26. Jedd
JEDD
After Piper was exhausted from the lake last weekend, we grabbed pizza on the way home. Once she was tucked in, Andy told me about the visitation and talking to Piper about it. Yet here we are Friday, almost five days later, and still no word from Alex.
And I, for one, am thankful for it. Andy and I have enough going on without the turmoil that Alex can cause.
Me with the expansion and her with the custody case.
I can see the storm clouds in the distance—all the problems Alex can cause us—but there’s nothing I can do about them until Alex makes the first move. In the meantime though, my brothers can help me with another project.
I need your help.
I swiftly outline what I’m thinking to them in our separate group chat, and once they all respond with resounding yeses, I tuck the device into my pocket and survey the empty lot I’m standing in.
“Hey, Chance, how’s it going?” I say when my contractor shows up.
“Hey, man. Good. How are you?” He spreads out the plans for the expansion on the hood of his car for us to look over.
“This is what I’m thinking …” he says, and then guides me through the proposal to expand my garage. The lobby will remain where it is but be enlarged a little. On the garage side, the far wall will be removed, and they’ll build out four additional bays, nearly tripling the existing space.
“The apartment over the top, you live there right?” Chance asks.
“I did. I moved out recently.” I don’t bother going into all the details of getting married. Though my new wedding band sits on my finger, and I’m weirdly proud of displaying the fact that I belong to Andy.
“Okay, so we have a couple of options here. We can expand the apartment, which would give it more of a condo feel, add a couple of bedrooms and another bathroom. You could rent that out short-term to the seasonal tourists or find a long-term renter in town, up to you.”
I wasn’t planning to expand the apartment. If all goes well—and it is so far—I won’t be moving back into the space. I planned to just leave it empty as I focused the bulk of the renovations on the actual garage to save money.
“Do we have to expand the building above?” I ask.
“No, you can leave it as is, but if you had any plans to expand that space later for whatever reason, it would be a bitch to do it.”
I nod. “Let’s hold off for now. I don’t anticipate having to move back in.” I hold my hand up and wiggle my ring finger.
“Oh, no shit? Congratulations, man.” He thumps me on the shoulder. “Who’s the lucky lady?”
Chance is based out of Crescent Falls, about an hour away, but he’s one of the only commercial contractors in the county, so he travels all over for his work.
“Andy Donovan.” And I watch his eyes widen, like he wasn’t expecting that answer.
We’ve gotten that look a couple of times since we got married, usually when we’re out and about and the people who aren’t plugged into the Everette gossip line catch wind that we got married.
“That’s fucking awesome man, you guys have been friends forever.” He punches me in the arm and continues, “Good to see you finally pulled your head out of your ass and made a move.”
I laugh. “Yeah. Me too.”
After that, we go over the specs for the expanded space and the timeline it would take him to get it all done.
Luckily because we’re just adding onto the existing space, the total time is less than a month once we close and he gets the go ahead to start ordering materials.
We discuss the permits that he’ll need to file and the inspections he’ll set up through the various stages of the expansion.
Once he leaves, I head down the street for lunch and pass by the salon on my way.
And right there is Andy.
She’s smiling, her head thrown back as she laughs, and I smile in response as I change direction to stop in and see my wife.
God, I’ll never get tired of saying that.
She turns as I enter the salon, an affectionate smile blooming on her face.
Fuck me, that smile kills me. Just brings me to my knees with a simple tilt of her lips.
“Hey, you,” she says before setting her shears down and skirting the receptionist desk to brush a kiss across my lips.
The familiar urge to grab her, pull her into me, and devour her mouth hits but I push it back. Now isn’t the time or the place for it.
“I’m heading to meet the guys for lunch. Did you want me to bring you anything?”
Her stomach chooses that moment to let out an angry yowl. She puts her hand to her midsection and laughs. “A patty melt sounds amazing right now.”
“One patty melt coming up. Salad on the side?” I ask.
She pulls a gross face, and I laugh. “I’m just kidding. French fries?”
Grinning, she brushes another kiss across my lips. “You know me so well.”
I turn to Jenner. “You want anything, man?” I offer.
“One of the club salads sounds about right.”
“Got it.” I trace my thumb along the line of Andy’s jaw and place another brief kiss on her mouth before I turn to leave.
Fuck. Life is good. So fucking good. I have the woman of my dreams and Piper is perfect.
Just thinking about the plan I put into motion earlier today makes me smile.
My shop is about to expand, giving me the ability to grow my business.
My brothers always have my back when I come up with secret sleuthing missions, and even though we still have some things to get through, I can see the silver lining at the end of all the bullshit we’ve been dealing with.
In a couple of months, Andy will have custody of Piper, and our little family will be fully settled. My shop will be back up and running, in line with the new stricter specs that the county is implementing.
Maybe once the dust fully settles, we can take Piper to that huge amusement park in California over spring or summer break.
Plans build and snowball in my head as I step into Ma’s and see my brothers at our regular table.
I pull out a chair, and Duke grins at me.
“A fire truck? Really?”
I nod. “Go big or go home.”
Duke and I get together the most because he’s the only one in the family who hates cooking. My brothers started tagging along when they realized we had lunch together most Fridays. Boone is the only one missing because he’s on a shift out at the ranger station.
“Let me tell you more about what I’m thinking.”
I outline my master plan. After my brothers agree to help, we wrap up lunch. I drop off lunch to Andy and Jenner before making a couple of stops and then heading home and getting dinner prepped while I wait for Piper and Andy to come home.
I’m just finishing putting some of the books I packed from my apartment onto the bookshelf space Andy cleared for me when the front door opens and closes. Piper slumps into the house, more subdued than normal.
Andy follows her and gives me a frown when I nod at our much more morose than usual niece.
She shrugs and mouths, “I don’t know.”
But I do. I know exactly what’s wrong. A quick glance at the school calendar to make sure that we weren’t missing anything when Andy moved Piper in was more than enough to tell me what has my Pipsqueak in a mood today.
“Hey Pipsqueak,” I call toward the kitchen, where she’s getting a snack. “Can you come here for a minute?”
If Eeyore was a little girl, he would be my Piper.
My Piper.
The rightness of the statement hits me right in the solar plexus.
I might only be related to her through my relationship—now marriage—to Andy, but that kid is mine, just like her aunt is. Laying claim to her in my heart is more natural than breathing.
She clomps into the living room and drops onto the couch, hugging her arms around herself.
“Yeah?” Even her tone is dejected, and I hear a little sniff.
“What’s wrong, Pipsqueak?” I ask, taking her hands in mine.
“Nothing,” she says forlornly.
“Come on, honey. You can tell us.” Andy comes over and sits down on the couch next to her, wrapping her arm around Piper’s shoulders. “Did something happen at school?”
“No. Nothing happened. Nothing ever happens to me.”
I have to actively stifle the chuckle that’s tickling the back of my throat.
“Okay. Well, you know that we’re here if you want to talk, okay?” I say with a quick glance and head shake at Andy.
“I know,” she says and tries to smile, but the expression is so sad that it doesn’t take.
“I left you a present on your bed.”
Piper’s head shoots up at that, and she looks at me. “You did?”
“I did. I saw it and just knew you needed it,” I reply with a squeeze to her hands. “Why don’t you go take a look, and if you don’t like it, that’s okay.”
We watch as she scampers off in the direction of her room. Andy stands, looking at me. “What did you get her?”
“Wait for it. Three,” I start to count down.
Andy looks toward the hallway, waiting.
“Two.”
Paper crinkles in the bedroom.
“One.”
“Oh my god, are you seriously serious right now?” Piper screams in excitement from her room.
Andy looks at me, puzzled, and I grab her hand and head down the hallway.
In her room, Piper is holding up the princess-esque dress against her body in the mirror.
“Do you like it?” I ask.
Andy steps around me and smiles, shaking her head at me.
I’m going to spoil my girls any chance I can.
“It’s beautiful,” Piper whispers, brushing her hands down the skirt before looking at me. “But what’s it for?” she asks, her brows pinching.
“Oof.” I slap my hands to my chest, like I was just shot, and dramatically play it up. “So I take it you don’t want to go to the dance with me?” I ask with a grin.
“What? No, of course I want to go.” She turns back to the mirror, and her eyes fill with tears.
“Oh shit,” I say as panic hits me like a cargo train to the face. “We don’t have to go, Pip. I just thought …”
“I want to go.” She turns to me and Andy.
“I don’t understand,” Andy says, looking between the two of us.
“That’s what I was sad about. It’s the first daddy-daughter dance the school is having, and I don’t have a daddy.”
“Oh, Piper,” Andy says with a frown.