11
Grady pulledup to his sister-in-law’s house as a football flew past his windshield. He glanced to the side and saw that his nephew Connor was running toward his truck. As he stepped out Connor reached down and grabbed the football that was bouncing beside his back tire.
“Good arm, Con-man.”
“Hey Uncle G!”
Connor ran back to his friends who were on the front lawn and continued to toss the ball around as Grady walked up to the house.
“It’s open,” Connor called out when Grady lifted his arm to knock.
He stepped inside and almost tripped over his two youngest nieces Kimber who was about to turn five and Cassidy who was six running through the entryway. Kimber was dressed as a ninja bride and Cassidy was a ballerina zombie.
“Hey girls!”
“Hi Uncle G!” the duo chorused as they continued flying past him.
When he made his way to the back of the house he found his eldest niece, who happened to be the first baby he’d ever held, sitting on the couch typing on her phone. Fiona was fourteen and he couldn’t believe how fast the time had flown by since he’d cradled her in his arms. She’d been so tiny, so fragile. He remembered being terrified that he was going to drop her. Now, she was a young lady. Every day she looked more and more like her mom, who was a beauty in her own right.
For the life of Grady, he would never understand how his brother could take this beautiful family he had for granted. He’d always thought his brother was an arrogant prick, but this level of asshole was un-fucking-fathomable.
He ruffled his niece’s hair. “Hey, Fi-fi-fo-fum!”
Without looking up from her device she lifted her arm with her hand in a fist to give him a pound. “What up G-money?”
“How’s life?” he asked.
“Fine,” she responded, still without making eye contact.
“Any boyfriend I should know about?”
Fiona set her phone down and lifted her gaze to meet his. “Any girlfriends I should? I heard you were seen at Ms. Lopez’s porch and all she was wearing was a towel.”
How in the world had word spread to his fourteen-year-old niece? “What is wrong with this town?”
“Do you want an alphabetical list?” she replied flatly.
He knew that his niece was bored in the small community, but he was glad his nieces and nephew were growing up in it. When he had kids, if he had kids, this was exactly the sort of community he wanted them raised in.
“I’m comin’ by to pick up one of your dad’s suits.”
“I know, you have a hot date with Mom’s friend.”
Grady thought about the kiss he’d shared with Liv last night. If she was up for another one, the date was going to be very hot. Not that he’d tell his niece that.
“Your mom around?”
“She’s upstairs.”
Fiona went back to her phone. He wondered how many hours she spent on that thing a day. Every time he’d seen her since he’d moved here, she had it attached to her.
He took the stairs two at a time and when he made it up to the top, he heard what he thought sounded like crying. His first instinct was to make sure that Chrissy was okay, but as he lifted his hand to knock on her bedroom door that was slightly ajar he stopped himself.
What if she didn’t want to be interrupted?
He had a pair of slacks and a button down he could wear to the wedding. He didn’t need his brother’s clothes. He considered turning around but he just couldn’t bring himself to. He wouldn’t bother her, but he needed to make sure that she was okay.
His knuckles rapped lightly on the door and it swung open.