21. David
DAVID
If the goal was to throw my niece an absolutely crazy, over-the-top, packed-with-people birthday party, we succeeded.
If the goal was to prove that a bunch of pink decorations, giggles, make up, and hair accessories would keep me from thinking about laying Mia Hansen out on my mother‘s picnic table, and covering her with the pink icing and sprinkles from the cupcakes before licking her clean from head to toe, I am completely failing.
I don’t need to worry about thinking about all of the things I did to her the other night. My mind is full of a bunch of new things I want to do to her.
She looks absolutely beautiful.
And again, it’s not how she has her hair down with curls swishing against her shoulders that are left bare by the baby blue sundress she’s wearing.
It’s not her long tan legs underneath the hem of that dress.
It’s not the simple, pale pink gloss on her lips or the white sandals on her feet or anything else about her physical appearance.
It’s her smile. It’s her laugh. It’s how she jokes and teases with my brothers.
It’s how comfortable she is around my parents and how much they obviously like her.
It’s how her sister and her parents obviously adore her, which is evident just in the way they smile at her and watch her when she’s not looking.
It’s the way my nieces lit up when they saw her walk into the room.
It’s just the way she fits here.
She’s already a part of my life. She knows all of the important people to me, and they all like her and enjoy having her around.
Dating Mia Hansen—doing even more than dating Mia Hansen—would be so fucking easy.
Except for one man.
Scott and Peyton did, in fact, attend the party.
And Scott is now sitting at the picnic table with my father and my uncle Ty. They each have a beer in hand and are chatting and laughing easily. They’ve known each other for years and Scott fits here as comfortably as Mia does.
I cast one more look at Mia, to remind myself that this is absolutely worth it, then head to the picnic table and take a seat next to Ty.
“Nice,” Ty comments when he notices my painted fingernails.
“I see you went for the sapphire blue,” I say. He grins and wiggles his fingers, but only one hand is painted.
“You couldn’t decide on a color?” I ask Scott, the only one at the table with no paint on the tips of his fingers.
After Mia and Sloan painted the girls' fingernails, they all wanted to practice. Because all of their friends' fingernails were already done, it fell to the adults to be the test subjects.
We all had happily volunteered. Chelsea is having an amazing time. I haven’t seen her smile this much in months.
“I got a mani too,” Scott says. He holds his hand out and I peer closer.
His nails are shiny. “Clear polish doesn’t count,” I say.
He chuckles and lifts his beer. “You’re just jealous you didn’t think of it.”
He’s right.
I take a long swallow of my cola, then say, “Scott, hey, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I think the pavilion plans are great. I know the other day we got off on the subject of all the animals and stuff. But I did want to tell you that.”
He looks surprised, but nods. “Thanks. I know that spot probably has some nostalgia for you.”
Fucker . Yes, I drank and smoked down there. But really? Did he have to bring that up when I was being nice?
He seems to realize what he said and holds up a hand. “I’m sorry. I appreciate it. And it’s fine that you didn’t say anything. You were busy. We threw a lot at you. That’s my fault. I should’ve called you a long time ago.”
I nod. “You should have. It would’ve been a lot easier.” Then I realize I did the same thing. He has apologized. I should just accept it and move on. So I shake my head. “Sorry too. We’ll get it taken care of now. It’ll be fine.”
“Even with the cats? You can get eight cats moved?”
“No. Moving them isn’t a good idea. That’s their territory.
They’ll probably just end up back there if we try to relocate them all at once too quickly.
” I glance at my dad. He just takes another drink of beer.
“And one’s pregnant. I’m afraid she’ll return and have kittens in the work site somewhere and we won’t know it.
Instead, Mom and Dad are going to take them in. ”
“All eight?” Scott asks, turning to my dad.
“ Temporarily ,” Dad says.
I chuckle. Eight is a lot of cats. Especially when one of them is about to turn into five or more. “We’re going to work on taming them. Get them fixed. Socialize them. Then get them adopted.”
“We?” Scott asks.
“The deal is I have to help,” I say. “And they’re using my old bedroom as a cat room. It’s equipped with kennels, cat toys, and litter boxes now.”
“Are we talking about the cats?” Charlie asks as he and Jack join us at the table with drinks.
“Yep,” Dad says. “You’re going to come help too?”
Charlie grins at me then at Dad. “You’ve got Chelsea and Ray and Del. They’re going to be thrilled to have all those cats. You don’t need me.”
“How long will socializing take?” Ty asks.
“Could be a few months,” I admit. “They’ve been wild strays for a while. It takes time to win their trust. Prove that they’re safe. Get to the point where they’ll let you touch them and take care of them. Definitely a while until they’re ‘family pet ready’.”
“Definitely going to need a lot of hands,” Charlie says.
“You should ask Mia to help,” Jack says. Looking directly at me .
I widen my eyes and say, “Why would I do that?”
Has Jack been drinking? Is he about to out me and Mia?
“She’s a librarian. Ask her for some research material about taming stray cats and I bet she shows up and helps out. That’s what I did about manicures and look at this party.” He gestures around the yard at large.
“That’s true,” Charlie muses. “She’s very hands-on for a librarian. Or are they all like that?”
He directs the question to Scott.
I might kill my brother.
“She does love to research and try new things,” Scott says, nodding.
I almost swallow my soda wrong. I cough. Charlie gives me a huge grin.
“That’s very…adventurous of her,” he says.
Yes, I’m definitely going to kill him.
“Damn. We really are causing you a problem,” Scott says to me, pulling my attention from the kind of research I’m going to need to do to make Charlie’s death look like an unfortunate accident.
I shake my head. “It’s my job.” It is. Moving animals around so that they can live alongside people with everyone safe and happy is a big part of what I do. Even with stray town cats.
Scott and I give each other a long look. We silently acknowledge that we both know what’s going on. We are trying to extend olive branches and it is uncomfortable and unusual for us.
But it’s nice to be trying.
“But you are relocating the bees, right?” Scott asks. “Next week?”
“Yeah. Monday is the plan,” I confirm.
“Bees?” Ty asks. “Like bumblebees?”
“Honeybees,” Scott says. “Turns out there are some beehives down there in part of the old shelter. No one really knew what to do. It could’ve been a huge problem, for obvious reasons, tearing into the space they’ve taken up. Not just for the workers but also for the bees.”
“No kidding,” Ty says he looks at me. “You’re gonna go in and kill all the bees?”
I look at him with wide eyes. “I am not going to kill all the bees. I’m going to remove them. We’re going to set them up somewhere else where they’ll be safe and won’t bother anyone. You don’t kill honeybees, Ty.”
Tyler laughs and shakes his head. “Okay, man. Better you than me.”
Scott shrugs. “Well, yeah. It’s why people like David are so important.”
I give him a surprised look. “Thanks.”
“Well, it’s true. You keep people, and animals, safe.”
The warmth I feel in my chest is unwelcome.
I want to get along with Scott. I want him to think that I am good enough for his daughter.
But I don’t want to start wanting his approval and attention.
I’m past all of that. He is just a guy. He’s not a hero, he’s not a role model, he’s just a guy.
And I’m a grown man who doesn’t have or need a hero or role model anymore.
“So, have you guys seen what they’re doing for the girls tonight after we all clear out?” Charlie asks.
“Yeah, we’re setting them up for movies here in the backyard,” my dad says.
We laugh. It’s his backyard. Obviously he knows what’s going on.
Charlie looks straight at me. “Yeah. They’re putting up a big sheet to project the movie onto like a big movie screen.
Then, setting the girls up with pillows, blankets, and sleeping bags.
They’re stringing up twinkle lights too, making it a whole outdoor movie theater thing. Isn’t that a cool, unique idea?”
I widen my eyes at my brother. What the fuck is he doing?
“That sounds cool. Need some help putting the lights up or something?” Ty asks.
“Yeah, I could use some help with that. I think there’s probably some poles to string the lights from? What do you think, David? Does that sound right?”
I am going to beat my brother before I kill him.
“Why are you asking me?” I ask. “I’m guessing Mom and Dad have it worked out.”
“Oh, I don’t know, actually,” Dad says. “The idea was Mia and Sloan’s.”
Hearing her name, and the fact that she loaned our movie idea to them for the birthday party, makes heat arrow through my gut.
Fuck, I like that girl. And now I really want to fucking kiss her. I want to find her, pull her into a secret corner, and kiss the hell out of her.
“Oh well, then why don’t you go ask them?” I say to Charlie, trying to keep my voice and expression calm.
“Yeah, they said something about poles and lights. I was hoping maybe you could help.”
I narrow my eyes, but nod. “Happy to help. What exactly do you need?”
“Could you go in the house and get the lights?”
“Do you want me to help you put up poles?” Dad asks. “Or I can go in and find the lights. I think they’re in the kitchen.”
Charlie shakes his head quickly. “We’ve got it. Go get the lights, David.”