Chapter 6
Chapter Six
August
“S o you got Addison to take not only Keelie, but Hayleigh with her on a girls’ night?” Greer asked as she sat down on the couch next to Luca.
“Yes, though I’m sure Devney will head on over to hang out with the girls once she’s finished with her project.” Luca looked over at Heath, who nodded.
“Yes, she doesn’t usually work late at the office, but they were dealing with a firm in Tokyo, and needed to switch their hours a bit. I don’t mind though, because it meant she was able to spend the last couple of days at the house, and rest.” Heath rolled his eyes. “I swear, getting our wives to rest and relax these days is ridiculous.”
I sat back and listened to my siblings discuss their married lives, and who was watching the kids for the night. I didn’t always feel left out of the conversation, as I was the only one not currently married, and unlike Heath and Luca, I wasn’t a dad. However, for some reason, there was an odd sense of loss sliding through me. As if I was the one behind.
It wasn’t as if I had thought I’d be married with kids by now; I hadn’t put much thought into it. But I had been married once before. The first one to do so, even young and blind, and the luck that I had forsaken in the end. And now here I was, the single guy, though I wasn’t quite sure that the others knew that distinguishing remark yet.
But I was the single one, the one who went home to an empty house.
It shouldn’t have bothered me. I had a hundred other things to do during the day, and worrying about being alone didn’t need to be one of them.
We were having a Cassidy sibling dinner, something we didn’t have often. Mostly because our family had grown. Greer rarely had time to hang out with us brothers these days, though she had been the main reason we had all moved out to Colorado in the first place.
After our parents’ marriages and subsequent divorces, it had been hard for us to figure out how to form a relationship with Greer. We brothers had always had each other through the turmoil of connections and lifetimes. But Greer had been alone. It didn’t matter that we had tried to reach out to her. Our parents had cut off those lines of communication. I didn’t know if they realized how painful and damaging those acts had been at the time. To them, they had been merely cutting themselves off from the other parent in the situation. But because they had gone all Parent Trap , they had lost out on getting to know their own children.
My father did not know Greer. Hell, I didn’t know my dad these days either, but my father did not raise Greer. Just like Mom hadn’t raised us boys. It never made any sense to me why they had done that, or why they hadn’t allowed true visitation, but there was no healing those wounds completely. There was still a scab over the wound, one that every once in a while, our parents came back to pick.
However, when we had become adults and realized that we could make our own choices, we had done the unthinkable to our parents. We had moved to be with Greer and start the next chapter together as a family. I still wasn’t quite sure what Greer had thought when she had looked up one day and seen her three hulking and overprotective brothers. It hadn’t helped that she had been dealing with a monumental terror in her life at the time. Thankfully, she had had not one but two men in her life to lean on. Now she was married to both, living a life I hadn’t expected for her, but also knew that it was perfect for her. Both Ford and Noah loved their wife beyond all reason. And I knew that they would protect her soul, as well as her, herself, and her heart along the way.
It was almost as if we brothers were superfluous when it came to her life, but then again, here she was, taking the time to hang out with us like we had wanted when we had first moved here all those years ago.
“Why are you frowning?” Greer asked, as she leaned across the table to tap my knee. She sat on the couch next to Heath, while Luca and I each had our own chairs on either side of them.
I shook my head at my little sister, glaring at her. “I’m not doing anything.”
“Exactly. You’re not part of the conversation. What’s going on with you?”
“Thank you for asking, because he never answers me,” Luca said with a roll of his eyes.
He leaned forward and popped a cube of cheddar cheese into his mouth, moaning at the sensation.
We had never been a true cheeseboard and appetizer family, but for some reason, Greer’s husbands were, and suddenly here we were, having a cheese plate instead of a steak and baked potato and bagged salad like we had used to.
Of course, that probably was something stereotypical I didn’t want to lean into, but as the sole single guy of our family, I felt like I needed to hold on to those traditions.
“You guys are just way too nosy,” I said with a sigh, then froze at the sound of a yip.
Luca cursed under his breath and quickly scrambled up, heading toward the large bin in the corner.
“Okay, Sandy, you’re fine. You just woke up from your nap.”
He immediately pulled out the small cocker spaniel, as it woke up fully, licking at Luca’s chin. The dog had a cast on its back foot, and looked pathetically tired, as if no matter how much sleep it got it wasn’t enough.
Well, that sounded about right.
As we were at Heath’s house, not Luca’s, it should have been a little surprising that Luca would bring one of his work pets home, but of course that wasn’t the case.
Luca continually had some form of foster animal with him, or one that needed to be watched throughout the night, or at least not be lonely and he didn’t want to leave at his office underneath the care of some of his team.
“Sandy?” I asked.
Luca sat on the couch, Sandy and her cast on his lap, looking a little stressed.
“That’s what her owners named her. We had to reset a broken leg, and then she had a couple of test issues I wanted to keep apprised of. She should be going home to her parents tomorrow, but I wanted to keep an eye on her tonight. And we’re full up at the office with the rest of the staff. I didn’t want Sandy to get forgotten because she’s usually so quiet.”
In fact, other than that one yip, I hadn’t heard another peep from that dog. Which was odd because usually they barked in love and made little panting sounds when they were in Luca’s arms.
“Is she going to be okay?” Greer asked, concern stamped on her face.
Luca nodded, running his hands down Sandy’s back. She finally began to calm, resting her head on her little paws.
The dog was damn cute. At one point I thought maybe I would get a dog of my own, or even a cat. Luca had a whole nursery at his house, with animals coming in and out daily, as well as animals of his own he and Addison raised alongside their daughter.
At that moment, Luca’s phone buzzed, and he cursed under his breath, looking down at the screen. “It’s the office, I need to take this.” Sandy looked up, worry in her gaze, and Luca sighed before standing up and moving forward.
Without even knowing what was happening, suddenly I had a sad cocker spaniel in my lap, whose eyes gave Luca a look of such betrayal for leaving her, that I knew my face probably echoed the same look.
“Pet her, before she shakes right off your lap,” Greer said, and I looked down at the little dog who stared back up at me, confusion in her gaze.
I didn’t know why those eyes of hers reminded me of Paisley’s just then. Probably because I was losing my damn mind. But here I was, holding a dog and gently petting her. Maybe it was because Paisley had looked that sad before. As if she had been left behind.
Of course, those were the words she had said before, and I was supposed to act as if I knew what I was doing.
With a sigh, Sandy rested her head on her paws again, and finally relaxed, but I didn’t stop petting her. If I did, she could get sad again, and I didn’t want that.
Again, the correlations between her and Paisley worried me, but I didn’t focus on that. I couldn’t.
“You should get a dog.”
I looked up at Greer, frowning. “What?”
“You should get a dog. Or a pet. That way you’re not alone.”
I raised a brow as she cringed. “Thanks for that assessment.”
“Well, Greer’s right,” Heath said with a shrug, and I scoffed at my twin.
“I’m not alone.” I blinked. “I have papers.” The laughter following my statement wasn’t as bright as I’d have liked.
“What about Dakota? Things getting serious there?” Greer asked.
I knew I should just calm down and not get annoyed that they were prying. But this was sibling time. When we all pried into each other’s lives and then updated one another.
I slid my hands over Sandy’s fur and sighed. I knew I probably should have mentioned it in the group chat, but getting dumped by your girlfriend while at work, all the while not realizing that you were calling her your girlfriend, wasn’t fun.
“Oh. I’m sorry,” Greer said as she leaned over the edge of the couch to pet my knee. Sandy took that as invitation and butted her little head against Greer’s palm. My sister smiled, and petted Sandy softly, before Sandy rolled back into my chest, nuzzling into me.
Well, at least the dog liked me.
“It’s okay. Dakota wasn’t right for me. It’s fine.”
“She dumped you?” Heath asked, and as I glared at him, he winced. “Sorry. I wasn’t being a dick. I was just surprised. You guys seemed to like each other.”
I frowned, not knowing why he would think that, since he had only met her a few times, and that was while we were at his bar having a drink. It wasn’t as if I had invited her over for family dinners or anything. Maybe that had been part of the problem. That I hadn’t invited her over for things. But we hadn’t been there. At least I didn’t think so. It was nice to have somebody, but I hadn’t thought we were truly serious.
And as evidenced by her walking away, she thought the same. We weren’t each other’s forever. And that was just something the world had to get used to. I was sadly already over it. Which probably said something more about me than it did anything else.
Luca came out at that moment, and smiled softly at Sandy on my lap, but didn’t move to take her. I didn’t mind, as the dog was now snoring on me.
“So what’d I miss?”
“Dakota and August broke up.”
“I’m sorry about that. She seemed nice.” Luca was silent for a moment, and I just let him be until he asked the question he wanted to. “So, how is this whole vacation going to go with the family, with you not bringing Dakota, and I assume Paisley isn’t going to bring that asshole Jacob.”
I winced, as my siblings all grumbled something about Jacob. It was nice that we all hated the man, even though none of us had known him.
Although Paisley wasn’t family, she had been around with the girls enough that it felt like that for them. Not for me, never for me. But the idea that none of us knew Jacob even though she’d been married to the man? That was all red flags.
And I hadn’t caught it because I had been too busy trying not to be jealous over my ex-wife.
Not that it had worked well.
“We’ll make do. We always do. It’s not like we’re sharing a room.” I glared at my sister. “No setups. We’re divorced. We’re finally getting along somewhat. Don’t screw it up.”
Greer held up both hands. “I promise I’ll be good. I’m just excited for the Cassidy family vacation. I know we could all use a break.”
I nodded, grateful that my scheduled break within my school year lined up with the break we were having as a family.
It would be nice to go to a resort up in the mountains and just hang out, hike a bit, dip in the heated pool, and just be. I would probably end up bringing some form of curriculum to work on, but it wouldn’t be too bad. Everyone else would be off with their families, kids and all, and I would be alone, with a drink, and the view. And far away from Paisley.
“I’m just sorry it happened before the trip.” He cringed. “Well, that sounded selfish of me, but it’s the truth. Bringing her to a family event like that was a big deal, and now…well…”
I shook my head at my brother. “It’s fine. We still work together, and she isn’t glaring at me. It just didn’t work out. No hard feelings.”
Again, that was a testament to something I did not want to think about.
“It’ll be good for Paisley to get out of the city for a bit too.”
I frowned at Greer’s words. “What do you mean?”
“Haven’t you been watching the news at all? Every single local gossip column is talking about it, and even the main local news mentioned it. The Bartons are big money here, and his sudden and secret divorce is a thing.”
Hell. I hadn’t seen it.
Because I had been avoiding it.
“Getting Paisley some time to breathe will be good, and I’m glad she’s coming.” Heath looked at me. “As long as you’re okay with it.”
I scowled again. “She’s friends with your wives and Greer. I long ago gave up the idea that I could control how you guys dealt with her. It’s water under the bridge. We’re all adults.”
They gave me a dubious look, but there wasn’t anything else for me to say in that moment.
We continued to eat, and set Sandy back in her bin, comfortable in her memory foam padding.
“Seriously, this is the best cheese dip ever.” Greer set her hand on her stomach and sighed happily. “I don’t know when I started to love cheese, but I blame my husbands.”
“Well, thankfully I’m not allergic to dairy, so I’m counting that as a win,” Luca said with a sigh, and I understood since Luca was allergic to more than a few things.
We went to start to clean up when the doorbell rang, and Heath frowned.
“Who the hell could that be? Devney should be home soon.”
“But she wouldn’t be ringing the doorbell,” I said, a little uneasy.
I followed Heath to the front door, as Greer and Luca went to check on Sandy. For some reason, I was surprised when I saw who was on the other side of the door, even though I shouldn’t have been. After all, our parents had this odd way of knowing when we were happy and finding our way.
“Darlings,” Mom said as she moved forward. I stepped back before she could hug me, her overly perfumed scent already filling the spacious room.
“I didn’t realize you two were in town,” Heath said, and my dad just smiled as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“You know we’re in town more often than not, we love seeing our grandkids.”
That was the truth. They did love their grandkids. I hadn’t realized that parents could treat grandkids so much differently than how they had treated their own kids. I had thought that was just something you saw in movies. But whatever slight connections that both Heath and Luca gave our parents to their grandkids, our parents relished. They were decent grandparents. Although I knew that they never had sole visitation. No, there was consistently one of us nearby. Not that we thought that they would kidnap them or anything, but it was more the fact that we were used to their neglect. And their constant bickering back and forth. But the way that they were looking at each other, they didn’t look as if they were fighting now.
“What are you guys doing here?” Heath asked, and I was grateful that we hadn’t taken out any of the planning brochures and notebooks we had for the upcoming vacation. Our parents were not invited. They would make the whole thing about them and the trip would become far too difficult. There was no way that we were going to allow them to harm this time that we had for each other. The fact that they routinely seemed to know when the four of us were together alone though, it was like they had some form of psychic connection. Or maybe I needed another beer.
“We’re here to tell you the good news. I know you have a thousand things to do, we’ll leave soon, but we have news,” Mom said, practically bouncing on her toes.
Greer and Luca came forward, the four of us standing in line against our parents.
I hated the fact that imagery was so close to the truth. It had taken far too long for the four of us to find each other the way that we needed, and yet, I knew no matter what happened, I would never let our parents hurt my siblings. My siblings each had families to take care of, so I would be the one that took care of them.
“What’s the news?” I asked, my voice a blade.
My mom looked hurt at my tone, while my dad just looked annoyed. However, they both brushed those expressions off their faces before moving back to their point.
“We’re getting married.” Mom smiled up at me, showing off her brand-new engagement ring.
I frowned at them, utterly confused.
“I thought you two were already married?” I blurted.
“No, we were going to get married a couple of years ago, and then with your weddings, and the babies, we took our time. And then we had a little break,” Mom said, as she looked over at my dad. I didn’t even want to see what expression she had on her face.
Either she was reminiscing about the fight or relishing in it. I didn’t want to know what side of the coin she had chosen today.
“Married? Again?” Greer asked, just as aghast as I was.
They had been married twice before, divorced twice as well. I thought they were already married, but apparently, they hadn’t gotten to the deed before backing out again.
I had no idea how many times they had been together versus not in my life, and I didn’t tend to dwell on it.
“Yes. Again. I love your father, and it’s time for us to be a family.”
Mom beamed as if she had said something profound, and instead dread just filled my gut.
These were the examples of love and forever in our lives. Two people who either loved each other without pause, while ignoring the rest of the world, or people who hated each other to the point that they had to tear down everything in between them, including their own family.
There was never a middle ground for them.
They kept changing their minds, falling in and out of love as if it were a trend.
And all I could think about was the fact that I had been the first to get married, the first to get a divorce, and part of me still loved the woman whose life I was no longer a part of.
Apparently, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.
And didn’t that make for a lovely realization?