Chapter 8 #2
Kai shrugs, trying to be casual, but the quiver in his shoulders doesn’t quite hide the hurt underneath. “I may have put plastic wrap over a few toilet seats. And possibly replaced the sugar with salt in her boyfriend’s coffee. Repeatedly.”
Despite everything, the corner of my lip twitches. The kid’s got style. “Anything else?”
“I might have convinced the neighbors that Mako was running an illegal gambling ring out of the garage.” His eyes light up with mischief. “Which wasn’t entirely untrue, by the way.”
Definitely Desi’s kid. And possibly mine, in all the ways that matter.
“So, your mom has a new boyfriend,” I say, as he wanders ahead of me, apparently used to finding his way into new homes.
“Mako.”
“Like the shark?”
“Exactly. They’re moving to Fiji.”
Kai looks around my condo as if he were expecting a climbing wall or trampoline park in here.
Sorry to disappoint, kid.
“I thought my rich and famous uncle would live somewhere nicer. Mom said your place was like the Ritz—we snuck in there one night and ordered room service, but then got kicked out the next day after I got to swim in the pool.”
“Not the Ritz,” I say defensively, though Xoe spent a bundle having our old house remodeled and professionally decorated.
The place is functional but not exactly homey, as Nina pointed out.
Two bedrooms, basic furniture, nothing on the walls.
It looks like what it is—temporary housing for someone who wasn’t planning to stay long.
Letting out a long breath and trying to process what’s happening, I tell myself we can do this. Somehow. Temporarily. I have a few choice words for Desi, namely that she needs to get her butt back here. “The spare bedroom is yours.”
“So I can stay?” His gaze brightens.
I try to hide my hard expression. What would make him think I’d turn him away? Then again, his mother put him on an airplane and said Aloha.
Clearing my throat, I say, “Of course. But we need to establish some rules. No pranks.”
Kai nods solemnly, but I notice he doesn’t actually promise anything. Then he says, “Uncle Lane?” His voice is shaky now, less confident. “Where’s your wife?”
Right. Of course, he knows about Nina. The video went viral, and Desi has always been obsessed with social media.
In fact, the only reason I know where she is half the time is when she updates her swimsuit influencer account.
Not my cup of tea, but I guess it pays her bills—or her rotating cast of boyfriends does.
“It’s complicated,” I say, which seems to be my standard answer for everything these days.
I can practically hear Pierre’s voice in my ear telling me love is quite the opposite, but I can’t rightfully love Nina. I don’t know her. Then again, the sparks between us on the dancefloor suggested anything was possible. The way our gazes connected. That kiss.
Hold on. Who’s this hopeless romantic and where did Lane go?
I thought Xoe cut his beating heart out of his chest and threw it into the cold plunge bath.
“Desiree said now that you’re married, you can give me the family I deserve.
” Kai’s voice cracks slightly on the last word, and suddenly I see past the potential for precocious pranks and smart-aleck comments.
He’s just a kid. A child whose mother dumped him on my doorstep because he was too much to have around, which I translate to mean he interfered with her desire to indulge her selfish life.
The anger I’ve been holding in check flares white-hot. Desi is going to be hearing from me sooner rather than later, even if I have to get on an airplane.
But right now, Kai needs something different.
I stalk toward him, and he takes a half-step back, uncertainty flickering across his face. Then I wrap my arms around him and pull him into a warm hug.
He’s hesitant at first, arms stiff at his sides like he’s not sure what to do with affection or assurance. But then his small hands grip the back of my shirt, and he holds on like his life depends on it—like he’s been carrying a burden that’s too heavy for someone his size.
Because he has been—and he’s too young for any of this.
For the briefest moments, he sinks into my arms as if he’s in a safe harbor.
It’s right then that I vow to myself to be his anchor.
I don’t know if it’s the idea of being married and the potential for family that solidifies this notion, or if Kai showing up is a distraction, so I don’t have to think about that at all, but this unexpected situation has me all in for this kid.
“Don’t go telling anyone I’m a hugger. It’ll ruin my reputation,” I mutter with a smile.
That gets a laugh, muffled against my shoulder, followed by a sniffle.
I hear myself say, “It’s going to be okay.” More than anything, I want that to be true.
Later that night, after we’ve ordered takeout and Kai is in the shower, I call Nina. She answers on the second ring. Her voice is warm and the tightness in my chest loosens just hearing it.
“There’s been a development,” I say, staring at the custody papers spread across my kitchen table.
“Oh?” I can’t tell if I caught her at a bad moment and she’s preoccupied, if she’s ready to hear me declare that I want no part of our accidental marriage, or that I’m all in. As it stands with Kai, I lean toward option three. Clearing my throat, I say, “I have a nephew.”
“That’s great.” Concern raises her voice an octave as if not sure why I’m sharing this info.
“As of tonight, apparently permanently.”
“Ohh. What happened?”
I explain about Desi, Kai showing up on my doorstep, and about being thrust into instant parenthood without a manual or a clue.
“He’s ten and he knows we’re married because of social media.
He keeps asking where you are, and I don’t know how to explain that his married uncle and aunt live separately without making this whole situation sound even more confusing and absurd than it already is …
and truth be told, the kid needs stability, not another unstable household. ”
Nina is quiet for a long moment. “What are you thinking?”
“Honestly? That I’m in way over my head. I can’t handle a kid alone while playing hockey. I don’t know anything about ten-year-olds except that they apparently like pranks and ask a lot of uncomfortable questions.”
“Lane—”
I quickly interject, “I know this isn’t your problem. We agreed to think about things and I’m not trying to pressure you. But maybe we could think about it together?”
She’s quiet for a beat and then says, “I’m not sure how I could help, but I’ll try.”
“You and me?”
“Yes, us.”
“Aunt and uncle.”
“Husband and wife.”
Her pause is long, making me uneasy. This is probably too much too fast.
“I don’t want to make this your issue. But he’s—I don’t yet know the full story, but his mom basically abandoned him and—” I take a deep breath.
“And I just need someone to talk to, to help me figure out things.” Admittedly, this is not my most articulate moment, but what are the words for something like this?
She says, “He’s going to need steadiness and two parents.”
“It might be better than one clueless uncle.”
This time, she doesn’t hesitate. “Where would we live?”
My heart thunders against my ribs.
She said we.
She didn’t instantly dismiss what I said like I was a raving lunatic.
In the very least, she’s willing to entertain what I’m saying. Actually, she seems surprisingly understanding.
“As for where to live …” I scrub my hand down my face.
“My place makes the most sense since it’s closer to the Ice Palace.”
“Seriously?” I risk asking. Given the way the bakery looked, I imagine it’s probably homier than my rental.
I realize everything she’s said so far indicates she made a decision. About us. Could that be right? She’s not just willing to talk to me about this sudden situation, she’s willing to try.
Whoa. I did not see that coming.
“If you’re okay with that,” I say.
“Let‘s sleep on it. This changes things,” she says softly.
“Yeah,” I agree. “It does.”
Even though I don’t know exactly where Nina stands, talking to her feels like a lifeline. After telling her about Kai and my abrupt change in status, I can breathe again.
After we hang up, I call my father and stepmother in Utah. Dad answers like he’s shouting into a wind tunnel. “Lane! We’ve been waiting to hear from you. Quite the debut you made on the Knights last week!”
“Dad, it’s not—”
“Sabrina can’t wait to meet her—the Mustangs plan to crush the Knights in a few weeks, so she’ll join me for once.”
The man is larger than life, but he has never let me get close enough to him to talk about things that really matter. I shut my eyes and count to five. “Sure. Yeah, but it’s complicated and just became more so.”
Sabrina’s voice comes through the line with sweet enthusiasm, “From what I saw in that video, you two looked like you belonged together. Sometimes the best things happen when you’re not planning them.”
“If it works out.” And there it is, the exact kind of doubt from my hockey-hardened father. A man who never gave me anything other than ways to improve my game. I stutter because I’m not sure what to say in response.
“But that’s not all.” I tell him about Desi and Kai.
Sabrina must be out of earshot. All my father says is, “Sounds like your sister.”
Well, then.
Quickly moving on, likely because her behavior points toward his failings as a parent, he gives me a bunch of guff about the game against Ottawa, grandstanding about the Mustangs blowing us off the ice.
After I hang up, the condo is quiet and I find Kai already asleep—he must be exhausted from the flight …
from life with Desiree. I sit in the dark living room and think about belonging.
About Kai and how his mom chose a new boyfriend over her own son.
About Nina, probably lying awake in her house in Cobbiton, trying to figure out if she’s willing to take on a fake husband and an instant nephew, er, son.
About the fact that I might need my wife more than I thought.
Not for show or convenience, but because between New Year’s Eve and now, the idea of doing this alone feels impossible. But more than that, she’s been in the front of my mind all this time.
Her soft skin, her knowing eyes, her full lips. The words I do spoken with what looked like intention. Yeah, I’ve watched the video of our wedding more times than I’d admit.
The next morning, I wake up to find that Kai must’ve been up early and switched out the contents of my kitchen cabinets for all the hockey gear in this place—from socks to pucks. At least he has his priorities in order.
I also have a series of missed calls from a number I don’t recognize. Most likely, Desi got a new one. But there aren’t any voicemails. At this point, would she even bother to check if Kai made it safely?
I realize that my life as I knew it is officially over.
And for the first time in months, that doesn’t terrify me.
It just makes me want to find out if Nina is ready for an adventure because the idea of doing this with her makes anything seem possible.