by Dani Collins
“Yeah,” Glory agreed, but her voice was faint and concern lingered as tension around her eyes.
Lina came back then and Glory stood to accept her hug of greeting.
Wren went back to the office, not checking on Sky because she’d gone to the base for a change. Rolf had asked her to give him a tour of the progress that had been made while he was away. Sky had given Trigg a haughty look, still punishing him along with Wren.
I love him. That’s what Wren wanted to say to Sky, but she didn’t want to speak that incantation aloud.
She loved him deeply. Even though he never picked up his laundry and said off-color things and made her feel terribly vulnerable with a single compliment. She loved him because he didn’t sweat a mess and made her laugh at things she was taking too seriously and called her his sexy little sugar mouse. He laughed at her jokes and appreciated her for dumb little things like buying more toothpaste while she was in town.
She loved him and it was killing her that he didn’t love her back.
*
His alarm went off and Trigg rolled away from the warmth of Wren’s body to silence it.
She made a noise of protest. “It’s not even a school day.”
“I gotta work,” he said, dropping onto his back and drawing her sleepy body into his side.
She snuggled her head onto his shoulder and crooked her thigh across his, sighing and relaxing back into sleep.
She wasn’t one for public affection, stiffening if he surprised her with a kiss in the lobby, but under the covers, she was a cuddle monster. He was a tactile person himself and took full advantage here. He stroked her hair and the silky warmth of her arm, enjoying her naked softness against him while his morning wood stretched awake.
He thought about stroking her with more purpose, but what she had said reminded him of something he had meant to talk to her about last night.
“Hey,” he said, nudging her with a twitch of his arm and touching his mouth to her forehead. “I’m taking Sky to the base with me today.”
“Good luck,” she murmured.
Save that sentiment for Sky. He was going to have it out with his daughter today. Enough was enough. She was still giving both of them grief for sleeping together and it was hurting Wren. He didn’t understand how Sky didn’t care, either. She was the one who had brought up what Lydia had said about Wren’s childhood. Then she had looked mighty uncomfortable and said, Please don’t tell Auntie Wren I told you that.
He’d been feeling off-the-scale protective of Wren ever since. She was forever going an extra ten miles, always brushing away compliments, but one tiny complaint from a guest and he saw her confidence drain away into the polite shield she wore when her tender feelings were being walked on.
He was so infuriated by any guest who dimmed the light in her expression, he had talked to Nate about hiring Wren to work on the projects team. She was so resourceful and quick, had such attention to detail, he thought she’d be a great fit.
“Already tried. She told me to take a number behind your mother’s spa, Glory’s writing biz, and the big dog.” Nate thumbed in the direction of Rolf’s office. “She likes working for Marvin.”
They were a funny pair to watch if they happened to discuss an issue, taking such care not to criticize the other. It sounded as though Wren could use a decent father figure, so Trigg should probably not interfere there.
But Sky needed to get over herself. Wren kept saying her relationship with Sky was between the two of them. She didn’t interfere in Sky’s relationship with him. Sky would come around when she was ready. Excuses, excuses.
No. Screw it. They were moving into their rooms upstairs tomorrow and Sky was damned well going to like it. He wasn’t taking this bad mojo into their new family life.
*
When her dad texted her to meet him for breakfast, Sky texted back that she wanted to sleep in and asked if he would take Murphy to the base so she wouldn’t have to walk him.
No. Get up. You’re coming with me.
Seriously?
She rolled over and would have gone back to sleep, but Murphy stood up and jumped off the bed as a knock sounded on the door.
Sky whimpered at the ceiling while Murphy pawed at the door, something he wasn’t supposed to do. And her stupid dad knocked again.
“Just a minute.” She threw off the covers and struggled into her yoga pants that suddenly decided to take her toes prisoner and refuse to go on.
“Skylar.”
“Do you want me to answer the door naked?” She shot her arms into her hoodie and dragged it on, then cracked the door.
“Let’s go.” He held two Whiskey Jack travel mugs by the handles in one hand. A pair of wrapped breakfast burritos were balanced across the tops.
“It’s Saturday.”
“You haven’t come to work with me for two weeks.”
“Because I’ve been doing my schoolwork.” She had stayed up until midnight last night trying to find ‘x.’ It wasn’t the pirate treasure cartoons had led her to believe.
“Well, no school today. You’re coming to work.”
“Give me a break!”
“You give it a break. Put your work boots on.”
“Why are you being so—” Argh. She wanted to scream.
“Because you’re being so—” He glared pointedly at her. “I’ve had enough.”
“You don’t even need me. I don’t work there. You don’t pay me.”
“Skylar.” He used his I-mean-business tone. “If I have to put this down and carry you, you’re going to be shoeless and hungry all day. Your choice.”
“Oh, my Gawd.” She sat and pulled on socks, then tied on her hiking boots with the steel toes. She slung her purse over her shoulder as she came to the door.
“Don’t bother.” Her dad used his free hand to slide the purse chain off her shoulder and threw it onto her unmade bed. “This isn’t Beverly Hills. Enough with the cell phone and curling iron and lip gloss. Go.”
“Oh. My. God.” She couldn’t even. She stalked out the back, but if he thought she was walking with him this morning… Or even talking to him…
He took his truck, eating his burrito as they went. She ignored the one he’d got for her and stared out the side window instead.
“Enough with the attitude, Skylar. The way you’re treating your aunt is unacceptable.”
“She’s the one who moved out, not me.”
“And you’re punishing her for that?”
“I’m doing my homework.”
“You’re using school to avoid her. And me, which upsets her even more. She doesn’t want to come between us, so you and I are glued at the hip until we clear the air.”
“I am not using school as an excuse. I actually want to finish.”
“Because you think I’ll send you to Switzerland? Give up on that.” He parked and motioned between them. “This is too important. Whether you see it or not.”
“Maybe I would, if you didn’t spend every night doing my aunt.”
“You don’t get to be jealous of the time I spend with her and refuse to spend time with me. I offered to take you to a movie last weekend. It doesn’t have to be at work.”
“I was trying to finish an assignment.” Which she had already told him.
She threw open her door and slid out, reaching back for her food because she was getting hungry and he wouldn’t let her go back. She knew the rules. If he paid any attention at all, he would see she was actually behaving better than she had in a long time. She fed the dog and walked him and picked up his poop without anyone reminding her. She only had two of the junkiest coffees a week, not every day, and she had helped Grandma start unpacking inventory for the gift shop without being asked.
But no. She was a bad person for having totally real feelings about what a dumb idea this marriage was.
They went inside and up the stairs. She sat in his office to eat the burrito while he went to stand in Nate’s open door.
“
We’re suiting up and hiking to the top hut. Someone needs a run to work out some snarls.”
He had better be talking about the dog, because seriously.
Him and Nate talked about work stuff that she only half understood. Or cared about. Maybe he should realize that she cared about finishing school as much as he cared about finishing this stupid resort. And maybe he could quit treating her like an annoying kid and talk to her like someone he actually cared about.
“Finished? Put the rest of your gear on. Do you want to take pictures or notes?” He brought the camera bag out of the drawer in his desk.
“I don’t care.” She threw away her wrapper and walked down the hall to the bathroom.
And discovered she had her period. Of course she did. If there was a God, he clearly hated her along with everyone else.
She slammed through all the cupboards, but there were no pads or anything. She folded some toilet paper and stuffed it in her underwear, which only made her feel worse.
“Is Chivonne here?” she asked, going back to the door of his office.
“School.”
“Oh, she gets to go to school on weekends, but I don’t? I have to go back to the lodge.”
“Nice try. Put your vest on.”
“Oh, my God. You are not the boss of me.”
“No, I am the dad of you. Suit up, princess.”
Her elbows hurt, she was holding her arms so straight at her sides. And her nails bit into her palms where she clenched her fists. She looked back the way they’d come in.
“Make a run for it and I will come after you.”
“Hey, Trigg?” Nate called. “Word of advice—”
“Don’t need it,” he said sharply, giving her a hard-ass grown-up stare. “Sky will do as she’s told.”
“I need to call Auntie Wren.”
“You’ll talk to her when I say you can talk to her.”
Sky snapped. She didn’t even know what it meant to snap, but that’s exactly how it felt, like a rubber band on a slingshot released inside her. It shot her into his office like an arrow.
“Don’t you ever tell me I can’t see or talk to her. Ever.”
“You have had ample opportunity in the last—”
“Oh, my Gawd. I have my period, okay? If you want to act like my parent and act like you’re going to take care of me, then put some fucking tampons in the cupboard! You didn’t even let me bring my purse! Just because your sperm made me doesn’t make me your property. You don’t get to tell me what to do every second of every day. Maybe I am mad at Auntie Wren, but at least she lets me make my own decisions even if she doesn’t like it. She lets me make mistakes so I can learn. Which this was. Telling her I wanted to meet you was a huge mistake because she’s not there for me anymore. She’s only there for y-you.”
She was going to cry.
She ran out. If he came after her, she would kill him. She really would.
Chapter Twenty-One
Wren had come up to the new apartment with the deliverymen and lingered after they left, peeling the plastic off the sofa and ottoman, throwing it out the open French doors to carry down in a little while.
She loved that Vivien had talked her into getting a thin area rug to personalize the space. Vivien had spent a small fortune on good linens and window treatments, too, insisting it would make it homier. It was. Last weekend, Eden had given Wren a couple of paintings from her cityscape collection. Wren hadn’t been to either place, but she loved the colors.
Now the new mattresses were on the new bedframes and she only had to make them up. Their clothes still needed to come up and Trigg would have to mount the television on the wall, but she would see if she could talk Sky into sleeping here tonight.
She was plugging in the table lamps when she heard running feet come up to their door. A fist pounded on it.
She started toward it, but the door beeped four times and hummed as the lock clicked open. Sky burst in, face red, misery streaming from her eyes, ragged breaths shaking her whole body as her bottom lip sucked in and out. Her hair stuck in sweaty patches to her temples and her whole body was shaking.
“Oh, my God! What happened? What’s wrong?”
Sky threw herself into Wren’s arms. The door slammed and Sky started bawling.
Wren’s heart fell to the center of the earth.
“Sky, what? Tell me.” Her brain went in a thousand terrified directions and she hugged Sky hard. Tried to calm her, tried to reassure her she was safe when she was seriously worried someone had assaulted her. “Baby, tell me.”
“I got my p-p-period.”
Oh, sweet Lord. She didn’t laugh. There were times when it really was the worst thing in the world. Wren strengthened her hug and rubbed Sky’s back. “That sucks.”
“And I didn’t have my purse and there weren’t any tampons at the base. I had a huge fight with Dad about it. I didn’t mean to, but I was so mad.”
“Oh, honey.” She held on and held on, sorry that Sky was so miserable, but drinking in that her little girl was holding on to her, needing her for the first time in ages.
“And I just want to finish school, but I don’t understand the English assignment. I’m falling behind and it’s stressing me out. Even if I get into the new school, I have to meet new people. What if they hate me? I told Bruno to come live here, but he wants to stay with his boyfriend. And even if you sent me to Switzerland, I wouldn’t know anyone there either. I don’t have any friends and why should I? I’m awful.”
“You’re not awful. That’s the period hormones talking.”
“My life is awful. Grandma says I should get a haircut before school.”
“Get one cut. Win-win.”
“Oh, my God. Don’t make horrible jokes!” She was so tall, she had to droop her head to rest it on Wren’s shoulder. She let her go long enough to wipe at her face, then hugged her arms around Wren’s waist again and snuggled in, sniffing. “Everything is wrong.”
“It sounds that way,” Wren agreed. “It’s definitely a lot for one swallow.”
“And if it’s this bad now, how hard is my life going to be when I’m your age?”
“Oh, sweetie.” She did almost laugh then. “It’s easier when you’re old enough to make your own decisions.”
“Remember when we used to go to the flea market and eat ice cream and buy a puzzle and go home and do it? I wish that could be my life, but I’m going to have to get a job and buy a car and pay taxes. I hate growing up. You did protect me too much. I didn’t know it was going to be this awful.”
Wren sighed through pangs of failure.
“I thought if I knew my dad, I wouldn’t have any problems,” she admitted in a low voice.
“I know.”
“And I’m glad I know him, but it’s been really hard. I don’t mind that you’re married to him. Honestly, I don’t. But I keep thinking you’re probably going to have a baby and then you really won’t want me anymore.”
“I will always want you. Always, always, always.” She squeezed it into her. “No matter what. So will he.”
“Even when I’m awful?”
“We want you right now, don’t we? Sky, you’re amazing. You’re so smart and funny and confident. You have a huge heart. You get what you want. I love that most about you, even though it makes my life a living hell.”
Sky laughed hard and leaned weakly on her, heavy but sweet. “I love you, Auntie Wren. I’m really sorry. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, sweetie.” She smoothed her hair. “Do you want to have a shower? Start the day over? I’ll run and get you some clean clothes. Maybe some junk food. We can watch a girl movie.”
“Could we?” Sky pulled away and looked to the door of her new bedroom. “Can I shower here? In my new bathroom?”
“Of course. I put some of that organic shampoo from Glory in there.”
“From the swag bags? I love that stuff.”
“That’s why I put it in there.”
“Cool
.” She started to pull off her hoodie. Paused. “Can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Do you love my dad?”
Wren swallowed the lump that instantly formed in her throat. She slowly nodded. “I do.”
*
After the door slammed at the bottom of the stairs, Nate said, “I grew up with a sister. When a girl is banging cupboards in a bathroom, make like a tree, man.”
Trigg sighed and went back to the lodge on foot, trying to think how he’d fix this. He wound up seeking out the one person he figured could offer real, applicable advice.
“Trigg!” Marvin beamed when Trigg knocked and entered the manager’s office. “If you’re looking for Wren—”
“You, actually. Can you spare a minute?” He closed the door.
“Of course.” Marvin waved at the chair in front of his desk, face wrinkling into a frown of concern. “Is everything all right?”
“You tell me, Marv. Are things all right when your daughter basically tells you to fuck off and that she hates your guts?”
“Did she throw something at you? What was it? Mine was a skillet full of bacon.”
Trigg had an instant vision of Glory losing her shit at twelve and laughed through his cloud of paternal failure. “Are you shitting me?”
“Do not tell Glory I told you. We have a pact never to speak of it. I’m telling you in confidence, father to father.”
Trigg leaned back, slouched lower in the chair. “I thought I was being a father, trying to lay down the law for a change, but… She’s mad about me marrying Wren. I thought she was mostly angry with Wren. But she said she regrets asking Wren to find me…” He rubbed his face, but it was his chest that hurt. There was such a blanket of heaviness there, he didn’t know what to do with it. “Maybe I was coming on too strong. Sometimes she’s out of line. I thought we were at a place where I could tell her to smarten up. Aren’t parents supposed to give their kids boundaries?”
Marvin listened with an attentive expression, his bushy brows tilted in empathy.
“This has not been an easy situation for either of you,” Marvin said. “Give yourself credit for how far you have both come, Trigg. This is actually a good sign. Most parents will agree that their children behave worst at home, where they’re comfortable expressing themselves. Which is the way you want it. You don’t want them telling the neighbors to go to hell, do you?”