Chapter Eleven Remi #2
“Well, you’re clearly doing something right. Your house is adorable,” she gushed. “I love the color you painted it. And the . . . flower boxes are nice.”
The empty flower boxes. I laughed. “Someday they’ll have flowers in them.”
“I have no green thumb,” she said. “But honestly, the house doesn’t even need it. It’s so friendly.”
Archer had relaxed slightly, and at Analise’s genuine nature, I did as well. “Thank you. It’s not big, but it’s home.”
The front door to the house opened, and when the three of us turned around, Gavin’s face poked through the opening. “Am I allowed to come outside now?”
“One second, bud.” I locked eyes with Archer, ignoring the fact that his sister was watching the exchange with a rapt expression on her face. “My son has never met one of his idols before,” I said in a hushed tone. “If you do anything to upset him, I will take a baseball bat to your testicles.”
Archer’s gaze flickered. “That so?”
“With a smile on my face, Evans.”
A muscle in his jaw flexed. “You should’ve warned me I might need to wear my cup.”
“Only if you’re a dick.” I smiled sweetly. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
The air between us was heavy, thick with tension that made it hard to breathe.
“You got it, boss.”
Analise sighed happily. “This is the best thing I’ve ever seen.”
The thread of tension snapped, a clean break when Archer dropped his gaze from mine, and in the vacuum of silence when he did, my heart clanged around behind my ribs.
“Come on out, Gavin.”
His steps were tentative, but the excitement and nerves were stamped all over his precious little face.
More than anything, I wanted to make this perfect for him.
It was the curse of being a parent. There was nothing we could do to shield our kids from the things that worried them, and I just prayed there wouldn’t be much fallout to deal with.
The tears in his eyes the day he’d brought me the jersey were all I could think about as I watched him approach the man at my side.
The man who was tall and big and strong and looked like one of the superheroes on the movies he loved to watch—the ones who could save cities and bring down a bad guy with a single punch.
Analise must have read the tension in my pose, because she stepped forward first. “You must be Gavin. I’m Analise Evans.”
At the sound of her last name, his eyes widened. “E-Evans?”
She nodded, giving him a conspiratorial nod. “He’s my brother.”
“Whoa,” Gavin breathed. “I didn’t know he”—his gaze darted behind her, at the man in question, like he wasn’t sure who to address—“had a sister.”
“I asked him to keep it on the DL,” Analise admitted. “I prefer to keep a low profile. Otherwise it’s hard to know if people like me for me or for my brother. His job is the best, but every once in a while it can be hard when you’re related to someone famous.”
Gavin nodded like he knew exactly what she was talking about. “Yeah, totally.”
“Is it okay if we hang out for a while tonight?”
His eyes darted between Analise and me, and he finally gave her a nod. “Sure.”
“Sweet. What do you normally do on a school night?”
Gavin shrugged. “Homework, if I have any. Or soccer practice. If I finish my stuff on time, Mom lets me play video games.”
“I love video games. What’s your favorite?”
His eyes lit up. “I’m kinda playing a lot of Mario Kart right now. I got bored with Fortnite.”
She whistled. “I see a race in our future. I won’t let you win, though. I’m really good.”
“Do you know all the tricks?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. What kind of tricks?”
“Nothing,” he said innocently. “I’m sure you don’t need them.”
Analise laughed. “I guess we’ll see.”
Gavin finally got the courage to look over at Archer, and his chest puffed out on a deep inhale. “I’m . . . I’m Gavin. Gavin Sinclair.”
Archer crouched, holding his hand out to Gavin.
“Nice to meet you, Gavin. I’m Archer.”
Gavin hesitated, and my lungs squeezed at the expression on his face. It was so serious. So direct.
“You ran into my mom’s shelter, didn’t you?”
His chin was notched high, his nerves completely gone. Tears coiled tight around the back of my throat at the sight of my protective boy.
Analise rolled her lips together and stared down at the ground, her cheeks reddening.
Finally, Archer nodded, his hand dropping back down when it became clear Gavin wasn’t going to reciprocate.
“I won’t make excuses for what happened.
But I promise, I regret a lot of things about that night, especially when I think about kids like you who lost respect for me.
” He let out a slow breath. “I’m really sorry.
” Then he looked up at me, the intensity making his eyes glow brighter than usual. “I’m trying to make amends.”
I sucked in a sharp breath and licked my lips as I tore my gaze from his. Gavin glanced up at me, and I gave him a tiny encouraging nod.
He shoved his hand out. “Pops says that our actions are what matter the most in this world. So if you’re trying to make things better, then I can forgive you.”
A tear slid down my cheek, and I wiped my palm over it before anyone noticed.
Archer’s throat moved in a slow swallow, and his big fingers completely dwarfed my son’s as they shook hands. “He sounds like a smart man.”
Gavin smiled. “The smartest.”
Archer’s shoulder brushed my arm as he straightened to his full height.
I cleared my throat. “I have to get back to the shelter. Analise, there’s plenty of food in there, and Gavin can show you where everything is.” I snapped my fingers. “Oh, and the dishwasher isn’t functioning right now, so any dishes have to be hand-washed. Don’t load anything in there.”
Her cheeks were still red as she nodded, her eyes darting over to her brother briefly. “Great. Any food allergies I need to worry about?”
“He’s good, but thank you for asking.” I squeezed Gavin’s shoulder. “Finish your homework before video games, okay? And you need to shower tonight.”
“Mom,” he groaned. “Do I have to?”
“Yes. I’m not gonna send a stinky boy to school tomorrow. Shower by eight, please. I want you in pajamas when I get home around eight thirty.”
“We can manage that.” Analise smiled at him, then me. “We’ll have a great time.”
Gavin chewed on his bottom lip before looking back up at Archer. “Are you coming back too?”
He nodded. “I’ll pick her up after your mom gets home.” Our eyes met briefly, and my stomach twisted as I thought about Archer walking back up to my house as the sun faded. “You said eight thirty?”
I managed a quick nod. “Maybe nine, if the dogs aren’t cooperating.”
Gavin inhaled through his nose, visibly shoring up all his courage. “Maybe I . . . maybe I could show you my room later when you pick her up. I’ve got lots of Buffalo stuff.”
Archer gave him a small smile, just the slightest curl to the edges of his lips. “I’d like that.”
“Okay,” Gavin breathed. His cheekbones were washed in pink, and the excitement in his eyes was almost my undoing.
Standing in the driveway bawling over my kid was not on the to-do list, though, so I cleared my throat and tilted my head toward the car. “I need to go.”
Gavin wrapped his arms around me in a tight squeeze, and I kissed the top of his head.
“Be good. Love you, buddy.”
“Love you more,” he said, voice muffled against my stomach.
“Impossible.”
He grinned as he pulled away, then ran into the house with Analise trailing behind.
She paused with her hand on the door. “I approve of whatever’s happening here, brother.”
“Fucking hell,” Archer muttered under his breath.
I slid my hands over my cheeks and laughed. “She’s sweet.”
He wouldn’t look at me. “She’s a menace.”
“But you love her.”
That made him pause, his eyes finally coming to rest on mine. “More than anything. Don’t tell her that, though. It’ll go to her head.”
There were hidden sides to everyone. Sometimes we were lucky enough to discover what they were.
But mostly, we never saw what was under the surface.
They stayed hidden behind ego and short tempers and shitty moods that soured our disposition for really good reasons.
Wasn’t that a shame? If we had moments like this with all the people who did us wrong, or who we caught on a bad day, maybe we could extend more grace in a world that seemed to do nothing but sow anger.
This wasn’t the same man from the shelter—hard and arrogant and proud. The same man who got behind the wheel of his car and did something stupid. It wasn’t the same man from the bar, either, unashamed of taking what he wanted because he saw that I wanted it too.
Except it was, and I didn’t really know how to reconcile all the sides to him.
“Are you sure it wasn’t you?” I asked quietly. “Who ordered the stuff?”
Archer didn’t answer right away. His eyes traced over my face, then moved to my house. What did he see when he looked at it?
The yard was neat, the grass green and lush, even though it was in need of being mowed.
The deep-blue paint color was cheery, something I’d splurged on a couple years earlier, as was the pale-aqua front door.
The empty flower boxes and cleared beds simply said I’m too busy to do this, but to him, it might look like something else entirely.
“Wouldn’t I tell you if I did?” he said after a while. The sound of his voice felt like someone had struck a bell affixed to my spine. His eyes moved back to mine. “Wouldn’t I want credit for that?”
“That’s not an answer,” I said, banishing any hint of a tremor from my voice, even though there was a dangerous quaking in my ribs.
Archer’s mouth softened in a hint of a smile. He twirled his keys around his pointer finger and started walking backward. “See you at eight thirty, boss.”