Starting Over (Treading Water Trilogy) (19 page)

Brandon checked his watch. Mike would be home any minute, and she’d be more excited than usual today since they were finally going to his sister’s house so she could play with Erin’s kids. He was aware that Daphne had major reservations about letting him take Mike out by himself, but she’d reluctantly agreed to it when Mike wore her down with her relentless begging.

From Mrs.
Oczkowski’s
second-floor window, he saw Daphne’s red SUV pull into the parking area. He grinned when Mike shot out of the car on her way to the porch. Daphne called her back, and with great protest, Mike turned around to get her backpack.

Brandon went out to the hallway to watch for her.

She came flying up the stairs and shrieked when she saw him.

He scooped her up with one arm. “What’s the hurry, squirt?”

Her annoyed expression was so sophisticated she might’ve been thirty instead of five going on thirty. “You
know
,” she said with exasperation.

“What? Is today something special?”

She punched his shoulder. “I’ll be ready in ten minutes,” she said, squirming out of his arms as Daphne caught up to them.

“I hope you know what you’re getting into,” Daphne said when Mike had gone upstairs.

While his friendship with Mike continued to flourish, Daphne had been friendly but cool to Brandon in the weeks since they’d talked about Mike’s father.

“It’ll be fine. She’ll have a good time with the kids, and I’ll bring her back tired.”

“For that, I shall be eternally grateful.”

Brandon chuckled. “How grateful?”

Her saucy smile almost stopped his heart. “
Very
.”

“Really,” he stammered. “Well, uh…”

She laughed at his befuddled expression. “Smooth. Very smooth.”

“I used to be. Until I met you.”

“Sure, blame me.”

It was her turn to be speechless when he twisted a lock of her blonde hair around his finger. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “You make me into a tongue-tied fool.”

She reached for his hand. “Brandon…”

“I’m ready,” Mike yelled as she came bounding down the stairs.

Daphne dropped his hand, and the moment was lost. “Be careful with my baby,” she said softly so Mike wouldn’t hear her.

“She’s safe with me. You both are.”

Daphne squatted down to zip Mike’s coat. “Brandon’s in charge. You mind him, do you hear me?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“And be good at his sister’s house. No getting wild.”

“Okay.” Mike patted her mother’s cheek. “Don’t worry. Brandon will take good care of me.”

Her utter faith in him made Brandon want to weep. He just hoped he could be worthy of it for as long as she was in his life. It was nearly enough on its own to keep him sober.

“Come on, squirt.” Brandon held out a hand to her. “Let’s go.” To Daphne, he added, “You have my cell number if you need to reach us, right?” He’d given the number to all the tenants.

She nodded.

Brandon ran a finger over her soft cheek. “Don’t worry.”

“I won’t.”

Brandon’s smile told her he didn’t believe her.

“Grab her booster seat out of my car,” Daphne called as Brandon and Mike went down the stairs together.

He waved to let her know he’d heard her.

“Whew,” Mike said when they were outside. “I didn’t think she was going to let us go.”

“It’s hard for her. She doesn’t know me that well, and she’s letting me drive away with the most precious thing in her world.”

Mike’s eyes were wise beyond her years when she looked up at him. “I’m all she has.”

“That’s why it’s so hard for her to let you go.” He buckled her into the booster in the front seat of his company truck and reached under the dashboard to turn off the passenger-side airbag.

“But we can trust you.”

Curious, Brandon studied her. “How do you know that?”

“Because I know you.” She put her hand over his heart. “I know you in here.”

Staggered by her, Brandon was rendered momentarily speechless. He reached up to retrieve her hand from his chest and squeezed it before he closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side. If he hadn’t already been head-over-heels in love with her, he would be now.

On the short ride to Erin’s house, she asked him to tell her again about his nieces and nephews. He’d answered this question a hundred times in the last week, but he indulged her. “I already told you, and you know it by heart, so you can’t fool me. Josh is eight, Nina is seven, Cecelia is six, Ben is five, and Amanda is four.”

“Do you think they’ll like me?” she asked in a small voice.

Surprised by her unusual lack of confidence, he reached for her hand. “Of course, they will. I told you, they can’t wait to meet you.”

She nodded but kept a firm grip on his hand until they arrived at Erin’s big Victorian house. Mike gasped. “
That’s where they live?
It’s like a princess castle!”

Seeing the house through her eyes was like seeing it for the first time. “I guess it is.”

Erin waited for them at the front door with Amanda in her arms. “Hey, come on in.” She swung open the storm door and put Amanda down in one smooth move.

Brandon never got over how easy his sister made motherhood look.

“You must be Mike,” Erin said, reaching out to shake Mike’s hand.

“Yes, ma’am. Are you Brandon’s sister? You don’t look like him.”

Erin laughed. “I’m his sister, all right, but he looks like our dad, and I look like our mom.”

“You have pretty hair.”

“Thank you, so do you. This is Amanda.”

Brandon squatted down to Amanda’s level and held out a finger to her.

She wrapped her pudgy fingers around his and squeezed.

“Can Uncle Brandon have a smooch?” he asked, making a pathetic face that made both girls giggle.

Amanda studied him for a long moment, during which Brandon prayed the child wouldn’t run away in fear of him.

Mike broke the tension when she kissed his cheek.

Not wanting to be left out, Amanda kissed the other side of his face.

“Thank you, ladies,” Brandon said, touched by what Mike had done for him. He was amazed at her ability to understand things that should’ve been far beyond her.

“Amanda, take Mike up to the playroom and introduce her to the kids, okay?” Erin said.

“K,” Amanda said, and the two girls scampered off.

“What a beautiful child,” Erin said as she led her brother into the kitchen.

“Isn’t she?”

“I can’t believe you—making friends with a five-year-old.”

“It’s the new me.”

“I like it.”

“So do I.”

She poured them each a cup of coffee, and they sat at the big kitchen table. The house was filled with the clutter created by five young children, but Erin managed to make it appear somewhat organized.

“So how are you, Brand, really?”

“I’m doing okay. At least I think I am. Seventy days of sobriety today.”

“That’s a great accomplishment. Congratulations. Do you still, you know—”

“Have the urge to drink?”

She nodded.

“Every day. But so far I seem to have a stronger desire to not go back to the way I was living before.”

“You look wonderful. You’re all trimmed down.”

“I run every day. Plus the manual labor Da’s got me doing at the apartments helps, too.”

“Do you hate having to work over there?”

“Not as much as I thought I would.”

Erin’s eyes suddenly flooded with tears.

“What’s with the waterworks?” he asked, perplexed.

“I’m sorry.” She brushed at a tear. “I’m just so glad to have you back. I missed you so much.”

He reached out to hug her. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”

“I’d never give up on you.”

“Have you heard about what happened in Vermont?”

Her eyes lit up with mirth as she sipped from her mug. “What do you think?”

“That you knew about it five minutes after Mum did.”

“More like three minutes,” Erin confessed with a smile. “It took a lot of courage for you to tell Aidan the truth. I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like for you.”

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.”

“You must’ve felt so much better once it was off your chest.”

“I did, but I felt bad because the timing stunk for him. He had just broken up with Clare.”

“I talked to him last night. He seems to be doing better. He’s working a lot, and he finished the job he was doing on Clare’s brother’s house in Stowe.”

“I wish they could work things out. Everyone thought she was so good for him.”

“She was. Mum really liked her.”

He laughed. “And we all know that’s half the battle.”

Erin snorted in agreement. “No shit.”

“Were you shocked by it? The thing about Sarah?”

“Yeah, but it sure did explain why you seemed so mad at the world for all those years.”

“I can see now that I wasted a lot of time being mad at the world—and at Aidan. I wasn’t fair to him.”

“I’m proud of you, Brand. You’re really getting your life together, and I know it can’t be easy for you.”

“Thanks. Having all you guys in my corner certainly helps.” When they heard the kids go running through the second floor, Brandon glanced up. “Do I need to check on her?”

“Nah, she’s fine,” Erin said, amused by his nervousness.

“I’m new at this. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do.”

“You really care about her, don’t you?”

“I do. She’s managed to worm her way under my skin. Thanks for letting me bring her over to play with the kids. She’s pretty lonely at the apartments.”

“Bring her over any time. It’s amazing how one extra kid can entertain my five for a whole afternoon. In fact, Valerie brought her daughter over to play last week.”

“I didn’t know you still kept in touch with her.”

“I see her all the time.”

“How is she?”

“She seems happy. Content with her life. Her daughter Chelsea is adorable.”

“That’s good. I’m glad to hear that. I’d like to see her—to apologize for the way I treated her if nothing else.”

“That might not be a good idea. It took her a long time to get over you, and she’s really got her life together now.”

“I’d never do anything to mess with that, but… Would you ask her? I need five minutes, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

Erin nodded. “Sure. I’ll ask, but don’t be hurt if she says no.”

“I’d totally understand. She certainly doesn’t owe me anything.”

A wail from upstairs had Brandon shooting out of his chair and flying up the stairs. He found Mike in a ball on the playroom floor holding her head and crying her eyes out. His nephew Josh was in the same condition. Erin scooped up Josh while Brandon went to Mike. The other children looked on with big eyes.

“What happened, baby?” Brandon smoothed Mike’s hair back to find a red lump on her forehead. He’d never seen her cry before, and her tears unnerved him.

“Josh and I bumped heads,” she said between sobs. “It was an accident.” She slurred the word so it came out like ass-
ident
.

“Let’s go downstairs and get some ice on those bumps.” Erin handled the situation with the calm of someone who’d cared for many a boo-boo.

Brandon, on the other hand, was certain he was having a heart attack as he carried Mike downstairs. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, and his shirt was damp from her tears. He kept her on his lap while he held an ice pack on her bump. Eventually, her sobs became more like hiccups, but still he held her close to him.

“I think I’m okay now,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you want to go home?”

“No! We were having fun ’til we bumped heads.”

“Sorry, Uncle Brandon,” Josh mumbled with a wary glance at Brandon as he got down from his mother’s lap.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Brandon reached out to ruffle his nephew’s blond hair. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

“Come on, Mike.” Josh sprinted for the stairs as if nothing had happened. “I want to show you my remote control truck.”

Mike was right behind him.

When they were gone, Erin turned to her brother. “It’s okay, Brand,” she said, laughing at him. “You can breathe now. She’s fine.”

“Jesus,” he said, still trying to recover. “That scared the crap out of me.”

“You’ve got it bad, man.” Erin shook her head with delight. “What’s her mother like?”

“Picture Mike, only twenty-five years older.”

“Wow.”

“You said it.”