Hearts Ablaze (Hearts On Fire Series) (12 page)

CHAPTER 17

AUBREY

The party is going perfect. Noah’s parents are fitting in wonderfully with everybody, my dad is feeling good enough to mingle, and Mom hasn’t stopped smiling and laughing. It’s a nice break from the cloud hanging over all of us. Noah and Grayson are both wasted, Grayson more so than Noah. It was pretty funny to watch them trying to dance like Luke Bryan, but unfortunately, they both missed horribly. I head to the deck and grab a bottle of white wine, pouring myself a glass. Catching Kenni’s attention, I hold the bottle up to her. She nods and heads my way, holding out her wine glass with a smile on her face.

“The party is going great, huh? Your mom looks so happy.”

I take a sip of wine and look over at my mom. She has her head thrown back, laughing at something my brother’s saying. She has a glass of red wine in one hand, her camera in the other. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s taken hundreds of pictures, but I know she wants to have plenty of memories from tonight.

“Yeah, she really is. It’s nice.” I smile watching them, wishing I could freeze time. I don’t want to go back to reality. We continue to stand there listening to the music, just taking it all in, when the music cuts off. I look over to see my dad quieting everybody down so he can talk. He’s pulled my iPod off the dock and is scrolling through it. He puts it back in and turns to look around the yard.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to take a minute to express my gratitude to you all. Thank you so much for being here tonight and giving my family a night they won’t forget. Thank you for the continued support as we continue to deal with the situation we are facing. And thank you to my beautiful wife of almost thirty years for putting this together. I love you.” Dad lifts his bottle of beer, smiling at my mom. She has tears shining in her eyes as she raises her glass.

“Now, for something special. Where is my lovely daughter? Aubrey? Baby girl, come over here for a minute.”

With a look of surprise, I hand my glass of wine to Kenni and head down off the deck. I pass Noah, who looks at me with a smile, clearly not knowing what is going on. My dad is standing on the dance floor with his hand outstretched to me. He nods to Landon and then pulls me into his arms, placing one hand on my waist and holding my hand in his against his chest. “Dance Baby Dance” by Chris Cagle starts playing, and I can immediately feel tears burning my eyes. I close my eyes and lean my head on his shoulder, swaying with him. I don’t risk opening my eyes to look around, because I know I won’t be able to hold the tears in.

“I love you, daddy,” I whisper, hoping he can hear me.

“I love you too, sweetheart. You’ll always be my girl.”

There’s no use trying to hold them in anymore. I have tears pouring down my face as hold onto him as tightly as I can. It doesn’t take long before the song ends and I’m pulling away. I quickly wipe the tears and give my dad a quick hug, then back off the dance floor and head inside; I need just a minute to break down and compose myself. Rushing past Kenni, not wanting to stop until I’m inside and get some privacy, I race upstairs and into my old bedroom. Not bothering to shut the door, I go into my walk-in closet, pulling the light cord. I lean against the wall and hang my head, the sob breaking free from my chest before I can stop it. Sliding down the wall, I only stop once my butt hits the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest. I wrap my arms around my legs and bury my face, letting go of everything.

I should have known Noah would follow me, so a few minutes later when I feel someone kneel in front of me I know it’s him. He reaches down and pulls me onto his lap, holding me tightly. I bury my face in the crook of his neck and just cry.

“It’s gonna be okay, baby. I’m here.”

I can feel his arms pull me closer as he whispers his reassurances to me. I take comfort in his warmth, breathing in the familiarity of him. He holds on until I start to calm down and my tears stop. I pull back to wipe my cheeks, knowing I probably have raccoon eyes and look a mess.

He brushes a few stray tears away and kisses me, holding my forehead to his. “You all right now?”

I nod. “Yeah, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting him to do that.” I stand up and brush my dress off, straightening it.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. It was really beautiful. Landon grabbed your mom’s camera and recorded it. He thought you’d like that.”

I can feel new tears burning, but I blink them away.

“Yeah. That was nice of him.” He stands up and pulls me out of the closet by the hand. “I’ll be down in a second, Noah. I just need to fix my makeup.”

“You look beautiful.” He gives me a soft kiss then heads back outside.

Going into the bathroom, I wipe all the makeup off my face then reapply my mascara and lipstick. I run my brush through my hair again and head back out to the party. People are dancing again, and I can see a few sympathetic smiles, but I brush it off and head over to where my mom and brother are standing. Landon throws an arm around my shoulder.

“You okay, Aubs? You ran out of here pretty quick.”

I can feel him kiss the top of my head when I rest my head on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Just needed a couple minutes to myself. Noah checked on me.”

“That guy is completely gone over you, I hope you know that.” Landon squeezes me once and then excuses himself to get a drink.

I look over at my mom, who has a huge smile across her face. “What?”

Mom takes a sip of her wine and shakes her head.

“Nothing. I like Noah a lot. He’s really good for you. He’s been a big help with your father, and he is a wonderful young man. I couldn’t have picked a better man for you. I’m just really happy for you, Aubrey.” She kisses me on the cheek and walks away, stopping to talk to one of her neighbors.

Taking a sip of wine, I realize she’s right. Since the day I met Noah almost three months ago, he has been nothing short of amazing. He has always put me first, even when we weren’t together. He
is
a good man.

Damn, I’m one lucky girl.

***

Mom and Dad’s final Fourth of July party was a huge success. It went on until after one in the morning. Dad ended up leaving and going up to bed around eleven, but he had a huge smile on his face the whole time. Kenni and I headed up to my bedroom after the party to crash. Noah and Grayson were both passed out in the den, sleeping like the dead.

I woke up about twenty minutes ago. Seeing it’s almost ten in the morning, I walk downstairs to make a pot of coffee, knowing we’re all going to need it. I pull out the serving tray and load it up with six mugs and the container of creamer. Adding the sugar bowl and spoon, I carry it all into the dining room. The coffee has just started to pour out, so I busy myself with finding ingredients to make pancakes. I look in the fridge and see my mom has a couple packages of bacon, so I grab those as well. I pull out my mom’s huge metal griddle and place it on the stove, turning it on to heat as I finish mixing the pancake batter. The coffee is done, so I quickly snag a cup of it before I place it on the dining table. I grab another large skillet and set it on the other side of the stove for the bacon. Plugging my iPod into the docking station, I turn on the newest Keith Urban album. As I make all the bacon crispy and a huge platter of fluffy pancakes, I dance around, drinking my coffee.

Kenni comes in just after the first couple songs. “Morning, girl. Where’s the coffee? I can smell it!”

“Dining room. Hey, would you mind going and waking everybody up? This is gonna be done any minute now.” I place the last couple strips of bacon on a plate and pour the rest of the pancake batter on the griddle.

She comes out of the dining room with a mug in her hand, heading into the living room to wake the guys up. A few minutes later, they come walking in, looking like death warmed up. Landon and my mom follow closely behind.

“Good morning, honey. You didn’t have to do all of this.” Mom gives me a quick hug and then kisses my head.

“I know, Mom, but I wanted to. Is Dad still sleeping?”

“Yeah, he is. He ended up getting a headache in the middle of the night, but the pain meds should have worked. He just needs to get some rest.” Everyone heads into the dining room while I finish the food. I grab the other serving platter and add the butter, syrup, and then the plates and silverware. When I grab for the platter, Grayson takes it out of my hands.

“I got this. Thanks for breakfast, Aubrey.” He carries the tray to the other room and I’m left alone in the kitchen with Noah. I grab the roll of paper towels and walk over to him.

“How’d you sleep?” I ask, reaching out to touch his jaw. He looks beat, but his eyes are happy and I know he’s in a good mood.

“I slept good, thanks. That couch was comfier than I thought. Gray snored like a fucking freight train all night though. How about you? Are you doing okay?”

I know he’s referring to my emotional state after last night, but the truth is I’m okay.

“I’m fine. Honestly. I’m not even sure that the tears I shed last night were sad tears. I was just really overwhelmed. Dad knows how much I love that song. It was always our song, and it was just so good to see him happy and dancing. He was only diagnosed a few months ago, but it’s been so vicious that he hasn’t been himself. Last night, he didn’t have to be the sick guy. He was just able to be Mike Stevens and it was amazing for him.” I shrug, not really sure what else to say.

Noah steps over to me and pulls me in for a quick hug.

“He looked good last night. And that dance was incredible to witness. I’m glad you guys were able to share that moment.” He grabs the paper towels from me and heads into the other room to join everybody. I walk in and sit down between him and Landon. Most of the food is already gone, and Grayson and Landon are arguing about who gets the last piece of bacon when I reach down and take it. I quickly bite the end and give them a huge grin.

“Sorry, boys. You snooze you lose.”

Kenni and Mom start laughing. Then I pull the cover off a plate nobody noticed, revealing another whole plate of cooked bacon.

“Aubrey! Thank you! If you weren’t already dating that idiot over there, I’d have to steal you for myself.” Grayson reaches over and grabs several pieces.

“Yeah, you wish, Gray.” I throw a wadded-up napkin at him and laugh. When I hand Landon the plate of bacon, he eagerly takes a couple more pieces.

Breakfast is a great affair, with lots of laughing and teasing. Dad comes down about hallway through, sitting down next to Mom.

“Morning guys. Hope everyone slept well.” He helps himself to a cup of coffee and Mom goes into the kitchen to make him some toast. When he’s had a headache the night before, he usually has trouble keeping food down. It sucks knowing that, when he would normally be putting Grayson and Landon to shame. But he seems happy this morning, so I choose not to dwell on the negative. My father is alive and happy, and that’s a good way to start the day.

***

Later that day, we all pack up our stuff up and head home. Kenni and I go back to our place to shower and change, since we’re going mini-golfing and then getting pizza with Noah and Grayson tonight. I quickly rush through my shower and throw my hair up in a bun, then change into a pair of cotton shorts and a T-shirt and go out into our living area.

Kenni and I have to go into the school in just two weeks to switch around our classrooms, which I’m not looking forward to, but then we have another two weeks before school starts. I grab my Mac and decide to look up some new classroom decorations. Pulling up my favorite site, I’m excited to see they have a bunch of new inventory. I love being a teacher, and I’m really excited for another awesome year.

Kenni comes out a few minutes later, towel-drying her long hair. Once she’s satisfied, she runs a brush through the long stands and braids it.

“Ordering more supplies? I bought a crap-ton of stuff last week. Should be here this week. I can’t believe it’s almost time already.”

“Yeah, I want to be able to use the extra space I’m going to have. I was thinking about getting a few more easels. I definitely need more sheets of paper, and I want to restock the art supplies.” I start adding stuff to my cart and when I’m finally done, I realize it’s almost time for the guys to pick us up. And I just spent a couple hundred dollars.
Oh well, I’ll just throw it on my credit card; that’s what I have it for, after all.

I head into my bedroom and pull out a pair of jean shorts and a paisley print top, throwing on a pair of sandals to complete the outfit. My tan has deepened so I’m going makeup free, since I don’t really wear a lot of it anyway. I spritz on my favorite perfume and head back into the living room. I grab my laptop and plug it in, then settle on the couch to wait.

Kenni comes out wearing a white tee and jean shorts with a pair of backless white Keds. “Grayson just texted, saying they’re here.”

I grab my purse and we head down to see them standing outside Noah’s truck. Noah is wearing my favorite jeans and a dark brown short-sleeve Henley with his white Pumas. Grayson has on his usual cargo shorts and T-shirt, this one with the Braves logo on it. They both have baseball hats, but Noah has his backwards. We walk over to them and Noah immediately leans down for a kiss. He smells amazing.