Chapter 6 Play The Peacemaker
PLAY THE PEACEMAKER
“Is my nephew sleeping?” Natalie asked the minute her sister-in-law Avery opened the door.
“No,” Avery said. “He’s up and eating soon. Josie has been trying to get him to smile.”
She walked into the house that her brother Carter and Avery purchased two years ago.
She would have loved to buy Carter’s house but couldn’t afford it. He offered to let her rent it, but even the payment to cover the mortgage was more than she could handle.
With her promotion last year, she could have swung it, but it was too late and had been sold.
Her apartment was good enough and allowed her to put money away with the dream of home ownership.
On this island, it might never happen though.
“I thought for sure Dopey and Doc would keep guard over the baby,” she said of the two St. Bernards that greeted her.
“That’s Betty’s job. She stays close by the baby,” Avery said.
Betty was Josie’s white poodle. Avery being the only veterinarian on the island, she’d thought for sure they’d have over three dogs, but Dopey and Doc were the size of six rather than two in her mind.
She moved to the back of the house after hanging up her jacket.
“Where is Carter?”
“Helping Grayson with something at his place.”
Her other brother just bought his first house. One that needed some work on it. Though Grayson wasn’t one who liked to get his hands dirty too much, he was also not willing to pay someone for something he could do himself.
They were all self-sufficient. No wealth to fall back on like the man who had been invading her dreams.
“Then it’s just us girls. Even better. Hi, Josie.”
“Hi, Aunt Natalie.”
Josie was Avery’s best friend's daughter. Her sister-in-law got custody of the girl when Josie’s mother tragically died.
But the ten-year-old was family to the Bonds now.
“How many pictures of Luca have you drawn or painted?”
Josie had an exceptional artistic talent.
“A lot,” Josie said. “Want to see them?”
“I’d love to.”
Josie left and ran up the stairs to her room.
“I’m so happy you called for a visit,” Avery said. “I thought it was to see Luca, but the look on your face says there is more to tell me.”
Her head shifted some, then she glanced toward the hall where Josie had run. “Kind of but not a conversation for little ears.”
“No worries. I’ll handle it,” Avery said. “Do you want to feed Luca?”
“Yes, please. I need to get my hands on the little guy.”
She glanced at Luca in his bouncy seat with his little legs kicking in blue footed pajamas as he watched the dogs with wide-eyed curiosity.
They’d followed her into the room and were sitting guard just as she’d expected would be the case.
Natalie unbuckled her nephew and lifted him.
Nothing was more soothing than the scent and softness of a freshly cleaned baby.
Her hand ran over his dark hair. Soft and smooth. Not a lot, but enough to brand his Bond coloring.
The same with the wide dark eyes.
Avery moved to the kitchen to get the bottle but could still see her.
“Did you eat dinner yet? I was going to order pizza.”
“I haven’t,” she said. “I only ran home and changed. I didn’t want to stay long and bother you.”
She hadn’t been that hungry since she’d had a bigger than normal lunch.
“I’ll order now. Then once Josie is done eating, I’ll send her to do her homework to get done before the weekend starts. That will give us time to chat.”
“I don’t want you to kick her out or make her do work on a Friday night,” she said, wincing. No kid wanted that when there was company.
“Don’t play the peacemaker. That is the norm here. If she does it on Friday she can do what she wants all weekend and then there is no whining on Sunday night that she shouldn’t have waited.”
Natalie laughed. “I never thought of that. I always did my work early, but Carter waited until the last minute.”
“So he said. I was like you.”
Avery came in and handed her the bottle, then picked her phone up to order pizza at the same time Josie returned with a sketch pad in her hand.
“Look at Luca.”
Josie flipped the pictures for her to gaze at while she held her nephew in one hand, the bottle in the other, the baby greedily going to town.
“Those are fabulous,” she said. “I can’t believe how much detail you’ve captured.”
“Isn’t it great?” Avery asked. “She’s so talented.”
“I love drawing,” Josie said. “But I want to be a vet now.”
“Oh,” she said. “It’d be nice to have two on the island.”
“I told Josie that she’s young yet and will change her mind many times, but to keep it open for all possibilities.”
Which was exactly why she was here and thrilled to have Avery’s ear.
“So,” she said. Dinner was done, the baby was sleeping, Josie was in her room doing homework. “I need advice.”
“Man advice?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m your lady,” Avery said, getting comfortable on the couch. “Are you dating someone?”
“No. But I’ve got a date on Sunday.”
“Good for you. Who is it? Anyone I know or have heard of on the island? Or is it off the island?”
“It’s on the island. Someone I went to college with. He’s staying at The Retreat and we ran into each other.”
“Oh, this just got more interesting. First, that you would date a guest. Second, that it’s someone from your past. Three, that you’d even consider something long distance.”
“That’s where things are tricky. He’s here for a month.”
“At The Retreat for a month?” Avery asked, her eyebrows lifted high.
“Yes. I was surprised too.”
She explained Arik’s situation without going into too much detail, just that he could easily afford it thanks to some smart investments. He wasn’t working at the moment, and honestly, she wasn’t entirely sure what he was doing with his time.
“So long distance can be taken off the table because it sounds as if he doesn’t even have a home.”
“It sounds like that. We didn’t get that far. With the amount of traveling he’s done, if he owns one—or even has an apartment—he’s not there often. He mentioned his grandmother and that he stayed with her at times.”
“That’s kind of sweet.”
“I thought so. So yes, the long distance thing isn’t on my mind much. And he’s here a month with no timeline after that. Again, not something I’m too worried about.”
“Okay. But you’re worried about something. You knew him in college. Did you date?”
“No. I think he wanted to, but I was focused on getting out of there. I crammed so much into that last semester to only need three classes over the summer and be gone for good.”
“Was it really so horrible for you at college?”
“No. I didn’t feel as if I fit in. I wanted to try it but shouldn’t have gone so far or even to such a big college.
” She waved her hand dismissing her feelings of being left out and thinking of the Davey situation.
“It’s in the past. Back to Arik. He’s always made me laugh and I let my guard down around him. ”
“Now we are getting somewhere. You rarely cut loose. How did he do that?”
“I have no idea, but it happened. I say things to him like I do to the family. He has this quiet confidence that brings mine out like no one else does. Probably sounds weird, huh?”
“Nope. Carter was the same with me. You end up not giving properly appropriate responses and replies?” Avery asked primly.
Natalie sighed. “You make me sound cold.” She never thought she was, but there’d been times she’d heard things best left away from her ears. That she was often robotic and dull in college and it was what helped her navigate the rest of her time there.
“You’re the least cold person I know. Truly. But you’re always so... perfect. You say nothing negative to anyone or around people.”
“Outside of family. With those I’m closest to, I do it. And I did to Arik recently and in the past.”
“Good for you,” Avery said, her eyes showing more humor than her smile. “Back to Arik. He makes you drop your guard. First, describe him to me.”
“Tall, about six foot. Not too big, not too thin, just the way I like him. His brown hair a little shaggy now, not as neat as it was back in college, but it suits him. There’s more scruff on his face too.
Just enough to make you wonder if he even thinks about shaving or just goes with whatever feels right. It’s kind of irresistible, honestly.”
“Listen to you letting it out. Keep it up! Sounds as if he can do a lot of what he wants and when,” Avery said.
“He looks the part. He’s confident and cocky, but not arrogant. Not sure there is a difference, but there is.”
“There is absolutely a difference. Your brothers are both confident and cocky in their own right, but no one would ever say they were arrogant.”
“True. Maybe that is why I can recognize it with him. We had lunch together today.”
“No,” Avery said, her jaw dropping. “Natalie Bond who eats lunch at her desk in ten minutes while never tearing her eyes from the computer took the time and ate with someone else? Not even a work lunch?”
“I’m not that bad, am I?” Good lord, was that how everyone saw her?
“Sounds it to me from what I’ve heard,” Avery said. “But I get it. You love your job and are good at it.”
“I just want Hunter to know he can count on me. I never expected to get that promotion last year. It was huge and he created that job for me.”
She was the Director of Customer Relations. There was a manager there before but one that had different responsibilities.
When the manager left, she thought, or had hoped, the position would be hers.
Instead, she got a bigger title and then she hired a manager.
The past year had been spent with her creating her position with Hunter.
She was supposed to be less hands-on, but that hadn’t happened. Completely her fault.
“Because he has all the faith in you to do it,” Avery said.
She knew that and it felt good in a way she hadn’t felt in a long time.
But it was also hard to break a lifetime of habits.
“We’re getting off track,” she said. “I had lunch with Arik and then he asked me on a date. This Sunday.”
“Good for him. And you for saying yes. What are you doing? Where are you going?”
“The weather looks nice and he suggested hiking and biking in Provincetown. We’ll take the first ferry over and go from there.”
“That’s an amazing first date. You don’t have to worry about any awkward silences sitting across from each other. Especially if you’re on bikes.”
“I know. I thought that too. But there has never been anything awkward with him.”
“Wow,” Avery said, her hand coming to her face to fan it. “Did you have a crush on him? If the timing had been different in college, would you have dated him?”
She shrugged. She wanted to say yes, but it might have been a lie. “I don’t know. I’ve thought of that since I saw him again. I didn’t trust many back then. It seemed all the guys were the same.”
She dated but everyone had the same agenda. Party, get drunk, get high, get laid, have a good time.
No one was looking for more. Or it seemed the guys asking her out weren’t.
Even the few who didn’t start out that way never seemed to share her long-term goals. Why waste time with someone when you knew it’d never work out?
It wasn’t worth setting herself up again.
“Well, he’s not that guy anymore and you aren’t that woman. So what is it you’re looking for?”
“For once, I’m not looking for anything.”