Warnings and Wildfires

We end up in the living room. I pull her down on the couch with me and wrap my arm around her shoulders. Aubrey yawns and I feel bad about dragging her over here after we had such a long day. “Tired?”

“A little.” She wiggles her feet in front of us. “We did a lot of walking.”

I reach down and draw her feet into my lap, gently working my thumbs into the arch of one foot and then the other.

She moans softly and leans back against the end of the couch.

“You think that’s why she was so testy?” I ask as my fingers keep working.

“Probably.” She opens her eyes and watches me for a few seconds. “I think she was really looking forward to the extra visit and was afraid her period would ruin it.”

I’m so not ready for any of this.

“I finally heard from Lauren. I guess this started a while ago, but it’s not a regular thing, so she didn’t bother telling me.”

“That makes sense.”

“Does it?”

Aubrey shrugs. “Some girls are really secretive about that stuff. It’s embarrassing to them. Some don’t care. I wondered if that’s what was going on today, but I didn’t want to ask and make it worse.”

“You did?” Shit, why hadn’t it occurred to me?

“Well, the mood swings. The tears…I’ve had some experience there.” She chuckles softly.

“She’s my little girl. I’m not ready for this,” I finally admit.

“Mother nature waits for no man,” she teases.

“I mean, she’s too young.” I realize my hands have stopped moving. Aubrey slides her feet out of my lap and sits up, facing me.

“She’s growing up.” Aubrey pauses. Bites her lip. “I didn’t want to say anything, but I guess you missed her flirting with Griff yesterday?”

My head snaps up. “What? I’ll kill—”

“Stop right there.” She presses her palm against my chest. “He didn’t encourage her at all. Believe me. He tried really hard to put her off without being mean.”

Yeah, I’ve known Griff a while and that sounds exactly like how he’d handle that situation. “Thank God it was him and not some other asshole.”

“Right, but my point was, she’s not a little kid.”

“I heard you trying to steer her away from boy talk.”

She shakes her head. “Not for your sake. For hers.” There’s an undercurrent in her voice that makes me think for some reason, this is important to her. Personal almost. Definitely need to explore that later.

“Anyway, Lauren asked if I wanted Maddy for Thanksgiving.”

“Oh, that’s great! I’ve never asked what you guys do for the holidays.”

I explain the arrangement we laid out in our custody agreement.

“Does that mean you won’t have her for Christmas?”

“No, she said we’ll leave everything as is.”

“That’s great.” She seems genuinely pleased and it’s nice to have someone who isn’t my mother or brother to talk about this stuff with for a change. Aubrey’s not jealous. Doesn’t see my daughter as a threat or competition for my affection. She listens without judgment and offers helpful insight.

I’m already half in love with her and this…this might push me right over the edge.

“Are you hungry?” Sully asks.

“Actually, yeah. I’ll see if Maddy’s awake.”

I run down the hall, but she’s still sound asleep. At least she looks more comfortable now. Quietly I sneak into her room and turn off the heating pad, setting it on her nightstand in case she needs it later.

“She’s out cold,” I say when I find Sully in the kitchen.

He hesitates. “I’ll wrap up her dinner and feed her when she wakes up.”

Rain pelts the windows, dashing our plans to grill outside on the patio.

“Looks like we’re eating in,” Sully quips.

“Sounds good to me.”

We cook together side-by-side, easily talking about the good parts of our day at the fair and our plans for tomorrow.

I rub up against his side, peering down at his chopping skills. “You’re good at this.”

“My mother insisted her boys be self-sufficient.” He winks at me. “A gift to our future wives.”

There’s a flutter in my stomach at the way he explains his talent. “I knew I liked your mom.”

He wiggles his eyebrows. “I do laundry too.”

I bump him with my hip.

The teasing smile slides off his face. “I like having you here, Aubrey.”

“I like being here with you.”

The timer on the stove beeps at us, utterly ruining the moment.

Dinner’s quiet. The scents of sizzling steak and sautéed mushrooms doesn’t draw Maddy out of her room. After dinner, I check on her and she’s still snoring softly.

“I’ve never seen her nap before,” Sully says. “She’s always been extremely anti-napping. It’s for babies, you know.”

Nervous laughter bubbles out of me. The man’s been inside me for God’s sake, but it still feels weird to talk about this with him. “When I was her age, I used to get really bad cramps. A nap always helped.”

“Oh.”

I shrug. “My mother’s solution was to exercise more, but I ended up passing out once. She left me alone to nap after that.”

“That’s crazy.”

“I told you we’re not close. Celia’s the one who took care of me and explained stuff. My mom’s solution was to lose weight to stop getting my period.”

His face twists in outrage. “That’s not only stupid, it’s dangerous.”

“Looks have always been more important to her than anything else.” I shrug again—it’s getting to be a nervous tic around this subject.

We end up back in front of the television, flipping around for something to watch.

“I swear some nights our entertainment is just reading movie blurbs and watching trailers on Netflix,” I joke. “Celia can never commit.”

He snorts. “Jake can’t sit still long enough to watch anything. If I don’t choose wisely, he’ll get up and start pacing.”

“How’d you two end up so different?” I say it teasingly, but a weight seems to press down on Sully. His smile fades and he drops the remote next to him.

“We’re actually half-brothers.”

“Really? You look so much alike I never thought about it.”

He hmms and flicks at a loose thread of denim by his knee. “My dad died before I was born.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry.”

He shrugs as if it’s something in the past he’s already dealt with. “A friend of his married my mother. Gave me his name. They had Jake about a year after I was born. So, it’s not like I ever knew any different.” There’s a wry twist to his lips. “Well, he reminded me I wasn’t his frequently enough, so I didn’t forget.”

“That’s pretty shitty since he married your mom when she was pregnant.”

“Yeah, he was shitty in a lot of ways.”

He stares straight ahead, and I wait silently to see if he wants to continue.

“Did you…did your mom leave him?”

“No. He’s dead.”

“Oh.” I don’t bother saying I’m sorry this time. “Your mom’s a strong woman. It sounds like she’s been through a lot.”

“She has. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

An eerie tone creeps into our moment. One where it seems I have a lot of puzzle pieces in front of me but no idea how they fit together.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I had no intention of turning our conversation so heavy. Or dredging up anything from my past. Those secrets should stay buried. They’re not important to who I am now.

“Come here,” I say, pulling her closer. She tucks her feet up under her and crosses her arms over her chest. “Are you cold?”

“A little.”

“Here,” I reach behind me and drag a blanket over both of us.

“Oooo, it’s so soft and fuzzy.” She runs her hands over the fleece and tucks it up around her shoulders.

“Do you want me to grab you a sweatshirt?”

“No, this is good.”

My gaze drifts to the screen and I pick up the remote again. “Want to watch some of this show with me? Maddy asked to watch it, but I wasn’t sure if it was age-appropriate.”

A smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. “You’re a bit of an old-fashioned dad, aren’t you? She has a TV in her room.”

I shrug. “It has a parental lock, so she can’t access stuff rated above a certain level.”

“Ahhh, kids are smart though and know how to go around those things.”

“I’m sure. But for my sanity, let’s pretend that’s not true.”

I flick the button to start the show and while it’s engaging enough, I’m more interested in staring at Aubrey.

“Why are you watching me?” she asks without turning her head.

“Because you’re pretty.” I cup her jaw, turning her head my way. “You know that, right?”

Her lashes flutter and she won’t meet my eyes. “I guess so.”

“Aubrey.”