Of course I want to go to Sea Escape.
I can’t think of anything I want to do more. I’d never turn down a chance to see those two kids smile.
In gratitude, Mara allows me to hold her favorite doll. She says I’m allowed to keep it for the rest of the day but I will have to give it back tomorrow.
That sounds like a fair deal to me.
After a noisy, chaotic meal, we stop at the bakery on Mill. They have far more bunny cookies in stock now that Easter is just around the corner.
Later, Gretch gets the girls to bed while I sit on the couch, searching random crap on my phone and thinking about a certain soon-to-be-naked redhead. Gretchen is the first woman I’ve ever been with whose sexual appetite is a challenge to meet.
Won’t hear me complaining.
“Trent.” She says my name from the top of the stairs. I swear she grows more beautiful every hour.
I nod to her. “What’s up?”
“The girls want to know if you’ll come up for a minute to say goodnight to them. They both asked.”
“Sure.” I’m on my feet instantly. There’s probably no greater compliment than having your presence requested by two four-year-olds.
They’re both already tucked into their own beds in their separate rooms. Mara is drowsily yawning and asks me to hand her a stuffed dog that’s fallen to the floor.
She snatches the thing in her little arms and rolls over. “Good night, Trentcassini.”
Caitlin is more awake and asks if I’ll take her to the park tomorrow.
I’m perched on the edge of her bed while Gretchen watches from the doorway. “If it’s okay with your aunt.”
“It’s okay with their aunt,” Gretchen says.
Caitlin smiles. “Don’t forget my night light.”
Gretchen plugs in a small lamp that projects stars and constellations onto the ceiling.
We leave the girls to their dreams and go downstairs. Sometimes the twins take a little while to settle down. One will want a glass of water. The other one will have to go to the bathroom. And on and on.
No big deal. It’s early and there’s plenty of night remaining.
Gretchen snuggles into my lap while I flip around on the television and wait for the chance to take her to bed. It’s occurred to me more than once that my mother would have loved seeing me like this. With Gretchen. And with the girls. The version of me that attends princess tea time on demand and willingly dines at Sea Escape is the one she would have been the most happy with.
I believe it’s the version of myself I’m happiest with too.
Gretchen becomes frisky, reaching under my shirt and getting me in the mood to rip off her clothes, which doesn’t require much persuasion. She runs upstairs to check on the twins one last time to make sure they’re asleep before returning with the verdict.
“All clear, Trentcassini.” She peels off her shirt and sashays in the direction of the bedroom. Her bra comes off a second later.
I throw the remote to the sofa and chase her down.
We’ve barely got the bedroom door closed before she climbs on the bed, now gloriously naked, and taunts me with her ass in the air. I take her like that from behind. And when I’m finished, I push my face between her legs and take her that way too. Once we’re temporarily exhausted we get under the covers and press our sweaty bodies together.
“This was the best day.” She kisses my shoulder and yawns. “Days with you always are.”
I’m content to savor that observation for a few minutes but Gretchen’s mood changes and she sighs.
I tug on a section of her hair. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. My mind keeps coming back to those bank deposits. I’ve wracked my brain and gone through all of Jules’s papers and I can’t find a reason why she would have been regularly receiving that money.”
“Have you called the number I gave you for the forensic accountant?”
“No.” She burrows closer and lays her cheek on my chest.
“The accountant is a reputable guy,” I assure her. “If it’s possible to find an answer then he’ll find it and I’ve already arranged for any billing to be handled by my company.”
“I know.” Her voice is muffled. “I’m just nervous. You know the twins’ paternity is a huge question mark. I’m afraid these deposits have something to do with him, whoever he is.”
“In that case it would be better to know what you’re dealing with, wouldn’t it?”
“I understand that’s the rational way of looking at it.” She sits up suddenly and though the look on her face is troubled, she’s a goddess. Her hair is slightly tangled, her cheeks flushed and she doesn’t timidly cover her bare skin.
I sit up too and push her hair back from her face. “What is it, baby?”
She lifts haunted green eyes. “I wish Jules had confided in me. It hurts that she didn’t feel like she could. I wouldn’t have judged her. No matter what, I would have been on her side. Why didn’t she know that?”
“Come on, Jules knew you were on her side, Gretch. She left her daughters with you.”
Her expression hardens. “I won’t let anyone take them.”
“That’s not happening.” I pull her to me and stroke her hair. “We would never let that happen.”
I’m not lying. In a heartbeat I’d hand over every cent I have and hire the best lawyers to guarantee that Gretchen keeps the girls. While I’m breathing, no one will take the twins from their home or from the person who loves them the most.
She pulls back and stares at me solemnly. “I love you, Trent. Please don’t think I’m expecting you to say it back. That’s not why I’m-“
Her words get cut off by my mouth. She falls right into the kiss, closing her eyes and answering my tongue with her own. This is my future I’m holding in my arms and I’m taking it.
I’m taking her. She’s mine.
Gretchen cooperates with being pushed to her back and her legs open for me with eagerness.
“I love you too, Gretch.”
This time I make love to her with slow tenderness.
And then I tell her the same thing again.
12
Gretchen
The call comes in moments after I drop the twins off at their preschool.
My phone is clamped into the dashboard mount and one glance at the screen makes my heart race.
It’s possible I’m overreacting. The forensic accountant Trent put me in touch with might not have any earth shattering news to share. Maybe he was unable to find out anything at all.
This, I realize, is my hope.
Since I’ve been unable to discover a rational explanation for those bimonthly bank deposits, I’d rather hear no explanation at all.
I’m afraid of the truth. I’m afraid of my sister’s secrets.
Jules was fantastically loyal, supportive and trustworthy. She could have abandoned me, and Danny too. She was just a kid herself when she assumed the responsibilities of an adult. I would defend her to the death.
But she did keep her secrets, for whatever reason, even after her death. Perhaps I have no right to go digging to find them.
I make a right into a gas station and park in front of the tiny convenience store before pressing the button to answer the call.