Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

NOVA

I had a feeling Dusty would have an aneurysm if he saw the air mattress I’d been sleeping on, so I was glad my bedroom door had been closed when he’d come over the other night. Why the man had taken it upon himself to become the advocate for our furniture situation, I didn’t know. He saved people by trade, which made me think he was one of those types who didn’t like to stand by when someone needed help.

It didn’t mean he had any sort of preference for us or ideas about dating, apparently. He’d been extremely clear about that. It meant he saw a problem and felt it was his duty to fix it.

Admittedly, not my favorite trait, but if he knew of some warehouse selling cheap furniture, I wouldn’t turn down a real bed. I might even be tempted to dip into my savings.

I filled our bottles with ice water while the kids got dressed. Ben insisted he was well enough to play in the game today, so I took a page from Desi’s book when I’d asked about Kendall’s injured wrist—I was going to trust his body and let him make that call. He knew how he was feeling better than I did, for sure.

My phone rang, so I answered it. “Hey, Blair. Just about to head out. Ben has a flag football game this morning. ”

“Does he still wear that Kylo Ren helmet everywhere? I’d love to see him take down another kid in that thing.”

“I think it would be frowned upon. They just take flags off each other—there’s no tackling.” I hunted through the cupboards until I found Alice’s yellow bottle. “What’s up?”

“Just checking in. Are you feeling more settled?”

“Still sleeping on the floor, if that’s what you mean. We might remedy that today.”

“I wish I could go shopping with you,” she whined. The kids were growing louder in the background, and I missed my nephews. Blair seemed to go into a room and close the door, because the sound grew muffled. “Maybe we should come out and visit.”

“In the middle of March?”

“It’s almost April.”

I raised my eyebrows.

She couldn’t see me, but I sensed she understood my question. “Or maybe you’ll move back. Have you talked to your parents?”

“Blair,” I said, drawing out the word and taking her off speaker. “I can’t think about that yet.”

“We miss you.”

“I know. I miss you too—not just you, but home, all of it. But it’s been good for all of us to get out of there. You know how people talk. Trish called me up last week and told me Carter was out with some redhead.” I swallowed, lowering my voice. A quick glance proved the kids were still in their room, but it was better to be careful. “It’s been hard coming here. Maybe if I’d had a better option, I would have stayed. But I think the distraction of a new home has been good, too. I wouldn’t want to hear about Carter’s new girlfriends every time I went to a PTA meeting.”

Blair swore. “I can’t believe she called to tell you that. Stupid cow.”

“She also paid me three hundred bucks for a bunch of cookies, so I don’t hate her.” Five dozen cookies that arrived in New York yesterday mostly in good order. There were only a few casualties, according to Trish.

“Okay, fine. I half-hate her.”

“Blair.”

“I’m allowed to,” she said. “There is literally no reason to tell you who Carter is seeing unless she wants gossip or she’s trying to hurt you.”

Something unsettling nestled in my gut, but I was afraid to voice it aloud.

Blair remained silent.

“What do you know?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she said firmly. “Absolutely nothing, except I really don’t like Trish.”

“You’ve never liked Trish.”

“Now I feel justified in that.” She blew static into the phone. “I’m Team Nova, okay? Whatever you need, I’m here for it. Want me to light Carter’s building on fire? Done. Key his car? Done.”

“He doesn’t have a car.”

“Want me to leave a flaming pile of?—”

“No,” I said, laughing. “I need to go.”

“Please send me pictures of that boy playing football. I need to see this for myself.”

“You got it. Give my brother a hug and squeeze my nephews.”

“Done.” She blew a kiss and we both hung up.

Ben appeared in the kitchen, his brown eyes eager and his blond hair—like always—in disarray.

“Ready?” I asked, my love for him swelling in my chest.

He nodded.

“Let’s go.”

They lost the game, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at Ben’s face. He beamed, his cheeks flushed and brown eyes glimmering. Alice and I were bundled in sweaters and coats and wrapped in flannel blankets. We were sitting on the cold metal risers on the side of the football field when Ben found us, a blue Gatorade in one hand and a bag of goldfish in the other.

“Did you see me?” he asked, looking for confirmation.

I pulled him tightly against me, enveloping his cold nose in my swath of layers. “You were amazing.”

“I pulled a kid’s flags,” he said proudly, his voice muffled.

“You were so fast, too,” I added with an extra squeeze. “How’s your ankle?”

“Feels fine.” He looked up at me, eyes bright and cheeks ruddy from the cold. “Can I go to Pete’s house? His dad said it was okay.”

“We planned to go furniture shopping, remember?”

He wrinkled his nose. “Do I have to come?”

If this had been a year ago, I wouldn’t have batted an eye at the request. Something about the turmoil I’d put my kids through made me want to hold them closer and not let them out of my sight. Maybe the divorce and the move had culminated in sending me over the edge into proper helicopter mama bear territory. I wanted to protect my babies, and I couldn’t protect them if they were off on their own.

Even as I thought these things, I understood how ridiculous I sounded. Pete seemed like a good kid, and his dad had proven he could handle a group of rowdy boys during their practices.

“Please,” Ben pleaded. There was dirt smudged on his cheek, so I reached to rub it off with my thumb.

“You can go. Let me talk to his parents, though.”

“Yes!” Ben said, jumping up and down. We were immediately forgotten as he ran to find Pete.

I reached for Alice’s hand. “Guess it’s just us today. I’m relying on you to help me make decisions. ”

She looked up at me, hugging her pink monkey close under her arm. “I want a pink couch.”

“Or I guess maybe I’ll have to make the decisions on my own,” I said with a long-suffering sigh.

“Mom,” Alice said, laughing. “Pink would look good in our house.”

“Sure it would,” I teased.

“ Mom ,” she repeated, smiling so wide she revealed the wonky teeth on the bottom where her adult teeth hadn’t grown in yet to close the gaps. Her laughing expression immediately fell to stone, and she pushed close to my side. Alice was like a light switch with how quickly she could turn herself off or on.

Dusty’s shadow fell over her. He wore a zip-up jacket over Wranglers, but it didn’t seem to hide the shape of his arms very well. They were folded over his chest, that perpetual smile playing over his lips. “Y’all ready to go?”

“Almost. I need to speak to Jake first.” I turned away from him, pulling Alice’s arm. It wasn’t that I was running away…but I was running away a little. His jar-opening arms were none of my concern. They were just hard not to notice when he was shoving them in my face.

Okay, that was unkind. He couldn’t help being so attractive. Apparently I couldn’t help being attracted to him. At least I had the wherewithal to recognize that this little crush was probably a result of him being kind, which made me want to shut it down even faster. One guy is nice to me and I melt? No, that’s not me. I’m strong, resilient, and independent. I don’t need him.

Jake and his wife Ashley were standing by the Gatorade cooler talking to other parents when I found them. They confirmed the invitation to their house had been approved.

“I’m heading out to go furniture shopping, and I don’t know how long we’ll be gone,” I said.

Ashley bounced a baby on her hip while he tried to reach for her dangling earrings. “Are you kidding? These boys would play all day and night if we let them.” She flashed a smile. “Don’t you worry about it. Just pick him up on your way home.”

I recognized her tone. She meant it the same way I used to mean it when I’d take my friends’ kids or my nephews to the park or to check out the giant LEGO creations on Fifth Avenue. There was no child better distracted than a kid with a friend over.

“Thanks. Call me if I need to pick him up earlier.”

“I will.” She smiled, then looked down at Alice clutching my hand like a lifeline. “You can leave your little girl, too.”

Alice’s hands tightened. “That’s okay. She wants to help me shop.” Which was probably mostly true. I’d learned the hard way that Alice didn’t like me telling people she was shy. It brought her too much attention.

Dusty was leaning against his truck when I finished kissing Ben goodbye and reminding him to be on his best behavior.

“Want a ride?” he asked.

And be stuck without an escape route? “No, thank you.”

He chewed his lip. “It would be easier, considering I know where we’re going.”

“I have maps on my phone.”

“I don’t have an address.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to make a serial killer joke, teasing him about how hard he was trying to get us in his truck, but Alice’s little ears were tuned in. Besides, I trusted Dusty. Or rather, Gigi trusted him and I trusted her judgment. That first day we’d met in the market, I had gone straight home and called to ask her about him so I could decide whether or not to let Ben keep the Hot Wheels. She had told me in no uncertain terms he was a flirt and to stay away, but that he was a good man and him giving Ben a fire truck wasn’t worrisome in the least.

“Besides, it would be easier to put your stuff in my truck.” His light brown eyes were almost golden in the sunlight. “Your call, Nova. ”

“Fine, you can drive.”

He looked so triumphant, my stomach did a weird leap. I fetched Alice’s booster seat before opening the back door of Dusty’s truck to help Alice in.

“You okay, babe?” I asked her.

She nodded, letting me buckle her seatbelt. “Can I buckle Peaches too?”

“Of course.” I helped her get her monkey situated in the middle seat, then climbed into the front.

Dusty glanced over his shoulder and noticed Peaches, then winked at Alice. Her little giggle from the back seat froze my entire body. Holy stomach-melting man. I didn’t know if my crush would hold off much longer if he made my daughter emit sounds of joy like that. There had been so little of it lately, her giggle was like a sudden shot straight to my heart.

Dusty pulled onto the road and started driving slowly through town. “Do you have a list of what you need?”

“It’s so long. I’m mostly just planning on seeing what they have and going from there.”

“Good plan. It’s best to be flexible.”

My phone buzzed, so I pulled it out to find a message from Chad. He’d been sending me recipes and ideas for his competition dinner the last few days, but I hadn’t nailed down anything concrete.

Chad

Want to meet tonight to go over menu options for Battle of the Badges?

I glanced at the time. We had all day before dinner, but even if we got home in the early afternoon, that didn’t leave me much time to finish planning some menu ideas.

Nova

Can’t today. Maybe tomorrow? Gigi’s for lunch?

Chad

Perfect.

Dusty turned the radio on low, letting soft country music fill the cab. He fiddled with the heater, then dropped his elbow casually on the center console. His phone started ringing and the name Tucker popped up on his Bluetooth screen. “Mind if I answer this?”

“Not at all.”

“What’s up?” Dusty asked.

Tucker’s deep voice filled the truck. “You coming to Gigi’s tomorrow after church? June wants to plan the rehearsal dinner.”

What were the chances?

“You don’t really need me there for these things,” Dusty said.

“June doesn’t,” Tucker agreed. “But you seriously can’t leave me alone with them and the wedding notebook. It’s a level of misery I don’t wish on anyone.”

“Elope.” Dusty sent me a grin I promptly ignored.

“Nah, I want her to have this wedding. She’s planning most of it with my mom anyway. I think these meetings are just a way to involve us.”

“Why?” Dusty asked.

“Who knows. You coming?”

“Yeah, man. I’ll be there.”

“Sweet. How was your game? Sorry I couldn’t make it. Jack bought like sixty armoires and I had to help him get them to the workshop.”

“Sixty?”

“Probably more like eight.”

“The game was good. Listen, I’ve got Nova Walker and her daughter Alice in the truck, so I better run.”

Tucker was silent. “Cool. Hi, y’all. I’ll let you go. ”

“Bye,” Dusty said, then reached forward to hang up and switch the music back on. He glanced at me. “Will I see you there tomorrow?”

“Maybe,” I said, looking out the window as we passed a farm and turned onto the highway. If my internal compass was correct, we were heading toward Beeler. I’d only been there once, but I’d heard it spoken about regularly. Really, I didn’t know what time their church ended anyway, so I had no idea if we’d run into each other in the diner.

“I thought you didn’t work on the weekends.”

“I’m not.” How much to tell him? He clearly didn’t like Chad, and I didn’t want him thinking this was a date. But he was likely to jump to conclusions if he saw us there together tomorrow. “I’m meeting with Chad Lincoln. Just helping him out with a menu thing.”

“Menu thing,” he repeated, shooting a side eye glance at me. “You aren’t helping him with the Battle of the Badges, are you?”

“How do you know about that?”

Dusty laughed, rubbing his hand over his face. “You are, aren’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Hey, Alice,” Dusty said, looking in the rearview mirror. “Is your mom cooking for the cops?”

I wanted to jump in and tell her she didn’t need to answer, then smack Dusty for trying to bring her into the conversation. She hated being called on.

“Yes,” she said quietly.

I whipped my head around to look back at her, more surprised that she’d answered than anything else.

“What?” she asked, giving me her little impish smile. Her cheeks were scarlet. “You were talking to Aunt Gigi about it yesterday.”

I hadn’t realized she’d overheard. “It’s nothing. I’m just helping because Chad doesn’t want to lose again. ”

“He’s going to be disappointed.”

I scoffed. “Ouch.”

“It’s nothing on you, Nova. I just happen to know the competition.”

“Then it’s completely on me. Who am I up against?”

He flashed his white teeth in a perfect smile. “Me.”