18.
C OURTNEY
“I thought he said it was a small get-together,” I muttered to myself as I circled around looking for somewhere to park. The street was lined with cars, trucks, and plenty of motorcycles. I couldn’t even begin to count the number of people milling around.
There were canopies set up with tables and chairs beneath them, and almost all of the spaces were taken up with people I didn’t know. There were also people with blankets spread out on the grass in the shade of the trees circling the park.
When we passed two food trucks and a trailer that held a massive grill, I realized that Zane’s idea of a little party and mine were very different.
I had imagined a dozen or so adults hanging out near the grill while kids ran around playing, but this was a whole different animal.
The urge to go home was almost overwhelming, and I barked out a laugh when my phone rang, imagining that Zane had somehow read my mind.
When his voice came over the speaker, I could hear laughter behind him and listened as he gave me directions on where to park.
Apparently, there was a spot reserved for me in his friend’s driveway, and he was going to meet me there to help herd the kids and carry the dish I’d brought to add to the buffet he’d described.
Once we were parked, I reminded the kids to be on their best behavior and remember their manners when they were meeting new people.
I knew my warnings had landed on deaf ears because the kids were bouncing in their seats, excited to join the party and play on the equipment they’d seen as we drove by.
“I’m not sure about all of this,” Dayton muttered.
“If I give you my keys to come chill in the car if you need a break, will you promise not to drive away?”
“You want me to promise? I can tell that you’re fighting the urge right now!” Dayton retorted with a grin. His smile fell away and he somberly responded with, “Yes, I promise I won’t drive off. I’ll never steal your car again.”
I winked at him and reached over to squeeze his hand before I said, “If you can’t laugh about your mistakes, then you haven’t learned anything from them.”
Zane leaned through my open window just in time to hear what I’d said to Dayton, and he agreed.
“She’s right. My family still laughs about how hard it was for me to remember not to hit the front brakes when I was riding my first big kid bike.
Every time I look at the scar on my chin, I smile when I remember how freaked out my mom was when she saw all that blood. ”
“Gross!” Alana exclaimed from the back seat.
“Did you learn from your mistake?” I asked with a smile.
“I did. I learned to tuck and roll,” Zane answered sarcastically. He gave me a quick peck on the lips and then stepped back and opened my door. He reached in and took my hand to pull me out before he said, “Come on, kids! It’s time to party.”
Once I was standing in front of him, still holding his hand, I chided, “I thought you said this was a small get-together.”
Zane shrugged and glanced over at the park before he said, “It probably started out that way, but this is usually what happens.”
“How many people are here?” I asked. When Zane just shrugged, I said, “I should have made a bigger dish.”
“There are two tables full already, and Dylan hasn’t even finished cooking the meat. I think we’ll be okay.”
“Your friend Dylan runs the grill trailer for Rubb My Butt?”
“Dylan Conner is the owner,” Zane informed me.
“I’ve met him!” Dayton exclaimed. “He’s Romi’s cousin or something.”
“Romi Conner is a good kid,” Zane said with a smile. “He’s over there under that green tent if you want to go hang with him.”
“I don’t know. He’s friends with Dawson, so . . .”
“How old are you again?” Zane asked. He looked around, and before Dayton could answer, he said, “Do you know Max Richards? I think you guys probably go to the same school.”
“Yeah! I do know him. We play online together all the time. Well, I used to play online with him.”
“He’s over there,” Zane said, pointing to another area of the park. “Go say hi. I’ll get Court and the kids situated, and you can come find us later.”
“Are you sure he’ll be okay?” I asked as Dayton walked off. “Maybe I should . . .”
“Let the boy spread his wings, sister-mama. There are enough adults around here that he’ll be fine. Hell, all of the kids will be fine. You might as well let them go now before they combust. They’re dying to get over to the equipment, and there are a bunch of kids for them to play with.”
“Maybe I should go watch them. I’m not sure . . .”
“I’m not trying to step on your toes, Court, but look around. Everyone is spread out watching their own kids, and if they see one doing something they shouldn’t, they’ll stop it. I promise.”
“Is this how you grew up? Running wild with random adults making sure you didn’t play in the street or run off somewhere?”
“I have so many memories of evenings like this, and every one of them is awesome.”
We had just stepped onto the curb when a woman walked toward us and asked, “Do you know whose kid this is? He’s not talking.”
Zeke looked down and frowned before he asked, “What did you do, Landon?”
“We’re hungry!”
“He tried to take off with an entire peach cobbler,” the woman tattled as she moved the baby she was carrying from one hip to the other.
“That’s Dilly’s son.”
“I should have known that he was a Colorado kid when I didn’t recognize him,” the woman muttered. She handed the baby to Zane, who propped it on his hip like that was the most natural thing in the world, before she squatted down next to the boy and asked, “Are you really starving?”
“We’re dying!” the boy exclaimed.
“Come on. Let’s go see if Dylan’s got some hot dogs ready yet.” The woman stood and shook her head. She stuck her hand out and said, “I’m Mai Harper.”
“Courtney Banks.”
“You’re Courtney?” the woman asked with a huge smile as I shook her hand. She glanced over at Zane and then back to me before she laughed. When she looked back at Zane, she said, “You’re an asshole, man.”
“Go away, Mai,” Zane ordered.
At the same time, the little boy tugged on her hand and said, “I’m starving!”
“Can we go get some food?” Leo asked.
I looked over at Zane and shrugged. He grinned and said, “Hey, Mai. Do me a favor, and take these three with you. They haven’t met anybody here yet, so . . .”
“I will find you guys some food and then introduce you to all the cool kids.”
“Be good, and don’t leave the park without me!” I warned, my heart in my throat at the thought of letting them take off alone.
“They’re gonna be fine, Court,” Zane said as my children took off with a relative stranger.
“One thing you’ll find about us is that we all consider kids precious, and whether they’re yours or not, they should be protected at all costs.
” Zane bounced the baby on his hip, and she grinned up at him. “Isn’t that right?”
“And whose baby is this?”
Zane looked at the baby in his arms and wrinkled his forehead in concentration before he asked, “Who do you belong to, kiddo?”
“You don’t know?”
“It kind of depends,” Zane said vaguely.
“On what?”
“Whether it’s a boy or a girl.” There really wasn’t any way to tell since the child was only wearing a diaper. Zane’s face lit up, and he asked, “Are you Aurora?” When the baby grinned at him and nodded, he said, “Okay, I know her.”
“Mama!” the baby said, reaching toward the crowd at the park.
“Let’s find her,” Zane suggested as he looked over at me. “Can you leave your bowling bag in the car, or do you need to drag it with us?”
“I’ll leave it, but I assure you someone is going to need something out of it before the day is through.”
“Bring the bag,” Zane said in exasperation. He reached out and took the dessert that I’d made.
Without thinking, I put my arms out for the little girl he was holding, and she lunged toward me with a loud giggle. I smiled at her before I said, “Hello, Aurora!” She giggled again, and I looked at Zane before I said, “Since you know everyone, I’ll let you lead the way, big guy.”
“Thank God! I need to find some shade. It’s hot as balls.”
“While we walk, will you please explain why everyone you have introduced me to so far is shocked when they find out my name?”
“My family plays jokes on each other all the time, and I may have started a rumor that you are different than you really are.”
“How different?”
“Just a little . . . tamer. Yeah. That’s a good explanation.”
“Please explain.”
Zane didn’t have enough time to say anything before someone called his name and he veered in that direction. I was curious to know what he’d told people about me and hoped that whatever they thought wasn’t too horrible. I’d hate to think that I didn’t measure up to their expectations.
By the time we got to the table so Zane could put the dessert down, we’d been stopped by half a dozen people and he’d introduced me to at least twice that many.
When we stopped under the awning that shaded the tables of food, my mind was already reeling as I tried to remember the names of the people I’d just met and considered how many more I had yet to meet.
I was taking in the amount of food on the tables, surprised that they could hold it all, when a familiar face appeared across the table from me. The baby in my arms lunged toward Dr. Hamilton as she squealed, “Mama! Mama!”
“There’s my sweet girl,” Dr. Hamilton cooed as she hugged her daughter. She smiled and asked, “How did you get her? Was she making a break for it?”
“A woman named Mai gave her to Zane.”
“Oh, okay.”
“My kids are here, running wild somewhere without me, and I’m not okay with that,” I blurted without thinking.
Dr. Hamilton threw her head back and cackled before she said, “Zane, I’m taking your girl for a while so I can introduce her to the masses and reassure her that her children are safer here than they are in any other place.”