14. Garrett
CHAPTER 14
Garrett
The noise level at my parents’ place reminded me of my childhood.
There weren’t quite as many kids running around, but our family had certainly grown. Annika and Levi had brought their four kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Mom had called to ask if Owen wanted to join them. He was older than his cousins, but he still had fun with them, so we’d come up for the afternoon.
Somehow it had turned into an all Havens on deck situation. Zachary and Marigold were there, as were Luke and Theo. About ten minutes after we’d pulled up, Josiah and Audrey had arrived, adding to the chaos with their two dogs, Max and Maggie.
The yard had turned into a free-for-all, and it wasn’t just the kids. Zachary chased our nieces, Emma and Juliet, around the swing set while they shrieked with glee. Theo had started a four-and-a-half man football game with Luke, Owen, and our nephews Thomas and Will. Half because Will was only three, although what he lacked in size, he made up for in determination. The dogs happily ran around, zig-zagging through people’s legs .
Mom watched it all from off to the side. She stood in the grass, dressed in a light blue shirt and khaki shorts, her hair pulled back. I wondered if she was thinking about the days when she’d had seven little kids playing in that very spot.
Although, my brothers and I had been crazier.
Dad brought her a glass of lemonade and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. I’d thought about it before, but as I watched them, it brought to mind something Dad and I had in common—a rough divorce. Not in the sense that there’d been a lot of fighting involved. My biological mother had essentially done what my ex did years later—just up and left.
But Dad hadn’t let it make him bitter. When he’d met Mom, his hurt hadn’t kept him from loving someone again. And our family was infinitely better for it.
It made me think of Harper and what it would be like if she were there, at my side. Which was crazier than two people with six little kids between them starting a new family together. Whatever was happening between us, it was still early. I shouldn’t have been missing her like I was, or thinking things like the L-word.
I needed to be cautious. I’d already gone from I’m not dating anyone to pursuing a woman pretty aggressively. And I’d thrown caution completely out the window once already.
That kind of spontaneity wasn’t like me.
My sister-in-law, Marigold, wandered over to stand next to me. She pressed her lips together, like she was trying to hide a smile.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Her smile widened. “I met Harper the other day. She came into the salon. I really like her.”
Just hearing her name tugged one corner of my mouth upward. “Yeah, she’s um…” Completely irresistible… The sexiest woman I’ve ever met… “She’s great.”
She lowered her voice. “I won’t make a big deal out of it, since you don’t seem to be sharing anything right now. But she sure seems to like you a lot.”
Suddenly I was like a kid on the playground, dying to know what my secret crush had said about me. “What did she tell you?”
“I can’t share specifics. Hair stylist confidentiality and all that.”
I furrowed my brow.
“Trust me, it’s a thing. Anyway, it wasn’t so much what she said as how she said it. Her whole face lit up when she talked about you. It was really sweet.”
On the outside, I tried to keep my cool, but on the inside, a potent combination of warmth and elation spread through me.
“Things are good so far.”
Good so far? Way to sound apathetic.
But damn it, I had all these feelings and I didn’t know what to do with them. Especially because Owen kept looking at me like he knew I was hiding something.
Maybe he did know I was hiding something.
Obviously not that I’d gone out with Harper. I didn’t need to keep that from my son. We were going out again, and he knew that too. But my unexpected visit to her house? He didn’t need to know about that.
Marigold touched my arm. “I think it’s great.”
“Thanks, Mari.”
My family didn’t need to know either. Not yet. They’d make a thing out of it and I didn’t know if this was a thing yet or not.
Fucking her up against a wall did kind of take things to the next level, though.
“Hey, Dad?”
I blinked back to reality at the sound of Owen’s voice. “Yeah?”
“Can I go get the cookies I brought? ”
“Cookies?” Luke turned and the football nailed him in the side of the face. “Hey!”
“Who has cookies?” Zachary asked.
“Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!” my nieces started chanting. Will joined his sisters. “Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!”
“I think that’s a unanimous yes,” Mom said. “Need help?”
“No, I can get them,” Owen said. “I’ll be right back.”
Owen went through the house to get the box he’d brought home from Angel Cakes. He hadn’t let me look and the smell had tormented me all the way there.
Mom moved closer to me and tucked her hand in the crook of my elbow. “Owen isn’t wearing his hood.”
“What?”
“His hood. For the past, I don’t know, six months to a year, every time I saw him, he had his hood up. Like he was trying to hide. He’s not even wearing one today.”
I thought about it for a second. She was right. He had started wearing a hoodie almost every day, no matter the weather, and often kept the hood up. I probably saw him with it down more than she did, since he didn’t always wear it at home. But today he was in a T-shirt, no hood to be seen.
I’d figured the hoodie was just a middle school thing. But was it more? Had I missed something?
“You think he was hiding? From what?”
“I’m not sure. But I suspect he has a lot more going on in his head, and heart, than he lets anyone see.”
Before I could ask her more about what she meant, Owen appeared with the pink Angel Cakes box and his cousins went nuts.
Let’s be honest, my brothers did too.
“Watch those grabby hands,” Mom said. “Just one cookie each.”
Mom and Dad helped Owen pass out chocolate chip cookies to everyone. I took one with an odd sense of excitement. It was just a cookie, I didn’t know why it made my pulse speed up.
Except it wasn’t. It was one of Harper’s cookies.
The little kids took theirs and ran back toward the swing set. Several of the adults followed, including Annika and Levi.
Theo groaned. “This is so good.”
“Angel Cakes makes the best cookies,” Luke said.
“Did you help with these?” Mom asked Owen.
He grinned. “Yeah. I pretty much made them. Harper told me what to do, but she let me do most of it.”
“Hang on,” Theo said. “Harper, as in the lady your dad likes?”
“Bro, is your son creeping in on your girl?” Luke asked.
“No, Uncle Luke.” Owen rolled his eyes. “Dad’s dating her. I was just helping at the bakery.”
“Hang on again,” Theo said. “Since when is your dad dating?”
Owen shrugged as he took a bite of cookie. “Since he took Harper on a date. They’re going out again tonight.”
All eyes swung to me.
“Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“I can’t imagine, Mr. I’m-not-dating-anyone,” Theo said around a mouthful.
Luke grinned at me. “Yeah, you were pretty adamant about the whole not dating thing.”
“Can you say, denial?” Theo snickered.
“You guys.” Marigold shook her head. “Don’t give him such a hard time.”
“Have you met us?” Luke asked.
I crossed my arms. “We’re seeing whether or not we’re compatible. There’s nothing wrong with me modeling a healthy dating relationship for my son.”
Zachary groaned. “Way to make it boring. Just admit you’re into her and you hope you’ll get in her—” He glanced around at the kids. “That she’ll be down for some grown-up playtime.”
Marigold laughed. “Good save, honey.”
He grinned and winked at her.
“The little kids aren’t listening, Uncle Z,” Owen said. “And I know what that means.”
“Can we change the subject, please?” I asked.
“Dad, it’s fine. I know people have sex. This isn’t news.”
My dad took another cookie out of the box. “Who’s having sex and why does Owen know about it?”
I cleared my throat, hoping Dad would get the hint and let this one go.
“No, Grandpa, I just mean in general. I’m fourteen, I’ve had the talk.”
Dad gazed into the distance, a faraway look in his eyes. “I had to give the talk. To six boys.” He shuddered.
Mom put a hand on his shoulder. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Josiah and Reese took it well. Just nodded so I knew they heard me, left it at that. Garrett and Luke were a bit shocked, but they got over it. But Zachary and Theo?” He shuddered again. “Zachary had questions. Lots and lots of questions.”
“That tracks,” Zachary said.
“What about Theo?” Mom asked.
“I’ll never forget the look on his face. You’d have thought I murdered someone in front of him. He said, ‘Dad, why did you tell me that?’”
Zachary and Luke burst out laughing.
“I did not,” Theo said.
“You did,” Dad said. “I thought you were going to cry.”
Theo took another cookie. “That’s so not true.”
Owen walked over and patted Theo’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Uncle Theo. I had a hard time with it, too.”
“You did?” I asked. “Since when?”
“It was fine, Dad. You were just… sort of robotic about it.”
“I told you the facts. ”
“It was a lot of biology. And it’s weird hearing your dad say the word vagina so many times.” Owen shuddered just like his grandpa.
“I have a vagina!” Juliet said happily.
Apparently none of us had noticed her make her way back to the picnic table. She stood there, wearing a purple dress and matching bows in her hair, with an enthusiastic smile on her face. My brothers and I all exchanged similar, I-have-no-idea-what-to-say-to-that looks.
“Yes, you do, sweetheart,” Marigold said, her tone matter-of-fact.
“Juliet!” her twin sister Emma said. “Don’t say that!”
“Don’t say what? Vagina? You have one too. But Thomas and Will have penises.”
Emma gasped. “You can’t say that either.”
Juliet appeared to ignore her sister. “Penises are on the outside. Vaginas are on the inside.”
“We keep penises inside our pants!” Will exclaimed happily from the swing. “Except to go pee pee.”
His dad, Levi, just nodded. “Yes, son, we do.”
“I have a penis and nuts!” Will said.
Levi and Annika both shot Zachary a glare. Apparently he was responsible for teaching Will the term nuts .
“The proper word is testicles, buddy,” Annika said.
“Test-wickles?” Will asked.
“Close enough,” she said. “But let’s stop talking about all our body parts, okay?”
“I keep my test-wickles in my pants too.”
“Yes, you do. That’s appropriate.”
I shook my head. I didn’t remember Owen shouting about his boy parts when he was little. But my nephew Will had a big personality. He reminded me of a cross between Zachary and Levi’s brother, Gavin Bailey. Kind of a scary combination.
Owen caught my eye and shrugged, as if to say sorry, I didn’t mean to start something .
I shrugged back. Not your fault, and not a big deal.
“So, Owen,” Theo said. “Committed any crimes lately?”
Owen elbowed him in the ribs.
“Ow.” Theo rubbed his side. “I probably deserved that.”
Thankfully, the shoplifting incident didn’t seem to have been the start of a pattern of behavior. I didn’t know if I could take credit for handling it well, or if he’d decided getting in trouble wasn’t worth it. Maybe a bit of both. But I was grateful I didn’t have the added complication of a kid turning to crime.
And later, I had a date with Harper. I felt a tug in my chest, a longing to be with her again.
Whatever was happening between us, it was a lot more than my clinical description. It wasn’t an attempt to model a healthy dating relationship or explore our compatibility. It was deeper than that. Much deeper.
And I was glad rational, responsible Garrett had hung up his gear for a little while.