6. Chapter Six
Chapter Six
Tyler
I toggled the mouse to wake up the computer as I continued talking to Vanessa about running the store. She’d been a part-time employee for the last few years, and by some miracle had agreed to take on a full-time role for the next three months while I was gone. Everything was falling into place to exit Little Falls and follow the whims of Mia Malone. Almost like fate.
The bells above the door jingled, signaling another customer. I was busier than usual this morning. When I glanced up from showing Vanessa another ordering spreadsheet, my gaze connected with Emily’s. She was two years younger than me and had inherited the same reddish tinge to her hair that I possessed. The only one who’d been blessed with a true red was Maggie, and hers was a deep, rich auburn that Katie had coveted. I shook my head. Weird to have my ex-girlfriend creep into my thoughts again. I hadn’t thought of her in any concrete way in years. I wasn’t sure when and why she moved back to Little Falls. Not that it mattered. Seeing her must have triggered a memory or two. That was all.
While Vanessa scribbled more notes in the three-ringed store bible we were putting together, I rounded the counter and hugged Emily. Our father had insisted hugs were good for mental health, and as a result, I hugged freely and often. Emily clung on for longer than normal .
“Is there somewhere we can talk?” Her brown eyes were piercing.
“Yeah. Back office? I take it you talked to Maggie.”
“Uh, yeah. And Mom. I gotta say, we’re all freaking out.”
“You’re freaking out?” I closed the office door tight and sighed before taking a seat.
“I know how hard it is to be a single parent. So, yeah, I’m freaking out. For you. For her. For the baby on the way.”
She sank into a chair across from me while I leaned back into my swiveling high-backed leather desk chair, waiting.
“Have you thought this through?”
“Enough to know I want to do it.”
She unbound her ponytail, gathered her hair up, and redid it tighter. A hint of a smile played on my lips. Emily was getting her game face on—the one she used to talk me or anyone into or out of something. I supposed it was what made her successful in her real estate business. She knew how to work an angle. Wouldn’t matter. We’d each been dealt an ample amount of stubbornness, and I would dig in on this one. A decision made was a decision followed.
“You never wanted to be a single parent, Em. It wasn’t in your game plan. I get that.”
“And you want to be a single parent? It’s in your game plan?” Her expression filled with disbelief. “Really?”
I picked up a pen from my desk and twirled it between my fingers. I should have grabbed one of the lollipops off the front desk before coming back here. A cigarette . God, I wanted a cigarette. “That’s not what I’m saying. But I’m approaching this situation differently than you. My frame of mind isn’t the same.”
“You have no idea what you’re getting into. ”
“I’m well aware.”
“Are you? The endless nights? All the worry on your shoulders? The cost—emotional, physical, and financial? When you don’t have someone to share those things, sometimes it feels like you’re going to drown under the weight. I just…I wouldn’t wish that feeling on anyone.”
“I’ll figure it out. Will it be hard? Probably—”
“Not probably. A certainty. There isn’t enough help in the world to reduce your parental guilt the first time you have to pick putting food on the table over going somewhere to support your kid.” Emily swallowed and stared at her hands folded in her lap. “Maggie said Mia doesn’t want anything to do with the baby once it’s born.”
“That’s what she thinks, yeah.” I didn’t plan to dwell on her initial reaction to the pregnancy. As long as no one found out, she’d have time to decide how she felt about the baby over the next few months. I was sure she’d come looking more for help with the baby than for an agreement to have the abortion. Was I reading her right? I didn’t have a clue. Wishful thinking, maybe. But I wasn’t planning to close any doors.
“You don’t believe her?” She glanced up and tilted her head.
“What do either of us know for sure until the baby arrives? All we know is it’s coming.” I drew open a couple of desk drawers, looking for a stray lollipop. Earlier, I’d cleared them out. Having either Mom or Emily show up at some point today had been inevitable. Though, I was a little surprised it was Emily first.
“That’s a very simplistic view of a complex problem.”
“I’m a simple man.” At the back of the middle drawer, a lone lollipop rolled around. I plucked it out and ripped off the wrapper. Blueberry jasmine. A hint of a smile threatened to materialize before I popped it into my cheek and met Emily’s gaze .
“There’s simple, and then there’s idiotic.” Emily sighed. “We’ve crossed the line here. If she wanted the baby, that would be one thing. But I don’t understand why she’s agreed to this for you.”
“Honestly?” I raised my eyebrows. “Me neither. But I’ve always wanted to be a dad, and now with our dad gone, it’s important for me to do this. Let’s face it, none of my other relationships have gotten me there, and I’m thirty-five. I don’t want to be a first-time dad in my forties, and most of the women I’m meeting now have kids already.” I spread my hands wide. “Hard is not impossible. I’m going to be a dad.”
“I can’t decide if that explanation is a shitty reason or a really good one.”
“Go with a good one. It’ll make you feel better.” I grinned and pointed my lollipop in her direction.
“Mom is not going to be comforted by this conversation.”
“She sent you?”
“Uh, yeah. Of course. She thought I might be able to talk some sense into you.” Emily released a deep breath. “ I didn’t think that. We’re all the same. Too stubborn.”
“This is going to be good for me. I can feel it.”
“That’s because you have no idea what’s coming. You’re like the lobster in the pot, unaware the boil will happen.” Emily rose from her chair and threw her purse over her shoulder. “But don’t worry—Maggie, Mom, and I will be there.”
“You’ll yank me out before I get boiled alive?”
“Hopefully before the third-degree burns set in.” Emily smiled. “No promises. That stubbornness, you know?”
As we exited the office, the bells above the door jingled again. Grady, tall, lean, and perpetually tanned, stood framed in the entryway .
“Jesus,” I said, twisting the stick to the lollipop still lodged in my cheek. “Maggie’s called in the big guns.”
“We want to make sure you’ve heard all sides of this—even if you don’t change your mind.”
“I’m not changing my mind.” I’d made a promise to Mia. She was putting her career on the line to carry this baby. Her reputation was at stake, and while a reputation was changeable, sometimes easily earned and lost, hers mattered to her. And so now, it mattered to me. There was no greater priority than Mia and the baby she carried.
“Hey, Tyler,” Grady said with a wave from the door. “Got a minute? Maggie asked me to swing by before you hit the road.”
“Yeah, why not? Join the parade through my office. I’m planning on turning my front door into a game. Who will appear next in a desperate bid to talk some sense into me?”
Vanessa’s head swiveled between the two of us as she pretended to busy herself on the computer. She knew I was going on tour with Mia, but I hadn’t revealed what motivated this sudden flip.
“I promised Maggie.” A smirk rose to Grady’s lips.
“Yeah, I get it, man. No worries. Come on back.” I gave Emily a quick hug before following Grady into the office and closing the door once again. “So, you’re here to warn me off Mia or being a single parent?”
“I have to pick one? Aww, shit. I came unprepared for that.” He grinned.
I rocked back in my chair as Grady assumed Emily’s seat. “Nah, have at ‘er. What is it that Maggie wants to make sure I understand?”
Grady pressed his fingertips into his forehead and then crossed one foot over his knee. “Mia’s life—”
“Is a circus. She told me.”
He took a moment and glanced up at the ceiling. “I like her. We get along. But she’s fucking all over the map with what she wants. It’s part of the reason her mom keeps her on such a tight leash, I think. She’s just…impulsive. Or maybe it’s just that she’s young. I don’t know. But I can guarantee there are things going on with her you’ve got no idea about. None.”
“Isn’t that part of the fun of getting to know someone?”
“Maybe.” Grady rubbed his face. “Seems like the frustrating part to me.” He chuckled. “Then, you know, the whole single parenting thing. I watched my mom struggle after my dad died. It’s not an easy life you’re choosing.”
“Why do you think Mia came to me? Why tell me if what she wanted was an abortion?” I took the lollipop out of my mouth and dropped it into the trash can.
“Part of the mystery of Mia. I’m not sure there’s an answer to that question.” Grady’s phone buzzed, and he took it out of his pocket and set it on the desk without looking at the display.
“Maggie?”
“Probably. She really wanted me to come. I really didn’t want to.”
“She’s worried about me.” I crossed my arms.
“We’ve gone beyond worried.” Grady made a step-by-step motion with this hand. “We’re about five years past worried to where you’re living off of government assistance and Mia has somehow forced you into paying her child support for a baby she doesn’t possess.”
I laughed and ran a hand down my face. “Jesus.”
“Exactly. Overthinking is her full-time job.” Grady pressed his hands into the arms of his chair. “Stupid question, maybe. But did your dad help keep her overthinking in check a little? I mean, it’s… ”
“Yeah. They were very close, and saw each other a lot with the pharmacy work. Dad was the calm in all of our storms. Nothing he wouldn’t do for us.” I ran a fingertip over the smooth wood of my desk. “We miss him. I think we’re looking for him in different places. Figuring it out in different ways.”
“Is that what this is about?” Grady stared at me intently.
“There are worse ways to pay tribute to my dad. Becoming a father myself. Doing the best I can for Mia and the baby.”
“She doesn’t want to be in the equation. She was very specific about that when I talked to her.” Grady picked up his phone and glanced at the message before setting it face down again. “I’ve offered to build an apartment in the old train station I bought when I first moved back home. I’ve already built a recording studio there, so Mia would be able to use both to work on her next album either before the baby comes or once it’s here. Since I’m producing the album, it might be the best fit. Think about it. Mia already knows. Have you two talked about timing? She was vague on the phone.”
“No, not really.” I needed another lollipop. God, why did I give Mia all the ones out of my office drawers? When she’d said they made her feel better, I’d rounded up all but the ones on the front counter. A rush order was supposed to arrive tonight by the close of business so I could take them with me. Her appearance at the shop to get more had been amusing after she mocked my use of them and my internet research. Sometimes Google knew things, even medical things.
“I think my job is done.” Grady stood. “Single parenting: hard. Mia: hard. Be careful.”
“Your campaign slogan for mayor is starting to make more sense now. I thought you were good with words? ”
“Only when I sing them.” He extended his hand to shake. “Maggie is freaking the fuck out right now. I was supposed to remind you that family looks after each other.”
During Maggie’s first campaign for mayor, I ran for town council so I could back her decisions or offer a reasonable second opinion. I’d looked out for Maggie the night she stayed at Grady’s and slept in, missing the pharmacy opening, worrying everyone. When Omar was dying, I spent many nights watching Amir while Emily clutched her husband’s hand. When Dad died, I slept at my parents’ house for almost a month, so Mom didn’t have to be alone, even though every morning without Dad in that house put another dent in my heart. I understood what it meant to be part of a family, to look after each other, and I was grateful that my sisters and parents had never neglected the bond either. Sometimes, I found their concern frustrating. I certainly had eight years ago when Katie and I split, but most of the time, I was grateful for their love, knew I only had to ask, and they’d step up. Families that didn’t function like that were baffling. Why wouldn’t you want the best for the people you love? When the worst came, you loved them harder.
I took Grady’s hand and shook it. “Are you a hugger?”
“Ah, the famous Sullivan goodbye.” Grady grinned. “I’m learning to appreciate the art of the hug. Joanna explained Jim’s philosophy. Made sense to me. Maggie’s always given the best hugs.”
Standing beside Grady made me feel short, and at six feet tall, I knew I wasn’t. We embraced, patting each other on the back with mutual affection.
Like his brother, Trent, Grady had a naturally fit frame. As far as I knew, Grady walked his dogs obsessively, but did little else in the way of exercise. While I was no longer on the strict diet and exercise routine Maggie’s best friend, Lila, had put me on before the Magic Men show, I hadn’t completely let myself go. Last time I’d been on tour with the theater company, I’d had hours of idle time, so perhaps I’d be able to get back into a fitness routine.
As Grady and I reached the front door, my phone rang. When I took it out of my back pocket, a blocked number flashed on the display. As soon as I answered it, there was a long pause. I waved to Grady as he climbed into his truck.
“Hello?” I said again.
“Tyler Sullivan?”
“That’s me.” I leaned against the cold windows. Where would Mia be tomorrow night? Tonight, it was Miami, but I hadn’t checked the concert schedule online beyond that.
“My name is Laura Malone. I got your name from Sarah Telling, who speaks very highly of you. We’re in need of a costume designer-slash-wardrobe person to join Mia Malone’s concert tour for the last three months. Normally, I’d ask for references and an interview, but I’ve already spoken to Sarah, and I understand you’ve worked for Grady Castillo before too.” She cleared her throat. “We may have met in passing at the benefit in Utica. I was in the dressing room when you first started fixing Mia’s costume.”
Realization dawned. I remembered the blonde who’d kept such a watchful eye before disappearing on some errand. She hardly looked older than me. Which made sense since Mia said her mother had been eighteen when she’d gotten pregnant. I closed my eyes. “Right, yes.” I managed to get out. “I remember. ”
“I realize this is very last minute, but we need someone to join the tour starting tomorrow night. Is there any chance you’d be willing to jump on board? I can email you a contract to look over.”
“Send me the contract. I’ll take a look and let you know within the hour.” I was glad Mia had told me not to accept right away. According to Mia, nothing made her mother more suspicious than eagerness. “I have a lot on my plate, but for the right incentive, I might be able to shift some things for a few months.” Those words felt sleazy coming out, but Mia had told me to work the money angle. They’d pay me whatever I asked, and Laura needed to believe that she won me.
“Of course. You’ll be more than fairly compensated for taking the job on such short notice.” I could hear the clack of the keyboard over the phone. “I adjusted the numbers and sent the contract. Call me when you’ve reviewed it.”
“Will do.” Without a goodbye, the connection went dead in my ear. I stared at my phone for a minute. So, that was her mother.
The vibration from the email coming in pulled me back to the task at hand. Now, I needed to negotiate like I didn’t care if I got the job while my insides screamed to just say “yes.”