Hearts Ablaze (Hearts On Fire Series) (10 page)

“Ready, baby?”

She looks up and stands, grabbing her purse off the counter. “Let’s roll.”

Once we make it to Aubrey’s apartment, she tells me she won’t be long, so I sit on the couch and make myself comfortable. I pull out my cell phone and surf through my social media sites. Nothing really interests me, so I open my messages and send my sister a quick text.

Noah: Hey, Car! You wanna get some dinner tonight? I want you to meet Aubrey.

Carmen: Hey, bro! I’m busy tonight, but maybe tomorrow?

Noah: Damn. I’m on shift tomorrow. Maybe next week? Miss ya, kid.

Carmen: Dude, I’m gonna be 21 in a couple months. Not a kid.

Noah: Sorry. My bad, Miss Maturity. Seriously, I miss you. And I want you to meet my girlfriend. Think you can spare some time for your amazing big brother soon?

Carmen: Fine. God, you are such a pain in the ass. I’ll text you this weekend. Gotta go!

Aubrey comes walking out of her bedroom, so I shove my phone in my pocket and stand up. She showered and has her wet hair in some kind of braid, and she’s wearing a pair of jean shorts with a tank top and flip-flops. She grabs a purse with a long strap and slings it over her shoulder.

“Let’s go! We have a bunch of stuff to get.”

“Do you have a list or something?” I ask as we climb into my truck.

“Let’s see. We need to go to Target and get all the plates, napkins, and utensils. Then we gotta head over to Home Depot and pick up a couple bags of charcoal. And Mom wants me to try and find some lawn games, like horseshoes and stuff. I guess she’s really going all out this year.”

***

By the time noon rolls around, the bed of my truck is filled with bags and we’re both hot and tired. We stop at a local burger joint to grab a quick bite then head over to her parents’ to drop it all off. Sharon holds the front door open for us while we carry it all inside.

“Where’s Dad?” Aubrey asks as she places the bags on the kitchen table.

“Upstairs sleeping. Today hasn’t been a good day.”

I can see Aubrey’s lower lip tremble for a second before she shakes her head and continues what she’s doing.

“So, Mom, we got everything you needed. They didn’t have any lawn lanterns, but I found some online and I can get them shipped here the day before the party. I was only able to find a beanbag toss game, so I’ll look online for you tomorrow and see what I can find.”

“Thank you, Aubrey. I really appreciate it. I just haven’t had a chance to get out. Speaking of, I want to talk to you for a minute. Landon came over last night and let me know that he’s moving home.”

Aubrey doesn’t react to the news, so she’s clearly been talking to her brother. I haven’t met Landon yet, but from what Aubrey says he’s taking this really hard.

“Yeah, Mom. Landon and I talked about it. He doesn’t want you and Dad to have to spend your retirements on a private nurse. He figures this way, he can be here at night to help with Dad, and you guys can just have a visiting hospice nurse come out once a week to check on Dad. He said that should be covered under your insurance.”

Aubrey sits at the kitchen table and looks up at Sharon.

“We just want to help you out with this, Mom. You need help. I would move back in, but I’m not strong enough to help Dad as much as Landon. He wants to do this, Mom. I think it would help his peace of mind from when he went a little MIA at the beginning.”

Sharon sits with Aubrey and gives her a hug. “I love you, my sweet girl. And you, Noah. I love you. You have been so good for our baby. Thank you for being such an honorable man.”

I walk over and press a kiss to her cheek. Aubrey gives her mom another hug then stands so we can get going. We say our good-byes and head back to my house.

CHAPTER 15

AUBREY

“Land, can you hang these lights up over the deck?” It’s the morning of my parents’ party, and Landon and I are helping set the backyard up. Kennedy is inside helping my mom start on some of the food that needs to be prepared. Noah and Grayson are on their way over with the fold-up tables and chairs my mom rented online. Dad is resting; I’m really hoping he’ll be up to attending the party. This past week he’s only had one headache, so we’ve all been in much brighter spirits. Tonight’s gonna be a blast.

Landon comes over and takes the lights from me, carrying them over to the ladder leaning against the house. He climbs up and attaches the lights to the edge before he gets down, admiring his handiwork. I grab the waterproof lights and set them around the edge of my parents’ above-ground pool; The pool lights up, so it’ll look really neat with the little lanterns I bought. I’ve just finished arranging them when I hear the sound of a car coming down their gravel road. Picking up the large bags of charcoal, I start moving them to the other side of the deck next to the grill. As I set it down, I look up to see Noah and Grayson each holding the end of a large buffet-size table.

“Guys, just set it over next to the side of the deck. It’s just below the grill, so that’s where Mom’s going to want it. Just put all the other chairs around the pool for now. Mom has a portable dance floor coming in a little bit, so we’ll arrange everything then.” I turn back to the bags of decorations and start putting the small American flags on the deck railing. Once I’m done, I look up to see Noah and Landon shaking hands, no doubt introducing themselves. Noah sees me looking over at them and gives me a wink.

As I start collecting the trash from everything, Kennedy comes outside.

“Can you believe we’re less than a month from having to get our classrooms set up? I can’t believe they changed them around! I was so upset when I got the e-mail from Andrea the other day.” Andrea is the principal of our school, and she decided to change the classrooms around so they could add an extra for the first graders. It isn’t a huge deal, but now instead of setting up at the end of August, we have to go in three weeks to help the other teachers move everything around.

“Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a pain in the ass. But I get a bigger room, which is nice! What room are you going to be in?” I start moving the large coolers off the deck and over next to where the guys left the buffet table.

“I’m in the room next to you, so we get to be neighbors.” Kenni grabs another cooler and helps me place them into a semi-circle. Looking around the yard, I notice we’re pretty much all done for now. We just need to go to the store to get all the food for the grill then head back to our apartment to grab clothes and bathing suits for tonight.

After heading inside to grab a bunch of reusable bags and our purses, Kennedy and I are ready to go. As we walk out front to my car, Grayson and Noah come out from around the house.

“Hey, where are you fine ladies heading to?” Grayson swaggers over to us.

“Well, if you must know, we’re heading to the store and then to grab our stuff from the apartment. Are you guys going to help Landon get the dance floor and stuff set up?”

I walk over to Noah and slip an arm around his waist. He gives me a light kiss then nods.

“Yeah, that way we can get it done faster. He’s a cool guy, Aubrey. I can see why you guys are so close. Although he did threaten my manhood if I hurt you.”

Shaking my head, I make a mental note to have a word with my dumbass brother.

“All right, we should be back in a couple hours. Have Mom call us if she needs anything else. We’ve got her list.”

I give Noah a quick kiss on the cheek and then we’re climbing in my car and taking off. We decide to head to the apartment first, since that will be the fastest trip. Running inside, we each go into our bedrooms. I grab my duffle bag and throw in a pair of faded jean shorts and my American flag bikini. Then I grab the red dress I bought for tonight and the white belt that goes with it. I pick out my low-cut white Chucks to wear with both outfits and put them in my bag, then go into my bathroom and take everything out I need for tonight. I pack up my makeup bag and place it with my stuff.

Finally, I’m all set, so I head into the living room to wait for Kenni. She comes out a minute later with her bag slung over her shoulder. “You ready, chica?”

Nodding, we lock up the apartment then go back out to my car and head to the grocery store. We each grab a cart since we have a lot of stuff to get; Mom said she’s having about forty people coming tonight, so we have to make sure we have plenty of everything.

It takes us around an hour and a half before we’re finally done with the list. We head to checkout and while we’re waiting in line, my phone goes off with a text from Noah’s mom.

Molly: Hey, honey! Really looking forward to seeing you all tonight. Can’t wait to meet your parents. Do you need us to bring anything?

Aubrey: Can’t wait to see you and Jack, Molly! Noah still has no idea you guys are coming! And no, we’re all set. It’s just BYOB, so if there’s any beer you want in particular. Mom has the bar all stocked up on liquor, so we have plenty of that if you want. See you tonight!

“So, Noah still doesn’t know you invited them?” Kenni asks as she starts loading stuff onto the belt.

I shake my head and help her. “No. I want to do something nice for him. He used to see them a couple times a week before we started dating, and I know for a fact he hasn’t gone over since we got together. He’s either at the firehouse, or he’s with me. Or he’s with me at my parents’.”

“I’m sure he’ll be happy. Plus, it’ll be cool to get all your folks together.”

It takes us another half hour before the car is loaded and we’re ready to head back. Climbing inside, we open all the windows as I pull my phone out of my purse and check the display. It’s already one o’clock. We need to hurry up and get back so we can get everything unpacked, organized, and prepped. I turn my stereo on and blast it, heading for my parents’. Kenni is dancing around in the passenger seat, singing loudly.

“We
have
to go see Luke Bryan this fall! I love this new song!” She’s screaming over the music to me, a huge smile on her face. I give her a thumbs-up and turn down the side road that leads to my parents’ house.

Pulling in, I see the company Mom rented the dance floor from packing the truck up, so I pull up next to the garage, pop my trunk, and we jump out. I leave the engine running so my stereo stays on, and we sing and dance along to the radio as we bring the groceries in. I’m closing the trunk when I feel someone grab me from behind. Screeching, I kick to lessen their hold and then feel warm lips come down on the side of my neck.

“Hey, baby.” He puts me down and I spin around to kiss him. I pull away and take the baseball hat off his head, placing it atop mine.

“Damn, my hat looks good on you.” He runs a hand through his hair to fix it. As much as I love the waves, he looks like he could use a haircut.

“I bet it’d look even better if it were the only thing I was wearing.” I give him a wink.

Groaning, he gives me a pained look. “No fair, Aubrey. You can’t say shit like that to me at your parents’. I’m not too sure your mom would appreciate my hard-on.”

Giggling, I take the hat off my head and hand it back to him. He turns it backwards then swats me on the ass.

“So, did you guys get everything all done?” I follow him out into the backyard and I have to say, I’m impressed. The dance floor Mom had installed looks amazing, one side lined with multiple alternating pots of blue and red impatiens. The deck has American flags dangling around the railings, and Landon finished hanging the string lights around the roof.

Noah and Grayson have set up all the tables and chairs around the back side of the dance floor. Mom threw her red, white, and blue tablecloths over them and placed a lantern in the middle of each table. It looks incredible. And once the lights go down, and it’s only lit up out here with the string lights and lanterns, it’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait.

“Thank you for helping out today, Noah. I really appreciate it.”

He puts an arm around my shoulders and squeezes me tight. “No problem, baby. I had fun today. Your brother and Grayson got along really well too.”

“Oh, great.” We both laugh then head inside to see how we can help. It’s gotten really hot out, so I decide to go upstairs and get changed. Kenni comes with me after I drag her away from Grayson and we duck into my old bedroom where we stuck our bags, since we’re going to stay here tonight after the party. I quickly change into my bikini and shorts and throw on my Chucks. We went on a little road trip to the beach with the guys at the start of summer, so it looks good against my tan. Kennedy has on a black bikini that leaves nothing to the imagination and a pair of shorts so small they shouldn’t be considered clothing.

“Really, Kenni? Are you trying to kill Grayson?”

“Who says I’m dressed like this for him?” She pulls her long hair up into a bun.

“Well, unless you have the hots for my brother instead?”

“Ew! God, no!” Kennedy makes gagging sounds and looks horrified, but she never answers my question. Those two idiots need to just get over themselves.

“Hey, Kenni, can you put my hair into a French braid?” I hand her my brush then sit down on the desk chair.

“Yeah, sure” My hair doesn’t take long to do; soon, I’m grabbing my mirrored aviators and heading downstairs with Kenni in tow.

My mom and brother are hanging out in the kitchen with Noah and Grayson when we walk in. Noah looks up as we enter, his eyes widening briefly as I just give him a huge grin. Grayson definitely can’t take his eyes off Kennedy.

As I grab my mom’s cutting board and the big bag of veggies and start cutting them up for burger toppings, I can feel Noah’s eyes on me the entire time. Once I’m done cutting, I start making the five pounds of ground beef into burger patties. Almost an hour later, I stack them on a platter and cover them in plastic wrap. I stick it in the fridge, and then move onto the refreshments. We bought eight twelve-packs of soda and they all need to be put in the coolers, along with the packages of water my mom bought. I start carrying them all out into the backyard, two at a time. Kenni comes over to help me, making the trips much shorter.

“Hey, Aubrey, can I talk to you a quick second?” Noah calls to me from the pool. I dump the final twelve-pack into the cooler and head over. Once I make it to him, he grabs me by the shoulders and pushes me against the pool, sealing his lips over mine. I moan into his mouth, wrapping my arms around his neck as his tongue seeks entrance into my mouth. All too soon, he’s breaking the kiss and pulling away from me.

“I’ve wanted to do that since I saw you come downstairs in this sexy-as-hell bikini.”

Laughing, I reach over and smack his ass then wander back over to the house to see what needs to be finished. It takes us all another couple of hours before we have everything set up. When I pull my cell out of my back pocket and check the time, I see it’s almost five o’clock. We’re expecting people to start showing up around six thirty, so I quickly run into the garage, grab one of the five bags of ice, and start filling the coolers. I throw the bags into one of the large trash cans and look around for Kennedy. She’s sitting on the deck, helping my mom open packages of napkins. Heading over, I stick my sunglasses on top of my head.

“Hey, Kenni, I’m gonna start getting ready. You want to come?”

She leans over, gives my mom a kiss on the cheek, and then follows me inside. I pull my new dress out of my bag and place it on the bed before grabbing my makeup bag and pulling out everything I need. Kennedy follows suit, rifling through her overnight bag. She brought a pair of red shorts and a white tank top, and I convinced her to wear a pair of sandals, not her hooker heels. She’s standing in front of the bathroom mirror teasing her hair into a high ponytail, so I sit down on the bed and wait for her to come out.

Once she’s all done, I head in to get ready. I pull my hair out of the French braid and let it fall loosely to my shoulders. Deciding against using any heavy makeup, I just throw on a little mascara and lip gloss. I pinch my cheeks to give them some color and run my brush through my hair. Stepping back into my bedroom, I quickly change into a pair of lace panties and my strapless bra. I put my red dress on and place my belt around my waist, but after looking in the mirror, I change my mind and take it off. I throw on my white Chucks and head downstairs to see where Kennedy ran off to.

As I come down the last stairs into the kitchen, I see my dad standing with his back to me, looking out the slider door.

“Dad!” I rush over to him and throw my arms around him.

“Hey, baby girl. You look beautiful.”

I lean up on my tiptoes and give him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you. Didn’t Mom do an awesome job on this party?”

“She did. Your mother is one a kind, that’s for sure.”

Taking his hand, I lead him out back to the deck chairs we have set aside for him. He sits down and takes a deep breath.

“Can I get you anything, Daddy? People should be coming soon.”

“No, I’m okay for right now. But thank you. Go find that boyfriend of yours and show him how pretty you look tonight.”