Chapter 3
CHAPTER
THREE
AVERY
Cash leaned across to Chase and whispered something.
Chase paused with his fork held over his plate and nodded. “This isn’t your usual spaghetti, Avery.”
“That’s because I made it,” Johnny said. “Avery was taking a nap.”
Was there anything more disconcerting than day drinking, then sleeping, then waking up still a little bit tipsy to discover that it was the same day as when you fell asleep?
“You made it wrong,” Chase said but shoveled a forkful of spaghetti into his face anyway.
If I’d thought that Chase might try and act polite on account of Cassidy being here, I’d been wrong.
The same went for him finding some Christmas cheer and goodwill to all men.
To be fair, he was working all night shifts now and it was rough on him.
I suspected it was rough on Cash as well because the twins were super close.
“I think it’s great,” I said and flashed Johnny a smile that was wider than it might have been if I’d been sober.
“I do too,” Cassidy said. She lifted her fork and slurped her noodles noisily, leaving a smear of sauce on her chin and making Gracie giggle. Obviously, I wasn’t the only one still feeling the effects of the wine. But she also wasn’t crying, so I was counting it as a win.
Dinner was fun, as always, though not exactly appropriate for Gracie’s ears.
“So suddenly the faucet comes off right in my hand,” Chase said, “and I’m being blasted by cold water right in the balls. I almost bashed my head on the ceiling, I jumped so high. I could have died!”
“Lucky you had Wilder to come and rescue you,” Danny said.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know he was bringing Gracie,” Chase said. “I was still buck naked when I opened the door.”
“He was wearing a towel,” Wilder assured us.
“I almost saw your butt, Uncle Chase!” Gracie declared happily.
After dinner the twins dipped out early. “I need to get some sleep before my shift tonight,” Chase said, the corners of his mouth pulling down. Cash nodded his agreement and they both left.
“I need an early night as well,” Danny said, but from the way he and Miller were eyeing each other up, sleep was the last thing on their minds.
That just left Johnny and Cassidy and Gracie and me. But there was no awkwardness between Cassidy and me now. It had magically dissolved in the face of a full-blown meltdown, our shared affection for Johnny, and a really good bottle of wine.
Johnny disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a tray of brownies that he must have made while I’d been sleeping off my day drinking.
“These are good,” I said.
He rubbed the back of his neck and gave me a pleased smile. “They’re just box brownies.”
“I helped make them!” Gracie said proudly from where she’d wriggled her way between Johnny and Cassidy on the couch. “I was the mixer.” Her nose wrinkled. “Mommy didn’t help, though. She says she was resting her eyes, but she was snoring.”
“Grace Kennedy Wilder, I do not snore!” Cassidy said, clutching her chest in mock outrage.
“You kind of do, Cass,” Johnny said, grinning.
Like he could talk!
Cassidy stuck her tongue out at him, and Johnny burst out laughing.
Gracie started giggling as well, and they looked so happy in that moment that before I thought twice, I’d pulled out my phone and taken a bunch of photos, figuring at least one of them would turn out.
With that sixth sense all five-year-olds seemed to possess, Gracie caught the movement and said, “Oooh, can I see?”
“Sure,” I said. I sat down beside them on the couch and scrolled through the pics—and holy shit, maybe I should always drink half a bottle of wine before I took photos because, against all odds, they’d turned out amazing.
Johnny was in profile with his head thrown back in laughter, Cassidy was gazing at Gracie with clear affection and pride, and Gracie was freaking adorable, her eyes shining and her blonde curls catching the reflection of the lights on the tree, making her look like she was glowing.
To be clear, she was glowing in a “magical family Christmas” way, not a “bitten by a radioactive spider” way.
“Oh wow,” I said. “These are great.”
Gracie craned her neck to see, and I flicked through the pictures again slowly.
“Send them to me?” Johnny said. “I’m gonna get them printed out.”
“Me too,” Cassidy said.
“Sure.” I entered her number and texted the pictures through before noticing that Gracie had gone quiet. “What’s wrong, sweet pea?” I asked.
“Nothing. They’re nice,” she said, wearing her green bean liar face.
Cassidy caught it too and we exchanged a look.
“What is it, Gracie?” Cassidy asked, and wow. I knew a no-nonsense Mom voice when I heard it.
Gracie let out a dramatic sigh and folded her arms. “I wanted Avery in them too.”
I wanted to hug her. “Oh, Gracie, these ones are just for fa—”
“Get in here, Avery,” Cassidy said, cutting me off.
Johnny took the next lot of photos because he had the longest arms, and Cassidy gave me some tips on how to angle my face so I looked less like a deer in the headlights and more like an actual human person, and finally we took one that Gracie approved of.
“Can I put it in my bedroom?” she asked.
“Sure, sweet pea,” Johnny said. He met my gaze over the top of Gracie’s head, and his expression was warm. “We’ll get it printed out and go buy a nice frame and everything.”
Gracie let out a yawn, and it was Cassidy who said, “Hey, Avery, do you think you can put Gracie to bed?”
I looked between her and Johnny and heard what she wasn’t saying. “Of course.”
“I’m not tired,” Gracie protested around another yawn, “and I wanna see Mommy some more before she goes back to Grandma’s.”
“Well,” Johnny said, “I don’t think Mommy’s in any condition to drive, so she’s welcome to stay over.” He looked at Cassidy. “Unless you want me to drive you?”
“I would love to stay,” she said. “Mom and Dad will be all over my ass for drinking if they know.” She began to send a text on her phone. “I’ll just tell them we’re talking late.”
“Pretty sure that didn’t fly five years ago, and it won’t fly now,” Johnny said with a grin.
Cassidy rolled her eyes.
“Mommy said ass,” Gracie whispered to me.
“She did,” I said, picking her up and swinging her onto my hip. “Because that’s a grown-up word, and Mommy is a grown-up. Now let’s get you to bed.”
I turned down Gracie’s bed while she was in the bathroom getting into her pajamas and brushing her teeth.
I could hear her humming to herself, which she always did, and it never failed to make me smile.
I turned the night light on and the main light off and made sure her current favorite stuffed toys were within reach.
She had a sort of rotating roster of them, except for Mr. Peanut Butter, whose top position was unassailable.
When Gracie came into the bedroom, she climbed into bed and snuggled down with her toys. “Read me a story, Avery?”
“Which one?”
“You pick?”
A high honor indeed.
In the end I settled on Oh, the Places You’ll Go!
It was one of Gracie’s favorites, and one of mine too, and it seemed appropriate.
I took my time reading it, and by the time I closed the book, Gracie’s eyes were shut and she was letting out slow, steady breaths.
I pressed a kiss to her forehead and her eyelids fluttered open.
“Night, Avery,” she mumbled and let out a sigh before sinking back into sleep.
I spent another minute tidying before I walked back out to the living room, where I caught the tail end of a conversation that Cassidy had been keeping inside her for months. Well, I caught Johnny’s reaction to it.
“—ever you want to do,” he said, pulling her into a hug. “I love having Gracie, and I just want you to be happy. I’m so fucking proud of you for getting that scholarship.”
I leaned in the doorway for a moment, basking in my love for Johnny, for Gracie, and—why the hell not?
—for Cassidy too. Their families and this town had thrown more bullshit at Johnny and Cassidy than two teenage kids had deserved, but the adults they’d become had made a liar out of every single person who’d ever talked shit about them.
I wanted to cheer and punch the air, but that would have only ruined the vibe, so instead I said, “Hey, does anyone want a coffee?”
Cassidy pulled back from Johnny, smiling and wiping her eyes. “That would be nice.”
We had coffee with lots of cream and sugar and some more brownies, because why not? It was almost Christmas.
Cassidy’s eyes were bright when she turned to us, mug in hand, and said, “Hey, Avery, did you know you drive my mother crazy?”
“Me? I’ve never even met her!”
Cassidy’s grin widened. “I know. But Gracie loves you. And you know how she gets when she’s a fan of something.
So all Mom and Dad hear from her is, ‘Avery reads me stories’ and ‘Avery does crafts with me’ and ‘Avery knows everything about dinosaurs.’ It’s Avery, Avery, Avery, and I swear my mom is developing a twitch when she hears your name.
And she can’t say a word against you because Gracie thinks the sun shines out your backside, so she just has to nod and agree. ”
Johnny laughed. “Yeah, keeping her opinions to herself would send your mom batshit all right. But I’m glad she’s biting her tongue, for Gracie’s sake.”
“It gets better,” Cassidy said, sipping her coffee. “Earlier today when me and Gracie were leaving, Mom said, ‘Have a good time meeting John’s friend.’ And you could hear the air quotes around friend, you know? But Gracie gave one of her big sighs and gave Mom that look of hers, you know the one?”
I nodded. I was pretty sure we all knew that look, the one that said Grace Wilder had decided black was white, and there was no point arguing with her.
Cassidy grinned. “And then she said, ‘Avery’s not a friend, Grandma. He’s Daddy’s boyfriend. They kissed in front of the whole school!’”
Wilder’s eyes widened. “What did your mom say?”
“Well, I’d already warned her that if she’s gonna act any kind of way about you dating a man, she won’t get to see Gracie, so she had no choice but to say, ‘Isn’t that nice?’ She looked like she was sucking on a lemon the whole time, though.”
“No offense, Cass, but your mom always looks like she’s sucking on a lemon,” Wilder said.
Cassidy laughed. “No, that’s only when she’s talking to you.”
And yeah, it was petty, but I liked the idea that Johnny and I were making the Moores squirm just by existing and being happy, okay? And I loved that Gracie thought that me dating Johnny was the best thing ever.
I did too.
I loaned Cassidy a T-shirt and some sweatpants to sleep in, and she tiptoed into Gracie’s room and climbed into bed beside her.
Johnny put the leftover brownies into a container while I set the dirty coffee mugs in the sink to worry about tomorrow.
I looked out the window. “And here’s where I used to stand to try and catch a glimpse of my hot new neighbor.”
Johnny put his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. “Danny’s not that hot.”
I laughed. “Don’t tell Miller that. But no, I meant the super-hot one, with blond hair and tattoos.” Without looking down, I traced the armband tattoo on Johnny’s forearm. “The one who was so hot I was totally intimidated, even though he was so annoying. Funny how life turns out.”
Johnny kissed my ear. “Thank you. For tonight, with Cass. She said you’re gonna help her figure out this college stuff.
” Another kiss. “And thank you for everything else too. For what you’ve done for me and Gracie.
Hell, thank you for the spaghetti nights with the guys, because Chase is right—yours is better than mine. ”
I laughed again.
He hugged me tighter for a moment. “Thank you for being you, Avery.”
“Right back at you, Johnny.” I leaned back against him, our faces reflected in the kitchen windows.
Wilder’s hand slid down and then he was fumbling with the back pocket of my jeans.
At first I thought he was making a move—which, for the record, I was totally here for—but it turned out he was just getting my phone out.
He held it out in front of us and opened the camera, and before I had a chance to overthink or panic or pull a weird face, he’d already taken the photo.
“I want one for our bedroom too,” he said, showing me the screen.
The picture was better than it had any right to be. We were both smiling and relaxed and—fuck, we looked so happy.
A rush of emotion flooded through me and heat pricked my eyes.
Yes. I wanted this photo in our bedroom, and I wanted a thousand other photos of us there too—figuratively, of course, since we only had a certain amount of wall space.
I wanted birthdays and Christmases and holidays.
I was looking forward to years and years of photographs of us and the family we’d made—the family we’d chosen—stretching out ahead of us.
And I couldn’t wait.