Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (162 page)

“Good job, squirt!” he yelled back.

His daughter’s face scrunched at his use of her nickname. She really was growing up. That could not have been any clearer than after his talk with Haley.

Chelle stepped outside onto the patio carrying a tray of uncooked hamburger patties. She was dressed casually in shorts and a tank top, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, but Eddie could honestly say that he’d never seen his sister look more beautiful. Since getting married and having Mya, she’d just had this inner glow about her. Marriage and motherhood suited her.

“So…” She clapped her hands together as she sat down at the patio table after handing off the burgers to Riley. “What’s new with you? I feel like all the info I get about you is secondhand.”

“Secondhand?” His forehead creased. Why the hell would anybody be talking about him? Especially to his sister.

“Yes. A few of the moms who have kids in Emily’s class work at the hospital. You seem to be their favorite topic of discussion. Also, my dinner with Katie got interrupted quite a few times by random women with inquiries and stories about you.”

“And?” Eddie felt like this was going somewhere; he just wasn’t sure where yet.

He didn’t love the fact that people felt the need to talk about him when he wasn’t around, but there was not a lot he could do about it. If there was one lesson his misspent youth and Lacey taking off had taught him, it would be that people talked and it was best to just ignore it.

“And”—Chelle leaned forward in her chair and dropped her voice to a whisper—“there is quite a lot of interest in your social life. Or should I say lack thereof.”

“Chelle, I don’t know why you listen to that stuff. You know that I’m not going to—”

“—get in any relationship until after Em is in college,” his sister interrupted, finishing his thought. She spoke quickly, her voice monotone. Shaking her head and sitting back in her chair, Chelle sighed disappointedly. “Yeah, I know. You have made that perfectly clear. But I’m worried about you. Are you ever going to move on? I mean, I know it’s hard to think about after what”—she whispered as she spelled out—“L-a-c-e-y did, but I think it’s time for you to man up, get back out there, and act like you’ve got a pair!” his sister teased. A small proud smile lifted at the corners of her mouth.

He heard Riley chuckle over the grill. Eddie wanted to slap him upside his head. Chelle had never talked to him like that before she’d hooked up with his best friend.

Eddie was confused. His sister had always been on his side. She was always supportive and understanding. She’d never questioned his parenting, his personal life. Even as a teen when he was out of control, she’d always just accepted him, unconditionally and unquestioningly.

He was her big brother. She was his little sister. They’d always stayed in those roles. Eddie couldn’t figure out why she was she acting like this now. Where was this disapproval and challenge coming from?

He felt like telling her to mind her own business, but he didn’t think he would be able to say it that nicely. He knew a lot of people thought he was a dick or an asshole, and most the time he didn’t disagree with their assessment, but he tried really hard never to be that way with Chelle or Emily.

Or Haley.

He shook off that thought as he decided to take a different approach to this conversation and diffuse what could be a volatile topic—for him at least. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. You can tell everyone who’s ‘concerned’ about my love life that I’ve got it under control.”

“Auntie Chelle!” Emily called out from across the yard. “I think Mya needs a diaper change.” Em’s face looked as if she was smelling something very unpleasant as she stood beside baby Mya swinging happily in the baby swing.

“Okay, sweetie pie.” Chelle stood, pointing her finger at Eddie. “Duty calls, but this is not over.”

He watched as his sister made her way across the grass and picked his niece up out of the swing. Emily happily trotted after her aunt, offering to help with the diaper changing.

As the three girls stepped onto the porch, Riley pulled the last patty off the grill and turned, kissing both his wife and baby girl before they headed into the house. Eddie shifted uncomfortably in his chair. If he hadn’t known any better, he would think he was actually a little envious of what his best friend had.

A wife. A baby. A family.

Riley pulled a couple of beers out of the cooler beside the grill, which was filled with ice, and handed one to Eddie. “Thanks again for helping me put that monster up.”

Eddie nodded and held up his beer in acknowledgement. Riley wasn’t exaggerating. That swing set had been a beast.

“So, you do know she’s not going to drop this,” Riley stated matter-of-factly.

Eddie groaned as his head fell back. “Not you too.”

What the hell was going on? He had come over here to do his part, be a good brother-slash-uncle-slash-friend. Now he was beginning to feel ambushed.

Riley lifted his hands in mock surrender. “Look, I’m just giving you a heads-up. She’s on a mission and I thought you should be warned.”

“Why does she care so much all of a sudden?”

A smug smile spread across his friend’s face. “My guess is she’s happy.
Really
happy. And she wants the same thing for you, so watch out. You know how she is when she puts her mind to something. Cupid won’t have anything on her.”

So not only had his sister decided that it was time to meddle in his private life, but he had his best friend of over twenty years to thank for putting her on the mission.

Great.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“I’M GOING OVER TO Haley’s,” his daughter’s voice sounded in his foggy mind. Eddie felt his shoulder being jostled by little hands. “Okay, Daddy?”

As much as Eddie wanted to stay in the blissful state of unconsciousness, he knew he needed to open up his eyes and deal with whatever Emily was trying to tell him. Forcing his heavy lids open, he saw his daughter standing beside his bed, dressed for the day in a pair of new shorts and a flower shirt he’d bought for her the day before when they’d gone shopping for summer clothes.

Clearing his throat, he closed his eyes again and rubbed his face. A huge yawn escaped from his mouth as he stretched his arms above his head.

Coffee. He needed coffee.

“Okay, Daddy? I’ll be right back,” Em said quickly, the way she did when she was trying to pull one over on him, at the same time that he heard the pitter-patter of her feet leaving his room.

“Hold it,” his scratchy voice sounded with authority.

The footsteps stopped and he heard a loud sigh. Reaching over, he grabbed his phone off the nightstand. His vision was blurry but he could make out that it was seven fifteen in the morning. Haley was
not
a morning person.

“Haley’s probably still asleep. Why don’t you wait to go see her ‘til nine?” That would buy Eddie about an hour more sleep, which sounded like his personal version of heaven right about now.

“She’s awake. I saw her outside washing her car,” Emily chirped happily.

Haley already washed her car.
Damn
. And he’d missed it.

Pushing up, he turned and sat on the edge of his bed. “You know you’re not allowed to go out in the front without me.”

Emily’s hands flew up in the air as she animatedly explained, “But I’m just going across the street to Haley’s to make sure that she’s coming to my performance tonight. I’m not
playing
outside. I’m almost eight, Dad,” she declared as she propped her hands on her hips and looked at him like he’d be crazy to enforce his rule.

So now he was ‘Dad’ not ‘Daddy,’ huh? He stood, grabbing his dark gray sweats off the floor. “Let me put some sweats on and I’ll watch you walk over.”

An exasperated huff was the only response he got as Emily turned on her heels, her long honey-blond hair flying in the air as she spun around and stomped out of the room.

Eddie pulled up his sweats and followed her. She walked with heavy feet, her arms crossed defensively in front of her chest. Obviously, he’d ruined her I’ll-ask-Dad-while-he’s-half-asleep plan to venture across the street alone.

Last weekend, when they’d been over at Riley and Chelle’s, Emily had asked Chelle how old she was the first time she’d kissed a boy. Emily hadn’t known he’d been able to overhear the conversation through the baby monitor. Neither had Chelle, who had relayed it to him later. She’d thought it was cute. Eddie had
not
thought it was so cute.

He ran his fingers through his hair as he padded down the stairs in his irritated daughter’s wake. First, she wanted a bra. Then, she wanted to know how old his sister had been when she’d kissed a boy. Now, she was plotting to head across the street by herself.

She was obviously growing up. Eddie saw that. He just needed to make sure that it wasn’t happening too fast.

“Hey, squirt,” he said as they stepped outside into the sunny morning. Lifting his hand, he covered his eyes from the bright rays.

Keeping her voice carefully modulated, she turned back around. “What?” He had to give her props for at least trying to disguise the frustration in her voice. It was still seeping through, but he could tell that she was giving it the old college try.

“When you get back from Haley’s, do you want go to The Diner?”

Excitement lit her eyes, but just like she’d done with her attitude before, she tried her best to hide it. “Okay,” she said faux casually.

“Oh, and you can wear the lip gloss you got yesterday,” Eddie said. He knew it wasn’t a
bra
, but he
was
trying to take baby steps in letting her grow up. When he’d bought her the pink lip gloss, he’d told her she could wear it around the house but only out in public with permission.

Emily’s brown eyes widened with excitement as she exclaimed, “I can?” He nodded. She ran towards him and flung herself into his arms. “Thank you, Daddy!”

Now it’s ‘Daddy’ again?
He knew that things would not always be fixed this easily. He was under no illusion that breakfast and lip gloss would turn things around so effortlessly when she was a headstrong teenager. God help him. He’d better enjoy this while it lasted.

Eddie squeezed her tight before setting her back down. Leaning against the front doorframe, he watched his little girl skip across the street. He was happy to note that she had looked both ways before crossing.

As she stepped up to the front door, his heart picked up speed. There was a very good chance that he would be catching a glimpse of Haley in just a few moments. Eddie had seen her a few times but hadn’t talked to her over the past week. He’d been desperately trying to stick to his plan to maintain distance.

So far, it had been working in that there had been no more close calls. But he missed her. A lot. He was actually a little shocked at just how much.

Emily reached up and rang the doorbell, and Eddie cringed inwardly. Even if Haley was up and about this early, Krista might still be sleeping. He needed to remember to talk to Em about that. She was a very polite and courteous girl, but she didn’t always consider things like sleep.

This morning being a perfect example.

The door opened and Eddie’s mouth went dry, his palms instantly growing damp. Haley stood framed in the doorway, a white terrycloth towel wrapped her body. The towel not only showed an ample amount of her sexy, long legs, it also molded against her body, hugging the curves Eddie craved to see. To touch. To kiss.

Eddie watched as his daughter animatedly spoke, her hands flying in the air. Haley moved to the side, inviting Em into the house. His little squirt turned to wave to him before she skipped inside. Then, in a moment that he would remember until he was six feet under, Haley’s gorgeous, clear blue eyes lifted to meet his as she was closing the door and his world stopped spinning on its axis.

He’d passed out one time from heat exposure on a site after working several sixteen-hour days in a row. The same sensation of everything zooming into tunnel vision occurred now, the difference being that, instead of the black space narrowing to a pinpoint, it all surrounded Haley. Nothing existed except the two of them.

Eddie honestly couldn’t say how long they stood, eyes locked, motionless. He knew he would never be able to put into words exactly what was happening between them in that moment. He had no idea if Haley was feeling the same thing he was. But he knew she had to feel
something,
because in that moment,
something
had
definitely happened.

But then as fast as it had happened, it was over. Something inside her house—probably Emily—pulled her attention away from him and she turned her head. When she did, the lust-fog-trance-spell he’d fallen under snapped and the only remnant that remained was his pounding heartbeat, which sounded in his own ears like wild horses running at full speed.

Haley turned back and lifted her hand, waving the way she always did to indicate that Em was going to stay there for a bit. He nodded his head on autopilot and watched as she shut her front door.

Damn. Whatever that had been, it had been potent. Not knowing what else to do, he went inside his own house. As he closed his door behind him, a thought occurred to him. Em had said that she was running over to Haley’s to make sure that she was coming to her performance tonight.

He’d been so focused on making sure that Emily had had everything she needed for her first starring role as Annie—the wig, the dress, the shoes, the socks. When it came to things like that, he had to make sure he had detailed lists he could check off. If he didn’t, then inevitably something would fall through the cracks. Especially since it wasn’t like he could just go to one store that had everything she needed. Nope. The socks had been at one place, the shoes another. For the dress they’d had to go out of town. That’s what he’d been focusing on. Well, that and the fact that his baby girl was going to be up on stage in front of a fairly large audience. He had to admit that he was a little nervous for her.