chapter twenty-eight
RILEY
Sliding my cell into my pocket, I open my front door and lower to one knee, arms wide as Poppy comes barreling toward me.
“Uncle Riley!”
She slams into my chest, so I scoop her into my arms and stand, bear-hugging her as I breathe in her innocent scent of candy and playdough. “I’ve missed you, popsicle. Did you miss me?”
She clasps my face, her eyes giant blue saucers. “Did you buy me a present?”
“Did you miss me?” I repeat.
“Of course I did, silly.”
“Then yes, I bought you a present.”
“What is it?” she asks, bouncing in my arms.
“Poppy,” Roni playfully scolds, “Uncle Riley just got home. Be patient.”
“But I want to see my present. What is it?”
I boop her nose with mine. “Soon, I promise.”
Roni holds her arm out to relieve me of my niece, but I swing Poppy away from her and lean forward instead, kissing my sister’s cheek. I’m not yet ready to put her down, which will no doubt change in roughly five minutes when she doesn’t stop asking me about her gift.
“So, how was it?” Roni asks, stepping past me into the entryway hall.
“Yeah. Good.” I gesture to the baking dish in her hand. “What’s that?”
She cocks one eyebrow. “What do you think it is?”
Smiling like a son who adores his mother’s cooking, I set Poppy down to help Mom up the steps to my front door. “Are those cheesesteaks?”
Mom hands me the baking dish she’s carrying, then pulls me close to kiss my forehead. “And a Shoofly pie.”
“Mom!” I reciprocate the kiss. “You’re the best.”
“Can’t have my boy come home to no food, can I?”
I link my arm with hers and lead her into the kitchen. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please, dear.”
“Sit down,” my sister orders. “I’ll do it. You must be exhausted.”
“Thanks. I am.” I take a seat, and Poppy instantly climbs onto my lap.
“So how was your cruise?” Mom asks.
I glance at Roni and smile. “It was exactly what I needed.”
She twiddles her fingers on the countertop. “Did you sow your wild oats like I suggested?”
“Veronica!” Mom scolds.
“What? That was the whole point of his cruise.”
“It wasn’t,” I correct her. “But yes, I did meet someone.”
Mom’s shocked face gleams. “You did?”
“Do tell.” Roni sets down the mugs and eagerly leans over the counter.
“She lives in Manhattan. She’s thirty-two, and her name is… wait for it…” I grin and tickle Poppy. “Riley. Riley Wilson.”
“What?” Roni squawks. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not. We were booked into the same cabin by mistake.”
My mother and my sister’s heads snap toward each other before snapping back to me. “How on earth did that happen?” Mom asks.
“I don’t know, but I’m glad it did, because we shared our room for the entire cruise.”
“Uncle Riley—”
Mom delicately touches my arm. “You shared?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“But why?”
“Because neither of us wanted to downgrade.”
“You”—Roni points at me—“willingly shared with a stranger?”
I frown. “Why’s that so hard to believe?”
She scoffs. “Because you’re not exactly the sharing type.”
“I am so.”
“Uncle Riley—”
“And you’re a messy pig.”
“I am not.”
“And you snore.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, apparently like a freight train of hogs, or something like that.”
Poppy positions her head into my line of sight. “Uncle Riley.”
“Just a minute, popsicle,” I say, moving to look past her. “I’ll admit the snoring was a problem at first, but I fixed it.”
“How? By smothering yourself?” my sister quips. “Because that’s what I would’ve done.”
I frown again. “I bought her AirPods.”
“You did what?” Roni facepalms.
“Hey! It worked.”
Shaking her head at me, she pushes off from the counter and turns on the coffee machine. “So what’s the other Riley like?”
“She’s—” Riles’s brown hair blowing in the breeze and her gray eyes shining as she smiles catapults into my mind’s eye. “—beautiful. And sweet.” A pillow slamming my face also surfaces from my memory. “And feisty.”
Mom’s brow furrows. “Feisty?”
“In a good way.” I pat her hand. “Let’s just say she doesn’t shy away from putting me in my place.”
“I like her already,” Roni says, winking. “So when do we get to meet her? Or was it just a vacation fling?”
I grin. “This weekend.”
“Oh.” Mom sits straighter. “So soon?”
“I wish it were sooner.”
Roni glances at Mom, lips pursed. “Someone’s smitten.”
I gleam; I am.
“You said she lives in Manhattan, dear.”
“Yeah, Mom.”
“Won’t that be difficult?”
“I’m trying not to think that far ahead. All I know is I’m desperate to see her again. We had such a great time together. She pulled me out of my funk and encouraged me to do and see things I wouldn’t have. And she made me want to be—” I stretch Poppy’s cheek into a smile. “—happy again.”
Roni places our coffees in front of us and takes a seat. “Don’t worry about the commute. Manhattan isn’t that far. Adrian and I managed a long-distance relationship just fine.” She stares into her mug, blinks, then looks up. “It can work if you both want it to.”
I reach out and cover her hand with mine, her late husband’s passing still as raw as the day we got the dreaded news.
“Uncle Riley?”
“Yes, popsicle.”
“Can I have my present now?”
Giving my niece my undivided attention, I grin at her adorable, pleading face. “You can if you use the magic word.”
“Pleeease!”
I kiss her forehead, stand with her on my hip before taking her to my bedroom, and plonk her on the bed. She scoots across it, practically dives into my open suitcase, and instantly snags the stuffed moose I got her in Nova Scotia.
“Is this my present?” she asks, holding it up.
“One of them.”
She gives it a curious look. “What is it?”
“A moose.”
“I love him. What’s his name?”
“What do you want to call him?”
“Moose.”
Okaaay. Not awfully original, but… it works.
I rifle through my case for the bracelets as she hugs Moose to her chest.
“Is this my present too?”
Looking up and seeing the gold ship trophy tightly gripped in her hand, I shake my head and smirk. “No. Uncle Riley won that in a dancing competition.”
Poppy giggles and jiggles, and then she tucks the trophy under her arm next to Moose. “Where’s my other present? Where’s my other present?”
My fingers snag the beads, so I bunch my fists and sit next to her. “Here. Pick a hand.”
She points to my left, so I open my fingers.
“A purple bracelet!” Poppy snatches it up and instantly points to my right. Chuckling, I open that hand too. “And a pink one!”
“Do you like them?”
“I love them. Look, Mommy!” She scurries off the bed. “Look what Uncle Riley got me.”
Roni pushes off from the doorframe and enters my room. “Wow! They’re pretty.”
“And this is Moose. And this is Uncle Riley’s dancing trophy.”
Roni’s face puckers. “A dancing trophy?”
I smirk again.
“I’m going to show Nanna,” Poppy says, skipping out of the room with her loot.
“Did I hear that correctly? You won a dancing trophy?” Roni hovers over my suitcase and collects the formal night photo I bought without Riles’s knowledge.
“You did hear that correctly,” I say. “I’m the new Michael Flatley.”
My sister bursts into laughter. “Now that I would’ve liked to see.”
“Trust me, you wouldn’t have.”
Smiling at the photo, she takes a seat next to me. “Is this her?”
I nod. “Yep.”
“She’s pretty.”
“I know.”
Roni leans over the bed and places the picture on my bedside table. “So… this thing with Riley—God, that’s weird. Riley and Riley.” She blinks, then shakes her head. “Anyway, this thing with Riley—”
“Riles,” I say, helping her out.
“Riles?”
I nod.
“This thing with Riles, is it serious?”
“From my perspective, yes.”
She frowns. “What about her perspective?”
I rub my beard. “I don’t know… yet.”
“Oh. Why not?”
“She’s extremely dedicated to her work, so I’m not sure what that will mean for us. I’m willing to find out though. She’s worth it.”
“Good.” She pats my thigh. “You deserve to find love again. But finding it and keeping it are two entirely different things. One involves opening your heart, and the other involves sacrifice and dedication.”
“You deserve to find love again too, you know.”
She scoffs. “Maybe I should go on a cruise and sow my wild oats.”
I wrench my head back. “Over my dead body!”
“Don’t give me that sexist bullshit, young man. What’s good for a gander is good for a goose.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts. We’re all made of the same flesh and blood.”
“Not exactly.”
She fires me her don’t-argue-with-your-older-sister look and lowers her voice. “Riley.”
I challenge it like I always do. “Veronica.”
Her eyes narrow into harrowing slits, and she damn well clocks me over the head with her open palm.
I playfully clock her back, and we both call out, “Mom!” like petulant children, then burst into laughter.
“Don’t hit girls,” she says, getting in a second whack before jumping to her feet.
“Goose and gander, remember?”
“Not the same thing.”
She’s right; it’s not, but I huff all the same.
“Riley!” Mom calls out. “Get your dancing butt out here now.”
I groan.
Roni shoots me a cocky grin. “She’s gonna want a demonstration.”
Groaning again, I hang my head. “Yeah, I know.”
After Mom insists I teach her the Irish dancing steps that crowned me champion—which I pretty much make up on the fly—we sit down and eat dinner.
I fill them in on most of the details of my vacation: the places I visited, the ship, about Riles’s mother, and what Riles does for a living.
And after scarfing down the best Shoofly pie in the history of Shoofly pies, I can barely keep my eyes open.
“He sounds like a piggy,” Poppy says, poking my cheek, prompting my eyes to shoot open.
I blink her into focus, her face mere inches from mine. “I do not.”
“Yes, you do.” She snorts a few times and giggles.
Tickling her ribs, I move her off my lap, stand, and stretch. “Sorry, but I need some shut-eye.”
Roni nudges my shoulder with hers. “Yeah, I guess you would.”
I give her a playful shove.
“So, should I expect you at the shop tomorrow?” she asks.
Yawning, I nod and stretch again. “I found a lot of inspiration in Europe, and I can’t wait to get started.”
“Good.” She kisses her fingertips and presses them onto Dad’s portrait that’s sitting on top of my mantle. “We’ve missed you.”
I’ve missed them and the workshop too, and I’m itching to pick up my tools and tell Dad all about the furniture I can’t wait to design and build.
“But,” Roni adds, “you’re newfound inspiration may have to wait.”
I frown. “Why?”
“Mrs. Parberry.”
Drawing in a deep breath, I let it out long and slow. “What’s she done now?”
“She brought in her Chippendale stool. Split the Cabriole leg.”
“She stood on it, didn’t she?”
Roni winces.
“I told her not to stand on it, damn it.”
“Language,” Mom scolds. “Let’s just be thankful she didn’t harm herself.”
True. Although… she harmed that innocent stool.
“Shh,” Poppy says, patting Moose’s head. “He’s sleeping.”
I run my fingers along my lips, pretending to zip them shut, when she lets out an almighty snort, her mouth open, her nose scrunched. Thinking she’s choking, I panic and lunge toward her, but then she adds, “He’s snoring, Uncle Riley! Like you!”
Roni bursts into laughter, and Mom offers me a sympathetic grin.
Where’s the damn milk? It’s roofie time.
“I might pop into the store tomorrow after cards with Ellis and Lily,” Mom says, taking Poppy’s hand in hers.
“Of course.” I walk them to the door.
“I want to hear more about this Riley who has you blushing.”
“I don’t blush, Mom.”
“Of course you don’t, dear,” she says, her patronizing hand patting my cheek. “Don’t forget to bring my baking dishes with you.”
“You didn’t wash them?”
She slaps my arm. “The nerve of you.”
I chuckle. “I’m kidding. They’ll be so clean you’ll be able to do your hair in the reflection.”
“I doubt that, but good boy.”
Kissing her cheek and then Roni’s, followed by Poppy’s, I wave goodbye from my front door, when my cell sounds an incoming text.
Yawning again, I pull it out, stupid butterfly shit flittering in my stomach when I notice Riles’s name.
Just wanted to say goodnight.
Goodnight, sweetheart. Get some sleep. Because you won’t when I see you next.
Yes, I will. I’ll bring my AirPods.
That’s not what I meant.
I know.
Laughing, because she gives as good as she gets, my fingers start to type I love you, but I stop them.
Jesus fucking Christ, Wilson. What are you doing?
The message bubble bounces on my screen, so I quickly type something else so she doesn’t think I’ve left her hanging.
Did you eat something?
Did you eat something?
“You’re an idiot,” I mutter to myself while closing the door behind me.
Stop thin-shaming me.
I laugh.
I’m not.
You are.
Riles!
Riley!
Okay, okay.
Just look after yourself. And call me whenever you want, no matter the time or day.
I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl.
Rubbing my beard, I lean against the wall, suspecting she’s not being honest.
I just don’t want you to feel lonely.
My screen stays frozen for what feels like minutes on end until the message bubble once again bounces.
I don’t. Not anymore.