Chapter 16 #3
Paige stops next to her, pulling on her hand.
Lou’s attention immediately shifts, and her smile grows as she kneels to get on my daughter’s level.
Paige rambles something I can’t quite make out, her fingers combing through Lou’s long dark strands.
Lou nods, and Paige runs off in excitement, passing my mother, who’s laughing with her.
“Dad, can you take over for a minute?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” he says. “I was dying, here, watching you turn them over too soon.”
“Gee, thanks, old-timer,” I tease.
“You can thank me later, when you get a perfect medium-rare steak on your plate.”
Laughing, I walk over to find out what has my daughter squealing with glee inside the house.
“What’s that about?”
“She’s going to do my hair,” Lou says.
“I was just telling Lou about that time Paige did your…” Jerry starts to say.
I give his shoulder a shove, making him grin.
“Nobody needs to hear that story,” I say.
“I beg to differ,” Lou says.
“Maybe someday,” I tell her with a flirtatious smile. After I know she likes me as much as I like her.
“I have a question,” she asks, quietly. Conspiratorially, even.
“What’s up,” I whisper back.
“Where did Jules and that hot guy with the mustache go?”
“Mac?” I ask her, looking around for my two childhood friends.
“Yeah, the hot one,” she repeats, and I scowl.
“Damn, man,” Jerry says with a boisterous laugh. “I have never seen you jealous a day in your life, Grady.”
“Fuck off,” I say, and Lou steps closer, placing her hand on my cheek.
“I think I like it,” she says. Then, she winks and walks off toward the house and my daughter.
“You’re cooked, man.”
“Fucking roasted,” I agree, because there isn’t any point denying it.
So far, there isn’t a single thing about Lou that I haven’t liked.
She’s been raw, honest, and vulnerable enough to let me know so many sides of her, so quickly.
Like it’s natural. I know it isn’t, though.
It’s something else, that weird invisible tether between us. “But where are Jules and Mac?”
“I don’t know, but my guess is the cold ran off and they’re into the hot on the other side of the fence.”
Those two could never stay away from each other for long. It’s what made them so volatile. Hot and cold. Love and hate. There was no middle ground. Ever.
How much trouble can they get into with only twelve or so hours before Juliet is packed back up and on her way to Portland, though?
“Steaks in ten,” Dad hollers.
“Everything else is ready; we’re just waiting on you,” Mom tells him.
“No! I need more time,” Paige wails from inside.
“You hear that, Mackenzie,” I yell over the fence. “You’ve got ten minutes.”
“Fuck off, Grady,” Juliet yells, and both Jerry and I crack up.
Paige attempted braids. She doesn’t kno^w how, so, mostly Lou’s hair is a series of loose twists connected by tiny little flower clips.
Regardless, Paige was proud and Lou wore it all night like it was the most beautifully crafted hairstyle she’s ever had.
Now, Paige is passed out. Mom and Dad have called it a night, and Jerry went home because he has the early shift tomorrow.
All that’s left is me, with Lou on my lap in one Adirondack chair, as Juliet and Mac share the other.
When I raised my eyes at the two, Juliet stuck her tongue out at me and said, “Mind your own self, Grady.”
The same thing she’s been saying to me our whole lives.
I never listen. She’s as much my business as anyone else in my family.
While I’m glad she’s letting herself have something I know she’s desperate for—another night with Mac—I worry what tomorrow brings for both of them.
Nothing’s changed since the last time they tried, so long ago.
I can’t change their paths. So, instead, I focus on the woman leaning back against me, rubbing my arms as they cage her in and warm her up.
“Any emails today?” I ask into the curtain of her hair.
“Yeah.” She sighs. “From both him and my mother. I can’t ignore it forever, I guess. But it can wait until I’m back to work and feeling more settled in life. You know?”
“When do you go back to work?”
“In a week,” she says. My heart stutters, and I snuggle in closer. “New York. I’ll sign my new contract, and Micah booked me a shoot. Assuming it doesn’t fall through, too.”
“I’m sure it won’t,” I say, though what the fuck do I know about it? “How long of a trip?”
“Four days, three nights. In and out, nice and quick,” she says.
“Then, back here?” I ask, attempting to keep the wishfulness out of my voice. And failing miserably.
“Of course,” she says.
My heart is like the Grinch’s, growing a size or two. She’s quiet for a few minutes, and I savor it—the comfortable familiarity of just being in each other’s space.
“Have you ever slept out here?”
“Sure, we did it often in the summers growing up.”
“I’ve never slept outside,” she says. “My mother would never go camping, or vacation, really. She’s a homebody. I remember asking her once if I could sleep out in the backyard. Her answer was only if I wanted to be kidnapped.”
“Jesus.” Jules sighs beside us.
“Somedays, that seemed like a better option,” she says with a forced laugh.
“Do you want to sleep out here tonight? I’ll do it with you, if you want. It’s a clear night, you’ll have stars the whole time.”
“I’d love that, Grady.”
So would I. More than I’m comfortable admitting to, just yet.