Chapter 2: Forever Wild: Chapter 1

“I’m going to miss you so much,” I say to my favorite person in the world in a sweet tone I reserve only for her.

Charlotte smiles up at me from where she lies on her changing table and bats at the loose strands of hair hanging in my face. One tiny hand gets a death grip on my blonde locks and I laugh even as I wince and unclench her fist to free (most) of my hair.

I pick her up, then lift her above my head like she’s flying. Her grin widens and my heart feels like it might burst. She has my brother’s smile and Piper’s dark hair and blue eyes. She’s a shy baby with strangers or people she doesn’t trust, but she’s such a lovebug with those she does.

Pulling her down against my hip, I breathe her in. She smells like lavender and baby powder. I love the feel of her little body nuzzled up to me.

“I think she’s going to miss you too.” Piper leans in and kisses Charlotte’s soft cheek. She looks at her daughter with so much love and adoration that it makes my chest hurt. Her love for Charlotte is so big. It’s the kind of pure maternal affection that most people take for granted. But not me. “We all will. Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“No.” I shake my head, not even having to think about it. “But maybe you could just leave her here with me.” I sit on the pink chair in the nursery with Charlotte while Piper continues packing for their upcoming vacation.

I want to soak up all my niece’s little laughs and kisses before they leave. Hockey season is over, and my brother and his teammates are all taking some much-needed time off. Tyler and Piper are headed east. They rented a place on the beach where Charlotte can play in the sand and dip her toes into the ocean. It does sound nice, but with college just ending and real life hovering on the horizon, my ideal summer is staying here, sleeping in, lounging by the pool, and pretending that nothing has changed.

“I think you’d be ready for a break after a day or two. She’s cute until she wakes you up at two in the morning.”

That does sound exhausting. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“She has me.” Tyler walks into the nursery and shoots his wife a wink before settling his gaze on me and Charlotte. “How are all my favorite girls?”

“We’re great,” I say reverting back to baby talk. I don’t know what it is about a tiny little human that makes us all coo and talk weird, but I am not immune to it. Especially when it makes Charlotte smile at me like I’m the coolest person alive. As she should.

“Stressed.” Piper adds another outfit to the suitcase. “I’m running out of room. Do you have another bag?

”

Tyler’s brows rise as he takes in the very large, very full bag on the floor. “You know there’s a washer and dryer at the beach house, right? You don’t have to bring every scrap of clothing she owns.”

I clear my throat and give Ty our secret sibling look, which isn’t really that secret. Wide eyes, shake of the head. It’s a clear “stop talking if you want to survive” look that we’ve perfected over the years.

He trails off and then flashes Piper a smile. “I’ll go see if I can find another bag.”

“Thank you.” Piper’s shoulders sag in relief. Ty brushes his lips over hers before disappearing out of the door he entered only seconds ago.

When he’s gone she glances at me. “And thank you.”

“No problem,” I say with a laugh. “My niece wants to be the best-dressed baby on all the beaches.”

Piper takes a break from packing and sits on the floor next to the suitcase. “So, what about you? You’re really just going to hang around here all summer?”

“I’m sure I’ll take a few weekend trips here and there, but with the long list of things everyone left me to check on, I think I’ll stay pretty busy.”

Nearly all the Wildcat guys leave in the off-season. Some go back to wherever they’re from, others travel. And while they’re gone, they need someone to check in on their houses, get the mail, water plants, and one guy even asked me to check in on his elderly neighbor once a week. It’s not the most glamorous job, being their house sitter/errand runner, but it saves me from getting a real job for a few more months. Plus, most of them have pools that they’ve agreed I can use.

“When do you have to be in Briar Lake for the internship?” she asks, a big smile pulling her pink lips apart to flash her straight, white teeth.

Nerves swirl around in my stomach and settle into a tight ball. “The last week of July.”

“Your brother is so proud. So am I.” She continues beaming at me. I can feel her pride stretching across the room. In a lot of ways, she’s responsible for me graduating high school and college. She was a student teacher my senior year when I came to live with Ty. She believed in me when few people did. Without her and Ty, I don’t know where I’d be.

My brother took me in after everyone else had given up trying to get through to me, and Piper treated me like a little sister, even before she and my brother were together. I owe so much to them both. The words of gratitude get stuck in my throat. With their happiness for all I’ve accomplished comes expectations and hope. Sometimes I feel like I’m one wrong move from letting them down.

Piper continues smiling at me like she can see all my hopes and dreams floating above my head. “The houses there are so gorgeous and you’re going to get to decorate them. It’s a dream job. You’re so perfect for it.”

Each word makes me a little more anxious, but it is a great opportunity, and I did work hard for it. In six weeks, I’ll be heading two hours north for an interior design internship with one of the most prestigious design companies in Minnesota. They work on everything from boutique hotels to million-dollar lake homes. It is a dream job, really, and the woman I’ll be working with is basically my idol. She was named one of the “Top 30 under 30” in the state. She has a waitlist of clients a year out hoping to work with her.

If I impress her during my internship, she might offer me a permanent job. Though she’s not known for taking on a lot of full-

time staff. But even a recommendation from her would be incredible for my career.

“I’m not sure how much hands-on work I’ll be doing. I will probably spend most of my time running errands for her, pulling samples, ordering things, and helping move furniture and artwork.”

“At first, but you’re so talented. I have no doubt that you’ll be one of their most requested designers in no time.”

I chuckle softly. I love her confidence in me, even if it does make me nauseous. “Fingers crossed!”

Tyler returns with a big duffel bag that looks like it could fit a body. “This is all I could find,” he says.

“Thank you.” She takes it from him, then eyes the overflowing suitcase in front of her. “But I think you were right. The more clothes we take, the more laundry I’ll end up doing.”

Smiling, she hands it back to him. Charlotte flails her arms around in my lap, making a sound that’s awfully close to a giggle as she watches her parents.

“We will do. I told you, I can help more this summer. Laundry included.”

He leans down and kisses her. Instead of the quick, chaste kiss I was expecting, he lingers, taking her mouth in a way that has me looking away and covering Charlotte’s eyes. And this is another reason why I’m not going on vacation with them. I think it’s sweet that they’re still so in love, but watching my brother constantly make out with his wife is not the summer of my dreams.

“Ev,” Ty says my name, alerting me that they’ve finally stopped kissing.

I glance over at him. “Hmmm?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to fly out one weekend? Fourth of July maybe?”

It’s at least the third time he’s asked in the past week.

“I’m not sure if you’re worried I can’t function on my own or if you’re just going to miss me so much you’re panicking.”

An easy smile spreads across his face. “Both, I think.”

“I’ll be fine. And I already promised Grace that I’d do something with her for the Fourth.”

All my friends are graduating and moving away or starting jobs this summer. Maybe it should make me more eager to do the same, but instead it makes me want to appreciate a few more weeks of the lax life even more.

Sweet Charlotte starts crying in my arms. I swear the sound breaks my heart every time.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, bouncing her gently in my lap.

“It’s time for her nap.” Tyler comes over and steals her from me, but not before I take one more whiff of her lavender and baby powder scent. This summer will be the longest I’ve gone without seeing her. “Then we can grab lunch or something if you want.”

“It’s okay,” I say, standing. “I need to go to Ash and Bridget’s house to bring in their mail, stop by Declan and Jade’s to water the plants, and then Leo and Scarlett’s house to double-check they turned off all the lights.”

Ty grins. “Is that all?”

“For today.”

“All right.” After he places Charlotte down in her crib, he moves toward me with his arms outstretched. I let him wrap me up in his embrace like I’m still his baby sister and he’s the only person in the world that can keep me safe. No matter how old I get, he still fills me with the same sense of security. “If you change your mind or decide you miss me too much, just say the word and I’ll have you on the next flight out.”

“Go. Enjoy your vacation. Don’t worry about me or your house. I’ll take good care of it. Especially the pool. And I promise not to throw any parties with more than fifty to a hundred people.”

“No parties.” He laughs like I’m joking, then his expression goes serious. “And no boys.”

Piper and I both roll our eyes at him.

After I leave my brother’s house, I head to Ash and Bridget’s place. It feels beyond weird pulling into the abandoned driveway. He and several of the other guys live in the same neighborhood, but with all of them gone it’s eerily quiet.

I check the mail and then as I’m letting myself in, I get a call from Bridget.

“Are you watching me on your door cam?” I ask.

“No,” she says the word slowly. “Are you at the house?”

“I just walked in.” I set the pile of envelopes on the kitchen counter. “Your junk mail is safe and sound.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” she says with a small laugh. “But that’s not why I called.”

“What’s up?” I ask, noting the hint of concern in her voice.

“Have you seen any of the guys?”

“I just left Ty’s place.”

“Anyone else?”

She’s acting strange, but I go with it.

“Before he left on vacation yesterday, Leo stopped by to give me the key to his mailbox.

”

A beat of silence hangs between us as I turn and lean against the counter.

“What about Jack?”

“No.” I walk toward the living room window that looks out toward the hockey team captain’s house. All I can make out from here is his driveway. A red van is parked behind his SUV. “Why would I see him?”

“I got a call from a nurse friend of mine. She does scheduling for the home aide service he’s using and she wanted to see if I was available for a difficult client.”

I snort. “Nobody is less surprised than me to learn he’s not sunshine and rainbows after his surgery.”

A twinge of sympathy fills me as I think about him laid up. His car accident a month ago brought a devastating end to the season for him and the team.

“That’s not all. I texted Scarlett and she said none of the guys have seen him since the surgery and he’s barely responding to texts or calls.”

I’m not really that shocked. Jack is great at being there for other people, but he tends to shut everyone out when he’s dealing with things or in a bad mood—which is often.

“What are you going to do?” I ask because I know she’s trying to figure out how to help him. When Bridget sees someone hurting, she’s incapable of standing by.

“Nothing. I offered to stay and help before we left, but he wouldn’t hear it. He didn’t want to ruin my and Ash’s vacation plans.”

“Sounds like Jack.”

“I should have stuck around a little longer. At least until he was back on his feet.”

I hear the regret in her voice, but she’s being too hard on herself.

“You offered and he said no. We both know that when he makes up his mind, there’s no changing it.

”

“Yeah,” she says, but her tone tells me she still isn’t sure she did the right thing. Bridget has a good heart. She’s much nicer than me, which is probably why we’re friends. Every nice girl needs a mean friend. It’s just facts.

“Maybe I should come home.”

“Don’t do that,” I say. She would do it because she’s just that caring, but it isn’t her fault that Jack is being difficult. “There has to be someone else that can take care of him who also won’t let him be a big jerk just because he’s in pain.”

“I think most of the nurses are afraid of him. The others probably want to sleep with him.”

He does seem to have that sort of effect on people.

“Do you want me to go check on him?” I offer because I know it’s what she’d do if our roles were reversed, then silently pray she says no. Jack and I butt heads on the best of days.

“Would you?” Her tone is tentative like she isn’t sure that’s a good idea, but she doesn’t have a better one.

That makes two of us.

Dammit. I did not have deal with Jack on my to-do list today or I would have started the day with some yoga or Zen music. I let out a quiet, resolved breath. “Yeah, of course. I’ll stop by, tell him to stop being a pain in the ass, and you can keep enjoying your vacation. Are you and Ash having fun?”

I hear her fiancé’s muffled voice on the other end, something that sounds a lot like kissing, and then her giggle.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I say. “I’ll text you after I see Jack.”

“Thank you, Ev,” she says, then adds, “Be nice.”

“I’ll make no such promise.”