Chapter 8
ADAM
I’d been around the world and back, a cliché, but for me accurate.
Military life parachuted you into new places with alarming frequency, so any affinity for consistency was a luxury I’d long ago learned to do without.
But even as I tried to believe I was above such sentimental attachments, the minute Billie Bliss was in front of me, all those years of practiced emotional distance dissolved like the cheap sugar in mess hall coffee.
I completely forgot what it felt like just being near Billie.
I’d met thousands of people, but there was no one like Billie Joelle Bliss.
People always say that everyone is unique, and, of course, there was some truth to that, but there are people in this world whose presence is totally, completely enveloping, and she is one of them.
She had a captivating mix of total purpose and unconscious confidence that made you watch her even when you were determined not to.
She didn’t merely light up rooms, she illuminated atmospheres.
She changed the very molecules around her.
It was impossible not to feel her. With Billie, it was physics.
She changed the air pressure. She made you inhale a little deeper.
The symmetry of her features was mathematical, almost unfair, the sort of face that would have ended wars if it ever learned to weaponize itself.
Her hair was the color of burnt caramel, the kind of brown that gets overlooked until sunlight strikes it, and then you realize there’s copper and pure gold in the strands.
Her eyes were like two emeralds, deep and vibrant and capable of pulling you into their depths without hesitation.
Her lips were a perfect shade of red, like ripe strawberries begging to be tasted.
I wanted to ask her everything. I wanted to rewind the universe and live the last two decades in her orbit, instead of scattered across continents and time zones, but instead, after introducing myself exactly the same way I had when I was six, I just stood there, a six-foot-four statue with no idea how to move forward.
A little piece of me thought maybe she didn’t want to move forward, either.
“So how have you been?”
Billie wasn’t about to let me retreat into platitudes, though. Her eyes went hard, then glinted with something that felt like both challenge and anger as she cocked one eyebrow and fired back, “For the past twenty years?”
I dipped my head as a smile tugged at the corners of my lips. That was Billie, my Billie. She had a gift for being blunt. I should have known that she wasn’t going to let me slide, not even for a moment of polite small talk.
“Maybe we can start with today.” I looked up as I asked, “How have the last twenty-four hours been?”
Something flickered in her eyes. Fear. Upset. Something.
“Billie?” I questioned. Something was wrong. Very wrong. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head, and the windows to her soul shut. The blinds came down, and the walls came up. Just like that, she put distance between us, I couldn’t read anything in her stare.
“Yes, there is.” I took a step towards her. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
Before I could push her more, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an SUV approaching.
After all the crews that Adam, Nick, and Maddox had hired left, the men all went home, and Maddox went to grab the twins.
I was actually blown away by what money was able to accomplish and how quickly things could get done.
The house wasn’t great, it still needed a lot of work, but Alex was right, it was habitable.
As grateful as I was for everything Maddox had done and him keeping the twins for me today, I would have loved to have five more minutes alone with Billie. But I guess that’s what I would have to get used to with being a parent.
Out of instinct, I snaked my arm around Billie’s waist and moved us out of the way as Maddox pulled up into the driveway.
Feeling her again, touching her, even if it was only for a few seconds, sent signals to my body that awakened something inside of me.
It was so familiar and yet so novel at the same time.
The moment we were out of harm’s way, she moved away from me, but not before I felt a tremor rush through her.
I wondered if she felt the same rush I had at our brief contact.
Maddox and Peyton both got out of the car, and I made introductions.
“Wait, do you own Bliss Bridal?” Peyton asked.
“I do, with my sisters.” Billie smiled.
“I got my wedding dress there! It’s the best.”
“Oh, thank you! That’s great!”
“No, thank you!” she beamed.
"Do you guys want to come in? I’m gonna order pizza.” I extended the invitation.
“We have to get Hannah back to her mom,” Maddox said.
“Thanks for everything today, man.” I thanked Maddox for about the thousandth time as Peyton and Billie said goodbye. I still wasn’t sure why he’d done it, but I was really thankful he had.
“No worries. Let me know if you need anything, and let’s grab that beer soon.”
“Will do.”
“Nice meeting you, Billie.” Maddox waved as he and Peyton climbed into the SUV.
“You, too.”
“Bye!” We stood and waved at Maddox and Peyton as they pulled out, the girls ran up to the porch, and Billie’s Apple Watch buzzed. I hadn’t even had a chance to introduce her to the girls yet.
“Can you stay for pizza?” I asked, even though I was sure she was going to say no.
She looked down at her watch.
“I mean, unless you have plans.”
“I do, actually.” She looked up at the girls. “Is your wife or their mom going to be—”
“No wife, no mom, just me and the girls.”
The twins pressed their noses against the window, mouths open, pointing at the crooked chandelier and the paint-peeled banister. “It looks like a dollhouse!” Joey shrieked.
Billie took a deep breath, and I held mine, waiting to find out. She looked back at me and said the best two words I’d heard all week, all month, all year—hell, maybe ever. “I’ll stay.”
We headed up the driveway and the porch steps the same way we had hundreds, no, thousands of times before, and it felt strange, but right. “Girls, this is my friend Billie. Billie, these are my daughters, Joey and Andi.”
“Hi,” Billie said, her voice warm and natural. She squatted down to their level. “I love your shoes,” she told Joey, who wore one pink Croc and one blue.
“Thanks. They are like a unicorn.”
“Yes, they are.” Billie shifted her attention to Andi, complimenting the colorful braided thread tied around her wrist. “And I love your bracelet.”
“It’s my friendship bracelet.”
“It’s beautiful,” Billie enthused.
Joey reached out and ran her fingers through Billie’s hair. “I like your hair.”
“Thanks, my sister braided it earlier today, and then I took it out so it’s wavy.”
“You have a sister?” Joey’s interest was piqued.
“I have two.” Billie held up two fingers as I unlocked the door, and the twins exploded into the house like a pair of high-velocity ferrets, leaving a trail of backpacks and shoes in their wake.
“They’re adorable,” Billie said, still standing on the threshold.
“I’m still learning the ropes.” I gestured for her to come in, and she did, scanning the foyer with an appraiser’s eye.
I watched her take in the half-unpacked boxes, the stack of same-day packages courtesy of my extreme makeover billionaire edition, and the paint samples taped to the wall.
The place looked less like a home and more like a set for an in-production reality renovation show, but it would have looked a lot worse if Maddox, Alex, and Nick hadn’t used their substantial resources today.
They’d waved their magic billionaire wands and had trades here in under an hour.
Plumbers, electricians, painters, drywallers, landscapers, and even new appliances were delivered. I owed them all, big time.
I was trying to get their Venmo’s, but they kept refusing. I was going to figure out how to pay them back, I just didn’t know how yet.
“Wow, this looks…” her voice trailed off as she took it all in.
“You should have seen it this morning. It was uninhabitable.”
I closed the door, and she followed me into the kitchen. I looked online and saw that Luigi’s was still open. I started typing but then realized I should double-check with her, I looked up. “Is it still thick crust, pepperoni, mushroom, olives?”
Her lips pursed slightly, but then she dipped her chin in a decisive nod, and I pressed send.
When I finished, she was typing, so I walked over and put on the TV for the girls when they came down.
Actually, I wanted to make sure they weren’t getting into anything up there.
Most of the rooms were empty, but still.
“Girls!”
A stampede of horses galloped above our heads and then down the staircase before Joey rushed into the kitchen, demanding, “We want the room with the shelves! Can we have that room?”
“Oh, sure. Yeah. You can have that room.”
It had been my dad’s office, and it had built-in bookcases, so I hadn’t even considered the girls wanting it, but it was fine by me if they did.
“Yay!” Joey jumped up and down and cheered, while Andi celebrated in a much more refined way beside her sister.
“Thank you.” Andi politely smiled.
“You’re welcome.” I opened the fridge and handed them each a Capri Sun, which was their favorite drink. It was the one thing I’d learned over the week I’d had them. “Why don’t you guys hang out on the couch and watch TV until the pizza gets here.”
They both took their juice pouches and skipped off to the living area, flopped onto the couch, and instantly became engrossed in Peppa Pig’s misadventures.
By that time, Billie was off her phone. I reached into the fridge and offered her a Capri Sun. If memory served, she’d been a fan of the heavily sugared pouches as well.
“Wow, you do know how to treat a girl right on a Saturday night,” she teased as she took it.