I blew out an exasperated sigh at my daughter, knowing from the amused gleam in her green and gold eyes that it was more about me sitting with her father in the back seat than how much she had actually missed her uncle. For some reason I didn’t call her out on it, though. I tapped her on the ass with my hand as she climbed into the front passenger seat before climbing into the back seat directly behind her.
Several minutes later, once all of our luggage was sorted so that Noah could see out the rear mirror, my brother got behind the wheel and Zander climbed in beside me. Seeing that I was sitting beside him, Zander grinned and scooted a few inches closer than were actually necessary considering how big the back seat of the SUV was. Draping his arm across the back of the bench seat, he turned ever so slightly toward me, his long fingers playing with the ends of my ponytail while Mieke pointed out some of her favorite places on the ride home.
My house was just outside of the city, in Green Hills, Tennessee. It was a more affluent area and several celebrities lived there. I lived on a corner lot in a smaller two-story house that had three bedrooms. Noah and Chelsea lived in the house to my right, while across the street was an ex-linebacker for the Tennessee Titans. His house was considerably larger than either Noah’s or mine, but then again, he needed the extra room with all the kids he and his wife kept popping out on a regular basis. Seriously, in the five years they had lived across the street, I couldn’t remember a time when that chick hadn’t been pregnant. They had a total of six kids with one on the way. Noah teased them, saying that they were starting their own football team. The dude never really corrected him, so I assumed that was his goal.
Pulling into his own driveway, Noah honked the horn three times before opening his door. No sooner had we stepped out of the SUV were we surrounded by my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. I got hugs from the kids before Ben was wrapping his arms around Mieke and hugging her tight. They talked in hushed voices, but I didn’t try to listen in to the conversation. Those two were best friends, but I knew neither would do something that would actually get the other hurt. Although their plan for Mieke to fly to California on her own without saying a word to anyone had skated the line, I knew that Ben wouldn’t have done it if he’d thought his cousin would be in any real danger.
“He’s grounded for the next month,” Chelsea informed me as she followed my gaze to our children, who had their heads close together, whispering back and forth animatedly.
I snorted. “I told Mieke she was grounded until the end of time. It will last the rest of the week…if I’m lucky.” I was a pushover when it came to my kid and we both knew that she could break me and my resolve with something as little as a trembling lip and crocodile tears in her beautiful eyes.
“So…” Chelsea’s blue eyes went to the back of the SUV where Noah and Zander were unloading our cases. “How are you dealing with all of this? Are you really going to let him stay in your house?”
I gritted my teeth. Mieke had made the offer to her father, wanting him to stay with the two of us while he spent some time in Tennessee. She’d been so excited that I hadn’t tried to talk either of them out of it. After all, we’d done well enough staying in Zander’s apartment for the last few days. He’d been the perfect host, giving me his bedroom while he slept on the couch. He’d turned his spare room into a beautiful room for Mieke and she’d been thrilled with it.
We’d actually gotten along pretty well over those few days. We’d talked about Mieke and her many stages up until present. His favorite had been her superhero stage where she would take up for anyone she thought was being bullied. Yeah, that stage had kept everyone on their toes. I’d been called for meetings with her principal so many times that I’d lost count. Each time the grumpy old man had wanted to suspend Mieke, and I’d just laughed in his wrinkled old face, daring him to punish my child for defending not just herself but others who couldn’t.
Zander had been so proud when I’d told him about that time in our daughter’s life, and so our pattern had started. I’d work all day, while father and daughter got to know each other better, and then the three of us would have dinner together. After Mieke would go to bed, I’d stay up talking to Z about her. Telling him all the special things about our not-so-little girl.
I could lie and tell you that I’d only done it for my daughter; that Zander deserved to know all the little things I was sure Mieke wasn’t telling him about herself. But it was more than that. I found myself enjoying our quiet times together. It reminded me so much of how things had been before life had stepped in and sent us both in completely different directions.
“Where are these going, Annabelle?” Noah called as he headed across the large yard that separated our houses.
“Show Zander to the guest room, Noah. Just leave the rest in the laundry room. I need to wash everything in both my cases and Mieke’s.” I glanced back at Chelsea and gave her a quick hug before following after Noah and Zander. “Please tell me you cooked?” I demanded, glancing at her over my shoulder. The other woman nodded and my stomach growled just thinking of one of my sister-in-law’s home-cooked meals. I’d been living off of way too much takeout over the last six weeks or so.
“Come on over around seven,” Chelsea called after me and I waved as I entered my house.
The house was basically spotless. Normally when I was out of town on business, Mieke would stay next door with Noah, but I had a cleaning service come in once a week to dust and vacuum so that I didn’t have to come home to a musky-smelling house. Stopping by the front door, I took off my thin jacket since it was getting chilly out now that fall was sneaking up on us. Toeing off my sneakers, I left my socks on before climbing the stairs to make sure Noah was showing Zander to the guest room.
All three bedrooms were on the second floor. Mine was at one end of the house, closest to the street, and Mieke’s was at the other end. The way Noah’s house was laid out, Ben’s room was right across from Mieke’s, and they usually kept their windows opened so they could talk to each other when they were in their rooms.
The guest room was right in the middle of the upstairs and only slightly smaller than the other two rooms. It had its own bathroom, just as the others did. I hoped Zander would be comfortable in there.
As I stepped onto the second-floor landing, I could hear my brother talking to Zander. The door to the guest room was slightly ajar and it wasn’t like Noah was trying to keep his tone quiet. “You’d better not hurt her again, Z. If I see so much as a single tear in my sister’s eyes—or Mieke’s for that matter—I’ll put a bullet in your head this time.”
I rolled my eyes at the threat in my brother’s voice. He was completely serious and I was sure that Zander knew that. Noah hadn’t changed much in the last seventeen years. Sure he’d grown up, become a good man, but he was still so much like the boy—my big, bad, over-protective brother—I remembered from our youth.
“You don’t have to worry about that, Noah. I’ve got my priorities straight now, man. For me, making Mieke and Annabelle happy is all I want in life. I’m hoping that their happiness will include me being a part of their lives, but I’m willing to take what they are willing to give me.” Zander sounded so serious that my heart actually stopped for a second. “Nothing’s changed, at least not for me. I love your sister, Noah. I will always love her. And my daughter… There is nothing and no one in this world I love more than that girl.”
I didn’t realize that Noah was quiet for so long until he spoke again. I’d been too lost in what Zander had said about still loving me to produce a thought that wasn’t a jumbled mess because I was suddenly a melted puddle of goo. So when my brother did speak again I jumped at the sound of his voice. “Good. That’s real good to hear, bro. But that doesn’t mean I won’t kill you if you hurt either of them.”