AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was the best route to take, I knew that. The last thing we needed was more hostility, because we’d always have Blake in the middle. But like Elliott had said, which applied to Piper and me as well—our relationship was going to change. She wasn’t my best friend. She was the mother of my daughter; that was all.
* * *
Crew Finlay
I ran a hand through my hair and checked my reflection in the car window, then hurried up to the boss’s house.
Fuck me, I was nervous to see Madison again.
Almost as nervous as I was to meet Adrien’s son for the first time tonight.
I rang the doorbell but didn’t expect anyone to open it. Music and laughter rang out from the backyard, and it was fucking amazing to hear. I decided to go around instead.
I jogged past across the grass—and the patch where we’d found Toby’s body—and clenched my jaw.
I’d missed his funeral, but we had plans to have a memorial for both him and Tariq soon.
The pool came into view first, and I was happy to see Blake in there. Joel stood on the edge, lookin’ fine as fuck in a pair of basketball shorts and a ball cap on backward.
A boy came out of nowhere and sprinted toward the pool, jumping in with a war cry.
It had to be the younger brother—Mattie.
Relief kept flowing through me. These past four days since we’d gotten home had beentense. Everyone was closing themselves in with their immediate family, trauma therapy had started for the kids, and we all had so much to process.
I’d crashed at Roe and Jake’s last night, not wanting to be alone. Thankfully, I got to see Adrien every day, but I wanted to give him a bit of space to reconnect with his boy. My uncle and his hubby were a stellar stand-in. Never a dull moment around Roe.
Blake was the first to spot me as she climbed out of the pool. “Hi, Crew!”
I jerked my chin. “How you doin’, hon?”
“Hate the mornings, love the afternoons,” she huffed. “Okay, Daddy—look at this! I’mma do a flip!”
I grinned. I’d heard about their new, temporary routine. She had to see a psychologist specializing in trauma every day—same with the boys—but then they came back here for all the fun. No rules. Just fun. Movies, takeout, music—Joel and Blake had baked cupcakes from scratch, chilling by the pool, stuff like that. Soda on a school night and so on. But I guessed school hadn’t started yet.
I was glad Elliott wasn’t returning to work just yet either. I started on Monday; he was gonna wait another couple of weeks.
“You nervous about dinner tonight?” Joel asked knowingly.
“Yeah, so don’t fucking remind me,” I laughed.
Jack had to like me.
I reached the patio just when Madison rose from her seat, and seeing her baby bump through her dress killed my humor. The boss was there too, with li’l Julian on his lap—and I greeted Piper with a nod. She was reading a magazine.
“There you are.” Elliott smiled and kicked out a chair. “Have a seat, kid.”
In a minute. Madison and I looked at each other, and I just went over to her and pulled her in for a tight hug.
“I’m so fucking sorry, honey,” I said thickly, getting mushy right away. But I hated this so much. I hated that we’d lost him.
She sniffled and squeezed my middle. “Me too. It’s good to see you again, though. When the boss told me you didn’t get hurt in Europe, I felt like, all right, but I gotta see him with my own eyes before I believe it.”
I chuckled and blinked past the burn in my eyes. Then I inched back and got a better look at her. She was showing more now.
“Are you staying here with Elliott and Joel?” I asked.
She nodded. “For now. Toby’s parents’ place is just…” She blew out a breath, and she didn’t have to elaborate. I’d seen Toby’s mom’s Facebook. It’d become a shrine to him. She posted photos and memories every day. Which was totally understandable, but Madison had to keep going. She had the baby to think about, and constant grief was suffocating.
