Chapter 16 #2
“It seemed like she could do with some cheering up,” I said.
Gracie had come back from her grandparents’ tired and out of sorts last weekend, so I’d given her a spare beading set I had lying around when the guys came over for spaghetti night on Sunday.
It had cheered her up immediately, but it had been the small, grateful smile I got from Wilder that had filled my chest with warmth and stayed with me long after everyone had gone home.
“Well, I still appreciate it,” Wilder said. “Saved me from dealing with a meltdown.”
“She seems happier today,” I said. “But then, kids’ moods can change like the weather.”
Wilder gave me a wry smile. “Don’t I know it. An hour ago she was upset because she had to sit still while I brushed her hair. But now? There’s a unicorn party and she’s getting to eat cake later, so she’s living the dream.”
“Daddy! The goose is here!” Gracie’s excited squeal echoed through the house, and a second later she appeared at the door, eyes wide. “Mr. Merritt brought his goose!” she repeated, just in case everyone in a three-block radius hadn’t heard her the first time.
A second later Bobby strolled through the door, his cowboy boots echoing against the wood of the back porch. Lucille was back under his arm. “Hey, y’all,” he said with a nod. “Happy birthday, you two.”
He pulled a couple of envelopes out of the back pocket of his shorts and held them out to the twins. Cash’s eyes went wide and he glanced over at Chase.
Chase stepped forward and took the envelopes and handed one to Cash, who looked between the envelope and Bobby and muttered a quiet “Thanks” before scurrying back to his seat.
Chase opened his envelope and pulled out a card, and when he opened it, his mouth dropped open. I caught a glimpse of a couple of bills before he slammed it shut and shoved it into his pocket, his face splitting into a wide grin.
“Didn’t know what to get you, and kids always need cash, right?” Bobby said gruffly.
Lucille honked her agreement.
I noticed Cash’s head jerk up when he thought he heard his name. He caught Chase’s eye and they had a silent conversation, and then Cash ducked his head and opened his own gift. When he lifted his head, there was the ghost of a smile there, which was about as enthusiastic as Cash got.
Bobby jabbed a thumb in Chase’s direction. “I also got this one a bike. My cousin pulled it out of the creek last week. Just needed a new chain and some tires.” He narrowed his crazy eyes at Chase. “So no more running late for your shifts!”
“Shit,” Chase said. “Thanks, Bobby!”
I’d never heard him sound so genuinely pleased in all the time I’d known him.
“The people of this good town need their coffee!” Bobby said, and everyone was too polite to contradict him. Because coffee? Sure. But coffee the way Chase made it? Nobody needed that.
“Hey,” Wilder said to me. “You mind giving me a hand in the kitchen?”
“Sure,” I said and escaped inside with him.
“Thanks for coming,” he said, knocking his hip against mine as we stood together at the counter.
I was buttering rolls, and he was doing something with the meat that involved prodding it with a pair of tongs.
Since it was already soaking in a tub of marinade, I had no idea what, but it was probably important.
I stacked the rolls on a serving platter. “Thanks for asking me.”
Wilder grinned. “I mainly asked you for your potato salad.”
“I’d say you’re lying, but I do make an amazing potato salad, so I’m not even offended,” I said.
Wilder laughed and then rested his hand lightly against the small of my back for the briefest moment.
It was so unexpected and out of place that I thought I’d imagined it.
I also thought for a second that maybe he hadn’t even registered doing it, but his movements faltered when he turned his attention back to whatever meat magic he was working, and I figured that was when he’d realized.
Of all the touches we’d shared it was basically nothing—except context was everything.
This wasn’t a predetermined sex session.
This was Wilder’s kitchen, in a house full of people who could walk in any time.
It was casually intimate in ways that sex wasn’t, and it took my breath away.
I thought again about what Dallas had said.
“So, you know when my brother was here last week,” I said, concentrating on stacking the rolls.
“Yeah?”
“So, um, we weren’t as subtle as we thought. He totally figured out we were fooling around.”
Wilder paused what he was doing. “Jesus, Avery.” He ran a hand through his hair, and his cheeks flushed. It was cute as hell. “He’s not gonna tell anyone, is he?”
I nudged him with my elbow. “It’s fine. He overheard your offer, that’s all, and then gave me shit about it because that’s what big brothers do. But he was actually cool with it. I think he likes you.”
Wilder shot me a doubtful look. “Really?”
“Really.” I could still feel the ghost of Wilder’s touch, and maybe it made me brave, or maybe it made me stupid, but whichever one it was, I found myself saying, “He did tell me something interesting, though. He said that there’s no rule against teachers dating the parents of their students.”
Wilder stilled. Then, after a painfully long pause, he said, “Oh.”
Not the “Oh!” you gave when someone gave you welcome and interesting news, though. No, this was the “Oh” you made when the mechanic just sucked air through his teeth and told you how much those repairs were going to cost.
Ouch.
I forced a laugh. “Yeah, I said it wasn’t relevant to our situation, because neither of us are interested in that.”
“Right,” Wilder said and nodded. “Right. I should go get this on the grill.”
He picked up the meat and left the kitchen with his head down.
I let him go and leaned against the counter and took a minute to try and recover from the body blow that was Wilder rejecting me.
Because he had, hadn’t he? And I couldn’t even be mad at him.
He’d said right from the start that dating wasn’t in the cards for him, and if I’d just kept my mouth shut, we could have carried on like we were.
But now I’d made it weird and awkward by talking about dating, and I had a horrible feeling I’d had my last late-night visit from Wilder.
And I had nobody to blame but myself.
“Avery?” Miller stuck his head in the kitchen door. “You feeling okay? You look pale.”
I straightened up. “I’m fine. Still freaked out from the goose.”
Miller shuddered. “That thing is a menace.” He looked around and lowered his voice. “I hate it.”
I let out a shaky laugh and said, “Same. How long do geese live, anyway? Asking for me.”
“Too long,” Miller said with a wry grin. “Chase is asking for your potato salad.”
“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, I’ll bring it out. Can’t upset the birthday boy, right? Well, one of the birthday boys.” I blinked. “Shit, I left their gifts at home. Can you take the salad out, and I’ll run over and get them?”
“Sure thing,” he said, taking the bowl I handed him.
I crossed the yard to my place and when I got inside, I grabbed the gifts.
Cooler weather was on the way and I hadn’t had any other good ideas, so I’d spent the last week crocheting the twins a matching scarf and beanie—dark blue for Cash and black for Chase.
And then, in case they thought that was lame, I’d taken Wilder at his word and added six boxes of Lucky Charms.
I had a moment of self-pity where I contemplated not going back over because I wasn’t sure if things were going to be awkward with Wilder now.
But then I heard Chase laughing, and that was enough to remind me that today was about the twins, not me, and it would be selfish to dip out just because my feelings were slightly bruised.
I was going to get my shit together and go and give them their gifts, and eat birthday cake, and not dwell on the fact that Wilder didn’t want to date me.
And it was the right move.
I gave the guys their presents and they laughed at the Lucky Charms, but Cash also pulled his beanie on and perched his tiara on top, giving me a tiny smile, so I knew he liked it.
An older woman arrived just before the steaks were done.
She was wearing torn black jeans and a T-shirt from some metal band I’d never heard of and was carrying a white cake box.
“Happy birthday, double trouble!” Her gaze fell on me.
“I’m Jane, Danny’s grandma. You must be Avery from next door.
” She set the cake box down and folded me into a hug and then said, “Now, who’s gonna fetch Grandma a beer? ”
The twins bolted to do it.
The food was as great as always, but I couldn’t tell who was more excited for what came next—Gracie or the twins.
Even Chase grinned when the cake was revealed, and he could hardly stop his leg from jiggling as Danny and Miller stuck candles in it and then lit them.
When we sang happy birthday, his eyes went misty for a second—not that anyone dared mention it—and Cash squeezed his hand and leaned his head on his shoulder.
“This is good cake,” Bobby said as he took a bite, “but it’s a shame you had to bring it all the way from Brodnax, Jane.” He chewed contemplatively before declaring, “I should really look at starting that bakery in Goose Run.”
“You?” Danny asked, eyebrows raised.
“Well, not me, me,” Bobby said, waving his hand and sending bits of cake flying. “I’d get a proper guy in. A professional bakery guy.”
“Do you mean a baker?” Danny asked.
“A baker! Right!” Bobby shoved more cake in his mouth. “This is damn good cake. Just imagine if you could get one of these every day, right here in Goose Run! Think what it would do for tourism!”
“Bobby,” Jane said fondly, “the only tourists Goose Run gets are people who take a wrong turn off the highway.”
“Well, it ain’t a wrong turn if it brings them to Goose Run,” he said staunchly. “It’s more a happy accident.”