CHAPTER TWENTY
Fallon
IN TRUE COLSON CREW FASHION, KYE’S HOUSE WAS ALIVE WITH music, voices, and a healthy dose of chaos.
The battle for exactly what sort of music to play had been vicious.
Arden wanted her death metal that sent most of our family running for the hills.
Ellie had suggested one of her nineties pop playlists I would’ve loved, but Trace quickly begged her not to play it.
Finally, Mom pulled rank and put on some oldies we could all enjoy, at least marginally.
Lolli spun with her paintbrush, sending pink splatters across her overalls. “This is my jam. I’ve got some sweet, sweet memories set to this one.”
“Please, God, don’t share them with us,” Cope begged as he painstakingly painted the spoke of a Ferris wheel on the wall in Gracie’s bedroom.
Arden and Linc had shared an art project Gracie had done in Arden’s after-school program that inspired the mural.
When asked to draw something that made her happy, she’d drawn herself, Hayden, and Clem at the fair.
Ellie immediately set to work sketching the scene on the wall, and everyone jumped in to paint the different pieces.
“I hope you’ll be making more of them with me,” Walter said, his gray brows waggling as he crossed toward Lolli. The longtime cook at The Mix Up had never been deterred by her refusal to settle down.
Lolli held her paintbrush out in Walter’s direction. “Oh, no, you don’t, you old coot. I’m not letting you distract me from my painting mission.”
His grin was smug. “Like I distracted you the other night?”
Lolli’s cheeks flushed. “A moment of weakness.”
“A moment of genius,” Walter argued. “Marry me.”
“No.”
“Marry me.”
“No.”
I couldn’t help the smile that curved my mouth. “One day, you’re going to give in, Lolli.”
“Hush your mouth, child,” Lolli scolded. “Just because you and Kye are tying the knot doesn’t mean I’m about to be tied down. I only want to be tied up.”
Kye’s lips twitched as he lowered his brush. “Lolls, you’ve got more swagger than anyone I’ve ever known.”
Lolli shook her hips, making more paint fly. “You know it. And just wait until I bring you and Fallon my housewarming present. It is next level.”
“Lolli …” I warned as I filled in part of a cotton candy machine on the mural.
“Don’t even think of trying to control my muse, honey bunches. It can’t be tamed,” Lolli said, dipping her paintbrush and moving to one of the Ferris wheel cars.
Cope grinned as he painted a bar of the ride. “I don’t know, Walter’s trying pretty damn hard.”
Lolli let out a huff. “That old codger doesn’t have a prayer of keeping up with me.”
“I’m taking that as a challenge, my love,” Walter called from his spot at the mural.
I shot her a smile. “I don’t know, Lolli. I’m pretty sure Walter is the only one who can keep up with you.”
Lolli huffed. “He has yet to prove himself in our tantric yoga class.”
Cope’s whole face screwed up. “Stop. Sweet baby Jesus, please stop.”
A laugh bubbled out of me as Kye moved in closer, his face going soft. He lifted a hand and swiped a thumb over my cheek. My breath caught and held. I swore I could still taste our kiss from earlier—mint and Kye—playing over my tongue.
“Paint,” he whispered.
“Not you, too,” Luca moaned, running into the room with Keely and Ellie on his heels.
Keely’s face screwed up. “They’re gonna be swapping cooties like all the time now.”
“I know.” Luca sighed. “It’s mushy-gushy all day, every day.”
A corner of Ellie’s mouth kicked up. “The trauma we’ve put these poor children through.”
Luca nodded. “There should be a no-kissing rule in this house. What do you think, Uncle Kye?”
Lolli shook her paintbrush at Luca. “Oh, no, you don’t, my little ice prince. They’ve finally got themselves some of the good stuff. No trying to rein them in.”
My face flamed. “Lolli.”
“What?” she asked with faux innocence. “I can’t want my granddaughter to be making the beast with two backs? That’s healthy.”
Keely’s expression grew confused. “Why would a beast have two backs?”
“Prolly ’cause it has two heads and is real scary,” Luca answered sagely.
“What’s that got to do with cootie kissing?” Keely asked.
Ellie’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Lolli, you’re going to have to explain this to Trace. Have fun.” She motioned to me and Kye. “You two lovebirds, with me. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
At the word lovebirds, I studiously examined the floor. But Kye slid his hand into mine, weaving our fingers together. “Should I be scared?” he asked. “Did Lolli secretly bedazzle an entire wall of my house?”
“Now that’s an idea,” Lolli called as we followed Ellie out of Gracie’s room.
“You’re gonna regret putting that in her head,” I muttered.
Kye groaned. “You’re telling me.”
“How’s your jaw?” I asked, trying to see if any bruising had begun beneath his scruff, but it was hard to tell.
His chin dipped as those amber eyes searched mine, and then his lips twitched. “Sparrow, I’d take a punch over and over again to see you put the fear of God into Mateo.”
My mouth curved. “Let’s not put that into practice. I’ll put the fear of God into Mateo for fun.”
“It is good for his ego.”
“No kidding,” I mumbled. The fighter was a little too cocky for his own good, and it could get him into trouble. But I got the sense there was something beneath it—a need to prove himself over and over.
We made our way downstairs, where Mom and Trace were putting up wallpaper in a kitchen nook.
“Looking amazing,” Ellie called.
Mom grinned. “Are you showing them the surprise outside?”
Ellie nodded. “It’s all in.”
Mom let out a girlish squeal. “It’s perfect.”
“You know both Keely and Luca will want one,” Trace muttered.
Mom laughed. “Shep could start a side business after this.”
My curiosity was piqued as Kye and I followed Ellie onto the back patio. While it led to the pond behind the house, you could also take a path that brought you to the side yard, which had plenty of room for kids to run and play. That was the path Ellie took.
“Shep and Anson have been working ’round the clock on this one. Building the individual pieces so they’d be ready for installation today,” Ellie explained.
I only grew more confused until the structure came into sight.
A gasp slipped free as I took in the play set that looked more like a castle.
The wooden structure mirrored the house, with towers and turrets all painted in the same teal.
There were four types of swings, two slides, a climbing wall, a rope ladder, and a bridge.
Shep and Anson grinned as we approached. Thea and Rhodes were up in the tower planting some mums in a planter box on the exterior. Thea waved, a huge smile on her face. “I think I’m going to get Shep to build one of those for me.”
“I don’t blame you. This is amazing,” I said.
I looked up at Kye to find him struggling to swallow, emotion filling his beautiful eyes. “This …” He tried to swallow again. “This is everything they should’ve always had.”
Shep was striding forward then. He pulled Kye into a hard hug. “And we’re going to give it to them now. Everything that lets them know they’re loved and supported.”
Kye hugged him back as he tried to pull himself together. “Thank you.”
Shep released him. “It was fun as hell to do.”
Anson’s mouth twitched up. “I think we should offer it on our new builds.”
“That’s honestly not a bad idea,” Shep said.
Rhodes ran a hand over the flowers. “These probably won’t last long, but we wanted a little pop of color up here for the reveal.”
The deep maroon mums looked amazing against the teal.
I met Rho’s eyes. “They’re beautiful.”
She nodded and quickly averted her gaze, sliding down the straight slide and starting for the house. “I’m going to help Trace and Nora.”
I frowned, a little more worry niggling at me. I reached over and laid a hand on Kye’s arm. “Be right back.”
His brow furrowed for a moment, but he nodded.
I quickly jogged after Rhodes, and I needed that fast pace because she was speed-walking. “Rho!”
She didn’t stop right away. Not until I grabbed hold of her elbow and halted her forward momentum.
“What’s going on?” I asked as she turned to face me, her expression blank.
“What do you mean? I just said I was going to help inside.”
I searched her face, trying to find what lay beneath the surface. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
Rho’s lips pressed together as if she were trying to hold everything she actually felt inside. “I’m not.”
“You are. You didn’t text back when I sent you the meme about a dog with anxiety poops, just like Biscuit. You always text back when I meme you.”
Rho’s gaze shifted to the side.
“What did I do?” I asked. “If I messed up, I want to fix it.” She was my best friend, my sister, and I’d do anything for her. The idea that I may have hurt her in some way killed me.
The tension running through Rho’s shoulders eased a fraction as she turned back to me. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were seeing Kye.”
Guilt hit me like an invisible freight train, nearly making my knees buckle. Rhodes and I shared almost everything with each other. I had known she might feel a little stung that I hadn’t shared my so-called relationship with her, but I’d never expected this level of hurt.
A tug-of-war took root somewhere deep, a battle between protecting her and honoring the bond we’d had since she moved to Sparrow Falls at age seven.
I lowered my voice to the barest whisper. “I didn’t tell you because I wasn’t seeing him.” Pain lit along my sternum, where all the pain, joy, and love tangled up in Kyler lived. “It’s fake.”
Rho’s eyes went comically wide. “It’s fake?”
I nodded, biting the corner of my lip.
Realization dawned in Rho’s hazel eyes. “For the girls.”
“For the girls,” I whispered. “But …” I struggled to explain everything, wrestled with whether or not to share. But I needed someone to know everything I was carrying. More than that, I needed Rhodes to know. Because she was my person long before Kye was. “It’s also not fake.”
Rho’s brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been in love with him since I was fourteen. He was my first kiss. He’s … he’s my everything.”
I saw Rhodes wading through memories, trying to pull the pieces together. Then her spine snapped straight. “The guy you were tutoring? The one you were sneaking away to see during lunch? I never thought about the fact that your MIA act stopped after Kye came to live with us.”
Tears pressed against the backs of my eyes, carrying the weight of all I’d lost. They were heavy with memories that meant everything to me, suffocating with how much I missed them. Him.
I swallowed hard, my throat sticking on the movement.
“He was there for me. I was struggling. Still trying to process losing Dad and Jacob, especially starting high school without them there. I used to go to the creek between the middle and high schools and scream. Because I couldn’t do it at home.
Couldn’t do it anywhere else. He saw me one day and said, ‘Let it all out, Sparrow. Don’t let it drown you. ’”
“Fallon …” Rhodes whispered.
“We met now and then. I started helping him with the classes he was struggling in, and with him I could just … be. I think I gave him a place to lay down some of what he was dealing with at home, too.”
Rhodes moved in closer and took my hand. “The ultimate gift.”
I nodded as the tears swirled, despite me trying to fight them back.
“We kissed for the first time the day he got placed with us. The day his dad tried to kill him.” Just saying the words hurt on every level.
“We couldn’t risk it. If the social worker had found out we were together like that, they would’ve moved him.
And you know kids with Kye’s history don’t have many good options for placement. ”
Rho’s hazel eyes filled. “So, you gave up everything you ever wanted so he would be safe?”
Tears spilled over then, flowing down my cheeks and leaving tracks in their wake. “I’d do it again. I’d do it over and over if it meant he’d be safe.”
Rhodes hauled me into her arms then, holding me tightly. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m not,” I croaked.
“Hey,” Kye said as he approached, his gait and tone cautious. “What’s with all the tears?”
Rhodes straightened while still holding me. “I’m just really happy for you guys.”
Kye didn’t look convinced. “Girls are weird.”
She laughed and hugged me harder, her mouth dropping to my ear. “Find your happy, Fal. You deserve it more than anyone I’ve ever known.”
“He won’t risk it,” I whispered, so low I knew Kye couldn’t hear. “He thinks he’ll mess everything up.”
Rho gripped me even tighter. “You’ll get him to make the jump. You just have to fight.” She released me with one last hard hug and raised her voice. “I have an idea.”
Kye moved in, wrapping an arm around me as if to check if I was okay. “That definitely scares me.”
Rhodes stuck her tongue out at him. “What do you guys think about getting married right here tomorrow afternoon before the home inspection?”
“All the furniture is being delivered tomorrow,” I pointed out, even as my heart picked up its pace.
“At eight in the morning,” Rhodes argued. “Ellie and Trace can handle overseeing that. Let me handle the wedding with everyone else.”
I didn’t want to look at Kye because I wanted it too much. It might be fake for him, something he didn’t want to do, but it was everything I’d ever wanted.
Finally, I forced my gaze skyward. Up, up, up until it collided with swirling amber irises. Those eyes that always saw everything searched mine. “What do you think, Sparrow?”
“I’m ready if you are.” It was a miracle my voice didn’t shake. That I managed to get the words free at all.
Kye dipped his head, his lips brushing mine. It was the barest touch, with a hint of his scruff teasing my skin at the edges. But heat still flooded me. No one could make my body come alive like Kye. No one could set my soul aflame. And I knew it would always be that way.
“Let’s do this, Sparrow.”