29. Kayla
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
KAYLA
T oday is the first day in almost a week where I feel like myself. I’ve pushed through my shifts at Patti’s, and the crying happens less frequently. Today, I feel good. I feel capable. Happy even. The bell tinkles above the door at the diner, and in walks my own personal brand of sunshine, smiling widely when he sees me. I grab water and a menu and meet him at the counter.
“Hey, Ashlie,” Chase says, taking the stool next to her. She waves at him from behind her book, silently turning the pages of her current thriller novel while she chews on her turkey wrap. I come from behind the counter, and Chase wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me into his lap.
“Hey, baby.” He nuzzles his face into my neck, leaving kisses along my jaw.
I turn, pressing a quick peck on his lips. “No Hunter again today?” I ask. He hasn’t been around much since that day in the parking lot with Ash, and after my mom’s bombshell confession, I can’t say I blame him.
“Nope. He’s trying to give you both some space.” His head tips over at Ashlie, whose eyes are wide as she finishes up her chapter. “I think whatever happened between them gave our little Hunter a bit of a conscience,” he says, rubbing circles on my hip with his thumb.
“Whew, okay. I’m done. Hey, Chase,” Ashlie says, closing her book. “Where’s Hunter?” Her voice is light, but the way she looks around the room shows me she’s nervous about running into him.
“I don’t think he’s coming back until you start talking to him again.” Chase shrugs. “So, you gonna tell us what happened?”
“Why are you two in my business?” Ashlie rolls her eyes.
“Because your business is just starting to fade from your neck,” I say, before turning to Chase. “She won’t tell me anything either.”
“He said he doesn’t want to make things worse, but that’s all I’ve been able to get from him,” Chase says.
“Ash, if you won’t talk to me about it, at least talk it out with Hunter. You said you were going to talk to him…” I say.
“No. I said I should talk to him. Big difference.” She holds her hand out, inspecting her nails to avoid my eye roll.
“Okay, why won’t you talk to him?” Chase tries again.
“Oh. Easy. Because I don’t want to.”
The door chimes again, and I look over my shoulder just in time to see Maggie and her friends walk in.
“Here we go,” I say under my breath, loud enough that Chase snorts in response. He kisses my shoulder, keeping me in place with his arm.
“ Ugh , see, this is why I hate coming here. The service is horrible.” Maggie glares right at me. If I weren’t at work, I’d have some words for her.
“Then leave,” Ashlie sneers at the ballerina, crossing her arms in a “try me” fashion.
“I would, but Daddy wants to try this famous apple pie everyone keeps raving about for my twenty-first birthday tomorrow.”
“Your dad’s here?” Chase asks.
“Oh, Chase, hey,” she answers sweetly. “Yes. Daddy arrived last night for some founders’ meetings with your dad and Uncle Kendall.”
Chase nods, and I steel myself for the interaction I know I’ve got to have with her.
“Now that I’ll be twenty-one, maybe you can take me for my first drink…”
Oh, please.
“Did you want anything else with the pie?” I ask, standing and moving toward the dessert display.
“Just the pie.” She rolls her eyes like I’m bothering her, like she didn’t walk into my diner. Boxing up the dessert, I watch her move in closer to Chase.
“He actually wants to talk to you while he’s here,” she says, looking up from her lashes, hinting at something. What? I have no idea, but I do know she can take several steps backward. She’s a little too close to my boyfriend for my liking.
“I’ll have to see if I can catch him then.” Chase’s voice is uninterested as he offers her a polite, tight-lipped grin.
“It’ll be fourteen dollars.” I drop the pie box on the counter between them, getting a little satisfaction out of the small jump she takes backward. Chase flicks his eyes up to mine and stifles a laugh, sticking his tongue in his cheek. I slide over to the cash register and wait for the ballerina, who I’m realizing reminds me way too much of my former roommate.
Maggie turns an icy glare toward me, maintaining eye contact the entire time she fishes her wallet from her handbag. She hands me a twenty, and when I give her the change, she grimaces and juts her chin toward the tip jar. Looking me over one more time, she turns on her heel, grabs the pie, and flits out the door with Camryn and Tamryn close behind.
“Couldn’t be me…” Ashlie glares at the trio in the parking lot.
“Maggie’s harmless. She can be annoying, but she’s all talk.” Chase shakes his head .
“She can catch these hands is what she can do. Cartoon and Tampon too.” Ashlie seethes.
I cover my mouth, laughing at the newest nicknames for Maggie’s friends. “You know that girl’s name isn’t ‘Tampon.’”
“Might as well be. She gets pulled along by a string like one.” Ashlie shrugs, stuffing her book in her bag before leaving. She hasn’t had a good thing to say about Maggie since she deflated Artie’s ego on the Fourth of July. I can’t blame her either, seeing as every interaction I’ve had with Maggie has been insufferable.
Before Chase leaves, he bites his bottom lip, trying not to smile. He pulls me in close and says, “You’re cute when you get jealous.”
“Jealous of Maggie? No.” I scoff, shaking my head.
“I’m pretty sure that pie would disagree…”
“It slipped,” I say. “And she needed to take a step back.”
“Uh-huh.” He drops a kiss on my lips. “Whatever you say.” He winks, kisses me on the forehead, and strolls out the door.
I wouldn’t label that feeling as jealousy. Mild possessiveness, maybe. Annoyance, for sure, but not jealousy. After learning a little more about Maggie, I know pigs would fly before she ever had a chance with Chase.
The rest of my shift goes by without too much drama, and I’m walking home before I know it. The sun is shining, and my shuffled playlist is playing all the right songs as I make my way up the sidewalk. Lost in my own little world, I almost miss Hunter sitting on my porch. He lifts a couple of fingers in a wave, and my steps waver as I try to decide what to do next. Slipping off my headphones and looping them around my neck, I slowly walk up to the porch and sit down next to him.
“Hey, sis,” he says, kicking at the cement.
“Hey…” We sit silently, awkwardly trying to figure out how th is conversation is supposed to start. Not only do I have a brother, but he’s my brother. I’m his sister.
“I told you I’ve only seen the green eye thing in my family,” he teases, trying to lighten the mood by bumping my shoulder. Offering a lopsided smirk, I can’t seem to make words come out of my mouth. “I want you to see something…” He digs in his pocket and pulls out a small photo, letting me look it over.
The face I’m looking at is my own. With shorter hair and a slightly rounder face, the woman in the photo has the same green eyes and dip of the nose as I do. The same full lips spread across her face. “That’s my— our —great-grandmother. You look like her…”
“You just carry a picture around of your great-grandmother?”
“Naw, but Artemis does. She has an album she takes everywhere. She started after the divorce. I think it helps her feel connected.”
Nodding, I play with the ring on my thumb. I’ve never really looked like my mom, and seeing this photo makes it a little easier to fathom being related to the Jacksons.
I hand the picture back, and Hunter shakes his head. “Naw, that’s yours. Artie had two of them, and she wants you to keep that one. She’s pretty excited to finally have a sister, by the way.”
“I… This is?—”
“A lot. Yeah… We’ve been trying to give you some space to process everything. I do have something else, though.” He scrunches his face. “You can say no, we totally get it, but Dad wanted me to invite you over for family dinner on Saturday. He’s hoping the three-day lead will give you some time to consider it.”
I take several seconds to answer, unable to decide what I want to do. On the one hand, I’ve already met them and know that I get along with them. On the other hand, being a long-lost daughter and sister changes the context a little bit.
Hunter continues, “Chase and his family will be there, too, if you want. Or not, if that’s too many people. You can bring Ashlie if that helps. Basically, whatever you’re comfortable with, that’s what we’ll do…”
“I’ll think about it.” It’s the best answer I can give right now. Going from just mom and me to a sudden insta-family feels like a big transition. They’re all eager to get to know me, but I have the task of trying to build new relationships with the three of them. It’s a lot right now.
Hunter nods, gripping the banister to pull himself up. “Fair. I should get back…”
“Hunter?” I ask as he heads down the path leading to the driveway. “Who’s older, me or you?”
He turns around to face me, slowly walking backward to the car. “Oh, it’s me. Older and wiser.” The smart-ass smirk I’ve become accustomed to seeing spreads across his face before he turns and climbs in the car. To my surprise, he turns down the street toward Ashlie’s house after backing out of my driveway.