The Richards Park pond got super busy. When it got really hot, someone would inevitably release a fire hydrant to shower the kids with water. And somehow, magically, I hadn’t had to mow the grass once in the time I’d been home. Just when I thought it was time to mow, I’d come home and it would be.
I knew Zac was doing it and I would properly thank him for that at some point, but I had yet to catch him. I didn’t leave the house too often, though I was trying to get out a bit more and explore the place I used to call home and he must’ve been taking advantage of that.
When I was a kid, my parents would take me right to the outer edge of East Branch to an open field behind the VFW hall to watch the Fourth of July fireworks from the city. We’d make an evening of it, taking a cooler and snacks and a blanket to spread out. I could run around with my friends. It was kind of like a big neighborhood picnic.
As I got older, the teenagers sat away from our parents, but we were still all together. I hadn’t thought about that tradition until the afternoon of July 4th when I saw the neighborhood families packing up. It brought on a wave of sadness that I’d been able to avoid for a while.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Zac slid in beside me on the porch where I’d been to watch the activity of the neighborhood, his hand gripping my hip after he wrapped an arm around me.
I blinked away some tears and a couple of deep breaths later, I was able to answer him.
“Just… memories, ya know?”
Zac glanced up and down the street.
“Is this going to be too hard for you?” he asked. I looked up at him, my face scrunched together in confusion. “Going to the fireworks. I know it’s been a while, but, Laney, it’s exactly the same as it always was.”
“The fireworks?”
“At the VFW.” He looked down on me with concern.
“What are you talking about?” I said with more annoyance than the situation warranted, but it was like he was talking in circles.
“Laney, the fireworks. I already have the car packed up.”
It took around thirty seconds for me to realize what he was saying. My bottom lip started to tremble. “You’re taking me to the fireworks?”
He smiled widely at me. “You didn’t think I was going without you, did you?”
Actually, I had. I totally had, but no way in hell was I admitting that. It could hurt his feelings and I didn’t want to mar the occasion. Instead, I smiled and pushed to my feet so that we could get to the hall.
When we arrived, Jay, Andy, and Brad were already there claiming our spot. Porter got out of his car at the same time as we did. Only he had a taller-than-me fake blonde on his arm, whom he introduced as Nicole. Her shorts were really short, which Porter seemed to appreciate, and her shirt just barely came to her navel. And she wore cowboy boots. It was a look not everyone could pull off. The boots stuck out like a sore thumb. We were city people, but if I looked like her, I probably wouldn’t care, either.
The idea of me wearing cowboy boots anytime, let alone in July made me snort. Zac narrowed his eyes on me with a tiny, almost imperceptible, grin on his face, like he was trying to figure out what was going on in my head. I tried shrugging him off, but his gaze became more intense, so I looked at Nicole’s boots pointedly, then back to him with a smirk.
His full laugh brought Porter over to us.
“Am I missing something?” he asked, helping Zac pull the larger cooler on wheels out of his trunk.
“So many things, buddy,” Zac said through his laughter.
Once we were situated within our designated area—designated being the square feet Jay and Andy had coordinated off for us—Maddie joined us with a pretty energetic kid on an obvious sugar high right behind her. Dylan slammed into Zac with enough force that Zac had to take two steps back to keep from falling. The kid talked so fast that I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Zac seemed to, laughing then put him back down with a ruffle to his hair. Maddie sighed, then followed Dylan back away from us.
She looked tired. Hell, I was tired from the forty-five seconds Dylan had been near us.
“She’s not staying?” I asked.
“She’ll be back. Dylan wanted to watch the fireworks with his cousins this year, then spend the night at Lisa’s.” Lisa, Maddie’s older sister, had just given birth to her first kid the year before I left so Dylan had a cousin close in age.
After a few minutes, Maddie joined us again. “Holy fuck, I love that kid more than anything in this world, but he has too much energy.”
Zac agreed, but I could only smile because I didn’t know what it was like to raise a kid or try to keep up with a four-year-old full-time. That was their shared experience and I wasn’t a part of it.
Since we still had some time before the show started, Maddie convinced me to do the promenade, to which I snorted. It was what we used to call the walk around the field that people always did to either meet up with old friends or show off how little they were wearing or even to rub a new boyfriend in the ex’s face. Zac and Porter stayed behind to get everything set up.
It was fun for the most part. You got to see people you normally didn’t have time to. You could catch up. The only hiccup being that every once in a while, we’d get someone stopping us to let me know how sorry they were about my dad. I appreciated the thought but at the same time didn’t really want to think about the fact that he wasn’t there with me.
After almost an hour and the twentieth person to stop us because they hadn’t seen me back in the neighborhood yet, an arm snaked its way around my waist. We’d just passed a group of rowdy high school guys, so I was about to put the fear of dismemberment into whichever one had dared to touch me when I turned to find Zac holding me tightly.
“Are you trying to stay away as long as possible?” he asked, pulling me against his body harder.
“Yes. You’re terribly boring.”
“Hey, unhand my friend,” Maddie said once she noticed I wasn’t walking beside her any longer.
“She knows about us?” I whispered for only him to hear.
“I told her so you wouldn’t have to and asked her not to say anything to you about it.” He turned his head her way and called out, “She was my friend first.”
I’d met Zac at whatever age you start playing outside. Maddie, I hadn’t really known until middle school. So he wasn’t wrong. I had been his friend first.
“But we’ve done girl talk. That makes up for years of friendship.” Maddie narrowed her eyes and dropped a hand to her hip, challenging him.
“Trust me. There’s nothing you two have talked about that we”—he waved his finger between him and me—“haven’t.”
Another truth.
“Well, I—” she started.
“Girls, girls,” I said. “You’re both pretty. Now can we get back before the fireworks start?”
They both burst out with a laugh loud enough to startle the old couple closest to us. But we did head back, Maddie babbling a mile a minute, not paying any attention what-so-ever to the fact that Zac held my hand the entire way.
Once we were back to our area, though, Maddie said goodbye and headed over to where Dylan sat with her sisters, leaving me with just the guys and Nicole. She was a nice girl but not exactly sharp. Plus, she was with Porter which meant I sure as hell wasn’t going to get attached, knowing that she probably wouldn’t be around too long.
The first warning boom hit the air and sent everyone scrambling for their favorite spot to watch the display. Brad, Andy, and Jay sprawled out on one of the blankets like they had every single year. Porter and Nicole lay close to each other on half of the blanket Zac was sitting on. I had a feeling they wouldn’t be watching most of it. Zac patted the ground between his legs, indicating that he’d already chosen where I should be.
His back against the heavy cooler for support, I slipped between his legs and got comfortable. His arms wrapped around me, creating this little cocoon of warmth. Not that I needed it in the July heat, but it was nic
e just the same.
I stared up at the sky as color after color drifted away.
Honestly, it had been years since I’d seen any fireworks and I hadn’t realized how much I’d been missing it. Zac did everything he could to distract me from the show. His hand splayed across my stomach to force me to lean into him even more. He brushed my hair off the one shoulder so his lips could keep brushing against my neck. Not kissing exactly, more just trailing from my shoulder to my ear.
“I know I’ve said this already,” he whispered in my ear, “but I really, really missed you.”
I couldn’t contain the smile that appeared any more than I could stop my heart from trying to beat out of my chest. I had absolutely no control.
Especially when his fingers, which had been on top of my shirt, were suddenly skin to skin. I had no worries. I trusted Zac and knew he wouldn’t do anything that would expose me to the general public. He might not have been as careful when we were teenagers, in fact public affection was regularly on display back then, but I have every confidence that with me, he would be.
Man, I really wished we were alone.
Chapter Fourteen
It was hard to believe I’d been home more than a month and still hadn’t been inside my dad’s room. I hadn’t even looked inside beyond the brief viewing as I shut the door that first day.
It was time but the task seemed impossible. I’d avoided it as long as I could, so I decided Friday was the day. That way I couldn’t turn back, or so I told myself.
Just as I was about to finally turn that damn knob, a knock at the screen door stopped me. My first inclination was to ignore it. I mean, it was Friday afternoon, and everyone I knew was at work, so it couldn’t have been important, but whoever it was sure was persistent.
“What the fuck took so long?” my best friend, Rhian Schwartz, asked as soon as I got close enough to see her standing on the other side.
“What are you doing here?” I pushed through the door and hugged the crap out of her. She hadn’t even let me know she was coming.
“I called your mom for the address. Thought you might like a little BFF time.”
“I’d love some BFF time.” Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I pulled her inside so she could drop her bag off.
“So this is where you grew up?” she asked.
I nodded.
Rhian had grown up with more money than I had though when Mom married Mitch, it helped close the gap. Still, I wasn’t worried about what she’d think about the house or this poorer neighborhood I’d grown up in.
After showing her around the house, we pushed her bag into my room because there was no way I’d make my best friend sleep on the couch and Dad’s room was still off limits. Though I knew the day was coming, even if I’d gotten a pass today.
We settled on the front porch with bottles of water to talk.
“So what have you been doing without me?” I asked her.
Rhian groaned. “I went on two incredibly awful dates. I’m talking real stinkers. And binge watched all of Gilmore Girls.”
“That’s it?”
“Pretty much.”
“So which one was worse?” I took a long drink of the cold water. There was nothing better than ice cold water on a hot summer day.
“The one who expected me to pay for the date when he was the one who asked me out.”
My jaw slacked open. “Are you serious?”
She nodded.
“That is really bad.”
“Told you.” We both fell quiet for a moment. This usually only happened when she wanted to know something but wasn’t sure she wanted to ask. “What about you? What have you been doing while you’re here?”
I shrugged. “Taking care of Dad’s stuff. You know that?”
“I do. But you told me about the friends you left behind and yes, you’ve been really good about texting so I know you’ve talked to them. How’s it going?”
“Well… ”
She snapped up to sit straight. “I knew it.”
“You know nothing,” I countered.
“I know everything. It’s Zac, right? The hottie next door?”
I bit my lips together but Rhian could read me too well so it wouldn’t have mattered. “We’ve started something but I don’t know what it means yet so don’t interrogate me.”
“Even though he has a baby with your former best friend?”
I took a moment to think about my answer but still it was obvious even to me. “Yes. Shit happens, Rhian. They hooked up once and had a baby but have no interest in each other anymore.”
“You sure about that?”
Of all the things I wasn’t sure of at that point in my life, Maddie and Zac was one thing I was. “Yes. Since I got home, they’ve been basically how they were before. Not interested in each other that way.”
Rhian raised eyebrows in surprise.
“What?” I asked.
“You just called this place home.”
I only shrugged in return. But this place had been home for so long and surprisingly felt like it now. So much that I was thinking about trying to make that crazy idea of teaching in Each Branch a reality.
“It feels like home,” I finally admitted. “Mom’s house has never felt like that because I only lived there the one year, then just summers.”
“Does that mean you’re going to keep the house?” Something like disappointment coated her voice.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you want to live here after graduation?” Yup. Definitely disappointment.
“I don’t know, Rhian.”
“OK. OK.” She paused looked over at me with a mischievous grin. “Have you slept with him yet?”
Shaking my head, I took a long gulp just so I wouldn’t have to speak.
“Well, do that first,” she advised. “You don’t want to buy it before you try it.”
“He… ” I sighed. “He hasn’t done anything to move things further. Seems like he wants to sometimes, but he hasn’t.”
“Then you make the first move.” Rhian gave me her best bedroom eye, shimmied her shoulders and lowered the strap on her tank top until we were both laughing so hard, we could hardly breathe.
“What’s going on over here?” The sound of Zac’s voice brought me out of the fit but kept the smile on my face.
“Hey.” His eyes stayed on me and seeing him reminded me how much I missed him even if we hadn’t been apart long.
He’d been working so much that I hadn’t seen him in a couple days, even for a quick goodnight, and my entire being wanted to hop up, clear the railing, and tackle him to the ground while showering his face with kisses. But I didn’t. With Rhian there, it could have been awkward.
“I’m Rhian Schwartz.” She popped up from the porch. “The best friend.” She walked over, extending her hand out to him. “And you are?”
Holding in the snort that wanted out was hard. She knew who he was because I’d told her just about every detail about him. And explaining who she was to get him to define himself… priceless.
“Zac,” he said, not taking his eyes off me while shaking the offered hand.
“The Zac, huh?” She kept slowly pumping his hand, then stepped back, looking him over. “Wow, you really didn’t underplay how ugly he is, did you?”
His brows furrowed. “You told her I’m ugly?”
“No.” I laughed.
“Ugh.” Rhian clasped her hands on her hips. “You’re not supposed to tell him, doofus.”
“Is she coming?” Porter asked as he too got to the steps of the front porch.
“Where?” I asked.
“Whoa. Who’s this?” Porter eyed Rhian the way he did most girls. The ones he immediately wanted to sleep with.
“I’m Rhian.” She gave him a good once-over and all I could see was trouble. It was palpable. I could smell it like a horny pheromone that stank of bad choices. Hopping up off my seat, I pulled her back gently.
“Porter, no!” I said with a f
inger pointed at him the way you would a dog taking a crap in the house. Even though I knew I shouldn’t have, I still did it. This was only going to encourage him.
He leaned back on his heels, folded his arms over his chest, and gave me a look I didn’t like. A look that said he accepted my challenge, a challenge I hadn’t meant to make. A look that meant I really had just made it worse.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” Zac said, shaking his head, a small grin on his face.
Crap. I’d known better. But Rhian was also a big girl and wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want to. I’d give her a Porter crash course on what I’d do if he fucked her over first, though.
“So, Laney.” Porter cut into my thoughts with that little shitty smile still on his face. “We were thinking about meeting at the pond, having a few drinks, and a fire. Interested? You can bring your friend.” I was about to say no way because of the tone he used when saying “your friend.” It made me feel like I needed a shower. He knew and interrupted. “Listen. Zac said he wouldn’t go unless you did. Some shit about not seeing you lately. Whatever. Come with us.”
When I looked over at Zac, he was hanging on to the bannister at the corner of the railing, his head leaning against it lightly. He looked like a kid. A kid I’d had a crush on my entire life. Zac didn’t want to go if I didn’t. He didn’t want to go without me. My heart started thudding against my chest and I was going to ask what that was about, but he beat me to it.
“We haven’t been able to hang out much.” So he’d choose to be with me over hanging with his friends. That had to be a good sign.
“Wait, don’t you have Dylan this weekend?”
“No. Maddie and I switched so her parents could take him to see some family.”
Not giving it another thought, I agreed but said Rhian and I would have to get ready and eat first. Once again, Zac said we’d get food on the way, but Rhian spoke up and offered to pack something. She was a bit of health nut in terms of her eating. Mostly that meant she didn’t like to eat out if we could avoid it. Porter jumped in and said they’d get drinks and be back in an hour.
“So, tell me about Porter,” Rhian said as soon as we were back inside the house.
Last Good Thing (The Fallout Series Book 1) Page 9