Chapter 15
Reid unlocked the front door and stepped inside his house. The soft patter of feet sounded before Ariel appeared in the foyer.
She uttered a quiet meow before rubbing up against the corner of the wall.
“Mornin’, Princess Ariel,” he whispered. “Are you the only one awake?”
She meowed again and then skedaddled toward the kitchen.
He left his large duffel on the floor before joining the cat in the kitchen. Ariel walked circles at his feet, singing her
usual morning chorus of meows while he filled her bowl with fishy canned food. Once she was settled with breakfast, he padded
down the hallway and stopped at Piper’s door, which had been cracked open enough for Ariel to escape.
Reid pushed on the door and leaned his shoulder on the doorframe. Piper was snuggled on her stomach, holding her favorite
mermaid doll in her arms while her soft snores punctuated the hum of the air conditioner.
He bit back a yawn and glanced toward his bedroom across the hall.
He considered crawling into bed and trying to get some sleep before Piper woke up, but he’d already struggled through a sleepless night at the station.
Surely he wouldn’t get any sleep at home either.
For years he’d managed to bury the memories and guilt that haunted him after Brynn’s death, but the accident yesterday had unlocked it all.
He’d worked so hard to move forward, to push through life with his sole focus on being the best father he could be, but his resolve had started to crack yesterday.
And that terrified him. He needed to find a way to cram the ugliness back down, deep in his soul, back into the locked box.
He had to ignore the pang that was radiating through him—especially today, on Brynn’s birthday.
It was always one of the toughest days of the year, along with the anniversary of Brynn’s accident and Mother’s Day. He missed his best friend.
Pushing off the doorframe, he turned to leave, but something on his daughter’s dresser caught his eye. He walked softly across
the room and found a card made out of construction paper. In Piper’s adorably messy six-year-old handwriting, “Mommy” was
scrawled, and the paper was decorated with flowers, rainbows, and mermaids. His heart constricted as he pictured her working
hard on it.
Opening the card, he found a stick figure drawing of what looked like a woman with long, light brown hair standing by a little
girl with dark brown pigtails and a multicolored cat. Below it, Piper had written:
Mommy,
Hapy brthday! I luv u sooooo much. I mis u. Ariel dos to.
Luv,
Piper and Ariel
The backs of his eyes began to burn, and his throat closed around the lump forming inside it. His daughter would always miss her mother. And he would never forgive himself for what happened to her.
Taking a deep breath, he gingerly laid the card back on her dresser before walking out to the hallway. His eyes focused on
the closed guest room door, and he imagined Kaiah asleep in the double bed. He’d hoped she would’ve been up when he arrived
home, but he couldn’t blame her for sleeping past seven. He just looked forward to seeing her.
In fact, part of him wanted to knock on the door, wake her up, and tell her about his shift, including his emotional breakdown.
If he felt comfortable talking to anyone, it was definitely her.
But he didn’t want to overwhelm Kaiah. It wasn’t fair of him to take his trauma and dump it at her doorstep. She didn’t ask
for that.
But he couldn’t help it. He was tired of having no one to trust with his heart. In fact, his heart was screaming for him to
dive in headfirst and see where this friendship could lead. But at the same time, he had Piper’s feelings to consider. If
he dove in headfirst and things didn’t work out, Piper’s heart would be broken for sure, and he’d already done enough damage
to Piper when she lost her mom.
Shaking his head, Reid retrieved his duffel and headed into his bedroom. He retreated into his bathroom and took a long hot
shower before pulling on a pair of athletic shorts and a plain gray T-shirt. Then he returned to the kitchen and began to
cook, losing himself in the task of making French toast.
When he heard footsteps behind him, he craned his neck to where Kaiah stood in the doorway, her purse and bag thrown over her shoulder.
Her wavy blonde hair was swept up into a thick ponytail with wisps falling around her face, and her bright blue eyes sparkled in the morning sunlight. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Well, good morning,” he said. “How’d you sleep?”
“Great. Thanks.” She pushed an errant lock of hair behind her ear. “How was your shift?”
“Fine,” he said, but he averted his eyes, not wanting to pour his heart out to her—not now. Instead, he pointed to a platter
of French toast. “Hope you’re hungry.”
She waved off the offer. “Oh no, none for me. I need to get started on my next article. I’ll see you and Piper tomorrow.”
She shouldered her tote bag and backed out of the doorway.
“Kaiah,” he called, his voice sounding more urgent than he’d intended. “Wait. Please.”
She whirled around, her expression full of curiosity.
“I just— Stay for breakfast. You can work on your article later.”
She raised an eyebrow and set her bags down in the foyer. “Okay.” When her eyes focused on him, he could feel concern coming
off her in waves. “Is everything all right, Reid?”
He shrugged, hoping he looked casual. “Yeah.” He pointed to the coffeepot. “Would you mind pouring us a couple of cups?”
“Sure,” she said, but worry flashed across her face.
Piper scampered into the kitchen, and they all sat down to eat. After they ate breakfast and cleaned up the kitchen, Kaiah
hefted her bags onto her shoulder. “That was delicious. Seriously, though, now I need to get started on my article. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Wait, Miss Kaiah,” Piper said. “You should come with us to go see Mommy.”
Reid’s lips pressed into a flat line. The last thing he wanted to do today was take Kaiah to the cemetery. That kind of macabre
field trip might push her out of his life faster than she’d planned.
Against his better judgment, he chose to ignore Piper and instead force his lips into a thin smile. “I can’t wait to read
your article.”
“Daddy?” Piper asked, and when he didn’t respond, she shook his arm. “Daddy! I want Miss Kaiah to meet Mommy. Can she come with us? Please?”
Reid’s spine stiffened. Closing his eyes, he brushed his hand over his mouth as he worked to form a response. A hand on his
bicep startled him.
Kaiah had moved to his side, and her blue eyes were soft with concern. “Are you okay, Reid?”
He tucked his stress away with a bit of a smile. “I’m fine,” he fibbed. “She wants to take you to the cemetery,” he muttered.
“It’s Brynn’s birthday.”
Kaiah blinked. “Oh. That’s why she said something about making her mommy a birthday card. She showed it to me, but I didn’t
make the connection.”
“You don’t have to . . .”
She hesitated, and his stomach knotted. The last thing he wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable.
“I don’t want to interfere,” she offered. “You two go, and I’ll show you my article when I finish it.”
“But I want you to come with us, Miss Kaiah,” Piper said.
Reid couldn’t stand the whine in his daughter’s voice. “No, Piper,” he said, gruffer than he meant to, and his daughter winced
at his tone. “Miss Kaiah needs to work on her article about the festival.”
“Can’t you work on it later?” Piper offered.
The small, patient smile on Kaiah’s face nearly stopped Reid’s heart. She looked up at him. “Are you okay with me going with
you? I feel like I’m stepping on your private family time.”
“Listen, I know this isn’t exactly a normal outing. But you could never intrude, Kaiah. Really.” Their gazes held, and he felt something warm and palpable pass between them. “You’re more than welcome to join us. But if it feels too weird, I completely understand.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded at her.
Kaiah closed the distance between her and Piper and then bent down to her level. “If you want me to go, then I’ll go.”
Piper clapped. “Yay!”
After stopping at the grocery store for a bouquet of spring flowers, Reid drove to Coral Cove Memorial Gardens. Moments with
Brynn washed over him as he steered through the quiet cemetery. But his mind settled on the worst one. He remembered the day
they had laid his beautiful young wife to rest and the service their pastor had held at her graveside. He couldn’t recall
a word Pastor Deborah had spoken, but he did remember his twin’s tight grip as she held his hand and sobbed.
Reid parked by the row that led to Brynn’s grave, and he surveyed the headstones. Flowers, balloons, and toys signaled that
other folks had recently visited their loved ones, and more regret pummeled him. He should make an effort to visit Brynn’s
grave more often instead of only on Mother’s Day and her birthday.
Piper scrambled out of the back seat. “Let’s go, Miss Kaiah! You can meet my mommy.”
Reid glanced over at Kaiah beside him. “You don’t have to do this.”
“It’s okay.” Kaiah lightly placed her hand on his before pushing her door open just as Piper appeared. His daughter held the
birthday card she’d made in one hand, and she grabbed Kaiah’s hand with the other. The young woman retrieved the bouquet of
flowers he’d bought at the grocery store. Something in her eyes told him that she truly wanted to be here, and the gesture
touched him deep in his soul.
“C’mon, Miss Kaiah.” Piper yanked Kaiah toward the grave.
Reid walked slowly behind them. He breathed in the fresh April air and the scent of freshly cut grass mixed with blooming
roses as he scanned the nearby headstones. Piper and Kaiah reached Brynn’s grave, and Kaiah helped Piper unwrap the flowers
before they arranged them in the permanent vase in front of Brynn’s headstone. Then they laid the homemade card next to the
flowers.