Something to Someone (Someone, Somewhere #2)

Chapter 7

SEVEN

SUMMER DAZE

Caroline

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the kids were screaming—what a beautiful freaking day.

I narrowly avoided one child who sprinted in front of me and another who almost side-swiped me chasing after the first. I gritted my teeth and willed all other children in the vicinity to stay away from me until I could get inside.

I barely made it in the house before another scream erupted followed by a large splash from the pool. I shut the sliding glass door, but it did little to muffle the sounds.

Setting the empty tray of snacks on the kitchen island, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment.

“Do you need any help, sweetie?” My mom’s hand landed on my shoulder, and I startled at the contact.

“No, I’m okay. Thanks, though.”

She gave me an unconvincing look and grabbed the tray from in front of me. “I’ll help anyway,” she said. She opened the fridge and began sifting through the contents, searching for the fruit to replenish the tray.

“Care, do you have extra sunscreen?” My sister, Allison, appear ed from around the corner with my nephew, Thomas, in tow. He was the reason there were twenty screaming children running around outside. Thomas and my niece, Olivia, were the only two people in the world who could have convinced me to let all their friends take over my house for the day.

Especially since it was Thomas’s eighth birthday.

“Yeah, it’s in my bathroom. The cabinet on the far right.”

“Thank you, thank you,” my older sister said and ushered Thomas in that direction. He was already sporting little red shoulders, but he had a huge smile on his face.

I thought they were all having a pretty good time, except my brother-in-law, Oliver, and my father who were manning the grill and listening to the kids demand hot dogs and hamburgers along with their parents chiming in with any dietary restrictions.

There was a very good reason why I had willingly and eagerly given up that particular job.

I rounded the island and started opening and arranging the fruit on the platter as my mom retrieved it from the fridge. She sighed dramatically when she noticed me, but it was her fault I had trouble relaxing, I’d gotten it from her.

She saddled up next to me at the counter and began her usual inquisition.

“How’s work going?”

“Have you hired anyone else?”

“Have you thought about selling the company yet?”

“Have you thought about selling your house?”

“Are you dating anyone?”

“Do you still have an aversion to love?”

“Mom!” I exclaimed with a huff. “I do not have an aversion to… love .”

She scoffed and loaded the container that once held the strawberries into the dishwasher. “You can’t even say the word without cringing. It sounds like you’re in pain.”

“Thank you so much for your thoughtful insight, Mother, but I’m just fine. I am happy with my life,” I said, and for her benefit and to prove her wrong, I added, “I don’t need love.”

I pretended like I didn’t hear the way my voice dipped with the word or how it felt like my throat might close around it. Instead, I shot my mom a sweet, unbothered smile and hoped we’d finished with her questions. I’d answered each of them to the best of my ability—no, I wasn’t planning on selling anything, but yes, work was good. No, I wasn’t dating anyone, and I had no plans to.

I gave her my usual spiel about not settling on a man and not settling down unless he was exceptional. And how if that never happened, I would be fine.

I had no more answers to give her, so I hoped she would let it all go. My hope was dashed, though, when she started, “Caroline, just because you’ve had your heartbroken before, just because you’ve lost someone?—”

“Stop,” I snapped. And thankfully, she heeded my request. That and my dad appeared beside her. He kissed her forehead and whispered, “Leave her be, honey.” My mom sighed and shook her head like the idea was preposterous. What good was coming to my house if she couldn’t interrogate me about my life?

He then shifted to me, wrapping a loving arm around my shoulders and kissing my temple. I’d always been a daddy’s girl. He’d been there for me through every high school softball game, every late-night study session, and every heartbreak. Even for the ultimate heartbreak my mom so kindly alluded to. The heartbreak to end all heartbreaks. The loss I never saw coming.

But he never came with judgment or opinions, just support. He was the parent I leaned on when I had to. And I was lucky to have him.

He didn’t say anything to me—he didn’t have to—I felt the love and apology without any words.

He grabbed a drink and walked back outside while I wiped my sweaty palms on my crocheted swimsuit cover-up. But it didn ’t do much good. Although the fruit on the tray in front of me was perfectly placed, I fiddled with it because I needed something to do with my hands.

“Sweetie,” my mom began, gripping my forearm with a forlorn, apologetic look on her face.

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something else, but voices, new voices, echoed from the entryway. And I’d never been so excited for an interruption.

Especially since I would have recognized that voice anywhere.

“Natalie!” I exclaimed. Eager for the interruption, my voice was a little higher pitched than normal, and Natalie clocked it the moment I walked out of the kitchen to greet her. Her eyes were wide with confusion, but I hugged her anyway.

“What—” she began to question when I pulled back, but she quickly stopped. She spotted my mom over my shoulder and nodded. “Ahh,” she said instead.

Swallowing down any lingering frustration, I looked behind my best friend. “Hey, Theo. Thanks for coming.”

Theo gave me a tight-lipped smile and glanced skeptically toward the backyard. When he’d begun living with my best friend, before they realized they were in love, the lack of desire to be at parties such as these was how we bonded. Theo always acted like he hated being around people, but as long as Natalie was there, he was perfectly content.

“I promise there’s only—” a few kids, I was about to joke, but my ability to speak suddenly disappeared when the front door swung open, and Ryder stepped inside.

Wearing his standard wide grin, he pushed a hand through his disheveled black hair and brushed a few stray pieces off his forehead. “Thanks for waiting, guys,” he said, striding farther into the house and toward our group.

My mouth went dry, and I forced myself to blink and look away when he stopped in front of me .

“Hi, Caroline,” Ryder crooned, and my traitorous eyes bounced to his. “Thanks for the invite.”

With other people around, I managed to bite my tongue until he threw me a smirk that I couldn’t resist.

“Funny, I don’t remember inviting you, Ryder.”

His smile only grew wider, and he ran his tongue across his perfectly straight, white teeth. “Really? I thought it was an open invitation.”

I returned his shit-eating grin. “You’re right. So run along, the other kids are in the pool.”

Next to me, Theo snorted, but Ryder wasn’t fazed by my jokes. “Oh, Caroline, you wound me. You know, I’m a big kid now.”

“No more diapers or anything,” Theo chimed in.

“Exactly!” Ryder exclaimed, clapping his best friend on the shoulder.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Natalie shake her head right before she clapped her hands together and proclaimed, “I need a drink.”

I ushered everyone into the kitchen and toward the fridge, ignoring Ryder’s presence I could feel at my back.

I’d done everything I could over the past week to ignore the thought of him. Actually, it had been a year and a half of trying—and failing—to ignore him and every other feeling he managed to conjure within me.

But it felt a little pointless. Although he’d been silent for most of the week, I knew he hadn’t let it go. He was busy with graduation and finals and searching for a job. But if I knew anything about Ryder, he was stubborn and enthusiastically pursued every interest. Me telling him that I couldn’t give him what he wanted wouldn’t stop him. Little would at this point which was making me wary.

I served Natalie a drink and let the guys fend for themselves as we joined the party outside. I was keen to get as much distance between me and Ryder as possible .

“So, Ryder told me that he’s the best man in his friends’ wedding that you are planning,” Natalie said as we took a seat on the bench under a large tree toward the back of my yard. It was the perfect, shaded spot that kept us far enough away from the crowd but close enough that I could keep an eye on everything.

I took a long sip of my drink and tugged my sunglasses down from where I had them propped on top of my head. “Yup,” I confirmed. “The couple are really sweet, and I’m excited they chose me. They had an unlimited budget, really, so they could have gone with anyone else.”

“Well, they picked right,” she said, nudging my shoulder and wiggling her eyebrows. “But he said since they don’t live local, that he’s going to be helping you plan it?”

I nodded. “That’s what they wanted. Although I told them it wasn’t necessary.”

“I can’t imagine Ryder helping plan a wedding.” Natalie laughed. “I had to help him match his clothes until he went to college and decorating his room when he was younger was…rough.”

Across the yard, Theo slipped out the glass door with Ryder right behind him. They quickly found my sister and brother-in-law and took a seat at their table. Ryder set his drink down and leaned back in the chair, propping his ankle on his other knee and falling into what I could tell was easy conversation with my family.

With the sun beating down, he fished his sunglasses from his pocket and donned the black aviators. Frustrated with how good he looked, I took another hearty pull of my drink and pointedly stopped staring across the yard.

“How was your mom?” Natalie asked, and I appreciated the topic change. Although my mother wasn’t necessarily a topic I loved to discuss.

“Same old, same old,” I muttered. “ How’s work going? Are you going to sell your house? Why can’t you find a nice man and settle down? ” I pitched my voice in a dramatic imitation of my mom’s. “I know she loves me and wants what’s best for me, but her version of that and mine are always radically different.”

“I don’t get it. I mean, I’m not one to talk, my own parents kicked me out when I got pregnant with Ryder, but as a mom myself, I can’t imagine constantly questioning Ryder’s life choices. First,” she began, lifting her hand and ticking off each point with her fingers. “Because that’s exhausting. Second, because he’s an adult, and third, because he’s happy. And you seem pretty damn happy to me.”

“I am. It’s just…the way she’s always been. Allison did everything ‘ right’ —she went to college, got married, had children, stayed at home. And that’s what my mom wanted for me, too.”

My mom would never agree with my life choices. No matter how happy or successful I was, and unfortunately, I had come to terms with that. Although that didn’t keep my friend from wanting to go to bat for me.

Even when she didn’t know the entire story or why my mom was so relentless. Which I still felt guilty about. I hadn’t kept it from Natalie for any good reason because I knew she would be supportive. I just didn’t like talking about it. Like I said, I was happy and content, and I wanted to keep it that way.

Noting my discomfort with the topic, Natalie easily pivoted topics. She cleared her throat and said, “So, tell me the whole story with your new girl at work. What happened with her boyfriend?”

“Oh, Addie, yes! Her boyfriend came by the office,” I said excitedly, turning to face her, so I could watch every one of her facial expressions. But in my periphery, I caught Ryder watching me. Not that I could see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but I could still tell.

Not listening to the conversations happening around him, all his attention was on me. And I would never admit it out loud, but I enjoyed it.