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Charlotte hugs Heidi. “Your first house is a big deal.”
“I’m glad you’re here.” Heidi hugs her back.
“No!” Alexa yells, squirming for Teller to set her down. “Pop-pop!”
She runs over and slams into Rock’s legs and he scoops her up.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Don’t wanna,” she wails and buries her head against his shoulder.
Heidi bites her lip.
While I hate seeing Alexa distressed, her tantrum’s also funny as hell. It’s so damn cute, I’m not even offended she ran to Rock to save her from the evil new house.
“Come on,” Rock encourages in the gentle voice he reserves for Alexa and Grace. “You’re a big girl.”
“You’ll be over all the time,” Hope adds.
“No!” Alexa reaches out, opening and closing her hand until Hope grabs her little fingers. “Gracie,” she sobs.
“You’ll see Grace all the time,” Hope promises.
Alexa bawls even harder. “Noooo.”
“She’s breaking my heart,” Hope whispers, snuggling Grace even tighter in one arm while hanging onto Alexa’s finger with her free hand.
“Your place is all she’s known.” While Teller sounds rational, his face is all anguish as he watches Alexa’s meltdown.
“She’ll be okay.” Heidi takes a deep breath like she’s trying to convince herself. I reach out, curling my hand around hers.
“Let’s go upstairs. She’ll calm down.” Heidi and I lead the way. First stop is Alexa’s room.
“Look,” Rock says, trying to get Alexa’s attention. “This is all yours.”
Her sobbing has stopped but she shakes her head no and won’t look at any of us.
“Wow!” Charlotte uses her high-pitched-totally-amazed toddler voice. “Look at those unicorns.”
Alexa finally picks up her head. “Uni-corn?”
Teller holds out his arms. “Uncle Carter’s been working hard on all these paintings. Come see.”
Rock sets her down, and Alexa swipes her hands over her damp cheeks a few times. “Okay.”
Teller takes her hand and walks her over to Carter.
“We’ve got unicorns and mermaids in this section.” Carter does his best museum tour guide impression and points up to the ceiling. “And up here we have butterflies.”
“Butter-fries?” Tears forgotten, Alexa whips her head up to stare at the ceiling. “Ooo!” She wiggles away from Teller and takes Carter’s hand, so he can show her all the different paintings.
“You like it?” Heidi asks.
Alexa nods and goes back to admiring the bookshelves, which Carter decorated with paintings of books and ivy leaves. Even Alexa’s little walk-in closet has rainbows and a few hidden fairies.
When he finishes the tour, I shake Carter’s hand. Alexa’s still exploring and admiring all the artwork. “I don’t think we paid you enough, brother. Thank you so much for all the time you spent.”
He blushes and presses his hands to his temples. “Seeing her go from tears and not wanting to move in to,” he gestures to Alexa who’s now busy crawling along the floor, checking out every little detail, “is amazing.”
“I have a feeling you might have found a new side-hustle, Carter,” Hope whispers. She pats Grace’s back and raises an eyebrow.
“Custom bedrooms for spoiled biker-kids?” Teller jokes.
I reach over and punch him. “Who you calling spoiled?”
“Me!” Alexa yells, flinging her arms around my legs and smiling at me. “Pick me up, Daddy,” she demands, proving her uncle’s point.
Heidi
I’m thrilled to finally have my own home with Blake. A place to put down the roots I never had as a child. Still, there’s a lingering sadness at leaving Rock and Hope’s. Every time I walk through their front door, I’m filled with a sense of belonging so intense it’s hard to imagine leaving.
My grandmother’s never felt like a home because a little piece of me always hoped my mother would come back for me.
Even though I loved him for renting a place close to my high school, the apartment I shared with my brother after my grandmother’s death always had an expiration date.
Campus housing with Axel. Our apartment in Alaska.
None of them were ever home.
Have I even earned this?
Blake’s the one who has put in the hard work. Built parts of the house with his own hands. Spent a fortune making every detail perfect.
There’s no way I’ll voice any of my childish emotions today.
Still, I think Blake knows.
While everyone’s busy admiring Alexa’s room, Blake takes my hand, and we walk down the hall to the master bedroom, closing the door behind us.
“You okay?” he asks.
“She had me worried for a minute.” I gesture toward the door. Alexa’s tears always rattle me a little, no matter how normal they may be.
His face breaks into a smile. “Carter saved the day. Guess I can’t pick on him anymore.”
“You shouldn’t pick on him anyway.”
“Seriously, you all right?”
“I’m bursting inside.” I raise my arms, spinning in a half circle. “This is a dream come true and I feel so lucky…almost like—”
“You don’t deserve it?”
“Yes.”
He steps closer and brushes my hair off my cheek. “You deserve everything and more.” His intense green eyes drill into me. “But I understand. There’s part of me that feels the same way.”
“Really?”
“Sure.” He flicks his gaze around the room. “You probably don’t remember what my mom’s house was like, but I think if you told me when I was a kid, I’d be living here one day, I would’ve thought it was a cruel joke.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
His eyes narrow, and his mouth twists in a playful way. “Have I?”
“Okay, maybe not in the conventional sense, but yes.”
“I want to give you everything.”
“You already have.”
Someone knocks on the door. “Really, guys?” Marcel calls out.
Murphy reaches over and opens the door. “Creep.” He opens the door wider. “Come on in and see all the cool shit I did in here.”
I elbow Blake and flash a play-along-with-me smile. “I asked Blake for a mirrored ceiling, but I guess it hasn’t been delivered yet.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Marcel mutters.
“She’s joking,” Blake says. “The mirrored ceilings are in the basement.”
Marcel shakes his head. “You’re perfect for each other. Really.”
Now that we’ve gotten teasing my brother out of our systems—for today anyway—Blake gets serious. “Furniture should start arriving this week. Then, I guess we’ll be ready to move in after the wedding.”
“Nice.” Marcel opens one of the closet doors. “Jesus. Is this a closet or a nursery?”
“Whatever Heidi wants it to be.”
I step over to check it out and gasp. My apartment in Alaska would fit inside this closet. “I don’t think I have enough clothes to fill this. You even found one of those island drawer thingies for me?” I’d once mentioned that if I ever had a walk-in closet of my own, I’d like something similar when we were watching some home renovation show. Blake remembered. Every detail.
I turn and press my hand against his chest, leaning up to kiss him. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Fresh out of wisecracks, my brother ruffles my hair and slaps Blake on the back.
Rock joins us and inspects the closet. Tests the rods, door hinges, drawers, and fittings. “Looks good.” He claps Marcel’s shoulder. “Let’s all sit down before we leave for the party.”
I had no illusions our wedding dinner wouldn’t include some “club business.”
In a way, I guess it’s reassuring.
So many big changes are coming this week.
But
at least a few things remain the same.
Thirty-Two
Murphy
Every inch of Heidi’s long, beautiful, thick hair falls in spirals around her face and over her shoulders. No wonder it took so long for her to get ready.
I’m struck stupid staring at her.
