Chapter 18
CHAPTER 18
ATTICUS
Today had been a day.
My mind wandered as I drove to my sister’s house that evening, mentally reviewing everything that had happened since I woke up late.
After my therapy session, Nicole and I had decided to bite the bullet and tell Mimi about Louise’s death. As expected, she took it really hard, cried for a while, and kept saying how unfair it was, that God should’ve taken her instead.
It was heartbreaking. But in the end, I was glad we’d been honest. It might’ve been tougher lying about why Louise was suddenly gone or trying to justify why someone Mimi loved and trusted had seemingly chosen not to come back.
I pulled up in front of Tina’s. She’d invited me to dinner because all three kids would be home. When she called, I’d initially told her I didn’t want to leave Nicole and Mimi. But Nicole had overheard my conversation and encouraged me to go, pointing out that there were few nights where my niece and nephews were all in one place. Mimi had fallen asleep by early evening, so in the end, I decided to go to Tina’s after all.
My nephew Kyle began busting my balls the second I walked in.
“So, someone has to literally die for you to stay in Monksville long enough to see us, Uncle Atty?”
Tina slapped her son on the arm. “Kyle…”
I shook my head. “You know if you really needed me, I’d drop everything and come back to New Jersey, right?”
“Well, that’s sort of what you’re doing for Nicole,” my sister added.
My niece, Kenzie, gave me a hug. “Did Nicole tell you I stopped by?”
“Yeah. She said you guys had a nice talk.”
“We did.” She smiled.
“Good.”
“How’s Emily?” Kieran asked. He knew Tristan’s fiancée from the tour.
“Wouldn’t you love to know…” I taunted.
Kieran asking about her was a running joke. “ How’s Emily? ” was always the first thing he said to me. I liked to tease him about his little crush on Tristan’s fiancée. They’d even gone out to dinner once, but nothing ever came of it, because unbeknownst to him, Emily had already been obsessed with Tristan.
As we sat down to dinner, I grilled Kieran about his new job. “What’s the latest with that TV gig? What are you doing there again?”
“I’m working in the control room at a cable station here in New Jersey,” he told me. “I’m liking it. Most especially I like the cute morning news anchor I’ve gone out with twice now.” He winked.
“Nice.”
“Yeah. Only problem is, she’s looking for other jobs in bigger markets, so I don’t know how long she’ll be here.”
“Well, not like you have too much going on. You could always move and find a similar job somewhere else, couldn’t you?”
Tina glared at me. “Don’t encourage that, please. I don’t need my son following some girl around the country.”
“Sorry. But he needs to do what he needs to do. Spread his wings.” I reached for a roll. “Although, I have to admit, there’s no place like home. It’s just that sometimes you have to leave home to figure that out.”
Kyle put his hand on his mother’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mom. You’ll still have me when the other two are gone.”
Kyle had one aspiration in life, and that was to become a firefighter like his dad. He wanted nothing more than to do that right here in Monksville and had pretty much been guaranteed a position. The current fire chief had been a good friend of Brian’s. He was just waiting for Kyle to finish the appropriate training.
I grinned. “Dude, I can’t wait to see you in that uniform. Your dad would be so damn proud.”
“Thanks, Unc.”
I turned to my niece. “What about you, princess? Tell me what’s new.”
“Just weddings up the wazoo.”
“I know you’re not too happy about that.”
“I’m not. I feel like my creativity is stifled. But the weddings pay the bills.”
I smiled at Kenzie, though I knew Tina wasn’t thrilled about this. “Do you think you’d want to go on tour with us…as the band photographer?”
“Get out of town.” Kenzie dropped her fork. “What are you saying?”
“Well, Layla, who’s worked for us up until now, just got married and is pregnant. She can’t travel anymore. So, we’re looking for a new photog. I asked Doug if he’d be okay if I offered you the position.”
“Oh my God.” She looked over at her mother. “Did you know about this?”
Tina nodded. “He mentioned it to me, and while I’m apprehensive, I think it would be cool for you. So I’m not gonna discourage it, even if you going on tour freaks me out a little.”
Kenzie turned to me. “This is a dream come true. When is the tour?”
“Early next year. I can send you all the dates once I confirm them with Doug. Can you swing it, though, if you’re already committed to weddings?”
“I’ll figure that out. I work under a larger company with a group of photographers, so I’m sure with enough notice they can help me get coverage.” Her eyes sparkled. “Are you serious about this, Uncle Atticus?”
“I am. The only thing is, I might have to kill someone if they mess with you. The crew can be pretty rowdy. That whole scene is nothing to play with. So you have to promise me you won’t get into trouble.”
“I survived just fine,” Kieran told her. “I’m sure you will, too.”
I took a bite of chicken. “I’ll tell Doug we talked, and I’ll have him get in touch with you.”
She nodded. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Her look of joy made my heart happy. I loved being able to afford my niece this kind of opportunity, though I hoped I didn’t regret it.
***
I stayed at Tina’s pretty late, chatting with the kids. When I returned to Mimi’s house, it was quiet. I peeked in on Mimi, and given the time, I assumed Nicole might also be sleeping.
When I opened the door to the bedroom, I found her in bed as expected. But she wasn’t asleep.
She turned to face me. “Hi,” she said groggily.
“Did I wake you?”
“No. I was having trouble sleeping. How was your visit?”
“It was great. I love those kids, even if they’re not really kids anymore.”
“Yeah, it’s funny to think there’s only ten years between you and the twins,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like as big of a difference as it used to, now that they’re in their twenties.”
“How was Mimi after I left?”
“She cried a little more. I wish I knew what to do to make it easier.”
“You’re doing everything you can by being here,” I assured her.
“That’s true.”
“Is your mom coming at all?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I haven’t told my mother about Louise yet. I want to see if we can find someone so she doesn’t feel obligated to come back. After everything she went through with my dad, I just want her to be happy. And her fiancé, Joe, makes her happy.”
“Earlier, I spoke with this staffing agency Tina told me about,” I said. “Filled them in on Mimi’s needs. They’re working on finding us a permanent home-health aide.”
“That’s amazing. Thank you.”
I knew I’d be able to find help for Mimi, and soon, because I’d be willing to pay more than they were used to getting. Money talks. But that left me anxious about leaving Nicole. Julian would be waiting with open arms back in New York while I was forced to return to L.A.
“Is that why you were having trouble sleeping?” I asked. “You were worried about the Mimi situation?”
“Partly. But also, my stomach is upset for some reason.”
“What, did you eat some bad seafood or something?” I winked.
Her mouth curved into a smile. She knew exactly what I was referencing. Bad seafood was a running joke from our past.
“Not this time,” she said.
“Well, that’s good.”
Nicole turned around and within minutes seemed to be asleep.
As I climbed into bed, I tried not to analyze the fact that she’d so easily relaxed into sleep after I was back. Had she been waiting up for me?
I, on the other hand, was wired. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her little stomach-upset problem reminded me of the first time Nicole ever told me she had feelings for me.
As I nodded off, my mind drifted back to that day. At the time, it had been the best freaking day of my life.