6. Aiden
AIDEN
@TrentSaunders Happy birthday, bro
@AidenC Make sure you bring a bottle with that birthday wish
“You’re bringing the present, right?”
“What present?” I asked as I breezed through Long Island in my Ferrari, Dominic on speaker phone as he made his own drive in.
I’d always liked the North Shore, especially Jamesport, where Nana Dee lived.
I didn’t make it over here as often as I would have liked, but to celebrate Trent’s birthday and spend some time with my favorite people in the world, it was worth the effort.
When we were younger, we used to have Trent’s birthday lunch at Dee’s, then we’d all go out and get hammered.
Now that we’d outgrown the wildness of our twenties, lunch was really the main event. “Our presence is his present.”
“You’re kidding, right?” He sounded exasperated.
I laughed. “Don’t panic. I grabbed the bottle you forgot on my desk before I left the office yesterday.”
“Did you get a card?”
“What the hell does he need a card for?” I asked as the clouds parted above. It had been a relatively wet April so far, but it looked like the weather might just clear up for Trent. Not that it would have mattered. Nana Dee had an enclosed patio where she hosted most celebrations.
“Watch the language—you’re on speaker.”
“My bad. Hi, Hailey,” I said, receiving no response from Dominic’s four-year-old daughter. She was probably dialed in on her iPad. “But seriously, Dom, Trent is not going to read a card. He’s gonna take one look at the bottle before cracking it open.”
“Did you at least put it in a gift bag?”
I frowned. “No?”
“What are you, twelve?”
“You didn’t know me when I was twelve.”
“And thank God for that. You were probably an annoying little sh—” He cleared his throat. “Piece of work.”
I snorted. “You’re thinking too hard about all of this. You’re supposed to be relaxing and enjoying your weekend with Hailey. Not stressing out over cards and gift wrap as some sort of substitute for stressing about your—”
“Watch what you say with current company,” Dominic cut in.
“—other predicament,” I finished tactfully for Hailey’s sake. What I really wanted to say was stressing about your horrible, gold-digging, selfish hag of a soon-to-be ex-wife.
“I’m not stressing about that.”
“Sure you’re not.” Dominic’s mind cycled between three things: Hailey, his disaster divorce proceedings, and the launch of Elixir Free.
“I’m actually the King of Calm today. How far are you?”
I glanced out the window, watching the Bayfront properties zoom by.
Nana Dee’s place was nestled in a neighborhood comprised of picturesque beach walks and quaint cafés.
It was all a little too slow for my usual tastes, but a perfect occasional escape from the chaos of Manhattan. “About two minutes.”
“Okay, we’re just pulling up. I’ll see you there.”
I hung up, making my way down the street, pulling up in front of Nana Dee’s place.
I spotted Vincent’s red Bugatti Chiron—the one Piper, his fiancée, had crashed into on the day they met—and Paul’s car.
Dominic was unloading Hailey in the driveway, his Bentley Bentayga far more child friendly.
We liked to tease him about driving the dad-mobile, but I supposed Vincent was about to join him, since Piper was due to give birth soon.
Bye-bye Bugatti and hello rear-facing car seat.
I grabbed the liquor off the passenger seat and hopped out, meeting Dominic on the driveway.
“Say hi to Uncle Aiden,” he said as Hailey climbed down from her seat.
“Nana Dee!” Hailey cried, zooming straight past me and up the porch steps of the house.
Dominic shrugged. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I get it. Nana Dee is infinitely cooler than I am.
” I followed him to the door. We didn’t bother knocking.
We hadn’t since Christmas break of freshman year.
I was only just starting to get to know the guys then—Vincent, Dominic, and Trent from a brand management class we were all taking together, and Paul because he was Vincent’s roommate.
But when going home to my almost-divorced parents had sounded like a nightmare and Vincent’s travel plans fell through at the last minute, Trent hadn’t hesitated to invite us to spend the holiday with him at Nana Dee’s.
From that moment on, his grandmother basically adopted us, calling us her Lost Boys.
We spent every Christmas break in college with her and had stayed close since.
Hailey ran ahead, racing through the house Nana Dee had childproofed the day Hailey was born.
Dee and her husband had made it big in the furniture business, and the house was filled with antique furnishings and stained-glass windows, but there were no sharp edges or trip hazards anywhere.
Nana Dee always made sure her world was as safe and welcoming for us as it could be.
We made our way to the covered patio where she was setting out the lunch spread.
“There you are!” she said to us as she hugged Hailey, who’d latched onto her legs.
Dominic scooped Hailey into his arms, freeing Nana Dee, only for her to latch onto both of us. I allowed myself to be squished in a hug. For as long as I’d known her, Dee had always worn the same rose-scented perfume. I couldn’t smell it without smiling.
“Is the birthday boy around?” I asked.
“He’s in the kitchen trying to help. I told him not to bother, since it’s his birthday, but you know how he is.”
He could be kind of a control freak…but I was the same way, so I was hardly one to criticize.
“We’ll go root him out,” Dominic said, flipping Hailey upside down until she’d started giggling uncontrollably. “Won’t we?”
“Can I do anything?” I asked Dee when Dominic disappeared. She handed me a basket of cutlery, and I set to work. “Are we expecting your famous red velvet cake again this year?”
“Of course. I baked it fresh this morning. Just finished icing it before you all got here.”
“Hey, Dee!” Vincent called, coming through the patio door from the yard. Piper was just behind him. “It looks like you’ve already got jasmine growing in the greenhouse.”
“Glad you noticed. Took me forever to get those little buggers to take root!”
“And your gardenia plant looks amazing,” Piper added.
“I’ve been informed by my fiancée that she’s now obsessed with the smell,” Vincent said.
“You take as many cuttings as you’d like,” Dee told them.
“Hey,” Vincent said, clapping me on the shoulder.
“Hey. So, is that like a pregnancy thing?”
He shrugged. “Heightened sense of smell. Taste. It’s a wild time, dude.”
“That’s handy.” Vincent was in the fragrance business. Piper had helped him launch the company’s most recent perfume line, which was how they met. Well, they met when she hit his car, but working together was how they got together in the end.
He snorted. “As long as it’s a smell she approves of. If it’s not, well, then I get an earful about that too.” The words might sound like a complaint, but the grin on his face made it clear it was anything but. He was ridiculously in love.
Dominic returned from the house with Trent and Hailey, along with Paul and his wife, Chloe.
“Now it’s a party,” I said, giving Trent a quick hug. “Happy birthday, man.” I passed him his gift.
“What?” he said. “No card?”
My jaw dropped for a moment, then Dominic started snickering. “Shut the hell up.”
“I’m kidding.” He laughed. “Thank you. This is great.”
Nana Dee beamed at us, laying her hand against her chest.
“Ah, now what?” Trent asked, sounding like he was nineteen again.
“Nothing,” she said. “It just makes me happy to see all of you together.” She took Piper and Chloe by their arms, pulling them close. “And now two of my boys are settled down with women who are perfect for them.”
Trent rolled his eyes. “Here we go. Another year older. Another year wiser. Another year alone and unmarried. Is that right?”
“Glad we’re on the same page,” Dee said cheekily.
“Sure, sure.” Trent laughed, shaking his head.
Vincent hugged Piper from behind, resting his hands on her pregnant belly, while Paul pulled Chloe into his lap. The rest of us took our seats around the patio table.
“How is the wedding planning coming?” Dee asked Piper as the food was doled out.
“Basically all done,” she said. “Oh, actually, we need to coordinate the groomsmen’s fitting!
” She nudged Vincent. “Remind me to do that while we’re here.
It’ll be easier to nail down a time when you can all look at your calendars at once.
Sorting things out with you lot on group chat is a nightmare. ”
Chloe laughed. “Aren’t you glad we’ve already dealt with all the bridesmaid stuff?”
“Well, it helped that I could use you as a cheat sheet,” Piper replied with a grin.
Piper was Paul’s stepsister, and Piper had been a bridesmaid in Chloe and Paul’s wedding not so long ago. I could only assume Chloe—who was now one of Piper’s bridesmaids—had had plenty of useful “do this and absolutely not this” advice to share.
“A wedding and a baby!” Dee remarked, adding food to Hailey’s plate. “I’m going to need to get a bigger table for out here.” She caught Dominic’s eye. “And how is the you know what going?”
“Divorce,” Dominic said, lifting his shoulder. “I’m trying not to make it sound like a bad word.”
“Of course,” Dee said. “And it’s not. Sometimes it’s for the best.”
“It’s been a…struggle,” Dominic said, clearly searching for the right word to use with Hailey present.
Dee offered him a sympathetic smile. “Once you’re through this rough patch, things will settle down again. Then we’ll find you the right girl—”
Dominic snorted into his water glass. “Oh no. I’m good. Trust me. Been there, done that. Pick on someone else.”
“I don’t pick,” Dee argued. “I gently nudge.”
Trent regarded his grandmother. “Gently?”
“At my age, I can do whatever I want. And what I want is to see all my boys happily settled,” she said.