Chapter Nine

Denise

When my phone rang early this morning, I had no idea who it could be. But I wasn’t surprised when I heard Karrie, and she was going on and on about an idea she had for the Max Horton Foundation.

“I expect you to get your skinny little ass to my house,” she says, “for Sunday lunch/dinner.”

I groan, turning over in the bed, the shades not letting a single sliver of light inside. When I moved, the first thing I did was put blackout shades on my windows. With my shifts at the hospital fluctuating, I had to make sure I could sleep when I had to. “Can’t you just pretend I’m there and make the decisions for me?” I ask her.

The Max Horton Foundation was my baby; it was a foundation that Max started the year after Allison became the public relations for the Stingers. A year later, she held their first charity auction fundraiser for it. Max was the CEO of the foundation, but all decisions were really left up to Allison and me.

“Max and Aly are also coming, and I want to get all the notes down for when we sit down with Olivier.”

“It’s my day off,” I tell her, turning again and getting out of the bed to go over to the coffeemaker. “Where is Vivienne? She stood me up last night.”

“She’s upstairs in the spare room. She got here last night and was going over the pros and cons of being single.”

“Oh, dear,” I say, laughing.

“You have no idea. Her pen ran out of ink.” She laughs. “I wish I was kidding.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll get dressed and come over,” I tell her, hanging up and then making myself coffee. I grab a cup and go back into my bedroom. Setting it on the bedside table, I grab my iPad and the remote to open the shades. I open the email from the drug company rep, Melissa.

To: Dr. Denise Horton

From: Melissa Bradley

Subject: Clinical Trial

Denise,

I’ve gone over the chart you sent me, and I have to agree that he would be a perfect candidate. I will be in your area on Wednesday. Would you be available to do lunch?

Let me know.

Melissa Bradley

I respond to her right away.

To: Melissa Bradley

From: Dr. Denise Horton

Subject: Clinical Trial

Wednesday is great. Let me know when and where, and I’ll be there.

I grab my phone and text Steve right away.

Looks like Melissa will be giving us the go-ahead for the new drug. I am meeting with her on Wednesday.

He answers right away because I know he’s at the hospital this weekend.

That sounds great. We should see if maybe we can get Evie in that also.

I was thinking that exact thing.

I answer him and get out of bed to take a shower, tying my hair up in a bun and getting under the water spray. I smile the whole time, grabbing my jeans and shirt and calling myself an Uber once I’m ready. Lucky for me, one is two minutes away. I scroll my Facebook and Instagram on my ride to Long Island.

I ring the doorbell, and I have to laugh when Vivi answers it wearing jeans and shirt and black sunglasses.

“Is this a new trend I don’t know about?” I laugh at her as she steps away from the door, giving me a chance to walk in.

“Va te faire foutre.” Go fuck yourself, she says. “Fucking white wine is never the answer,” she says, and I shrug off my jacket.

“You don’t say?” I ask her, then she looks at me. “You know you say that every single time.” I put my hands on my hips. “The day after.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” she says, and we walk into the house, a large central staircase greeting us. The white banister sits on light wooden stairs with carpet in the middle of the staircase. We walk past the formal living room, going straight into the kitchen, which is almost the whole back of the house. It opens to a huge family room with the biggest couch I’ve ever seen. The white cabinets line the square kitchen. The big white island in the middle. Two huge stainless-steel fridges take up half a wall. “Auntie Denise is here!” I hear Matthew yell from the family room.

The kids are as much my nieces and nephews as Max and Allison’s kids are. Cooper, little Vivi, named after Karrie’s best friend, and Franny all run into the kitchen toward me. I open my arms and take them into me, kissing them each on the head. “Cooper, you are growing like a weed,” I tell him. At almost ten, he is almost five feet tall.

“Isn’t he?” Matthew says, coming in and grabbing him around the neck to kiss his head. “He’s going to be a monster,” he says, and then he walks to the fridge, grabbing an apple. “If only he could stop eating me out of house and home,” Matthew says, and I know he’s joking. There is one thing that the Grants love, and that is their family.

It wasn’t always like this, especially at the beginning with Matthew and Max and that whole fake rape charge. But they put it aside once Max eloped with Allison, Matthew’s sister, and they had no choice. Allison didn’t give them a choice.

“What’s wrong with you?” Matthew finally sees Vivienne with her sunglasses.

“Your wife let me finish four bottles of wine,” she says, sitting on one of the stools at the counter. “I told her two was our max, but you think she listened?” She tries to take the shades off, but the sun coming into the room is just too much for her. “Where is that shrew?”

Matthew laughs. “She is on her way back. She went to pick up the food.” Vivienne groans when Matthew mentions food, and she lays her head on the island.

“You should take three Advil with a nice greasy burger,” I tell her, and she groans again. She doesn’t have time to do anything else when the front door opens, and Max and Allison arrive with Michael and Alex. Allison walks in, followed by Max holding Alex in his arms. “Hi, baby girl,” I tell her when he comes over to me and bends to kiss my cheek. She grunts and clings to his shirt with her chubby little fist. “Ugh, she loves you so much, it’s annoying,” I tell him, and he just squeezes her closer to his chest.

“Don’t talk to my princess like that,” he says, and then she looks up at him, smiling. “Isn’t that right, princess? You love your daddy, don’t you?”

“Give it a year,” Matthew says, draining a Gatorade by the fridge. “She’ll smarten up. She’s a Grant, after all.”

“Horton.” Max doesn’t even bother looking at him. “Is your uncle Matthew getting cuckoo in his old age?” he asks her, and she just watches him while Matthew sticks his middle finger up at him.

I laugh at them, getting off the stool and going to the family room to grab Michael and give him a kiss. “Too cool for your aunt?” I ask him while he squirms out of my arms to go play with his cousins.

I walk to the front door to grab my cell out of my jacket when the doorbell rings. I flip open the lock and seeing who it is brings a big smile to my face. I smile so big when I see Jack and Zack that my cheeks hurt. “If it isn’t my favorite man,” I say, bending and grabbing Jack into my arms. I kiss his cheek while he hugs my neck, his hand going to the nape of my neck as he twirls my hair in his fingers. I then look up and smile at Zack, his blue eyes almost crystal today in the sun. His smile making his eyes squint. “And my favorite man’s dad,” I say with a smile, moving out of the way so he can walk in.

“Jack, take off your jacket, honey,” I tell him, and he unzips his jacket and moves his shoulders up and down till it falls off him, and then he rips his hat off his head. “Michael is here,” I whisper at him, and he smiles at me and runs into the house, calling Michael’s name. He looks over at his dad.

“I can go, right?” He smiles and takes off even before Zack has a chance to answer.

“Sure, you can,” Zack tells him, reaching his hand out for me to hand him his jacket and hat. When we hear a big, loud celebration, we know right away he found them. “He’s never done that before,” he says, taking off his jacket. “Never been at home enough in someone else’s house that he took off his hat.”

“Well”—I smile at him—“I’m glad we make him comfortable enough.”

“I didn’t know you would be here, or I would have offered you a ride,” he says to me. The front door opens, and Allison walks in carrying two trays. “Let me help.” With that, Zack throws his jacket on the floor as he reaches for the two trays.

“Thank you,” Karrie says, huffing out, “you can just bring those into the kitchen please and tell Matthew to put them in the oven.” He just nods and walks away. I bend down, picking up his jacket, and then open the closet to hang them up. “Was I interrupting something?” she asks, looking at me, and I just shake my head.

“He’s my patient’s father,” I point out to her, making a list in my head of why I can’t like him or cross that line.

“But he isn’t your patient,” she says, hanging up her own jacket while Vivienne comes into the entrance with her phone in her hand.

“Merde,” Shit, she says, “what was his name again?”

“Who?” we both ask her, and she finally puts her glasses on the top of her head.

“The blue-eyed man whose face I want buried between my legs.”

“Zack?” I ask her, and a bubbling feeling creeps into me. A weird feeling, almost as if it’s a burning pit in my stomach.

“Morrow,” Karrie answers, and I watch as her hands go crazy on her phone.

“What are you doing?” I ask her, and she looks up, her eyes narrow.

“I’m going on that site,” she says, and I look at Karrie as Allison walks into the entryway.

“Is this a meeting?” she says, smiling at me.

“I’m going on that site,” Vivienne says, looking over at Allison. “What was the site you went to check out Max’s penis?”

“What?” I shriek. “There is a website that has my brother’s penis on it?”

“No.” Allison laughs and just shakes her head.

“The one that tells you if you should have sex with him or not,” Vivienne continues while Karrie laughs silently, holding her stomach.

“What the fuck is going on?” I ask the three of them.

“There is this website that the puck bunnies use to rate the guys in bed,” Allison starts.

“It’s a stupid site, and you shouldn’t go on there,” Karrie says to Vivienne.

“How do you spell his last name again?” she asks, and I rip the phone from her hand and the laughing stops. “Oh, la la.” I hear her whisper.

“You will not go on any site to check out his member. Or how he has sex or anything like that,” I say, whispering. “He has a son.”

“Well, how do you think he got that son?” she asks, smirking and folding her arms over her chest.

“You cannot toy with him,” I tell her, and Allison comes to my side as Karrie goes to Vivienne.

“And why not?” Vivienne asks. “We are two consenting adults.”

“Because I’m asking you not to,” I say, and I have no idea why I’m doing this or asking it, but the thought of him with Vivienne makes me want to barf. It also makes me want to strangle her French skinny little ass.

“D’accord,” Fine, she says, “but mon amie, you should ask yourself why.” She smiles at me. “Maybe you want him?”

“Game, set, match,” Karrie says, following Vivienne out of the entrance.

I look at Allison, who just stands there. “It’s not like that.”

“You don’t have to explain anything,” she tells me, “to no one.”

“It’s just she’s Vivienne and her vagina has special powers,” I tell her. “Remember Ryder?”

“I do,” she tells me, “but I also know that it wouldn’t bother you one bit if she chose anyone else on the team. Am I right?”

I don’t bother to answer her, and she just smiles and walks out of the room. I stand here for a second, trying to make sense of this when I see blue eyes approaching. “Hey,” he says, looking around. “Did you hang up our jackets?” he asks, looking at the floor.

“Yeah,” I say. He puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. It should be an innocent touch, but my stomach flips a little, and my neck starts to get hot.

“Thank you,” he says, and I just nod, turning to walk into the house and to the kitchen where everyone is talking. I look in the back and see that Zack settles at the table between the kitchen and the family room where he can keep an eye on Jack, who is playing Legos with Michael and Cooper.

The conversation flows from hockey, to the weather, to the Kardashians. We sit at the huge dining room table, the families all sitting together, and Jack sits between me and Zack. After the kids finish their meals, everyone gets up and helps clear the table. It feels really good, and we laugh at all the stories that Max and Matthew tell.

“Okay,” I say when Vivienne brings in the cake and sets it on the table. “What’s this big thing you want to do for the foundation?” I ask, looking around the table. Karrie and Matthew sit next to each other while Max and Allison sit down with Alex on Max’s lap. Vivienne sits next to me while I sit next to Zack.

“So hear me out,” Karrie starts, then looks at Allison, “what do you think about doing a casino night?” I look at Max and Matthew, who just look at each other. “And the players will be the dealers for the night.”

“Oh, I can be the cabaret girl,” Vivienne says, and we all look at her. “You know, the one who walks around with the tray of cigarettes wearing a little Playboy bunny outfit.”

“It’s illegal to smoke inside,” Karrie says.

“Then I can hand out condoms,” she says. “Play wise and safe. That should be our motto.” Matthew and Max both moan while the girls laugh at her.

“Okay, that isn’t going to happen,” Matthew says, and Max agrees.

“But I love the idea of casino night,” I say. “We can have some of the big benefactors help also.”

“I think everyone is going to want to help. It’s a great foundation, and it’s growing rapidly,” Allison says, and I see Max reach over and bring her closer to him with his arm, kissing her temple.

Alex whines when she sees this, and Allison looks down at her. “I had him first,” she says, smiling at her daughter and then leaning down and kissing her.

“Well, I’m happy we all agree because we already locked down a date and sent out the invitations, and we already have almost everyone confirmed,” Karrie says, looking at Matthew. “It’s in three weeks. I’m sending out an email to all the players tomorrow.”

“Well, count me in,” Zack says, and I look over while Jack and Michael come running into the room. Michael climbs onto Allison’s lap while Jack uses my lap to push up and sit with his dad, reaching out and grabbing a water bottle. “You having fun?” Zack leans in and whispers.

Jack just nods his head while he drinks water, his chest heaving. When he puts down the water bottle, he uses his sleeve to wipe the remaining water from his mouth. “We played Legos, and we made it so tall, but it fell over,” he says, laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world. His laughter is contagious, his eyes bright. It makes my heart squeeze, and I can’t hold myself back when I lean over and kiss his cheek, wearing a smile.