“Will you teach me some Pun-chi yoga moves?” Oscar asked, then observed the six-foot-five man-baby beast of a Cress, ready to burst out into tears. “Oh, hi, Sebastian’s dad! Can Sebastian help me? My dad said I could hang out with him while he was working with a student.”
“Can I, Dad? Can I?” Sebastian chimed.
“Yeah, I’ll take care of the fruit. Let’s see those Pun-chi yoga skills,” he added, his voice thick with emotion.
“Louise wants us to put the cut-up fruit in the bowl. She said one of the volunteers will come and get it.” Sebastian tore off his hairnet, dropped it into a trash can, and ran alongside Oscar to the open area.
“That hairnet suits you,” his granny said, sauntering over and taking a seat at the table as Aug and Madelyn joined her.
“I see the arthritis is better, Granny,” he commented, sensing that something was up. This sage trifecta had set their sights on him.
These three were surely in cahoots.
“Yoga and a roll in the hay can do wonders,” his granny Fin dropped like an atom bomb.
“Roll in the, what? Wait, you and Wobbly Bob?” he shrieked, trying not to picture it and…bloody hell! There it was…granny sex. He shook his head, hoping the motion would dislodge the image.
Finola Cress beamed. “It’s Robert, or Robbie when we’re—”
“I get it,” he interrupted, swallowing back bile. “You and Robert are an item.” He stared at the fruit, needing something else to concentrate on. He shifted in his seat and tugged at his hairnet.
Blooming lunch lady hairnet!
No man should have to wear a hairnet while listening to his granny go on about knocking boots with the local donkey rescuer.
“Just don’t let the twins see me in this hair thing. Knowing them, they’ll snap a picture and never let me live it down.”
“Done and done, Raz-a-ma-taz!” Callista cooed as Calliope snapped a shot on her mobile.
He hung his head. His family would be the death of him. Between his heart jumping into his throat, talking about Mere with his son, and Granny’s revelation, his head might explode.
“Auntie Calliope! Auntie Callista!” Sebastian called, waving over his aunts.
“We’ll be back for more hairnet shots,” Callista warned as the twins joined the boys.
He removed his hairnet, staring at the balled-up material. “I understand why you brought me here, Aug.”
“Do you?”
Raz blew out a tight breath.
How could he make them understand?
“I’m training for Mere. And I’m going to win for her. And to beat Silas Scott, I’ve got to be the best. That’s why I had to…”
“Break Libby’s heart?” Granny Fin supplied.
The woman did have a knack for cutting to the chase.
“Yes,” he answered, unable to lie.
“Your problem isn’t skill, Erasmus,” Aug said, looking him dead in the eyes. “Even if you hadn’t trained a lick these past few months, you’d be better than the Snake, and I’m not just saying that. I’d tell you if you weren’t. I’ve always been honest with you, lad. You’re a fighter. The best I’ve ever seen, but you forgot what you were fighting for. You forgot what it means to win.”
He forgot what it meant to win. What the hell did that mean?
“Do you think Mere wanted you to win?” Aug pressed.
“She didn’t like watching me get hit.”
“And you decided that meant you had to win at all costs,” Augie challenged, then leaned in, his expression softening. “Remember who you were when you met her. You weren’t adding belts and titles to your name when she fell in love with you. Meredith didn’t keep coming back to the gym because you were a great teenage boxing champion.”
Raz rubbed his temples, his head spinning.
So much for a relaxing pre-weigh-in ritual.
“We miss her, too, dear,” Granny Fin said, emotion coating her words. “And I need to tell you something. Something it’s time for you to hear.” She paused as if to gather herself. And that meant something. Finola Cress was a pillar of steel, but whatever she had to say touched her deeply. “Before she slipped away, Mere asked me to watch over you and Sebastian, and after I agreed, I made a promise to her.”
He steadied himself, hating that he hadn’t been there when his wife had taken her last breath. “What did you promise her?” he asked, his voice a scrape of a sound.
“I promised I’d step in and help if you needed help.”
He dragged his hands down the scruff on his jawline. “You did. You and the twins cared for Sebastian. You swooped in, and you did what I couldn’t do.”
She shook her head. “It was no burden to care for your son, Erasmus. The promise I made to Mere was more than that. Meredith knew you could be as stubborn as a mule. She had a feeling you’d blame yourself for her illness, and she didn’t want that. She wanted you and Sebastian to love and to be loved. She didn’t want your heart to harden. Meredith would never have wanted you to grow apart from your boy. I let you mourn. I gave you time, but when I saw you drifting away, really drifting into a dark, dark place, that’s when I asked Madelyn for help.”
“Sorry you couldn’t fix me,” he said, nodding to the matchmaker, trying to keep it light, but it was no use. He couldn’t hide the shake in his voice.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Madelyn answered, watching him closely. “I don’t fix anyone. I’m only a facilitator. I’m the starting point. You decide who you are at the end of the sixty-day trial period. And we’re not there yet. You’ve got one day to go.”
One day.
One day to figure out how to honor Mere and show Libby that he loved her. How could he do that when choosing one meant negating the other?
“Let me ask you this, lad,” Aug said. “How many times does lightning have to strike twice in your life? I was there for the first strike. I saw your face the minute Meredith entered the gym. And I was there when those two bolts of lightning struck in Rickety Rock. Not to mention, I saw your face the minute Libby banged that gong outside the gym weeks ago and started throwing…” He paused, then tossed a nervous glance at Granny Fin and Madelyn.
“Vibrators, Augie! You can say the word,” Granny lamented. “We old birds quite enjoy them.” She shared a look with Madelyn. “With a prude like Aug, I reckon we should send Luanne a Rainbow Screamer,” she added under her breath.
Madelyn whipped out her mobile. “Done,” the woman answered with a mischievous smirk.
And there it was—more senior sex talk.
“Are ya done, Gran?” Raz asked, cradling his head in his hands.
His granny mimicked zipping her lips.
Augie’s cheeks had bloomed crimson, but the man composed himself. “All I’m saying is, everyone sees it. You love Libby, and she loves you. And she loves Sebastian.”
Aug wasn’t wrong.
He loved Libby.
He truly did.
And Libby was crazy about Sebastian—and vice versa.
But what Libby, his granny, Madelyn, and Aug didn’t understand was that he didn’t know what came next if he lost.