Page 51 of Home Wrecker

My sleep schedule is a mess and I’m so freaking tired.

Yesterday evening made up for the afternoon. The kids tracked sand straight to the pool where they soaked up the rest of the daylight hours. We had cocktails on the patio and, when I started deadheading the petals and leaves on the potted plants, Davina and I had a long conversation about plants. Cary prepared our late dinner using the burners on the grill to boil the lobsters in a large stainless steel stockpot. He’d wisely purchased pre-made side salads in the deli case at the market that were divine.

After eating, Laurel and I marched the dishes back up three floors to the kitchen to wash and rinse. She filled me in on the little details about the beach that she couldn’t share in close company, saying the kids were on their best behavior. They’d had a wonderful time with Davina. I told her about the lunch fiasco. My sister hugged me before we rejoined the rest of the family.

Family… Cary thinks of us as part of his, and it wasn’t until he said it aloud that I recognized he’s as important as any of the mill friends I’ve got. Maybe more since we’re attached at the hip.

I’m sure I’ll react the wrong way to something he has to forgive me for at some point.

Today doesn’t count because I hate that our normal life includes me working the graveyard shift and him being this bright-eyed and bushy-tailed businessman.

Don’t get me wrong. I love his bushy tail. The man has an incredible ass. But drinking in the sun, and a late bedtime, followed by not going to sleep since we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves, has me wanting to call him one.

“You’re being a big baby about this,” says Cary, bringing me back to the moment.

“Waa,”I moan, taking a page out of my son’s book.

He laughs at me.

“I swear Holly, it’s a few hours at a National Park. Then you can come back and sleep the day away.” He brushes some hair off of my face.

My eyes are closed and I snuggle into his touch.

“Let’s go before it gets too hot.” Unwilling to let me argue, Cary’s arms go under my body and he heaves me over his shoulder.

I shriek as my boyfriend carries me like a sack of potatoes down the flights of stairs to the driveway.

We’re a few paces from the running SUV. I’m dangling head down and all I see when I open my eyes is the back of his legs and our shadow on the concrete. Cary slows to a stop.

“You awake, Doll?”

I make a garbled sound. Blood is rushing to my ears and I may puke from bouncing around. I haven’t eaten and my cup of coffee is in the SUV to entice me, like dangling a carrot, to get a move on.

“Would you mind if I took my mother to dinner tonight?”

“Uh, no?” The question lit a spark in me.

I’m excited Cary wants to take this step. Yet, I don’t want to seem overeager.

“I’ll make it up to you.” He places me down in the front passenger seat.

“You already have. I’m going to bed early,” I joke.

He kisses my forehead and Emory’s feet go wild against the back of the chair, reminding me we have an audience. Davina is sitting next to her and Laurel’s taken the empty spot in the third row next to Bhodi.

I tuck into my cup of coffee, polishing it off by the time Cary pulls up to the gates at the Wright Brothers’ Memorial. He doesn’t wait to open Emory’s door and has her on his hip, pocketing the key fob and reaching for Bhodi’s hand. Something has him amped and all the rest of us can do is follow along with whatever mission Cary is on today.

We bypass the visitors center, hiking up to the monument first. The National Park has just opened and as the sweat beads on my skin, now I understand what the rush was. The sun is beating down on us and the humidity is rising. Even the ocean breezes don’t seem cooling as we parade up the sloped pathways. But the views once we are up at the top make the trek more than worthwhile.

“You’d swear you could see all the way to Carolla, even though you can’t.” Davina stands next to me, admiring how breathtaking it is.

I sigh in agreement, as Cary’s mom walks away, leaving me to stare out at the Carolina Coast and looking out over Kill Devil Hills. It’s lush and green, making the world seem filled with possibilities and giving a keen awareness to the sense of how big the opportunities out there are.

“It’s like a view from heaven. Do you think this is what Dad and Mom see?” Laurel asks, brushing up against me.

“Every hour of every day,” I reply with certainty.

My gaze follows the flight line markers down the hill. I sling an arm over Laurel’s shoulder and we allow ourselves to feel the weight of emotion, the ethereality of what flying meant growing up, and how grounded it’s made us since because of how close our shared experiences keep us as sisters.

---