“I’m starving,” Jed says, getting out of the car and thanking our driver with a mumble.
“Thanks, man.” I get out too, and we each retrieve our weekend bags from the trunk.
We walk into the house to find that it looks as if a baby store has exploded inside.
Jed picks up a box. “What the hell?”
“That’s a breast pump, man.”
His body shakes and he drops it back into the pile consisting of a swing, a stroller, two car seats, and a stack of laundry baskets.
Posey runs out of the family room, and her socks slide along until Jed grabs her and tickles her. “I’m too old for that.” She squirms out of his grip but then attaches herself to his stomach. “I missed you guys.”
She comes to me next. It’s kind of cool having so many siblings now, even if they are stepsiblings but also our second cousins.
“Come on. Rylan’s awake,” Posey says.
Jed looks back at me and we share the look to say, “Here we go.”
We walk into the living room to find there’s no baby. Marla’s got a blanket over her shoulder. Dad’s sleeping next to her. There’s an entire playpen or something along the wall and a changing station next to it.
“A baby needs all this stuff?” I ask, looking around.
“Hey, Mom.” Jed leans forward to kiss Marla on the cheek. “Whoa. Fuck.”
Marla slaps his arm for swearing.
Jed shuts his eyes and turns away. “You’re lucky I’m not blind now.”
Dad stirs awake and blinks.
“I did it for you too. Hank is taking the real brunt of me breastfeeding. A new man has taken over his duties.”
My head falls back and Jed looks as if he might lose it. “Seriously, keep that to yourself!”
Marla laughs, and Dad rises from the couch to hug us.
“Boys, you’re old enough to understand I had to go cold turkey. It could be over a year.”
“What’s a little breastmilk,” I say, and Jed picks up a stuffed bear and throws it at me.
It’s not that I don’t see Marla as a mother figure, but it doesn’t gross me out the same way it does Jed.
“Good to see you guys getting along.” Dad hugs both of us.
Jed seems oddly comfortable with the affection. But he keeps a lot in about his relationship with his dad. There’s animosity there, but he never wants to talk about it.
“Where is everyone?” I ask.
“Here and there. No one is ever in this house at the same time, I swear.”
Marla rolls her eyes. “They have lives.”
We sit down while Jed heads to the fridge, grabs a bunch of containers, and fixes a plate.
Posey disappears upstairs.
“Hey, Dad, you mind if I borrow the truck?” I ask.
He nods and pulls the keys from his pocket, handing them to me, knowing where I’m going. It’s usually my first stop before I come home, but with Jed with me, I couldn’t.
“Family dinner tonight, okay?” he says.
“Yeah. I’ll be a half hour tops.”
Ten minutes later, I pull into Sunrise Bay Cemetery and wind down the path to my mom’s burial plot. I park my dad’s truck and walk up the short hill. Sometimes I’m still surprised to read her name on the stone.
“Hey, Mom,” I say. “Just got in from school. Marla had the baby. It’s a boy. They named him Rylan. He’s healthy.”
My eye catches sight of a blonde a few rows away. She looks familiar, but I can’t really place her. She’s openly crying on a new grave site filled with dirt and no plaque.
I shake my head. “So, anyway… school’s good, and before you think about it, there’s no one serious in my life.” I laugh.
The girl lies down on the dirt and her head is turned. Is that Clara, Xavier’s friend?
“Clara!” I yell, but the girl doesn’t say anything or look my way. I turn my attention back to my mom. “It’s amazing how things have changed. Jed’s probably my closest friend now. Crazy, huh?”
The girl gets up, and yeah, it’s totally Clara. Xavier and Clara have been friends since they were in diapers. The girl slept over at our house a million times and went everywhere with us.
“Grades are good. No worries there. No Dean’s List or anything though. Sorry, Mom, hold up.”
I jog over to Clara. The closer I get, the more positive I am she’s Clara. “Clara! It’s me, Cade. Xavier’s brother. Are you okay?”
She looks me dead in the eye and scowls. The hairs on the back of my head rise, and my gut tells me something I can’t decipher or put into words.
“My name isn’t Clara, and no, I’m not okay.” She walks down the hill and gets into a car before the tires squeal, announcing her exit.
* * *
“Small towns aren’t for the weak.”
Let’s travel 10 years into the future!
Don’t miss out on Cade Greene’s book, My Beautiful Neighbor!
“You don’t seem from around here, so I can show you a real Alaskan man.”
“Then you’re the last person who should welcome her to town.” The guy from outside claps Jed on the shoulder. “He’s really just an Arizona boy pretending to play an outdoorsman.”
I laugh, and Jed stares at me as though he can’t believe I make that sound.
“Meet Cade… Greene,” Jed says, and Cade puts his hand over the table between us.
I shake it, and a spark runs up my arm. He smiles and the air rushes from my lungs. This is how I’m used to feeling when a gorgeous man approaches me. I glance at Jed for a moment, wondering why I didn’t get that feeling with him.
“So you’re brothers?” I ask.
They both shake their heads. “Step.”
That explains how different they look. Cade’s hair is longer, darker, and wavy, and he has a lot more scruff. The type of scruff you want to feel between your thighs.
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About the Author
Piper Rayne is a USA Today Bestselling Author duo who write “heartwarming humor with a side of sizzle” about families,
