Lacey
Seeing my brother smiling and laughing on the sofa with Hennie was kinda awesome. They were adorable. It was finally the end of summer, so she was leaving very soon for school, and it would be months before they saw each other. I actually felt bad for them. Almost as bad as I felt for myself. Jordan would be leaving for school this week too. And as much as I hated the fact that I was smitten with someone in such a short amount of time, I was going to miss him like crazy. But at least we had Scruff to keep his mother and me both busy. He was a mutt from the pound. A perfect mutt. He looked a little crazy with his weird mix of Australian shepherd and labradoodle, but he was so cute and funny. He couldn’t catch anything to save his life. I’d tried all week at training him but ended up with nothing but footage of me throwing snacks at him while he gave me a confused expression.
“I told you that you would have to get on board.” Marcia nudged me, glancing at my brother and his official girlfriend.
“I know,” I grumbled, like I didn’t love it or them.
“I totally shipped them from the start.” She sighed and leaned back, rubbing her belly.
“You did not.” I leaned back too and also rubbed my belly. “I am so full.”
“Dinner with your family is always the best. Grandma can cook.”
“Grandma can cook.” I winced. “I don’t know how we’ll make it back to your place without needing to stop and get sick along the way.”
“I totally might just so I can squeeze in more dessert.” She said it like it was a normal thing to do.
I laughed and gave her the look, the what-the-fuck look.
“I was joking.” She lowered her voice even more. “You think they do it?”
“What? Who?” I followed her gaze to my brother. “Ewwwww. No,” I groaned. “I don’t want to think about that. Dude.” I closed my eyes and forced images of Scruff.
“Oh my God.” She lowered her voice even more. “Your grandma is walking toward me with pie.”
“I saved a summer-berry pie for your father.” Grandma came into the kitchen, holding it up. “Do you need a bag to carry it?” she asked Marcia.
“Bag?”
“Yeah, she does, Grandma. I’ll get it.” I struggled to get up with my pants undone from all the food stuffed in my stomach. “We shoulda worn leggings for dinner.”
“I’m going upstairs and stealing a pair of yours right now.” Marcia got up and left.
Mom and Dad laughed. They were home, at the same time. Laughing and relaxed. They didn’t fight about money, not since we fixed everything.
Mom was only working her four on and taking all her four off every week now.
Dad wasn’t taking any extra clients or trips. It was the most I’d ever seen them together, and they seemed to really be appreciating their time.
All in all, it was better. Money might not have saved everyone and made every problem go away. But our family was lucky enough to have problems that money could solve.
Money and surgery.
The Test Dummy sale took care of their bills and mortgage. It took care of Martin’s school fund, which he didn’t end up needing thanks to a full ride to MIT. He told me the money was for a house when he and Hennie got settled wherever they were going to live.
I told him he better be coming back to New York and to stop thinking about marrying girls he just met.
Martin, sporting hardly even a scar now, got up off the couch and strolled over, stretching and hitting me in the head.
Grandma smiled more, and she gave Marcia something resembling kindness. Marcia’s part-time job as an event planner while finishing her degree helped with Grandma warming to her, though Marcia never noticed.
I kicked my brother in the butt.
“I’m going to Marcia’s.” I gave Mom a kiss and Dad a hug. I grabbed the bag for the pie and kissed Grandma.
“Okay, sweetie. Be good. And don’t stay up late. You girls need sleep. Last week you were cranky from not enough sleep, and school is staring in a couple of days.”
“No, Mom, it wasn’t sleep deprivation, she had her period. Trust me. It was terrible. I got up to pee in the night, and she hadn’t flushed properly—”
“Martin!” I hit him in the arm. “Shut up!”
“You love me and you know it.” He flashed me that grin, the one I thought was an adorable baby-brother evil grin and that he probably gave Hennie when he wanted something. The thought made me shudder.
“Night!” I waved at everyone and flipped off Martin.
“Lacey!” Mom shouted as I hugged Hennie.
“See you tomorrow for shopping, right?” I pulled back, inspecting her face for truths.
“Fine.” She scowled. “I hate shopping.”
“It’s going to be fun. Stop. You need clothes for the new semester.” I grabbed the pie and put it in the bag and walked to the front door. “Let’s go!” I shouted up at Marcia as she came down the stairs wearing my leggings.
“I’m coming. God.” She hurried into the kitchen and got love and hugs from everyone. Martin got extra from her.
“I know which sister loves me more.”
I rolled my eyes at him as she came back.
We put our shoes on and hurried out the door, cradling our bellies as we walked down the street.
“Can we call a car, please?”
“No.” I gave her some side-eye. It wasn’t as good as hers, but it was getting better with more practice. “You can’t possibly be scared.”
“I’m not scared.” She tried to sound convincing. “I still hate the subway.”
“Well, you really need to learn to suck it up.” I walked faster for the crosswalk. A limo pulled up as I got there.
“Damn!” Marcia jumped back. “How does he do that?”
“He maps me.” I sighed happily as Jordan opened the door, smiling wide. Marcia grinned, seeing Monty in the back of the car as she climbed in.
“Hi.” Jordan gave me a kiss.
“Hi.” I kissed him back and climbed in.
“What are you wearing?” Monty looked at Marcia.
“Look, don’t fat shame me. I couldn’t do my pants up. I had two helpings of dinner and pie. Look.” She lifted the sweater she’d stolen from me and showed him the red line on her stomach. “It was obscene.”
“Always is.” I lifted my shirt and flashed my own red line and the fact that I’d undone my dress pants.
“Oh, wow.” Jordan rubbed my stomach. “This is intense.”
“It hurts a little.”
“Maybe some hot tub?” Marcia asked.
“Yes,” I agreed.
When we got over the bridge and into the city, traffic wasn’t bad.
We made it to her house in half an hour.
“Faster than the subway,” she remarked.
“It’s Friday and only six at night. Any self-respecting New Yorker wouldn’t be caught dead out for at least another four hours.”
“Hmm-hmm.” Marcia laughed and got out of the car, clicking in her heels, sweater, and leggings to the front door. West wasn’t there; he got weekends off. But the doorman smiled and let us in.
When we got to the elevator, Jordan reached down and delicately slipped my fingers into his. We held hands into the penthouse, where we were greeted by Marcia’s mom and dad.
“How’s it going?” I hugged both and handed her dad the pie. “From Grandma.”
“Oh, come on.” He opened the bag and grinned like a little boy would. “You have to tell her thank you.”
“I will.”
“Who’s excited for school to start?” He lifted the stern dad eyebrow.
“I am. I think it’s going to be a great final year for us both.” I pointed at Jordan.
Jordan gave me a twinkly-eyed grin. “How’s the Test Dummy doing?” Jordan asked Mr. La Croix, provoking me.
“We’re selling it, didn’t Lacey tell you?”
“She didn’t.” Jordan gave me a scowl.
“The deal wasn’t finalized. I didn’t want to jinx it,” I said, defending myself. Or talk about it.
“You’re so superstitious. You shoulda seen her, she practically spat on the contract for luck.” Marcia’s dad chuckled. “No, we’re getting it ready to sell in the next couple weeks, actually.” He glanced at me, beaming with pride. “Your first idea is going to make the company your first nine-figure sale.” He patted me on the back. “Congratulations, Lacey.”
“You did it.” I tried to be humble, but I felt the pride a little bit. I was still a little sore over the whole thing and grateful as hell it had sold. He was right, I did almost spit on the contract for luck.
“No. We did it. And we will be doing it a lot more. I know it.” Mr. La Croix hugged me again, gripping his pie almost as tightly.
“Hot tub before I cramp up,” Marcia demanded, and stomped to her bedroom.
I laughed. “Best to not keep her waiting.”
“Lord, no.” Her mom rolled her eyes.
We hurried into bathing suits. I tried not to feel like a whale as I pulled on my bikini and my stomach wouldn’t suck in.
“Oh, God.” Marcia patted her slightly extended belly.
“One big poop and it’s gone.” I repeated what Grandma always said while laughing her face off at me.
“That’s disgusting.” Marcia wrinkled her nose, giggling away. She went down to the guest room, no doubt to assault Monty while he changed, so I headed out into the night alone.
The hot tub was stunning—not just the sheer size of it, but the view of Manhattan and Brooklyn was breathtaking.
I shivered as the hot water burned and soothed.
I leaned over the railing, gazing at the city lights, and sighed.
If it weren’t for Grandma, Marcia, and her family, I would be one of those twinkling lights. Working while going to school and making it happen. One day I would have found a way to be here, overlooking the city from the upper decks, but it would have been a longer journey.
It still amazed me how incredible my life was, and all because of a couple of things working out a certain way.
Life was funny.
I stared out at those twinkling lights and contemplated just how surreal this moment was. And how lucky I was. Especially now that the Test Dummy was selling and I wouldn’t have to think about it at the office when I went back.
That, I was grateful for.
“Oh, shit!” Jordan interrupted my silent reverie as he winced and climbed in. “Burns the cold feet.”
He swam up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, kissing the side of my face. “Beautiful view. Same one I was looking at the night we met.”
“No, that was from the harbor.” I glanced back.
“Lacey.” He laughed. “I was never looking at the city, just you.” He spun me around to sit on his lap.
“You mean, you were looking even though I had sneaked up from the lower decks?”
“There were no decks. There was you and me. I didn’t see anything else.” He leaned in, pressing his lips against mine.
I closed my eyes and kissed him, imagining us floating there among all those bright lights, like we belonged, maybe. It took me longer to arrive at every emotion than it did him, but after a couple of months, I could say I was falling in love with him.
With him I didn’t feel like Cinderella, as he always joked.
I felt like a queen, not a princess.
With him everything was possible.
He pulled back, his eyes shining with delight. “I have something to tell you.”
My stomach tightened, which was not comfortable with all that food in there.
“I’m not going back to college at all this year, and I’m quitting the family business permanently.”
“What?” I gasped.
“I’m going to take a break from school and I’m going to figure it out from there.”
“Holy shit!” My eyes widened and I hugged him tight. “Holy shit!”
“I know. I don’t know what I want to do, so I’m going to spend the year working in random jobs and see if I can’t find myself. And also hang out with you. I packed my bags for Boston, and everything in me said not to.”
“This is huge. And crazy.” I sat back, completely confused and surprised. “But I’m kinda relieved. You never seemed very passionate about numbers.”
“No. I’m not.” He smiled, looking more content than I’d ever seen him. “I gave my notice to my grandpa, explaining that I needed some time and space to figure out what I really want.”
“Did you get disowned again?” His dad had invited Jordan and Stephen to his therapy sessions to make up, which seemed like a reasonable thing to do, but it still had me worried. Cause no matter what he said about hating his dad, the broken heart from his father’s anger was there.
“No.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Grandpa asked if I wanted to own a literary house or magazine or shipyard or sailing fleet. Whatever I wanted. I told him we needed to wait and see. He’s so crazy.”
“Not to mention his idea of a magazine is probably Hustler.”
“Probably. Hard pass.” He wrapped himself around me and kissed the side of my face as we both stared out at the city. “Anyway, I don’t think I want any of that, especially not just handed over to me. I want what you have, where you start brainstorming and thinking and this sparkle hits your eyes and I can watch the creation happen inside of you. Like an apple hitting you in the head. You’re so strong and sure and remarkable, and maybe I just needed to see you in action to know what I was missing.”
“Maybe.” I smiled, acknowledging I did exactly that. I hoped he would find that spark for himself.
While there were no guarantees in life, Jordan was betting on me.
And maybe for the first time, I was betting on us both.
We had something, even if I was frightened by that.
I stared out at the twinkly lights, and I wondered where he would be if he hadn’t met me, which light he would have been.
As the La Croix family had helped me change my stars, I’d helped change Jordan’s.
Maybe he was right; maybe it was all fate all along.
If it was, I’d need to send her a thank-you.
Maybe I could deliver it on a Post-it note.
I snuggled into him more, closing my eyes, and for the first time in my life, I contemplated where we were going. My future had always had success in it—I didn’t need a guy for that—but having one along for the ride, especially one like Jordan, felt right. Lucky for me, no more tests were needed to prove just how right.