28. Jack
28
JACK
IT’S MY PARTY AND I’LL HIDE IF I WANT TO
“I can’t believe you talked me into hosting an open house,” Aurora grumbled from the front seat of my truck. “ Aren’t you supposed to have open houses when the house is on the market?”
“People are curious about what you’ve done to the place,” I said as I stretched my arm across the back of her seat and gently stroked the back of her neck. “ Think of it as a show-and-tell to get some interest going before you put it up for sale. Folks around here will gossip about it for weeks and get buyers interested.”
“I hope those buyers are ready and willing to write me a check with a lot of zeros on it,” she muttered as she scrolled through her phone.
Aurora’s lips pursed in frustration. It wasn’t a frown. She rarely let those slip, preferring to remain neutral and unreadable, but I had learned the tells of her frustration. Namely , the groove that would form between her eyebrows when she was displeased.
"What's the matter?”
“Nothing,” she said quickly as she pocketed her phone.
Busted.
“Come on, Roar . I know when something is bothering you. Just tell me what it is.”
She huffed. “ Whitney and Willow are being weird. They’ve barely talked to me all week.”
I hated seeing the hurt on her face, but the fact that Aurora had no idea what was about to happen was the icing on the cake.
“Isn’t Whitney on a book tour?” I said as I swerved around a crater-sized pothole. “ She’s probably just busy.”
“No. The tour ended last week.”
I already knew that, but I wasn’t above egging it on.
“Whatever. It’s fine,” Aurora clipped as she pawed through the hardware store bags. “ These fancy-ass house numbers better be the selling point you think they are,” she said as she ran a finger over the gilded numbers.
I should have felt guilty about the white lie, but I didn’t. Not even close.
I might have intentionally removed two of the three house numbers from the railing while Aurora wasn’t looking. Then , I convinced her that we needed to drive to a fancy hardware store in Morehead City for replacements. It was a trip that got her out of the house for two-and-a-half-hours—just long enough for me to put the plan I had been working on for weeks into action.
“They’ll look great out front,” I said as I pulled onto our street. “ And then delivery drivers will stop leaving your packages at my house.”
It took Aurora a moment to realize that something was different. “ Why are there a million cars parked on the side of the road? I hate when people do that. Just use a freaking driveway. And if everyone can’t fit in a driveway, there’s too many freaking people.”
I laughed under my breath as I pulled into the drive. Thankfully , no one had parked there, per my instructions.
“You have summertimers in your yard,” Aurora said as she gathered the hardware store bags from the floorboard when the truck came to a stop.
Hearing her call them “summertimers” did something funny to me. It was a local saying. And she had become one whether she realized it or not.
I rounded the hood and opened her door. “ I’ll deal with it later.”
Aurora’s flip-flopped feet hit the driveway as the wind picked up the hem of her dress. It was a short little number that had me half-regretting what was about to happen. I wanted to ravage her in obscene ways.
“You look really pretty today,” I said as I slid my hand onto her back and led her up the stairs.
“I need to find a laundromat so I can wash my shorts.”
Another convenient white lie. Aurora didn’t have a washer and dryer, and mine had “mysteriously” broken this week.
“My washing machine should be fixed tomorrow,” I said. “ That part is supposed to come today.”
The very fake part that I pretended to have ordered three days ago.
But it had been reason enough for Aurora to dress up today. She looked pretty all the time, but today was special. She just didn’t know that I knew it.
A wall of sound hit us like a Mack truck the moment she unlocked the door.
“ SURPRISE!”
Aurora shrieked and jumped back into my chest.
Lights cut on as a crowd of party people jumped out from behind the kitchen island, couches, out of rooms, and around the staircase.
A chorus of " Happy Birthday , Aurora !” rose up. Even through the melee, Aurora’s gasp of shock was audible.
Drew, the half of the Cedar Island Fire Department that wasn’t currently on shift, and Ernie and the staff from the Fish ‘n Fuel were the first to collapse on her with birthday wishes and hugs. Aurora stiffly accepted each one.
As soon as the hellos subsided, someone broke out into a boisterous rendition of “ Happy Birthday .”
“Wait . . .” Aurora’s eyes shifted to the side. “ That sounds like . . .”
Whitney and her husband, Miles , were the first down the stairs. Willow was right behind them, carrying a massive cake topped with lit sparklers.
Aurora clapped her hands over her mouth the moment she spotted her friends. “ What in the?—”
The song came to a crescendo as Willow presented Aurora with the cake. Still in shock, she blew out the candles.
I expected her to immediately hug her girls. To my surprise, she spun and grabbed my hand. “ You did this.”
“I did.” I kissed her forehead. “ So , let me get a few little lies off my chest so we can enjoy the party with a clean conscience. My washing machine is working just fine. I lied so you’d dress up today. Willow and Whitney haven’t been ignoring you. They were flying out here. Also , they’re staying upstairs for the next few days. Congratulations , you have house guests. And I may have stalked you on the internet when I realized I didn’t know when your birthday was. Your fan club is very forthcoming about your personal details. I’m pretty sure I could break into your bank account because I now know that you used to have a cat named Moose , your favorite color is blue, and you grew up on Mountain Crest Lane .”
I expected her to make an off-the-cuff comment about what a terrifying place the internet is, but she didn’t.
Aurora wrapped her arms around me and squeezed.
“Why didn’t you tell me your birthday was coming up?” I whispered into her hair.
She shrugged. “ No one ever celebrates it anyway.”
Before she could say another word, Aurora was peeled off me by Whitney’s husband. His rubber duck swim trunks and high-vis Crocs were bright enough that they could guide ships to port. It was a sharp contrast to the muscles and tattoos that covered every inch of his body.
“Wander! Happy birthday, you literary legend. What a time to be alive, huh? Another trip around the sun and it’s gonna be a good one. How does it feel to be kick ass at everything you do? The house is banging and I just finished reading one of your masterpieces. Honestly , it’s unfair for someone to be as talented as you are. You’re friggin’ dynamite.”
Like I was watching night turn to day, her emotion-filled expression lightened as laughter slipped from her lips. “ I’ve missed you, Miles .” She let go of me just long enough to hug the six-foot-something wall of scary ass sunshine.
But what she probably intended as a quick side-hug, Miles turned into a back-cracking, feet-off-the-ground, spinning squeeze.
“You get used to him after a while,” Willow said as she sidled up to me. “ So . . . Wander really had no idea the party was happening?”
“She didn’t even tell me it was her birthday. I thought for sure she’d bring it up yesterday or this morning.”
A soft smile graced Willow’s mouth. “ She wants you to work for it. Not in a vain way. She just needs reassurance that she’s wanted, not tolerated. She’s probably going to enjoy it, but she’ll shut down tonight when it’s all over. Don’t let her push you out. She’s just processing.”
“You a psychologist or something?”
Willow laughed. “ It’s what we do all day—dissect characters to find out what makes them tick. I think it tends to bleed into real life. And it makes dating impossible. No guy likes to be analyzed on a first date.”
Whitney took that moment to swoop in and steal the cake from Willow . The two of them set it up in the kitchen and started serving slices on appropriately themed birthday plates.
Food appeared out of hiding as the crew from Ernie’s set up Aurora’s favorites on the kitchen island.
Music started playing from somewhere and, before I knew it, we had a party.
* * *
“Hey, you,” I said when I found Aurora in the widow’s watch two hours later. I squeezed into the cramped space and eased down beside her. “ Whatcha doing, hiding at your own birthday bash?”
“I just needed a breather,” she admitted as the cone-shaped birthday hat slid to the side of her head. “ I’m out of practice with people.”
I wrapped my arm around her. “ What’d you mean earlier when you said that no one celebrates your birthday?”
Aurora just shrugged. “ I mean, I get birthday texts and wishes, but no one’s ever gone out of their way to really do anything for it. My ex forgot my birthday the last two years we were together. When I turned thirty, he didn’t even get me a present. It hurt. I played it off and took myself out for some retail therapy, but ended up crying in my car.” She tipped her head to the side, resting it on my shoulder. “ I can’t believe all these people showed up. I mean, I know they wanted to see the house, but?—”
“There’s no open house,” I said as I tucked her into my side. “ It was a convenient little lie so you’d let me help you clean up the paint cans and stage the rooms. So before you go telling yourself any different, everyone came because it’s your birthday and they wanted to celebrate you. No other reason.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “ And just so you don’t think I’m a jackass like your ex, I got you a birthday present.”
She took the slip from me and unfolded it. “ What’s this?”
“That is your Wi - Fi password.”
It took a moment to sink in. “ You . . .” Aurora blinked. “ You had WiFi installed here?”
“Drew came over to oversee the installation while Whitney , Willow , and Miles set up for the party. That was what the hardware trip was for this morning. I had to get you out of the house for a few hours.”
Aurora stammered. “ But —but that’s so expensive. And I’m selling the house and leaving.”
My heart sank. “ You don’t have to remind me, Roar . I’m perfectly aware. I just figured . . . for as long as you’re here . . . it’d make writing easier. You don’t have to sit on my property or wait for me to get home or hope the connection is strong enough to reach over here.”
She cut me off by throwing her arms around me. “ Thank you,” she croaked. “ Jack — I . . .” She sucked in a sharp breath. “ I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll stay.”
It was a cruel joke to even ask, but I had to.
“You know I can’t,” she whispered, but it was carried away by the wind.
I cupped her cheek and brushed her lips with mine. “ Happy birthday, Aurora .”
The kiss was soft, but everything I felt was poured into it.
Of course, the moment was shattered by something, well, shattering.
Aurora’s eyes widened at the crash of glass.
“Ten bucks it was Drew trying to do a keg stand.”
Her brows lifted. “ When did a keg get here?”
I dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “ I’m gonna go check on that. Take all the time you need.”
I slipped out of the widow’s watch and headed for the stairs, only to run into Miles at the top of the steps.
From what Aurora had told me, he was an MMA champion who reinvented himself as a bodyguard for a high-end private security firm. That’s how he and Whitney had met and fallen in love.
He still looked the part of the fighter, but his temperament was more . . . cartoon squirrel who guzzled an energy drink.
“Jackie!” He clapped me on the shoulder. “ You know how to throw one hell of a party. How’s it going, man? Wander right as rain? I saw her slip out of the shindig to get some air. I was skipping up here to check on her so my girl doesn’t have to set down her piece of cake. Never get between a woman and cake, if you know what I mean?”
I chuckled. “ She’s good. She just needed a breather.”
“Cool, cool, cool. I’m glad she has you. That last ass potato she was with wouldn’t have checked on her. That’s why I’m here.” He popped an imaginary collar. “ Miles Zhou —husband to the one and only Whitney West —and honorary scary scowl for Willow Winslet and Wander Whitlock . It’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta screen their suitors to weed out the men with microphones.” He cracked his tattooed knuckles. “ It’s always fun to fuck with ‘em. Sometimes I get my fellow private security peeps to get in on the action. One time, we had a surprise meeting with this fart biscuit in the interrogation room at headquarters because he decided to say some not-so-nice things about Willow online and hurt her feelings. He peed himself. We made him clean it up before he left, but hey—that’s why there’s a floor drain in the room.”
I cleared my throat and awkwardly rubbed the back of my neck. It was hard to take him seriously in the neon swim trunks and Crocs , but I had the distinct feeling that even in his chipper, cheery tone, he was being dead serious.
“And by ‘surprise meeting,’ you mean?—”
“A friendly kidnapping.” He grinned from ear to ear. “ Luckily for us, he was on our side of the country for work. We stole that butt nugget during his lunch break and had him back to his job in new pants by the time he had to clock back in. Cole even let him keep all of his fingers. He’s a nice guy like that.”
Was I about to bekidnapped? And who was Cole ?
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure there wasn’t a scary goon lingering in the alcove.
I raised my hands in defense, then regretted it. If he knew I had all ten fingers, he might be a little too willing to relieve me of one of them. “ I work for the state, so I’ve been fingerprinted and background checked. And I have no intention of starting a podcast.”
He let out a jolly laugh and patted my arm. “ Good man!” Miles pulled out his phone, took a few steps back, and snapped a photo of me.
“What was that for?”
Miles sided up to me and gave me a friendly elbow nudge as he dropped the photo into a group chat named “ Keller’s Asses .” “ Just giving my former spec-ops and intelligence community friends an idea of how much body mass they’ll need to dispose of if you hurt Wander . Do you wear a large or an extra-large bodybag?”
When I didn’t answer, he gave me a quick up-and-down, looked back at the photo, then back at me as he worked it over in his mind.
“We’ll go extra large to be safe. Don’t want you to be squished in there. That would suck.”
“Seems a little unnecessary, but I appreciate you taking my post-mortem comfort into consideration.”
Miles chuckled as text responses from his crew floated in. “ Now , since I’m the token husband for the WWs , let me explain it to you like this,” he said as he pocketed his phone. “ I love Whitney , and Whitney loves Wander , which means I love Wander . Which means that if Wander wants to see you with one of my Crocs in your mouth while you’re slow roasted on a spit, then it’ll be my time to shine.” He looked down at the bright yellow foam shoes on his feet. “ It’ll be a noble sacrifice for the world’s best footwear, but we do what we have to do for the women we love.”
“How about this,” I said, attempting to de-escalate the situation. “ If I swear on my life that I won’t hurt Wander , will you stop sizing me for a casket?”
Miles tossed his head back and laughed. “ Don’t be silly. If you hurt her, you won’t need a casket. Caskets are for bodies , and you won’t have one of those.”