “Mel.” Beth put her hand over her heart, tears filling her eyes. Happy tears. Oh so happy tears.

  “Don’t.” Mel shook her head at her friend. “Not yet. Not until I go see Dr. McAndrews and he confirms it. I—I just want to be sure. I need to be sure.”

  “I know. I know. But there’s hope. And I’m going to hold on to it.”

  “Me too.”

  The doorbell rang, and both of them looked toward the door. “You expecting anyone else tonight?”

  “No.” Beth shook her head. “I’ll be right back.” She went through the living room—stepping around Duke, who was rolling around the floor on his back—noticing the fifteen or so board games that were stacked on the coffee table in three piles.