The Coast is Clear (Breakaway Shores #1)

Izzy

Storm

I was rehearsing the speech in my head. I’d start by saying how lucky I felt to have met him, how instant our connection was, and then tell him that I wanted him to stay here with us. The summer was winding down. I knew that the rest of it was going to fly by. I’d chickened out every time there was a chance for us to talk. We ended up having sex, which was wonderful and incredible, but part of me wondered if it was getting in the way of us figuring out what our next steps could be.

There was a knock at the door, and I glanced behind me to Zander. Luke had been busy all day, showing houses down in Harbor City. He had a frosting-covered knife in his hand but handed it off to Christian, “I’ll get it.”

I nodded and turned back to the mixer. Kingston stuck his finger inside, grabbing a smear of blue frosting. “Yummy,” he said before sticking his finger inside his mouth.

I rolled my eyes and added two more drops of food coloring before starting the mixer back up again. I’d forgotten about the door until I heard the shrill tone of my mother’s voice saying, “My babies!”

My entire body tensed, and I turned around. Zander was standing beside her with his eyes wide. She dropped her suitcase on the ground and came over to me, her hands outstretched. I wanted to swat them away, but I let her wrap me up in a hug. She kissed my cheek, “It’s good to see you. Although I had to find out about your move from your brother.”

I was speechless. I hadn’t told her about the party. If Luke had known she was coming and hadn’t told me, I was going to be even more pissed than I was at that moment. She gave each boy a kiss, and they smiled, saying hello, but didn’t seem too excited to see her. I’d hear about that later. It would be my fault and not the fact that she hardly ever came around.

My mother turned to Zander next, “And who are you?”

“That’s Zander. He’s Mommy’s best friend,” Christian said while fully concentrating on decorating Kingston’s cupcakes, and it made my heart swell.

Zander’s eyes were on Christian, and everything about him had softened. He cleared his throat and held out a hand to my mother, “Nice to meet you…” and he drifted off. I’d never told him her name.We really didn’t talk about her often. Part of me felt guilty for that, and the other part of me shoved that aside.

She shook his hand, “Patricia. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard nothing about you.” The annoyed tone of her voice made my head hurt.

“Where are you staying, Mom?”

She turned around. Her hair was cut shorter than I’d last seen it hanging around her chin. It was dark brown, and her dedication to hiding her gray hair was still strong. She wore a straight blue dress with some tights underneath. “I was going to see your brother next, but I figured I could stay with one of you guys. It would be nice to be here with you and the boys.”

It definitely wouldn’t be nice. But I wanted my kids to have some time with her, even if I struggled with her. She was okay for a short period of time. “You can sleep in Christian’s room, and they can share for a couple of nights.”

“Perfect. Could you change the sheets for me first?” Patricia asked as she sat by the fireplace.

Zander put his hand on my back, and the pressure held me steady. “I’ll do the sheets,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

I watched him walk to the stairs, pleading with my eyes for him to rescue me. He winked, and I immediately missed his presence. I walked back into the kitchen and started to scoop the green frosting into a bag. Kingston moved his stool over to the cupcakes and watched me as I made grass frosting on each remaining cupcake. He had the tiny sports balls in his hand and placed a football on the first cupcake. “What’s all this for?” Patricia asked.

“Kingston’s birthday is tomorrow!” Christian half yelled, licking his frosting spatula.

The cupcakes were perfect. Green and white frosting with little balls stuck into the top. “Babes, the cupcakes look great. Are you all done?” Luke said they were overkill, but after he’d purchased the creature cake, Kingston became obsessed with having a sports cake. We compromised and made two dozen cupcakes instead. It was going to be a sugar overload.

Christian nodded. “Can I watch a show before bed?”

I glanced at the time; it was seven-thirty. “Sure,” I told him, trying to ignore my mother as I went back to the cupcakes.

Kingston had placed a soccer ball and a basketball on the two other frosted cupcakes. “Are you guys having a party? Did you forget my invite?”

“Just a little get-together with Luke and some of the friends we’ve made here. Nothing big.” I tried to keep my voice even.

I heard her scoff. “Who’s the boy toy? You finally got over Jack?”

My heart practically stopped, and I turned, my face on fire. “Are you serious right now?” I put the frosting down and put my hand on Kingston’s head. “Wait for me, okay?” He didn’t look at me but nodded, lining up the little cupcake toppers.

I turned and walked into the living room. Patricia followed me, “What did I say now?” she asked, her tone annoyed.

“You do not get to talk about Jack like that. You don’t get to make any comments about me.” I turned around, anger boiling inside my chest, “You do not get to make comments about my life and what I’ve gone through because you have no idea what it’s like. My husband died, which is not something you just one day wake up and get over. It will always be with me, and you will not speak about the father of my children like that, especially with them in the same room.”

She narrowed her eyes at me and let out a heavy breath. “You need to grow up, . Not everything is about you.” Red flooded my vision. I wanted to yell and scream at her, but instead, I walked slowly toward the front door.

I opened it and held out a hand, “You should go and stay at Luke’s. Call him and see when he’ll be home.”

“Stop being so dramatic. So I said something you didn’t like. You need to thicken up that skin. You’ve always been sensitive.” Patricia crossed her arms over her chest.

“Mother, please—”

Zander stood at the top of the stairs, his face hardened into a glare. He had likely heard everything she’d said and was hopefully realizing that I had under sold how difficult she could be. “I cannot have you here tonight. You can come to Kingston’s party tomorrow if you’ll behave.”

She threw her hands up in the air, “Whatever. Should have known better.” Patricia grabbed her suitcase, dragged it behind her, and threw a glance at Zander, “You’ve picked a special one. Hope you know that. We’ll see how long you last.”

“She is very special,” Zander said, his voice deeper than normal. He stood beside me, throwing an arm over my shoulder. “Which is saying something if this is how you’ve treated her throughout her life.” Patricia’s face went beet red, and she stomped out the door. Zander pushed it closed and then wrapped me up in a hug. “Well, she sucks.”

I laughed, the release making my body relax, even just a little bit. I held him close to me, savoring the feeling of being protected in his arms. “She really does. I feel like she’s only gotten worse since Jack died.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, “Did I really hear her call me a boy toy?”

“Yeah, yeah, you did.”

We separated just enough to meet eyes, and he smiled, his features soft and relaxed now. “Let’s get the birthday party prep finished, and then we can reset the rest of the night with a little movie. That sound okay?”

I nodded, pressing up on the tips of my toes to kiss him. I loved kissing him. I loved how protective he had been at that moment. “Yes, let’s. Will you help Kingston with the cupcakes really quick while I call Luke? Should probably let him know about the storm headed his way.”

Zander kissed me again in answer and went into the kitchen. “Birthday boy, let’s finish this up,” he said, his voice changed from how serious it had been before.

I turned away, watching him frost my son’s birthday cupcakes while Christian sat at the table with my iPad, watching a show. Zander fit in right here, with us. My heart swelled like it was growing to make room for him because I would always love Jack, but I was pretty sure I loved Zander, too.

I don’t know why I’d agreed to this. Luke had told me it would be a good idea to get her off my back. He had a way of making things sound easy, like they wouldn’t even faze me. That’s how I ended up agreeing to have breakfast with my mother before Kingston’s party. We’d scheduled the party for after his nap to give him enough rest to hopefully not be cranky. Zander leaned over, putting his arm behind my back on the chair, and something about it felt so possessive to me. Everyone around us in the jam-packed restaurant would know that I was with him. I didn’t hate it. Not one bit. “Remember, I’m your buffer.”

Yes, we’d agreed on that. He was to be my buffer, to distract my mother if needed. I didn’t know if he knew what he was signing up for, but I was not going to turn down any help. Patricia sat across from us, Christian next to her and Luke on the other side. He tapped his spoon on the table, which rattled the rest of his silverware. Kingston was on my right, and Zander was on my left. But it meant I had to look right at her.

“I think I’m gonna play football. It starts in a couple of weeks. Right, Mom?” Christian asked me, and I nodded.

“Yup. I got you signed up yesterday.” I was so excited to see him running around like crazy, trying to grab other people’s flags. It was exactly the kind of thing he loved. Zander had laid next to me while I signed him up, talking about his practices, and how he’d watch the coaches and would help out. He was talking like he’d stay here, and I didn’t want to ruin the moment. I didn’t want to ruin the moment by talking about how I didn’t want him to go.

I chickened out again.

“They have sports in a little rinky dinky town like this?” Patricia said with an eye roll, and I had to bite my tongue.

Luke chuckled and nudged her shoulder with his. “This is not a rinky dinky town, Mom. You should see the price tags on the homes I sell. This is a destination. People are chomping at the bit to live here and to own property here.”

“Spoken like a real estate agent,” Zander joked.

“So why are you selling your house then, Zander?” Patricia asked him, her eyes narrowed on him.

Zander leaned in closer to me, his fingers running softly over my upper arm. “I own a handful of different properties, and sometimes it makes sense to sell them.” She opened her mouth to ask another question, but he cut her off. “Where do you live again?”

“Right now, I’m in Texas. I like warm weather. Did you not tell him anything about me?” She turned her attention to me.

Luke laughed, but it was a couple of octaves too high. “You’re flying back in a couple days, right? I’ll have to take you on that whale-watching tour while you’re here.”

She narrowed her gaze on my brother and nodded. “Yes, I would like that.” Patricia took a sip of her water and then cleared her throat. “You’re moving into his house? Like together? How long have you even known each other?”

I wanted to list out the array of boyfriends that she had and moved in with after being together for a month or two. “We met at the beginning of the summer. And no, we aren’t moving in together.”

“Why doesn’t Zander move in with us? We see him every day,” Christian said so nonchalantly that it made my heart feel kind of strangled. He was coloring on the paper menu that the waitress had given him.

Luke chuckled. “You’d like the house, Mom. What’s your favorite part of your new house, Kings?”

He tapped a crayon against his lip. “The backyard!” Kingston was happy today, blissfully unaware of the familial tension around him.

“Will I get to see this house while I’m here?” Patricia asked, annoyance dripping off each word.

“The party is there,” I said simply.

Zander’s fingers moved slowly, carefully across the top of my shoulder. The touch helped center me, and I placed my hand on his thigh. I didn’t know why I still let her bother me.

Her opinion didn’t matter, but she was still my mother. She wasn’t supposed to be like this. Luke began asking her a question, and Christian looked up at me and Zander. “Is he going to move in, Mom?”

I peeked over my shoulder at Zander and raised my eyebrows. “It sounds like Christian wants to share a room with you.”

Zander chuckled, and Christian huffed. “No, Mom. He’d live in your room. Like Dad used to.” A pang of sharp emotion rang through my heart. It wasn’t quite guilt or sadness alone. It was something all jumbled up.

“Your mom and I will talk about it, okay?” Zander said softly, with a firm squeeze on my shoulder.

Moving in at the end of the summer felt like we would be rushing it. But I loved the idea of waking up next to him each morning. Watching food shows with him late at night after long days together. I leaned into him and whispered, “Later?”

His dark eyes met mine, and he nodded.

Later, it was. I wasn’t going to chicken out this time.