“What the hell is going on here?” I asked Nate in a mutedvoice.
“Don’t worry about it. Just a friend,” he blew me off in awhisper.
Emily shot me a look of concern as she pulled her daughter in front of hertightly.
I got down to Annie’s level. “Wanna see a really pretty dollhouse?”
She nodded vigorously. “Oh wouldI?”
Looking up at my best friend, I tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Why don’t you take Annie upstairs to my old room. It’s the second door on the left. You can’t missit.”
“Yeah, okay.” Emily marched her daughter up the stairs. “Come on. Let’s go see what Aunt Cass has uphere.”
Grabbing Nate’s forearm, I pulled him into our father’sstudy.
“Explain,” I barked shutting the door behindme.
“Damn it, Cassidy. Will you ever mind your own damn business?” he asked, slumping into a large leather chair in the corner of the room next to the stonefireplace.
“Fuck, Nate. Are you doing pills again?” I hated having to ask, but someone neededto.
His eyes widened as his face got red. “Fuck no. Cass, I got clean months ago. You knowthat.”
“Have you been going to your meeting?” I started to pace around theroom.
“Of course. At least once a week. Ask Father Murphy, he’s the one that runs ‘em.”
I could tell he was lying, but there was nothing I could do in that moment with Emily and Annie in the house. I wasn’t going to drag them into the bullshit family drama I had unfortunately just walked inon.
“We’ll deal with this later.” I ran my hand over his shoulder, a look of defeat assaulting every muscle on his stubble-ridden face. “Is everything a go for the fire for Ryan’s birthday nextweek?”
He glanced up at me, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I put the word out and everyone should bethere.”
“Good. I gotta get home to Mikey. Let me know if you needanything.”
I squeezed his hand as he got back to hisfeet.
“Yeah,okay.”
I left Nate in the study to join my friends for a bit. Walking into my old room was surreal. The yellow flower wallpaper, the worn white carpet, the sweet lilac smell—it all took me back to a simplertime.
“This is the best!” Annie held a tiny doll in her hand, making it bob down the stairs of thehouse.
“Everything all right?” Emily asked as I sat next to her on mybed.
I shrugged. “Not sure, but I’ll figure itout.”
She put her hand on my knee. “Let’s get you home to the baby. He’ll make you feelbetter.”
“Goodidea.”
Chapter 3
Ryan
The sun was setting as I walked into the house. The consuming aroma of a delicious dinner wafted into my nostrils as I stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching Cassidy for a minute. She hadn’t heard me come in as she danced with Mikey on her hip while stirring sauce on the stove. Music played as she bobbed and sang along, smiling down at our little boy.Soadorable.
Tank’s goofy ass clambered into her side, excited to be home. Cassidy twirled with a huge smile on her face as her eyes met mine. “You are just intime.”
