Page 64 of Cloud Nine Love

“I will, I promise. I just wanted to wait until after the wedding, the mini-moon, and Harper’s birthday.”

“And then you’ll tell her?”

“Yes,” she promised.

I stood and hugged her, and she melted against me. I’d spent so long away from home; it was so good to finally be back. The fact that home now included a woman I was in love with who had told her cousin I was the best sex she’d ever had, was just icing on the cake.

28

TAYLOR

“The first documented sighting of a mermaid was made by Christopher Columbus.” ~ Tim Rhodes

“Wow, they are incredible!” I marveled at the mermaids swimming in the community center pool as Ruby and I stood on the side. “You did such an amazing job!”

“Thanks.” Ruby smiled. “I was happy to do it.”

Ruby had planned the party while I was overseas after finding out that Harper was obsessed with mermaids. The thought of having a pool party for my little girl had never even crossed my mind since her birthday was at the end of October. But Ruby had not only thought of it; she had executed it to perfection. It was just one of the reasons I was so happy that she was in Harper’s life.

Ruby was everything I wasn’t. She was a singer, dancer, and actress who had been on Broadway. She was creative, talented, nurturing, and thought completely outside the box.

She was the opposite of me. I loved boxes. I needed boxes. Everything in my life was in a box that I could file away and compartmentalize. I was glad that Harper would have both of us in her life as she grew up and navigated this world.

“How was the mini-moon?” I asked, changing the subject. She and Kane had gotten home last night, and I hadn’t had a chance to catch up with either of them yet.

The wide smile that spread across her face told me that she was being transported back to Cancún.

She sighed wistfully. “Amazing!”

As weird as people might think it was that I was asking my best friend/child’s father’s new bride how her honeymoon was, and genuinely hoping it was the best, most sex-filled getaway ever, it was even stranger that all I could think was, I had sex with your brother.

For some reason, my hooking up with Remi seemed worse to me. The first time didn’t really count because I hadn’t known it was him. But last week…last week I knew exactly who he was, and I jumped his bones anyway.

I hadn’t seen Remi since he snuck out of my house six days ago. The only people I had seen this past week were Kenna and Harper. I’d been working twelve, sometimes sixteen-hour days. For most people, that might seem like a lot. But it didn’t feel like that to me. The fact that I got to see my baby girl every single day, even if it was only for an hour or two, was something I would never take for granted.

Something I realized I had taken for granted was SRSs, Surprise Remi Sightings. All week, I’d kept expecting Remi to show up at the hospital or on my front or back porch. He hadn’t. Every day, I’d had to actively fight the urge to text him. I’d written and deleted over a dozen messages. Some asked how his mom was doing. Some asked how he was doing. Some just said I missed him. Those were the scariest of all.

I was trying to plot an inconspicuous way to work Remi into the conversation with Ruby to see if she’d heard anything from her brother when the door to the pool opened, and the man himself walked in with their mom.

Due to my crazy hours, I hadn’t been around town much and had no idea if he was still here. Now I had my answer. He was. Every cell in my body responded to his appearance like a teenager at a fifties Elvis concert. They were swooning, screaming, and crying.

Ruby noticed her brother’s arrival as well. “I’m gonna go say hi to Remi and my mom.”

She headed across the room, and I watched as Remi’s face lit up when he saw his baby sister. There were so many things I loved about that man, but the way he was with his mom and Ruby was definitely at the top of the list.

“I didn’t know Remi was still in town.”

Kane’s voice startled me, and I jumped an inch or two off the ground. When I turned to face him, he looked at me like I’d grown an extra head.

“You okay?” His brow furrowed, and his expression appeared disturbed by my display.

“Yeah, you just…startled me.”

“Do you know why Remi’s still in town?” he asked.

Yes. Yes, I did. Or at least, I had a pretty good idea. I’d heard from Kenna that Celeste hadn’t been back to work at the Spoon, so I had a feeling Remi had been holding her hostage to rest.

I shrugged and turned my attention back to the pool. I might have blurred the lines by telling Remi what his mom’s condition was, but there was no way I was going to tell Kane.

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