CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Fallon
“KYE KYE,” GRACIE CALLED AS SHE BENT OVER HER OPEN backpack. “I forgot. I made you something at school.”
Kye’s shoulders straightened from where he assembled pancake fixings behind the island. He’d become quite the pancake art connoisseur over the past few weeks. “You made me something?”
Gracie nodded, her pigtails swinging with the movement. “My teacher said we could save it for Christmas, but I wanna give it to you now.”
“Good thing. Because if you told me you had something for me, I would’ve had a really hard time waiting,” he admitted.
Gracie giggled and then held up her creation.
I’d expected a drawing or maybe something made of clay.
Instead, Gracie held out a massive, bright pink T-shirt she’d drawn on with puffy paint.
Given her medium, it was remarkable how accurate her drawing was, but the subject matter had me fighting back a laugh.
She’d drawn a fluffy white cat wearing a bejeweled tiara with tons of other jewels and sparkles around it. Above the cat, in huge letters, it read, PRINCESS.
Everyone went silent for a moment as we took it in. Hayden started coughing in an attempt to hide her laughter, but Clem’s face screwed up. “Gracie, Kye doesn’t want to be a princess.”
Gracie frowned. “Why not? They get way cooler clothes and jewels than the princes.”
Kye beamed as he rounded the island. “Hell yeah, I want to be a princess.” He pulled off his dark Blackheart Ink shirt and tugged the pink one over his head. “I’m meant to be a princess.”
I couldn’t help tracking the flicker of inked muscle as he made the change. “I gotta say, you as a princess is my new favorite thing.”
Kye bent to me, his lips twitching. “I aim to please.”
“You know Cope’s gonna call you the pussy princess, right?” I whispered so only he could hear.
Kye chuckled. “Don’t you dare show him this.”
I snapped a quick picture with my phone.
“Sparrow,” he warned.
I grinned. “You can punish me later.”
“That’s a goddamned promise,” Kye growled as he straightened and righted his T-shirt. “Gracie, this is the best present I’ve ever gotten.”
“Really?” she asked, smiling so wide you could see all her teeth.
Kye nodded. “Everyone’s gonna be jealous and want one of their own.”
Hayden squeezed Gracie’s shoulder, a mischievous smile playing at her lips. “You know, we could get the supplies and make shirts for all Kye’s brothers for Christmas.”
My hand shot in the air. “Oh, oh. Me! I want to help!”
Hayden laughed. “This is going to be too much fun.”
Gracie bent again, fishing out her lunch bag and frowning. “Uh-oh.” The insulated material decorated with rainbows and unicorns had torn open wider on one corner, and her bag of carrots was trying to escape. “The hole got bigger.”
Kye grabbed a squeeze bottle with pancake batter dyed a bright pink, adding a mane to the unicorn he was currently crafting on the griddle. “I’ll get you a new one today.”
Gracie nibbled on her bottom lip, and I moved into her side, rubbing a hand up and down her back. “Is this one special?”
She nodded. “Hay Hay got it for me. All the girls had unicorns, and I wanted one, too.”
That burning sensation in my chest was back.
Hayden gave her sister a soft smile. “I bet Kye could get you one with unicorns.”
“But you gave me this one,” Gracie mumbled.
“I forgot with everything going on, but I did get some needles and thread at the craft store. We can try to fix it,” I offered.
Gracie’s whole face brightened. “Really?”
“Really. Give me two seconds.”
“I hope you got a thimble,” Hayden called, and laughter erupted behind me.
I jogged to grab the supplies from where I’d stashed them in the library and then hurried back. “I got lots of color options.”
“Pink!” Gracie demanded.
“We’ve got all the pink.” I tossed out four shades, and Gracie grabbed the brightest one.
“Here.” Hayden held out her hand for the thread. In seconds, she’d gotten the embroidery thread through the needle and was studying the tear. “I bet we can make it look purposeful. Like it’s part of the design.”
“Like kintsugi,” Clem offered, taking a sip of milk.
We all turned to face her.
“Kin-what?” Kye asked, sounding amused.
Clem straightened on her stool. “It’s a Japanese art. They repair broken pottery with gold, silver, or platinum. They say it makes the broken beautiful. You don’t disguise what the pottery went through; you honor it.”
My gaze lifted and met Kye’s across the island. I knew mine were glassy with unshed tears. “I love that.”
“Me, too,” Kye said gruffly.
“Beauty in the broken,” Hayden whispered, pressing the needle through the lunch bag.
“Except no gold or silver.” Gracie tapped the thread. “Only pink.”
I chuckled. “Fair. Pink is far superior.”
Hayden’s fingers flew over the material, and before long, she’d not only repaired the corner but needlepointed a bright pink heart there. “Done.”
“Hay Hay, it’s beeeeeeautiful!” Gracie explained.
I wrapped an arm around the teen’s shoulders. “It really is. You have a gift.”
Her lips twitched. “Not gonna lie, I prefer hockey.”
Kye laughed. “Well, according to Cope, you’ve got what it takes. He actually asked if you might be interested in something hockey-related.”
Hayden’s amber eyes sparked with interest. “What?”
Kye sent me a quick look as he smiled. “The Seattle Sparks host a youth workshop over schools’ winter break up in Seattle. He thought you might want to attend.”
Hayden’s jaw went completely slack. “A hockey camp with a professional team? In their arena?”
Kye full-out beamed, and it hit me right in the sternum. “That’s right. What do you think?”
A little of Hayden’s excitement dimmed. “Would I go … by myself?”
I could practically feel her nerves. And it killed me that she was so unsure. But it made sense. She’d never left Central Oregon or been apart from her sisters. It would take time for her to gain that sort of confidence.
Reaching out, I squeezed her hand. “We were actually thinking we could make a family trip of it. We’ll stay with Cope, Sutton, and Luca, and we can go to the zoo and the aquarium. Pike’s Place Market and the Space Needle. There are tons of cool museums.”
“They have wolf eels at the Seattle Aquarium,” Clem chimed in. “I’ve always wanted to see one of those.”
Gracie’s face scrunched up. “Wolf … eels …”
I couldn’t help laughing. “There will also be adorable otters.”
“I’m sticking with the otters,” Gracie mumbled.
Kye held out a hand to Clem for a high five. “I’m all about some wolf eels.”
Clem slapped his palm. “Yes!”
Kye turned to Hayden as he slid the last pancake onto the platter. “So, what do you think?”
“I think it’d be amazing. I might not have all the right gear, though. Do you think that’s okay?”
Kye grinned. “I think I might be able to help with that.” He crossed to the mudroom between the garage and kitchen and came out with a massive gear bag. “I had Cope help me pick everything out. So, if something’s wrong, blame him.”
Hayden’s eyes turned misty as she struggled to swallow. “Kye. It’s too much.”
“No, it’s not,” he said with finality. “You’ve been working so hard for so long. It’s time someone helped you, too.”
“He’s right,” Clem said softly. “You took care of us forever. Let Kye do the same for you.”
She nodded and bent to unzip the bag. She pulled out workout clothes, skates, sticks, pucks, pads, and things I couldn’t identify. By the time Hayden straightened, she had tears running down her face. “I’ve never had anything new for hockey.”
And then I was crying.
She moved into Kye’s space and threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”
Kye hugged her hard. “You deserve all this and so much more.”
“You’ve given me more. You’ve given it to all of us.”
I wiped at my tears as Gracie leaned into me. “Thanks, Fallon.”
God, I loved these kids.
“Okay,” Kye said, dragging a thumb under his eyes. “Now, we eat pancakes.”
“Yes!” Gracie cheered.
“I want the dino,” Clem declared.
“Unicorn for me,” Gracie begged.
Kye slid one onto my plate. “And a strawberry for the strawberry queen.”
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a quick kiss.
My phone dinged, and I swiped it off the counter, glancing at the alert on the screen.
Arden has changed the group name to Fallon’s Hit List.
I frowned, waiting for a text to appear in the siblings’ chain.
Arden:
Went with Linc to Haven this morning. Why is there pink glitter all over the mats?
Kye sent me a meaningful stare across the island. “I told you.”
I winced. “Oops?”
Kyler:
Look at what she did to poor Mateo.
A second later, a photo appeared of Mateo covered in pink glitter.
“You took a picture?” I asked, incredulous.
Kye shrugged. “You never know when blackmail material might be needed.”
Cope:
Fal, can you send a few of those glitter bombs to Seattle? I’ve got some teammates who could benefit from some good old-fashioned glitter vengeance.
Rhodes:
I thought you were still too scarred by even the sight of glitter.
Cope:
Don’t remind me. I found more penis confetti in my Bentley the other day. AFTER it had been detailed twice. I don’t even want to talk about the looks the guys who cleaned my car gave me.
Kyler:
I always said you missed your calling as a stripper.
Shep:
That’s Trace, remember? He did all sorts of stripteases, trying to win Ellie over.
Trace:
There was a fire. She didn’t have a shirt. I had to give her mine.
Rhodes:
The only fire was in your pants, you liar.
Cope:
If you’re feeling fiery down there, you should have that checked, T-Money.
I choked on a laugh as my fingers flew across the screen.
Me:
I wonder if I could find stripper-themed glitter for Trace. G-strings and booties?
Trace:
Don’t you dare. Keep Satan’s stardust away from me. Do you know how hard it is to clean that shit up?
Arden:
Do it. Do it. Do it.
“You’re already planning an attack, aren’t you?” Kye said as he grinned at me.
“Maaaaaaybe.”
“Glitter bomb?” Hayden asked hopefully.
“You know it. Target: Trace.”
Gracie looked uncertain. “I dunno. Mr. Trace really has a thing about a tidy house.”
Understatement of the century. “Which is why it’s going to be so freaking fun.”
Gracie giggled as she finished her pancake.
“Okay, team,” I said, sliding off my stool. “Wash hands, faces, and brush teeth. Kye and I will get everything in the SUV.”
As the girls ran upstairs, Kye and I loaded ourselves with backpacks and lunch bags and headed out front. But we pulled up short the moment we stepped outside.
The entire front of the yard was covered in trash, and the landscaping had been destroyed.
But Kye’s SUV? That was the most terrifying of all.
The doors were all open, the interior sliced, stuffing everywhere.
And spray-painted over the side in angry, red letters, it read, YOU DON’T DESERVE ANY OF THIS.