Starting Over (Treading Water Trilogy) (26 page)

“Thank you for trying to help. Even if it doesn’t work, I’ve never had anyone to share this burden with.”

“You do now, and it’s
going
to work.” He couldn’t imagine the alternative.

The next afternoon, Brandon walked into a liquor store for the first time in seventy-three days. The sweet smell of the place made his mouth water, but he stayed focused on what he was there to do. “A case of Sam Adams, please,” he said to the kid working at the desk. “Cold. Two bags of ice, too.”

By the time Brandon paid for the beer and ice and stashed it in the cooler in the back of his truck, he was in a cold sweat. Not that long ago, he could’ve downed this much beer on his own. How he longed for just one of them now. Maybe this wasn’t the brightest thing he’d ever done, but he’d just proven he could walk into a liquor store and buy something he had no intention of drinking. He made a mental note to discuss the transaction with Joe after the next meeting.

He returned to the apartment building and dragged the cooler into the backyard. His brothers and Tommy were due soon, so Brandon dismantled the old swing set and then decided to get started on the new one. By the time the others arrived, he was ready to shoot himself.

“Are you already making a mess of it?” Tommy asked. He was tall and blond with blue eyes and a big smile. Erin had set her heart on him the day she met him, and the poor guy never stood a chance against her.

“Shut up and help me, will you?”

Tommy laughed as he grabbed the instructions and turned the page around. “This end up. That’s your first problem, jackass.”

Brandon fell back onto the grass laughing. “I should’ve paid the five hundred
frickin
’ bucks to get them to do this for me.”

“Bad time to be cheap, Brand,” Declan agreed as he came into the yard with Colin trailing behind him. They surveyed the pile of parts, pieces, wood, bolts, and tools, and turned around to leave.

“Get back here,” Brandon bellowed. “No one is leaving until this is done.” When his brothers reluctantly came back, Brandon added, “There’s beer, but only if you help.”

All eyes fell on Brandon.

“You bought beer?” Colin asked.

“It’s no big deal, so don’t make it into one. Let’s get busy. We don’t have much time.” Daphne had taken Mike to lunch and the park, but she couldn’t keep her away forever, and Brandon knew Mike would come looking for him the minute she got home.

They’d made only a small dent two hours later when Dennis strolled into the yard with Aidan, who was home for Easter.

“We heard you all were up to something over here,” Dennis said. “What the hell are you doing? I didn’t authorize a playground, Brand.”

“Relax. I paid for it.”

“Looks like you’re paying, all right,” Aidan remarked with a smile as he took in the chaotic scene.

“Either help or shut up,” Brandon said.

With a glance at Aidan, Dennis shrugged and rolled up his sleeves.

“Why don’t they have a class on how to do this in college?” Declan asked. “All future fathers should have to be trained in this.”

“I tried to tell him,” Tommy said.

“Do you girls always talk this much when you’re working?” Brandon asked. “It’s a wonder the company isn’t bankrupt.”

Aidan snickered, and Brandon caught his eye to share the joke. The resentment and anger were gone. What remained was maybe the start of something new.

Another hour and a half passed, and the playground was taking shape, thanks in large part to Aidan, who’d done the job many times before for clients in Vermont.

Mike ran into the yard and shrieked when she saw what they were doing.

“Oh!” Brandon scooped her up to turn her away from the action. “You’re not supposed to see it until it’s done.”

“Is it for
me
?” she asked with wide eyes as she bent her head around him so she could see it.

“Sure is. Do you like it?”

“It’s
awesome
.” She wrapped her little arms around his neck in a fierce hug. “Thank you.” She kissed his cheek and turned up her nose with distaste. “You’re all sweaty.”

He rubbed his sweaty face over hers, making her squeal with laughter.

When Brandon looked up, the others were watching him with interest. “This is Mike. You know my dad, that’s my brother, Aidan, my brother-in-law, Tommy—he’s Josh’s dad—and my other brothers, Declan and Colin.”

Declan whistled under his breath. “And
who
is
that
?”

“Oh, it’s the goddess,” Colin whispered.

Brandon turned in time to see Daphne come into the yard. He shifted Mike to his hip and held out a hand to her mother. “This is Daphne,” he said, repeating the introductions.

“This is your
little
surprise, Brandon?” Daphne surveyed the playground with a mixture of amazement and dismay on her face. “I can’t believe you did this.”

The others went back to work, leaving Brandon to fend for himself with Daphne.

“It
is
a little surprise,” Brandon insisted.

“It’s a
big
surprise,” Mike said.

“Thanks a lot, squirt,” Brandon grumbled as Mike scampered out of his arms to go supervise the workers. Brandon turned to Daphne, who had her hands on her hips and her mouth set in that thing she did when she was annoyed. He hadn’t seen that in a while. “She needed a place to play, and you told her she’d have to have a ‘
tetchis
’ shot to play on the other one, so…”

Daphne smiled.

“What?”

“You’re a good guy,” she said, going up on tiptoes to kiss him.

Tuning out the catcalls from his brothers, Brandon surprised her by hooking an arm around her waist and taking the kiss to the next level.

“Get a room!” Declan hollered.

Brandon didn’t let her go until he was good and ready to.

By the time she finally managed to break free of him, Daphne’s cheeks were rosy with embarrassment. She ran a self-conscious hand over her mouth. “Well, I’ll let you get back to work. Do you want me to take Mike?”

“Nah, she can stay.”

After Daphne went inside, Brandon turned to find the others staring at him.

“What?”

“I told you he was canoodling with her,” Dennis said to no one in particular.

“Let’s finish this damned thing,” Brandon said, annoyed with the lot of them.

“
Ummm
, you
sweared
, Brandon,” Mike said, scandalized.

He gritted his teeth and pretended not to hear the others laughing at him, as he realized it would’ve been a whole lot less painful to pay the extra five hundred bucks.

Chapter 23, Day 73

Most of the beer was gone and the playground almost finished by six when Dec said he had to leave for a date with Jessica. After he was gone, Colin whispered to Brandon, “I think tonight’s the night.” They were working together to install the second slide on the far end of the playground.

“Why do you say that?” Brandon asked.

“Just a hunch. He’s been acting weird all week.”

“It’s still hard to imagine him married.”

Colin grinned. “I know.”

“Hey, squirt, that’s high enough,” Brandon called to Mike, who was climbing up the side of the tree house. “You’re supposed to play
in
it, not
on
it.” While Mike climbed down with assistance from Aidan, Brandon turned back to Colin. “How about you? Any progress with your lady?”

Colin’s expression changed abruptly from amused to dejected. “No. I’m ashamed to say I went to an Al-Anon meeting last night hoping to see her—that’s where I met her, but don’t repeat that to anyone. Anyhow, she wasn’t there. No one seemed to know where she was.”

“Can you think of anywhere else you might run into her?”

“She said she walks on the beach at the Light, but I can’t very well camp out there and wait for her. That has ‘stalker’ written all over it.”

Brandon smiled. “True. Why don’t you just call her?”

“Because if there’s a next move, it has to be hers. She made it pretty clear she wasn’t interested.”

“I’m sorry, Col. That sucks.”

“It does. There was like a loud click with her, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Speaking of chicks and clicks, you’ve been keeping some secrets over here at Melrose Place. Looks like you and Daphne are pretty hot and heavy.”

“I’m in love with her.”

“Seriously? That was fast.”

Brandon shrugged. “It’s like you said, I heard the click.”

“She sure is easy on the eyes.”

“Keep your eyes and everything else off her,” Brandon said, but he was kidding and Colin knew it.

“What does she think of you?”

“She loves me, too,” he said with a touch of awe. “It’s amazing how much better it is when it works both ways.”

“Good for you, Brand. You deserve something like this after all you’ve been through. Does she know about…everything?”

“Most of it. I just hope…”

“What?”

Brandon looked over at Mike, who had cajoled Dennis into pushing her on one of the swings. “I love them both. I’m terrified I’m going to screw it up somehow.”

“Just keep thinking about what it would feel like to lose them, and you won’t.”

Brandon smiled when Mike’s giggles filled the air. “I can’t even think about losing them. That’s
not
an option.”

Long after everyone left, Brandon continued to push Mike on the swing. Except for a brief pause for dinner, they’d played on the new playground all evening.

“Time to go in, squirt,” he said when he noticed her finally starting to tire.

“Not yet. It’s still early.”

“It’s time.” He brought the swing to a stop and tossed her up over his shoulders.

“This was the best day ever,” she said as he carried her inside.

“I’m glad you had fun. Did your mom tell you that you guys are coming with me to Josh’s house tomorrow?”

“Yep. I can’t wait.”

“Special delivery,” Brandon called when they reached Daphne’s apartment. He stopped short when he found her sitting on the sofa with a pile of paper on her lap, a pencil tucked into her ponytail, and wire-rimmed glasses perched on the end of her nose.

“You’re staring again,” Mike said.

“I can’t help it. Your mother is so gorgeous, she makes me want to drool.”

Mike giggled.

Daphne smiled and reached for her glasses.

“No,” he said. “Leave them on.” He flopped down on the sofa with Mike still in his arms and leaned over to kiss Daphne. “You look very smart.”

“I
am
very smart.”

“She’s an accountant,” Mike said, making them laugh when she tripped over the word.

“Time for a bath,” Daphne said, reaching out to tweak Mike’s nose.

“I need to leave you ladies for a bit to run over to my house and get some clothes for tomorrow,” Brandon said.

“You have a house?” Mike asked. “Where is it?”

“Just a mile from here.”

“Can we go there sometime?”

“Sure.”

“What should I put out for the Easter bunny?” Mike asked.

Brandon had gotten used to how fast the subject changed when she was involved in the conversation.

“He’s probably sick of carrots, don’t you think?” Mike asked.

Her face was so serious that Brandon fought the urge to smile. “How about some chips? That’s what I’d want if I were the Easter bunny.”

“Not cookies?”

“No, definitely chips.”

“Okay, I’ll go get some,” Mike said, springing off Brandon’s lap.

“Do you plan to come back and eat all the chips she’s going to put out?” Daphne whispered.

“Will you keep those glasses on until I get back?”

She leaned over to kiss him. “We might be able to work something out.”

“I hope the Easter bunny is
really
hungry,” Mike said when she returned with a huge bowl of chips.

Daphne looked at Brandon with amusement. “I’m sure he’ll be starving. Go on in and get ready for your bath. I’ll be right there.”

“See you in the morning, squirt.”

Mike put down the bowl and hugged him. “Thanks again for the playground.”

“You’re welcome.”

She clung to him for a long moment and then sprinted from the room.

“That’s about the fifth time she’s thanked me. She’s such a sweetheart.”

“I still can’t believe what you did. It must’ve cost a fortune, Brandon.”

“Don’t sweat it.” He kissed her and got up. “I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry. You have a lot of chips to eat.”