Learning at 40 (Lakeside Cottage Book 2)

by L. B. Dunbar

  I’ll be guarding it for you.

  My thoughts race to her marrying someone and having those babies she wants. Her children will play in that tree fort. Or maybe she’ll move. Maybe she’ll sell the place, and my boys won’t ever be allowed to enter the yard next door again. Panic seizes my chest, but I tell myself it’s only the reflux of a queasy stomach after a night of drinking.

  “I don’t want to go home,” Oliver says, his voice quivering. “I don’t want to leave Miss River.”

  Man, I understand his pain, but instead, I grow angry. “I said pick this shit up. We need to get going.”

  Trevor’s head pops up, and if a seven-year-old could maim with a look, I’ve just lost my head. Oliver swipes at his eyes, and Trevor tips his head as he glances at his brother. He offers a protective hand to his twin’s back before slowly beginning to place items back in his box.

  My heart sinks to my belly, and I can’t blame the alcohol for the acid roiling in my stomach.

  That’s shame, and it’s all my fault.

  + + +

  The packing of cars is chaos, and there isn’t enough ibuprofen in the world to tame my headache. Every vehicle door slam rattles my brain. Still, we load my car as Logan and Autumn linger with baby Ben and Lorna. Anna and Mila come outside. Calvin and Bryce have already said their goodbyes to the boys and me yesterday. As I place the final bag in my trunk, Mason stumbles out of the garage apartment with a bag of his own.

  Anna glances up at him, and the expression on her face looks like panic. Mason heads to the trunk of his car and opens the hatch.

  “Where are you going?” she finally asks, a tremor in her voice along with the demanding edge of curiosity.

  “I think it’s time I leave, too.”

  The air around all of us stills.

  “What about Four Points?” Logan asks, and Mason stills with his hand on the trunk. He’s the one who pushed this venture. He can’t back out. What is he doing? What is he thinking? He hadn’t mentioned leaving last night.

  “Let’s talk tomorrow.” He glances over at Logan for support. Logan looks at me and then back at our friend and nods.

  I step over to Anna as my car blocks the drive, and I’ll need to pull out first for Mason to follow.

  “Take care of you,” I tell my friend, pulling her into a tight embrace.

  “Take care of you,” she says back to me, mumbling into my shoulder. I press a kiss to her temple and pull back. “You need anything, call me.”

  Anna nods. I know she won’t call. She knows she won’t call. The boys hug everyone next before piling into the car. Mason steps up to Anna, and I wait for some reason. The tension on his face is something I’ve never seen before.

  “Ask me to stay, and I will.”

  Anna doesn’t look up at him but toys with the hem of her shirt. “No, you need to go.” Her head nods as if convincing herself, and Mason’s hands slip into his pockets. He nods once to agree, but the pain in his face says it all.

  “Archer’s coming home,” Anna states. That could mean tomorrow or Christmas or next August, but if Anna thinks her brother is an answer to something, I can’t argue with her. The eldest McCaryn needs to get here.

  I give a final glance in the direction of River’s house. I can only see the upper half with the height of the arborvitae. The tree fort isn’t visible from here. In my head, I say a final goodbye and then climb into my car to head for home.

  26

  [River]

  I worked both the day Zack left and the next, so it’s on my day off that I’m awakened by the sound of a utility truck of some sort in reverse. The annoying blare—wheet, wheet, wheet—grows louder, and I realize the noise sounds as if it’s coming closer to the house. As I scramble to the window that faces the road, I see a truck is indeed in my driveway. A second truck follows the first. Doors slam shut as I race down the staircase. I open the front door in a rush and step into the yard.

  “Excuse me!” I holler over the whirling noise. “I think you have the wrong house.”

  A man approaches me with a tablet in hand. “Are you River Nagle?” I stare at the man a moment, noticing he looks up and then quickly glances to the side.

  “I am.”

  He isn’t looking in my direction but lifts the tablet to eye level and reads off my address.

  “That’s correct.” My arms cross over my chest. “And?”

  A swift shift of his gaze occurs, then he looks back at the tablet. I peer down at my attire and realize I’m wearing a rather thin nightdress. My nipples and more are on display through the sheer material, and I cross my arms higher over my breasts.

  “We’re here to remove the fence.”

  My mouth gapes open, and I glance over at the metal chain link.

  “I didn’t order fence removal.”

  The man doesn’t blink but reads off his tablet again. “Says here removal of chain link fencing around property. Ordered by your husband.”

  “My husband?” I stammer. As those closest to me know the truth, and those distant only know rumors, no one I know could have done this.

  “Mr. Zack Weller. Strange you have different names and all, but who am I to judge. I can see you’re a modern woman.”

  I don’t even have time to unpack that comment before I’m simply muttering, “No boundaries.” The man has no flipping boundaries whatsoever.

  “Speaking of boundaries, he mentioned that I’m to pass along this message. He doesn’t want any boundaries between you.” The foreman’s eyes shift right and then back to his tablet, which I’m certain he’s no longer reading, just staring at. “Strange message, but he said you’d understand the meaning.”

  Silence falls between us for a moment as I glance back at the fence. It really is ugly. I’d have a natural border along Anna’s property and a solid wood structure on the opposite side of the backyard. Removal would open the front as the fence went all the way to the street, surprisingly blocking in the front yard.

  “Ma’am, do we have your permission to begin?”

  I scoff. It’s the first time I’ve been asked for such a thing regarding my yard when it comes to Mr. Zack Weller.

  “How much is it?”

  “Says already paid in full.”

  “My husband used the wrong credit card. Can you just confirm the amount and I’ll get the correct one?”

  The man scratches the back of his neck. “We let the office handle such things, but I’ll give you the number both for the amount and the manager.” When he tells me how much the fence removal plus cleanup will cost, I almost fall over. I should deny the damn gesture, but something stops me.

  “As long as you’re here, proceed. I’ll call your office, so I can clear up the credit card issue.”

  Looks like I just bought myself fence removal, eliminating all barriers around me.

  + + +

  The day turns into quite an exciting event. Anna’s worried about me and asks me to join her for dinner at her house. I think she also wants the company. I quickly learn Mason had left.

  “Last year was the first time we’d had everyone here in a long time. My siblings and I own the place and used it as a vacation destination. My younger sister, Amelia, never visits, though, and my older brother, Archer, comes and goes on his own schedule without notice. After the other families left last year, Ben and I returned to Chicago, packed up our house, and moved. It was a whirlwind from that moment on. I didn’t realize how quiet it would be once everyone was gone.”

  Despite dinner at her house, we came to my yard to enjoy the view and after-dinner wine. Anna gazes out at the sunset, which arrives a little sooner each evening as the calendar creeps toward September. We’re sitting together on my chaise lounge.

  “Did you want Mason to stay?” There was a certain something in her voice when she told me he’d left.

  Anna’s forehead furrows, deep in consideration. “No, he needed to leave.” She takes a deep breath. “Still, it’s almost too quiet with just the boys
and Mila. Calvin and Bryce are busy with football practice beginning and their final days working with the landscaping company. Most days, it’s just Mila and me, and even she’s gotten used to going down the street to see Lorna, or Lorna comes to our house, and they disappear into Mila’s room.” She sighs. She doesn’t need to say it, she’s lonely.

  Anna glances at the side of her property along my yard. “It really does look better.” She pauses a beat. The removal of the fence left perfectly spaced holes with a fresh circle of sod to fill in the missing posts. It does look better, but it takes some getting used to. It’s definitely a cleaner look.

  “I can’t believe Zack’s father showed up,” she adds.

  “Yeah, that was unexpected.” When Mr. Weller surprisingly showed up in my yard today, I saw the resemblance between father and son better. His silver eyes. His edgy cheekbones. His charming smile. It was a bold move to drop by the house. Perhaps he intended Anna’s place, but the ruckus in my driveaway drew him here. He was looking for his son. Zack’s disapproval of his father stems from resentment and hurt and a grieving heart, but still, he had been too harsh, in my opinion.

  Anna glances at me. “I assume you know Zack’s history with his dad. It was an awful time for him. He really struggled. He was used to being popular and top alpha, much like little Trevor. He felt stripped of everything good when it happened, and then he had to face it every day. The rumors. The gossip. The judgment.”

  I knew the feeling as I remained at the hospital after Quincy’s passing, his generous gift, and the unwarranted accusations. Although I wasn’t there long before they let me go.

  “He meant well,” she says, nodding back at where the fence once stood. It feels weird without it although I never liked it.

  “I didn’t exactly accept the offer, though,” I remind her, having maxed out my credit card to cover the cost. Guess the yard will continue to be my focus, and I’ll save the inside renovations for another year.

  “River, I’m going to say something, and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.” Anna pauses, taking a deep breath. “But don’t run from him.”

  “I’m not the one who had to leave,” I remind her.

  “I mean his love. Don’t shy away because of a silly misunderstanding. Everything has an explanation. It can be repaired.” She waves her hand toward the new, lush sod and open space between the yards. My eyes lift to the tree fort, where the old platform was removed and a new one built along with a beautiful square structure including windows and a roof.

  “Broken trust is hard to repair,” I tell her. He didn’t trust me, and that was hard to accept.

  “Yes, but it’s still something mendable.” There are cases when trust is irreparably broken, but Anna is correct. “It can be fixed and forgiven.”

  My grandfather would have adored Anna Kulis.

  I stare off at the lowering sun myself, questioning so many things. Zack hurt me. I don’t need that kind of pain in my life, but then again, I’m fortunate Zack is still here, alive. Anna will never have the opportunity to fight and make up with Ben again. She will never have the chance to mend fences between them or remove boundaries. She’s alone, and as much as I hate to admit it, I’m lonely as well without the boys having tree house adventures and Zack hoarding my chaise lounge.

  27

  [Zack]

  “Mr. Weller, just wanted to let you know the job is complete, and your wife settled up with the mix-up in credit cards,” the fence company worker says through the phone.

  “What mix-up?” I question, tipping back in my leather desk chair, staring out my office window at the river separating Detroit from Canada.

  “The incorrect credit card. Your wife paid with her card.”

  “She what?” I lean forward, and my feet hit the floor with a thud. What was River doing?

  “Also, wanted to let you know your father was very helpful. There’d been some old footings from another fence he had us remove.”

  “My father?” I choke and drop my elbows to my thighs, hanging my head.

  “Nice guy,” the man adds.

  You have got to be joking. What the hell was Robert doing there? Did he come to threaten River? Did he try to harass her as Daniel had? Did he ask her for money?

  “How does the yard look?” My voice isn’t as steady as I’d like it to be in asking such a casual question. The removal of the fencing included filling any holes from the posts and covering the fresh dirt with new grass. By next summer, no one would even know an ugly fence was once present between the properties.

  “Looks great.”

  After thanking him for his call, I quickly call River. Four attempts with no answer lead me to contact Mason before remembering he isn’t at Anna’s. Next, I call Logan. I want someone to check on River. I want someone to physically lay eyes on her, and I don’t want to bother Anna. She has enough to worry about.

  Leaving my office early, I tell my assistant I’ll be working remotely the next day and head out without a care for all the work that’s piled up over the two weeks of my vacation. I quickly call the new nanny and then I have my brother on the phone.

  “Why the hell didn’t you tell me Dad had returned?”

  “And hello to you, too.” My brother chuckles into the phone. We just spoke less than a week ago, and he’d never mentioned our father being in the area I was visiting.

  “Noah, cut the shit.” I loved my brother, and we’d been close as far as brothers went, but I count him as one more person who abandoned me when I was young. We worked it out, but sometimes that resentful kid in me still flares up. Noah knows I can’t handle even the mention of our father. He’s been the contact on all things regarding Robert, especially after our father divorced our mother from prison. “Did you know he was here?”

  “Maybe.” Noah pauses. “How did you find out?”

  “I had the wonderful surprise of seeing him at a canoe rental place.”

  “You went to Robbyn’s River Adventure?” He scoffs, but Noah doesn’t sound half as shocked in stating the canoe place as his surprise in me going there.

  “I took the boys and River.”

  “Why does River sound suspiciously like the name of a woman?” Noah laughs.

  “Noah, focus.”

  “It is a woman. Does my Zacky have a girlfriend?”

  How is this man in his mid-forties? He sounds like he’s still eighteen. “Noah.” My teeth grind as I hit the highway heading due west across the state. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Noah sighs, long and hard. “Because I knew you were still angry. You said you never wanted to see him again, and I figured you didn’t want to know his location. The last place I’d expect you to go was Robbyn’s.”

  Even if I hadn’t gone there, I might have still run into my father somewhere else in the area. I could have seen him in Union Pier, the local beach town, or worse, walked right past him and not known it was him. I recall how I hadn’t even looked up when he was first talking to the boys when we approached the canoe landing. I hadn’t a thought that it was him until his eyes caught mine—the same colored eyes I face in the mirror every morning.

  “I don’t believe this,” I hiss.

  “Did you talk to him?” Noah’s tone drops lower, hesitating on the thought.

  “No.” I huff. A heavy pause fills the line as my blinker sounds through the car, echoing like a heartbeat as I pass a slow-moving vehicle.

  “Maybe you should,” Noah states.

  “Maybe you should fuck off. There’s no way I’m speaking to him.”

  “Don’t you think it’s time? It’s been twenty-five years.”

  “Try twenty-seven, and I think hell can freeze over three times before I’ll speak with him.”

  “That’s harsh,” Noah scoffs.

  “He went to my . . . he went to River’s house, which happens to be our old home.” My voice rises louder in frustration and anger.

  “Someone lives in the house?” Noah’s voice rings incredulous
. “I thought the old geezer was using it for company retreats and rental property.”

  I’d forgotten all about that. When the house was first confiscated as equity against the money stolen, it was used by handfuls of men and visitors. Parties happened next door as if they were celebrating, dancing on the grave of my childhood and the memories of my family. I hated Quincy Grocer and even refused to take a real estate case a few years ago with their name attached. Was that case possibly River’s inheritance?

  I’d rather a single woman who appreciates the place live there permanently than groups of random people traipsing through the house or, worse, lewd men doing God knows what all over the place.

  My thoughts race, recalling everything I’d done to River, and all of that was only outside in the backyard, in the tree fort, against the side of the house. I’m such a hypocrite.

  “It isn’t a rental anymore. A woman inherited it from Dennis Quincy.”

  “No shit?” Noah laughs.

  “No shit. But, Noah . . . Robert . . .” Focus, dammit.

  “Dad,” Noah emphasizes.

  “Why would he go to the house? Why is he even in the area?” What the hell is he doing in the state of Michigan? I thought my father would want to be far, far away from the memories of where life went all wrong for him.

  “It’s his home,” Noah states matter of fact. Our parents were actually from Chicago, much like Anna’s parents, though. That’s where the trouble started for my dad. Irish kid from the Southside wanting to hold his own; he was a scrapper with dreams of money and success. Most days being an accountant didn’t fit his persona, nor did the family home on lake property, but he wanted it. He wanted that view and that house. He wanted to please my mother. He said it often enough.

  “He shouldn’t be there!” I holler into the car, blasting at the hands-free phone system.

  “He can live where he wants,” Noah defends, and it pisses me off even more.