Page 37 of Falling Again
“Okay, buddy.” Natalie scooped him up and dashed to the bathroom where Otis happily sat on his training potty. As soon as he was done, Natalie picked him back up and took him to his room. Hoping it would be a quick tuck in, Natalie sighed when Madeline joined them in the hallway.
“What’s going on?” she asked, rubbing sleep from her eyes. It was barely eleven o’clock, and Natalie knew the kids needed to get back to bed before they got too animated.
“Nothing, Maddie. Otis needed the potty.” Madeline followed the pair into Otis’s room and watched as Natalie tucked him back in and kissed his forehead. “Good night, Otis. I love you.” He wiggled and giggled as Natalie gave him another slew of kisses on his cheeks. He mumbled his own farewell as he fell right back to sleep. That was one kid done.
Natalie reached out and took Madeline’s hand and whispered, “Let’s get you back in bed. Come on.” She took her daughter to her room and helped her climb into bed. “Love you, Maddie.” Peppering her daughter with kisses, she turned off the light and went to her own bedroom.
Anthony was already in bed, a quiet wheeze escaping his open mouth. “Guess we’re all tired,” she said to herself as she pulled back the covers and joined her husband. Instead of staying on her side of the bed, she reached out for him and draped an arm over his side. Anthony twitched and leaned back into her embrace, their bodies snapping together like puzzle pieces. Natalie fell asleep with the cedar scent of Anthony’s cologne tickling her nose. Tonight was a good night.
*
The morning arrivedfar too early when Natalie was awoken by the screeching of her cell phone. Fumbling around in the early light, Natalie palmed her nightstand until she found the infernal device. The screen showed a slew of texts, both from her friends and the Snyders.
Have a great time! Don’t worry about work. XOcame from Ginny.
CeCe followed their friend’s lead and adding,Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Have fun, you deserve a break.
The texts from the Snyders were a lot less uplifting. A text from Alice askedCan I please stay at your house with the kids? Staying with my parents might be the death of me.
A few minutes after that text arrived, Natalie’s mother-in-law askedWould it be okay if Alice stayed at your house while you’re gone? It would probably be less disruptive to the children.
Her father-in-law remained silent on the matter, and Natalie turned to ask Anthony. When she leaned over, she saw he was still asleep. His eyelashes were splayed across his cheek, and Natalie wondered, not for the first time, why men had such naturally lush lashes. His mouth was partly open, emitting a tiny snore that twisted her heart.
Anthony always presented a perfect version of himself to Buckeye Falls, and sometimes that mindset followed him home. There would be times she caught him checking his reflection or wearing his oxford shirts long after the workday was complete. He played the part of mayor so well; it was ingrained in the family history. The Snyders had had a hand in Buckeye Falls politics since the town was founded. Those were big shoes to fill, and Anthony always made sure those shoes were polished and sparkling.
Before Natalie could continue her analysis of her husband’s sleeping form, the doorbell rang and startled her back to reality. Glancing at the time on her cell phone, she saw it was barely seven o’clock. They weren’t due to the ferry to South Bass Island for over five hours.
The doorbell rang again, this time waking up Anthony and causing Natalie to frown. The ringing was about to wake up the kids, and she couldn’t have that. “I’ll check on it,” she told Anthony as she tossed on her old terrycloth bathrobe. The thing was approximately four-hundred-years-old and would fall apart if she washed it in the machine. It was her first gift from Anthony, and she was too sentimental to discard it, even after all these years.
Natalie cinched the belt of her robe and looked through the peep hole. A mop top of brunette hair greeted her, and Natalie had to stifle a sigh. “Alice,” she greeted. “What are you doing here so early?”
Alice breezed past Natalie. “I would have let myself in, but Mom and Dad took away my keys to your house. I guess they’re trying to teach me a lesson.” Alice walked right into the kitchen and started making coffee. At least that action could be considered helpful.
“What’s going on?” Natalie asked, studying the other woman. Alice wasn’t normally this jumpy, and not for the first time Natalie wondered what was really behind Alice’s visit.
Alice rolled her eyes, making her look younger than her thirty years. “My dad thinks I’m a child who can’t dress herself, and my mom sits around sipping chardonnay hoping I’ll magically become the perfect daughter.” Pouring water in the coffee maker’s reservoir, Alice turned it on and rested against the counter, her legs crossed at the ankles. “Frankly they just want me to turn into Anthony Jr., and I’m not here for it.”
Natalie was familiar with Alice’s arguments with her parents, and she didn’t have much to add from the last time they talked. “Alice, I’m sure they don’t want to change you. They’re just worried about you finding work.” Alice opened her mouth to argue, but Natalie shook her head. “And don’t say they want you to be like Anthony. Could you imagine if there were two of him on this planet?”
Alice snorted. “It would be unholy chaos.” Both women laughed, and Natalie watched the younger woman deflate, the fight slowly leaving her body. “Can I please stay here with the kids this week? You know my mom will be over the whole time, and I know what I’m doing. The kids love me. It could be fun.”
Fun wasn’t the word Natalie would have used, but she also hated to see her suffer. “Let me check with Anthony, but that should be fine.” Natalie went to the cabinets and retrieved three coffee mugs.
“What will be fine?” Anthony asked as he entered the kitchen. Turning to his sister, he added, “And how did you get in the house?”
“I whittled a skeleton key out of a tree branch,” Alice scoffed. “I rang the doorbell like a freaking stranger. Thanks for telling Mom to take my key.”
Anthony scraped a hand down his face, which he hadn’t shaved yet. Natalie could practically hear the sound of the coarse bristles. Despite the sibling bickering and uninvited seven o’clock house guest, Natalie wanted to reach out and touch Anthony’s cheek. She needed to feel the heat of him under her fingers. She was desperate for his touch.
Needing a reprieve from her racing—and sultry—thoughts, Natalie went to the fridge in search of coffee creamer. Sticking her head inside, she gulped in a lungful of recirculated air. While she was hiding her gawking, Natalie decided to retrieve everything needed for breakfast. There was no point in pretending Alice wasn’t expecting a free meal.
“Scrambled eggs and bacon okay with everyone?” she asked, stepping between the siblings with an armful of food.
Anthony took some of the items from her grasp, careful to put them down without dropping the eggs. “You don’t need to make us breakfast, Nat. We can grab Starbucks on the way out of town.”
Natalie didn’t mind the thought of sugary coffee and a pastry, but she also didn’t trust Alice not to feed the children coffee grounds and Pop-Tarts. “It’s no trouble. This way Alice can get a lay of the land on what the kids like to eat in the mornings.”
Anthony shrugged and dropped the issue, instead turning around to interrogate his sister again. “So, what is this about you staying here while we’re gone? I feel like I need to start rattling off a list of things you can’t do.”
