The Brightest Sunset

“Right,” she whispered but made no move to get out of the car.

With two fingers, I brushed her long hair off her neck. “Charlotte, my parents are good people. They have two sons. They know what you’ve been through. They aren’t going to judge you for the way things have gone down recently.”

“I know… I just feel like the enemy in their eyes.”

Travis knocked on her window. “Charlotte, let’s go! I’m going to teach you how to fish.” He grinned and lifted his blue-and-white tackle box.

Keeping my voice low so Travis couldn’t hear me, I told her, “You aren’t the enemy in my eyes or in his eyes, and the minute my family sees that, they will become the only eyes that matter.”

She sucked in a deep breath and blew it out with practiced control. “Okay. You’re right.”

“Mmm,” I purred. “Stop trying to seduce me with sexy words like that and let’s meet my parents.”

She laughed, and it curled over my skin like the sweetest touch. I’d never get enough of that from her.

Shoving her door open, she stepped out of the car. Travis immediately took her hand and started dragging her around the side of the house. After scooping Hannah off her feet and planting her on my hip, I caught up with them and threw my arm around her shoulders.

Together, the four of us walked around the house.

We hadn’t made the final curve before the smell of steaks and the sound of Mom and Tanner laughing filled the air in the most amazing combination.

It was home and happiness all wrapped up in one.

Since Tanner had bought that house, we’d had a lot of these cookouts. He always cooked. My mom took care of Hannah. My dad fished with Travis. And I would numbly watch them all while I tried to force the overwhelming hate and anger from my heart.

My life over the last three years had been survived in various degrees of hell.

But not that day. Not with Charlotte at my side. My kids. Her son.

No. There was nothing hellish about that day.

It was pretty damn perfect.

As we made our way toward the stone patio, Tanner saw us first.

“Holy. Shit,” he said behind a giant stainless-steel commercial grill that had cost him a small fortune.

“What?” Mom chirped from the picnic table as she stirred what I prayed was her bacon ranch pasta salad. Her head slowly lifted to my brother, but her eyes found mine on the way up. She started to smile, but her gaze slipped to Charlotte and then down to Travis.

“Oh, thank you, God,” she cried, slapping her hands over her mouth, tears instantly hitting her eyes.

Charlotte’s arm tensed around me, but I held her tight and whispered, “Relax. She always reacts like this when she sees me.”

Charlotte suddenly came to an abrupt stop. “I don’t know about this, Porter.”

“It’s fine. I swear.”

My mom screamed for my dad as she and Tanner abandoned the food and raced toward us.

She went straight for Travis, bending low to pull him in for a hug. “Wow, I’ve been missing you.”

Tanner extended a hand my way. I clasped it, and he pulled me in for a quick back pat and whispered, “Do I even want to know how you pulled this off?”

I chuckled. “Probably not.”

As he stepped away, he took Hannah from my arms and tickled her stomach. “What’s up with you, sweet girl?”

“Nothing,” she said casually, as though it hadn’t been the most chaotic two weeks of her life. “Where are my floaties? I’m ready to swim.”

“Awesome. Good chat.” Tanner laughed and put her on her feet. “Nana bought you a brand-new set for this year. Go look on the kitchen table. And tell Grandpa to turn the TV off and come outside.”

I smiled, watching her trot away in a pink-and-purple-striped bathing suit complete with a white tutu.

When I glanced back at my brother, he was staring at Charlotte, his smile smug.

I pulled her deeper into my side. “You remember Charlotte, right?”

He nodded. “I sure do.”

“Sloth,” she greeted.

His eyebrows shot up. “We’re still on that?”

“The truth doesn’t expire,” she retorted.

He chuckled and looked at his feet while shaking his head. “Well, your obviously impaired vision aside, I’m glad you’re here.”

She swallowed hard and then looked up at me. Her brown eyes were filled with concern, but she whispered, “I’m glad I’m here too.”

“Come on, Nana. Stop.” Travis laughed, wiggling in her embrace.

She reluctantly released him. “Excuse me. I haven’t seen you in two weeks. I do believe I’m due for more than one hug.”

“You got, like, a million, so…” he grumbled.

“A million and one never hurt anyone,” she argued, smiling.

“Mom?” I called.

Her head snapped up, but her focus didn’t come to me. It went to the woman in my arms.

“Hi there,” my mom whispered.

“Hi,” Charlotte replied, equally as quiet.

“Charlotte, this is my mom, Lynn Reese. Mom, this is my girlfriend, Charlotte Mills.”

“Dad!” Travis scolded. “You know she hates it when you call her your girlfriend.”

I lifted a finger in the air and corrected, “No. She hates it when I refer to myself as her boyfriend. She adores it when I call her my girlfriend.”

“Actually,” Charlotte started.

“Nope! I reject your complaints today. This is a celebration in my honor.”

She rolled her eyes and then looked to my mother. “I’m sorry. I’m relatively new to this parenting thing, but if you happen to have any advice on how we can prevent Travis from turning out as goofy as Porter, I’d be open to hearing more about that.”

My mother was an amazing woman. The kind who passed Popsicles out to the neighborhood kids on hot summer days. She volunteered with elderly patients at various nursing homes across the city. And, every year, she prepared hundreds of hygiene kits for the local homeless shelter. When Catherine died, she’d stepped up in a huge way to help me. She’d put her whole life on hold for my kids. She took Travis to doctors’ appointments when I had to work and taught Hannah how to spell her name by the time she was two. She was warm and thoughtful. Generous and kind.

All of which explains why I was so taken aback by the icy chill in her tone when she snipped at Charlotte.

“We? How we can prevent Travis from being as goofy as my son?”

“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.” I released Charlotte and stepped forward. “Let’s bring the attitude down a notch. Yeah?”

Her gaze never came to mine. Instead, it narrowed on Charlotte. “Answer me.”

Charlotte’s face paled. “I…uh… It was a joke. I didn’t mean to imply that Porter isn’t a great man. Sometimes my humor…is a little…”

My mom opened her mouth, but I got there first.

“Hey, Travis? Why don’t you go help Uncle Tanner cook.”

“Yeah… Let’s, uh…do that,” Tanner replied, staring at my mom like she had grown a third head.

Travis glanced back and forth between his grandmother and his mother. “Um…okay.”

As soon as he was out of earshot, I fisted a hand on my hip and glared at my mother. “Don’t do that again. I don’t care what kind of issue you have. You don’t lay them out in front of him. He’s been through enough without adding your stress on top of it.”

My mom’s eyes finally flicked to mine, and she nodded sheepishly. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

I blew out a ragged breath, and my shoulders sagged. “Christ. Can we please drop the drama for one damn day?”

“Fine. But I need to know if she was serious about the we part?”

Charlotte shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean.”

“I’m asking if you’re going to let us be a part of his life. Or if this is just a visit. I deserve to know. I have no idea what is going on right now…” Her voice broke as her anger slipped. “But I need to know how to prepare myself for when today ends.”