Chapter 9 Be There
Be There
We walked along the sidewalk to Julian’s latest investment, a small restaurant that had been struggling to survive its first year. With Julian’s guidance and investment dollars, it was destined to thrive.
To my great shame, I didn’t even know it was there. And in a town as small as Sage Ridge, that really spoke to my powers of observation.
Julian was taking this opportunity to host a get-together to introduce the people closest to him to the restaurant. As a joke, he decided it would be a birthday party for Daire to give Harley an excuse to order a massive birthday cake and the homemade ice cream she loved so much.
Isaiah skipped back and forth in front of us, kicking rocks along the curb, making faces at himself in the store windows, and reporting his every finding along the way.
The summer sun shone brightly despite the waning evening hour.
I breathed in happily. “You smell that?”
Kian grunted. “Smell what?”
“Summer! Freshly cut grass, sunshine, flowers.” I sucked in deeper and hummed low in my throat, exhaling with a breathy moan. “Barbecue.”
He chuckled. “You’re right, it does smell like summer.”
“I love to hear a man say, ‘you’re right.’” I chuckled. “It builds character.”
“It builds your ego,” he countered, his smile faltering once more.
Sighing, I decided to confront the issue head on. “You’ve just gotta get it over with.”
“I don’t belong here,” Kian stated soberly, his gaze flitting to mine for a moment before dancing away as he shoved his hands deeper into the front pockets of his jeans.
“Here in Sage Ridge?” I hurried along beside him, two of my steps for every one of his long strides. “I didn’t either until I did.”
He tipped his chin down and smiled at me. “That makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” I protested. “You only belong to yourself until you open your mind and heart to someone else. You expect them to reject you, so you won’t give them a chance.”
“It’s not that,” he began, then acquiesced, “Well, it’s not just that. I don’t want to push myself so far into Aaron’s life that I crowd him out of it, you know?”
“Hm.”
He snorted. “Maybe I should have just stayed away. Moving here was selfish,” he murmured. “He’s a grown man of twenty who doesn’t need me. Did you know his birthday is just eight days before Isaiah’s?”
“Yes,” I murmured.
He huffed out a frustrated breath. “See, I didn’t. When I asked him what day he was born, he brushed me off. Being here, pushing myself on him, fuck, I feel like I’m using Isaiah to make Aaron let me in. It’s all fucked up. It’s not how I pictured it.”
“How did you picture it?”
“Fucking Hallmark,” he grumbled.
“Well,” I chirped. “The setting is right.”
He chuckled and gently knocked his elbow into my arm.
“Isaiah deserves a chance to know his brother,” I stated firmly. “Aaron deserves a chance to know his brother and his father. But you have to give him that chance.”
“He doesn’t want it.”
I shook my head. “That’s not necessarily true. He’s just not ready. If he truly didn’t want it, he’d tell you to stay away. Or he’d stay away.”
“Maybe.”
I bumped my hip against his. “Well, there’s no going back. You’re committed now. If you take Isaiah away without seeing this through, it’ll be worse.”
“You might be right,” he grudgingly admitted.
“Wow, two ‘you’re rights’ in one night.” I looked at him appraisingly. “You just might be a unicorn, Kian Matthews.”
We walked together in silence while my brain continued to churn.
“I’m not really a parent,” I began slowly, ignoring the sting of my omission, “but I had great parents. My dad was steadfast as the mountains and my mom was a firecracker.” I shook me head and snorted out a small laugh at the memory of my feisty mother.
“And from a kid’s point of view, I know the most important thing you can do is be there.
” I tipped my chin back and looked up at him. “So be there.”
His eyes skittered back and forth between mine before he offered me a brief nod. “Be there. I can do that.”
After a moment, he tilted his chin down toward me and murmured, “Can I ask you what happened to your parents?”
I nodded. “I lost them both, within a year of each other, shortly after I met Gary.”
“Did they ever meet him?”
“Yes.” I stared off into space, remembering my happiness at thinking I’d found ‘the one.’ “They met him before he changed.” I snorted. “My dad would have buried him if he’d seen what he turned into.”
Kian nodded with a tight-lipped smile. “He changed?”
I nodded shortly. “For the worst.”
“I’d want to kill him, too,” he admitted softly.
I laughed. “Oh, I didn’t say he would kill him. I said he’d bury him. It would have been my mother who took him out.”
He grinned. “She was feisty?”
I smiled softly. “The feistiest.”
As we approached the door, he sighed deeply and asked, “Do they know I’m coming?”
“Yup.”
He held the door open for Isaiah who bounded inside. Never having known a place or person who didn’t want him gave him no reason to fear this one.
Kian gave me a nod to go next, and I slapped him on the ass as I passed.
He barked out a laugh. “What was that for?”
I smirked up at him. “Just checking to make sure you’ve got your big girl panties on.”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he had a smile on his face when he walked in. I considered that to be the first cleared hurdle.
Julian’s face lit up. “Hey, welcome,” he called out as he crossed over to us. “I’m glad you could make it. Help yourself to the buffet.”
“It looks good,” I exclaimed.
He smiled warmly. “It tastes better.”
Offering his hand to Kian, he gave him a nod. “It’s good to see you again, man.”
“Happy to be here,” Kian replied as he looked around. “Very nice.”
Julian hooked his hands on his hips and scanned the restaurant. “It’s a work in progress. We can only do so much while remaining open.” Pointing out one wall, he began to describe to Kian the plans he and his partner had for expansion. “Yesterday was our last day open until the end of renovations.”
Leaving them to it, I skipped over to greet my girls.
“I’d get up but I’m a fucking Weeble,” Harley complained, palming her rounded belly.
“You look beautiful, Harley,” I told her honestly, bending to kiss her cheek.
“I keep telling her,” Daire murmured beside her.
I grinned at him. “Happy birthday.”
He smiled easily, his eyes soft. “Whatever it takes to make her happy.”
“Ugh.” I pretended to gag which garnered a giggle from Harley and Noelle.
Noelle, at 6 months along with her second, was nearly as big as Harley. She smiled widely, “Hey, Bridge. Nice to see you’ve moved on from the priesthood.”
I rolled my eyes, but she wasn’t wrong. The priest that conducted Shae’s Nana’s funeral service looked like a fallen angel. Lucky for him, he was already married, or I might have lured him away from the church. Who knew a priest could be married if he joined the priesthood after his vows?
Giving a nod toward Kian, Noelle smirked. “Nice man candy.”
I glanced at Kian who stood smiling and talking animatedly with Julian. “We’re just friends,” I murmured, laughing as Noelle’s son Hunter toddled past, his big, grumpy bear of a daddy hot on his tail.
“Hi, I’m Dylan.”
I looked down at the curly-haired sprite at my feet and dropped to my haunches. “Hello, Dylan.”
“You want to meet mine big mommy?”
I smiled, my heart fairly bursting at Shae’s good fortune. “I sure do. Want to introduce me?”
She reached for my hand and led me to Shae.
Speaking of man candy, Gabe leaned back in his chair, long legs sprawled, tattooed arms crossed over his chest. Next to my sweet, blond, pony-tailed friend, the contrast between his bad boy and her girl-next-door was marked. I loved it.
“Hey, Gabe.” I smiled.
“Bridge.” He gave me a nod as he worked a toothpick back and forth in his mouth.
Dylan tugged my hand until I stood nearly toe-to-toe, towering over my bestie who was seated.
I grinned down at her. “So, this is how it feels to be tall. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the top of your head.”
Dylan looked up at me, waving her little hands animatedly with every syllable. “This mine big, big mommy.”
“Hey, Big Mama,” I teased.
Shae groaned, tugged Dylan up onto her lap, and held her close, her face soft and happy.
Gabe’s handsome face, usually closed tight or bubbling over with teasing, lay stripped naked as he watched them.
Feeling as though I was intruding on a private moment, I quietly backed away. There were a few people I didn’t know milling about, but I figured I’d talked to everyone I needed to for the moment.
“You good?” Kian murmured at my shoulder.
I smiled up at him. “I’m good. You hanging in there?”
He smiled back and pulled out the nearest chair. “Have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
Isaiah dropped into the seat next to me, his plate piled high with breaded chicken strips.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “They didn’t have any vegetables, Ace?”
He looked at me in horror. “It’s a birthday party, Bridge. You don’t eat vegetables at a birthday party.”
Max laughed, pulling the chair out beside Kian who sat up straight. “Mind if we join you?”
“Please,” Kian offered politely, his face blanking of all expression.
Isaiah stuck his hand out in Max’s direction. “I’m Ace.”
Kian snorted out a laugh, then a quiet reprimand, “Isaiah.”
Isaiah pursed his lips then continued. “Some people call me Isaiah.”
Max grinned and offered his hand, encasing Isaiah’s small hand completely. “It’s good to meet you, Ace. I’m Max.”
“Hello, Isaiah,” Wren greeted, her eyes soft and warm as she smiled at him indulgently.
“Hello.” Isaiah’s brow furrowed. “So, if I share my dad with Aaron does that mean he shares you with me?”
Wren laughed softly. “Yes. That’s exactly what it means. I’m your Wren.”
“My Wren,” Isaiah tested the words, nodding as he came to a decision. “I’ll just call you Wren.”
“That sounds good,” she twinkled at him.
“Is my brother here?”
Wren shook her head. “Not yet.”
“Did Dini lay her egg yet?”