29. Porter
29
porter
“What the fuck…”
As soon as I step out on my front porch with Grace in my arms—appropriately sporting a large lilac hair bow to match her party dress—I stop and look at the parking lot of my bar.
Because what the actual fuck is going on?
From what I can see, a bounce house is being inflated, farm animals are being led to a pen, and a food truck is setting up shop.
“Huh?”
“I know,” I say to Grace. I don’t know if that’s what she actually said, but that’s what I heard, and it fits. “I think it’s time we find Quinn.”
Now, the reason for Grace’s new bow, and my matching button-down shirt, is because this is a special day. Grace is turning one next week, I got official notice that we’re one step closer to adoption, and Quinn is officially moved back to Rolling Hills.
All three are big reasons to celebrate.
When Quinn and I were talking about a party, I was thinking a backyard barbecue. Friends and family. A few regulars. Something just nice and relaxing to celebrate everything that’s been happening over the past few months.
Quinn’s last words to me on that topic were, “I’ll take care of everything.”
That should’ve been my first clue. Because then I remembered Quinn is a Banks. And her brother is Simon, also known as the most over-the-top man in Rolling Hills. But I never expected what I’m seeing now.
“Right over here!” Simon directs, wearing his Dad Squad polo shirt as he helps back in a flavored ice truck. “There we go. Perfect!”
“Can I ask what’s going on?”
He turns to me, doesn’t answer my question, but does take Grace out of my arms. This man is on a mission right now for my niece to smile at him. The fact that she doesn’t only makes this little game they play even better.
“This is all for you,” he says in a baby voice. “Because your Uncle Porter wanted to have a party but he didn’t have a bounce house guy. I have a bounce house guy. We’re going to have so much fun!”
“Give her back, please,” I say as Grace willingly comes back to me. “Simon, really, this is nice and all, but you shouldn’t have.”
“But I did,” he says as he signs something on a clipboard from a passing-by worker. “Today’s a big day. For all of you. Her first birthday! Did you get her a smash cake? I did just in case. And while an open bar with food at The Joint is great, it doesn’t scream one-year-old birthday/return home party. Because this girl is one, and Quinn is back home!”
I smile as I realize all of that is true until I remember one thing he slid in. “Who said anything about open bar?”
He waves me off. “You did. I’m sure. At some point. It’s fine. Everything is fine. It’s a party!”
I stand in confusion for more than a few seconds before Grace starts squirming to be let down. I make my way inside The Joint, not wanting her to start running around in the busy parking lot, when I realize that inside is just as much of a madhouse as it is outside.
“Quinn?” I ask as I put Grace down in the “Grace Corner” as the regulars have dubbed it. In reality, it’s just a portion of the bar where they built a permanent baby gate, put in a mat so she’s not sitting on the wood floor, and filled it with more toys than she could ever play with. It’s becoming one of her favorite places and she cries when she has to leave. “Care to tell me what’s going on?”
She all but skips around the bar, balloons in her hand as she leans up to kiss me on the cheek. “We’re decorating.”
“I see that,” I say as a host of red and pink balloons cover nearly every inch of the bar. It looks like I’m having a Valentine’s Day in June event. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many balloons in my bar in, well…ever.”
I look around the bar and the decorations are big, bright, and I’ll even admit, fun. There’s a banner welcoming Quinn back to Rolling Hills. There’s another one that says “Happy Birthday” with stuffed bears and birthday candles on it. Streamers hang from the ceiling and balloons float all around. It definitely doesn’t look like my bar, which makes me wonder what the regulars are going to have to say about this.
“Quinn! We finished packing the party favor bags. Should we put them by the door?”
My eyes are unblinking as I watch Harry and George carrying little party bags through the bar. “Really? She got you two in on this?”
“Of course!” George says, looking at me like I’m crazy. “That angel of a woman of yours is the reason I’m able to go across the country with my lady and my RV. She could’ve told me to drink concrete today and I woulda done it. Plus, our little girl only turns one once!”
“I’m here for the cake,” Harry says, patting my back as he walks next to me. “Also, don’t look stressed. This is a fun day. A happy day. Have some fun. Your daddy would’ve loved it.”
I sit down at those words, because Harry’s right. He might’ve been an aloof bar owner for his life, but he always had a sparkle in his eye when a new baby or child would come into the bar with their parents. I think if he were alive, and Missy would’ve brought Grace to me, he would’ve supported me every step of the way. And I know for a fact he would’ve loved that little girl as much as I do.
On that same line, he would’ve loved Quinn. He knew her back in the day and always laughed at her stunts. I remember him partying with her just as much as anyone on her twenty-first birthday.
Yeah…he would’ve approved of us. Of this. Of us raising this family together. Most importantly, he would’ve been thankful that I didn’t end up alone.
Pops and I had talks about why I didn’t date. He knew I wasn’t a monk, but he also knew that I never brought anyone over for dinner. A few times he made sure to mention to me that just because he never remarried, or really even dated after Mom left, that I didn’t need to stand with him in solidarity.
And I knew that. But what I didn’t know until many years later, after many late nights of thinking on my front porch with a bottle of whiskey, was that Bonnie leaving me messed me up just as much as it did him.
That’s why I think I was always okay with Quinn’s arrangement. I knew she was leaving. She couldn’t surprise me, or hurt me, when she wasn’t there the next day. Even if I asked her to stay, I still knew what the result was going to be. It’s probably why I held back my feelings for her for so long. Because I knew she wasn’t going to be here.
But now she is. She’s officially moved into my house. She has closets and drawers. Her cat has taken over my house and there are strands of her brown hair in my sink. She has a book in each room, an iced coffee maker on my countertop, and I now know what it truly means to binge watch a series.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Hey,” she says, snapping me from my daydream as she slides onto my lap. “Everything okay? I know Simon and I kind of took over. If you want?—”
She doesn’t finish that sentence as I lean in for a kiss. It’s probably a little much for noon on a Saturday at my bar, but I frankly don’t give a damn.
She’s here. She’s staying. And I’m going to kiss her whenever, and wherever, the hell I please.
“Well, well,” she says as I pull away. “What was that for?”
“Just thinking about things.”
She taps her forehead with mine, letting it rest there for a beat. “All good, I hope?”
I nod. “Not just good. Great. Especially now that you’re back.”
After Quinn’s decision that she was staying in Rolling Hills, a few things had to happen. One, she needed to finally finish moving her things from Arizona. Luckily, her brother knows a guy with a moving company, and they had Quinn packed and back in Tennessee within three days. What she wasn’t bringing she sold easily and has now officially moved in.
Once she was back—and she admitted later she probably should’ve probably done this first—she formally applied for the librarian’s job that hadn’t even been resigned yet by Mrs. Metcalf. It was an odd meeting for sure—Quinn said that it was her and Shirley in the principal’s office as Shirley told him what was going to happen. And while this principal didn’t know Quinn specifically, he had heard of her lore. Before Quinn knew it, she was being formally interviewed by the principal, two members of the board of education, and members of the parent committee. Since she wasn’t prepared to be facing that large of an interview room, she slightly panicked, confessed to four pranks from twenty years ago, and went into more than full detail of how things ended in Arizona. I wasn’t there, but she claims that she blacked out and maybe admitted that she asked them in no uncertain terms if they named their group with a dildo in mind.
Luckily for her, one of the board members was her former chemistry lab partner who vouched that Quinn always had good intentions in mind and that she’d make an excellent addition to the Rolling Hills Middle School staff.
They also empathized with her about the parent group that led to her fall in Arizona. Apparently Rolling Hills LSD has one. In a shock to no one, it’s led by Emily’s best friend.
While all of that was happening, I was in a courtroom taking the next steps toward adoption. Because Missy left her with me, and wrote me that letter, a judge said that I’m, for now—until they can do a further check and go through the proper channels—her relative caregiver.
Grace’s coos and noises instinctively have us both looking over to her play area, making sure she’s okay. She is, just curiously looking at a very bright, and very loud, interactive toy someone gave her. For only being here for two months, this child has accumulated a shit ton of toys.
“This day feels surreal,” Quinn says, tilting her head so it’s resting on my shoulder.
“How so?”
“Just…everything. Three months ago I had a job in another state. You didn’t know Grace existed. And look where we are now. So much has happened in such a short amount of time, but at the same time, it feels like we’ve been doing this forever.”
“I know what you mean.” I tighten my grip around her waist and kiss her shoulder. “Sometimes I can’t even remember my life before Grace.”
“Really? You don’t remember life before you knew how to change a diaper?”
“Well, certain parts,” I say, remembering the days before Grace came here, specifically my night with Quinn in the office. “Some parts are very vivid.”
She understands what I’m saying as she wraps her arms around my neck. “You know, maybe some of those nights can be redone. See if the sequel is better?”
“I like the sound of that.”
Our lips meet and the kiss deepens quickly, but just as fast, a door slamming open breaks us up.
“All right people, listen up!” Quinn and I both turn toward the door, where Simon is standing with a clipboard on and—is that a head set? Who the fuck is he talking to? “Guests are arriving in ten minutes, food is starting to get prepped, and we’re going to have fun today. You hear me? Fun!”
“Simon, it’s literally just us here,” Quinn says as she and I walk toward the door, lifting Grace out of her play area. “You don’t need to shout.”
“I’m not shouting. This is excitement,” he says. “Now get out there. It’s party day!”
Simon swings the door back open and exits the bar, leaving us wondering what the hell we’ve gotten into.
“Ready for a party?”
Grace, on cue, starts clapping excitedly.
“All right, then. Let’s party.”
* * *
“We didn’t do anything. How is today so tiring?”
That one statement makes the entire table laugh, which consists of Simon and Charlie, Ainsley, Maeve and her husband Logan, as well as Stella and her boyfriend, Emmett.
“Because this is a different kind of tired,” Maeve explains. “You’re probably just getting used to normal parent tired. Operating on three hours of sleep, caffeine, and a sheer will to not have the day beat you. Your body is now used to that tired and can function normally.”
“But today…” Charlie cuts in. “Today has new activities. Not the normal day. And sometimes, those ones knock you on your ass more than a day where you change twenty diapers and the kid decides that she’s giving up naps for Lent.”
It makes sense. My body feels like it’s been through it, and all I’ve done is chase Grace around a bounce house, helped her open presents, and changed her outfit three times because my girl is playing, and eating, like it’s going out of style.
It’s fine, though. Gives me an excuse to try on all of her new bows.
It was a buy-one-get-one-free sale. And I’m learning that I can’t be trusted with a baby clothing sale.
“Well what about you two?” Stella asks. “When is our newest couple going to celebrate Quinn’s return home and new job?”
We look at each other and shrug. “Not sure. I think we both kind of figured this was it?”
“Plus, when are we going to do that?” Quinn adds. “Between Grace, the bar, and the move, we haven’t really had a free second.”
Quinn’s siblings all share a knowing glance before turning back to us.
“What are you plotting?” Quinn asks. “If this is another Quinn-tervention, I assure you, I’m healed from whatever it is y’all think you need to fix with me.”
Maeve shakes her head. “No interventions. Just a night out.”
I look to Quinn, who looks as confused as I do, before looking back to Maeve. “Night out?”
“Exactly,” Ainsley says. “You two have been through a lot over the past few months. And while we know you said this party was for both of you, clearly, the kids are having more of a time than y’all are.”
Everyone turns to the bounce house, which I didn’t realize there were going to be two—one for big kids and one for Grace—where I can see Wes’s oldest daughter holding Grace’s hand as she guides her out of her mini funhouse. Her cheeks are rosy, and she’s clearly having the time of her life.
“Yeah,” Simon says. “I probably went a little too hard into the kid activities. My bad.”
“But without my brother doing this,” Stella says, “it wouldn’t have given us the idea to give you two a much deserved night off.”
“Guys, I appreciate it,” I say. “But I don’t?—”
“Whatever you’re going to object to, we’ve got it covered,” Maeve says. “We already talked to Jenny, and she’s going to be at the bar helping Stella, Emmett, and Simon pour drinks.”
“I’m like a celebrity bartender,” Simon says, a big grin across his face.
“Make him stop,” Emmett groans into Stella’s shoulder.
Simon slaps Emmett on the back. “Nope! We’re going to have fun!”
“Wow, I…” I’m speechless. “But what about Grace?”
“I’m on Grace duty,” Ainsley says. “I’ll take her to Mom and Dad’s. That way when you get home from your night out in Nashville, you have the house completely to yourself. She’ll spend the night with me over there and then I’ll bring her back in the morning.”
“Night in Nashville?” Quinn asks. “Why are we going to Nashville?”
At that moment, Logan hands me an envelope. “Two tickets for tonight’s hockey game. I hear that it’s the championship series? Or whatever the terminology is for that.”
Quinn and I look at each other in shock because we’ve been following each game of the series every night at the bar. Tonight the Music City Rockers could win the cup.
“Logan. We can’t?—”
“Oh, and be ready at four-thirty,” Maeve says. “That’s when the limo will be picking you up to take you to your dinner at our favorite Nashville steakhouse. And before you object, it’s already paid for, so you can’t say no.”
I’m speechless and stunned. But in the midst of that, for some reason, I happen to notice a car pulling into the parking lot. There’s a sign out front that says we’re closed this afternoon for a private event, but even if it was someone coming to the party, I don’t recognize the car. And I would. It’s a bright orange sedan, a color that would be remembered.
I stare at it for a second, and I can’t see much past the tinted windows. It stops for a second, and I think my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I could swear the person driving could pass for my mother. An older version. But still, the resemblance, even through the glaring sun, is striking.
But just as quickly as they pull in, the car backs up and burns rubber out of the parking lot.
Fucking weird…
“So what do you say, you two?” Stella says, turning me back to our conversation. “Are you ready for a night out?”
Quinn and I look at each other, smiles big on both of our faces.
“What do ya’ say, Hurricane? Want to go out on our first date?”