Chapter 6
Lydia
The house was mostly dark when I walked up to it. Slight flickering was coming from the windows. Maeve did say it was Friday night, right? At her and Wyatt’s place?
I knocked on the door and waited. A pajama clad, red-haired monster opened the door, her face slathered with green goo.
“Hey, Lydia,” Scarlett said through a clenched jaw, barely moving her lips at all.
“Elphaba,” I greeted her, following her into the house.
“I didn’t think you were going to come,” Maeve said, getting up from the floor to welcome me. “I hope you don’t mind that we got started without you. We have more of the face mask mix in the bathroom. Can I get you something to drink?”
Considering she told us to be here for 7:00 p.m. and it was now almost 8:00 p.m., I couldn’t blame them for thinking I was a no-show.
Sebastian ended up finishing a back tattoo that was this entire city-in-the-sky-type thing.
It was beautiful; I couldn’t pull myself away from watching him create this art piece etched onto skin.
He really was super talented—not that I would be telling him that—and I didn’t understand how someone who looked that good—he didn’t need that mentioned either; he was arrogant enough as it was—and had that much artistic vision hadn’t found his target demographic to blow his tattoo shop up.
“Thanks. Do you have gin?” I asked.
“Apple wine provided by Claire, apple juice provided by me, and nonalcoholic beer provided by Scarlett. My mother babysits the girls on Tuesdays, so we don’t keep hard liquor in the house,” Maeve explained.
I had completely forgot that Maeve came from a troubled childhood.
I’d known her growing up, although we were never friends.
Goody-two-shoes Maeve Graham, who was quiet and studious and smart but always looked like her clothes had been plucked off the streets, compared to feisty Lydia Wilder in her all-black outfits and piss-poor attitude, despite having the love and safety every child deserves.
Yeah, we weren’t exactly friends back then.
“Shit. I should have brought something.”
“Oh my gosh, no. We have more than enough. I mean, unless you hate all of those options…”
I followed Maeve to the kitchen, although it was essentially an open floor plan.
“A nonalcoholic beer works for me,” I told her.
I turned to Scarlett where she was lying on the living room floor like they had made some grown-up version of a fort with pillows and blankets scattered around. “Do you mind if I steal one?”
“Go right ahead.”
I grabbed a can from the carton on the breakfast bar and popped the top.
“Come on,” Maeve said. “I’ll show you where everything is.
” She grabbed my hand and led me into the small bathroom next to the kitchen.
A bedroom sat across from the bathroom, and I snagged a look as I was dragged by it.
Light pink walls, two white dressers, two wooden cribs.
I shook my head at the thought of Wyatt as a dad.
“Are Jane and Veda with Wyatt right now?” I asked.
“Yeah. I think he was taking them to Wes’s.”
“He really doesn’t mind babysitting them, does he?” Every time I had seen or talked to Wyatt in the past year and a half, all he talked about was his girls—Maeve, Jane, and Veda. He seemed like a great dad, living up to the example set by our own father.
Maeve’s brow furrowed in the reflection in the mirror. Claire and Scarlett both started laughing, apparently having gotten off the floor and followed us to the bathroom.
“He’s not babysitting. He’s their dad,” Maeve said.
“And no one loves those girls more than Wyatt,” Claire said with a chuckle.
“Hey,” Maeve complained.
“I bet Luke’s going to give him a run for his money when this one’s born,” Scarlett said, rubbing her belly.
“No, we said no baby talk. Adult talk only, please and thank you,” Maeve said. “Now, wash your face so we can apply the face mask.”
Panic cut through me. Wash my makeup off? I couldn’t do that. It was my shield. My armor.
“Are you alright, Lydia? She didn’t tell you to cut off a toe,” Scarlett said.
“It’s just I don’t go anywhere without my makeup on,” I said.
Claire looked at me in the mirror and offered me a small smile. “It’s just us. You don’t need to look any certain way to hang out with your family. Or your brothers’ families.”
“And just think how smooth and soft your face will be…” Maeve was talking, but my mind was stuck on the word “family.” These ladies were a part of my family now. My idiot brothers managed to level up somehow, and these genuinely nice women were now my family too.
“I’m going to need makeup remover. Soap and water aren’t going to cut it,” I told them.
Twenty minutes later, I was lying on the floor alongside Maeve, Claire, and Scarlett, swapping stories about my brothers.
“Luke said—” Scarlett started, but before she could get another word in, the other two started cracking up. I shot my gaze around the room, trying to figure out what I’d missed.
“Sorry. It’s just that’s Scarlett’s favorite phrase.”
“She can’t keep his name out of her mouth. Never has,” Claire added, wiping tears from her eyes.
“Shut up. It’s not always his name in my mouth. Sometimes it’s his…”
She stopped herself, looking at me out of the corner of her eye with a satisfied smirk on her face.
“Anyway,” Maeve said, trying to change the topic. “How’s things going staying with Charlie and Sheila?”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I love my dad, and Sheila is great, but living at my childhood home again as an adult is rough. I feel like a teenager if I sit in my room, but hanging out on the couch is just as strange. And good God, how much news does one person need to watch?”
“I’d invite you to stay here, but I don’t have a third bedroom, and Veda’s not the best sleeper yet.”
“You can always come stay with me and Reid,” Claire offered. “We have more than enough space.”
“No. No way. You guys just got married. I’m not going to infringe on your honeymoon phase,” I told her.
“Cool, so you’ll move in with me and Luke,” Scarlett stated matter-of-factly.
“Um, no. You’re having a baby.” My face told her exactly what I thought of that insanity.
These women barely knew me. I could be a psychopath for all they knew.
Yet, they were eagerly inviting me into their homes, into their lives.
I had forgotten that feeling of small-town living.
Where people offered you a hand instead of stepping on your fingers on the way by. I think I missed it.
“Psh, that’s not for months,” she said.
The door opened, and speak of the devil, Wyatt and Luke walked in, each holding a sleeping baby.
“Hey, doll. Ladies,” Wyatt greeted, his eyes landing on me. “Fiona,” he said.
I looked to Luke in confusion, but he just shook his head. The other women didn’t seem to be in the know either, all looking at Wyatt in bewilderment.
“From Shrek,” he said, looking around the room. “Because she’s green…”
“Oh, I get it.” Maeve grinned. The other three had all peeled the masks off a while ago, having gotten started before me.
“If I have to explain it, it’s not funny,” Wyatt grumbled leaning over to plant a kiss on Maeve’s lips.
I hurried to wash the mask off my face so I could help them clean things up.
By the time I was finished plucking little green pieces of clay off my skin, they were pretty much done.
The pillows were put back on the couch along with the folded blankets.
The drinks were put away, the leftover food discarded or wrapped and saved for later.
“You ready to go, baby?” Luke asked Scarlett.
“Yeah, but I need you to clean out the spare room tomorrow while you’re off.”
“Why? Are you nesting already? I thought that was closer to the end?” He splayed his hands over her belly, his eyes shining with awe.
“It’s not for the baby. Lydia’s going to be staying with us for a while.”
“Oh, sure. Okay. Just give me a day or two, Lyds.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I asked. “You might not be able to tell her no, but you can tell me no if you want.”
“Who the fuck do you think we are?” Wyatt asked as he rummaged through his cabinets and made himself a bowl of cereal.
“Of course you can stay with me, Lydia. Just like Wyatt would let you stay here if he had the space,” Luke added.
“Same with Reid. You call him right now and see what he says if you tell him you’re looking to get out from under Dad’s feet.”
“I told her that, but she turned me down,” Claire added, unhelpfully.
“Fine. Whatever. I’ll go stay at Luke and Scarlett’s place. You don’t need to all gang up on me,” I huffed, making sure to keep the smile off my face.
I got back to my dad’s and almost didn’t recognize the person staring back at me in the bathroom mirror. Stripped of the heavy black eyeliner and thick mascara, my face was fresh and raw. It felt symbolic. Like a fresh start was really possible, maybe even here in Calla Bay.