I gave up. “Whoever invented raking should be exiled,” I told them when I dropped my rake. “Scoot over, Rett.”
With nothing left to do but enjoy myself, I jumped in the leaves alongside my nephew and called out to Lucas. “Come on, bud. Chores can wait.”
Lucas smiled, and I had to take a minute. The complete and utter change in him hadn’t happened overnight. Instead, it’d happened with every ‘good morning’ and ‘goodnight,’ all the hugs, the small touches, and the security of knowing he would be safe no matter what.
He thrived with Carter, and I thrived with both of them.
When Chris pulled his car into the driveway a little while later, we were sitting in the middle of the yard, all the leaves completely forgotten as we rolled one of Rett’s kickballs back and forth.
“Got room for one more?”
He shoved into our circle and Rett called him on it. “I didn’t say yes, Uncle Chris.”
“Zip it, twerp.” Chris grabbed Rett and ruffled his hair. “That’s no way to talk to your favorite uncle, is it?”
“Nope. But you’re not my favorite anymore.” Rett stared at him seriously. “When Aunt Avery marries Carter one day, he’ll be my uncle. Dad said so.”
I choked on air. Lucas laughed and Chris pretended to be outraged while he slapped me on the back as hard as he could. Or at least, that’s how hard it felt like he’d hit me.
“I’m okay,” I gasped, more from the slap to my back than anything else. “Stop. Hitting. Me.” I swatted his hand away when he raised it again. “If you do it again, I’m gonna sic Rett and Lucas on you.”
Both boys, who’d become closer than I imagined in the last month, immediately swept in like superheroes.
Rett hopped on Chris’ back dragging him down to the ground while screeching. Lucas, on the other hand, grabbed a massive pile of leaves and picked it up. Then Rett ran away and Lucas dropped the leaves on Chris’ face.
I watched both of the kids take off, and turned to see Chris staring up at me from out of the pile of leaves that had been dropped on him. The smile vanished from his face, and he stared at me like he had the worst news in the world.
“What?” My heart lurched in my chest, imagining him fighting with Liam. Or maybe his sister getting back with Casey Malone without thinking it through. “What happened?”
“Karen Zucker is back in town.”
Six little words that decimated every happy feeling I’d ever have.
I croaked. “How do you know?”
Chris sighed and then rolled over so that he was laying on his back, with his arms under his head as he stared up at me. “I saw her at the grocery store. She looks terrible, and like she’s completely out of it. You haven’t heard anything from her through Carter or Bria, have you?”
My heart thudded against my chest, every beat making it harder to breathe. “No.” My head ached, a migraine starting to form at my temples. “Carter doesn’t have the case, because it’s a conflict of interest. I don’t want to put Bria in a compromising position with her being my friend and Lucas’ case worker. He’s more important than me having information about what’s happening.”
I knew Karen coming back into town had a very real chance of happening. She’d been arrested, released on her own recognizance, and then bailed on the town and her responsibilities. All of it without ever even requesting to see her child again.
Headlights appeared at the edge of the driveway, and I started to panic until I saw Carter’s truck pull up next to my car.
“Hey, babe.” Concern etched every corner of his face. “I got a call from Bria, and we have to talk.” All of that he said before ever getting to my side, and I blinked in response. “Babe.” Carter put an arm around me after sitting down, his utility belt pressing into my side. “Talk to me.”
“I don’t want to hurt him,” I finally admitted. “He’s doing so well here, with you. And if she’s here, he’s going to get hurt. I can feel it in my gut. She’s going to try to get him back.”
Carter snorted. “Ms. James, I am very disappointed in you. I can’t believe you’d doubt me or the BPD like that. We did everything right. You reported the abuse. We arrested her. In the time that she’s been out, Bria’s done a hell of a job with the investigation, teaming up with our guy to make sure that Lucas is taken care of.” He rubbed my back soothingly, but I never took my eyes off Lucas and Rett, who were now busy climbing a tree.
“Everything is going to be fine.” Carter pulled my hand to his mouth and kissed it, then laid it to rest on his chest. “I promise.”
We sat there for a few minutes, watching the boys play, until Chris coughed awkwardly. I’d completely forgotten he was there, too.
“I’m gonna go. So … enjoy yourselves.”
He was gone in the next moment, and Carter started laughing. “I didn’t even know he was here.”
Rett and Lucas came running.
“Hey, Carter.” Lucas sat down next to him, breathing deeply and trying his best to catch his breath. “Are you back for the night?”
“Actually.” Carter kissed my forehead and pushed up off the ground. “I’m supposed to meet someone about a case for a few. Will you be okay with them?”
His absolute concern for me was touching but completely unneeded. Which I told him a moment later.
“No.” I bit off sarcastically, rolling my eyes for dramatic effect. “I’m completely useless when it comes to two of my most favorite kids in the entire world. Utterly helpless. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I might just wither away and die.” Every single word out of my mouth came out completely deadpan, and I watched Rett elbow Lucas out of the corner of my eye.
“She’s about to give him his butt.” Rett whispered loudly. “Just watch. That’s how she sounds right before I get in trouble.”
“There’s a difference between you and me, buddy.” Carter turned his attention away from me. “I’ve got Aunt Avery wrapped tight around my finger.” He started to walk away. “I’ll just re-schedule. I think I’d rather hang out with you guys tonight instead.”
That man put spending a night with me and the two terrors ahead of his work. I could see lots and lots of blowjobs in his future.
“Come on, guys.” I got up and waited for the kids to come with me. “Let’s get that sucker to buy us Chinese food tonight.”
Rett started to cackle and ran ahead, while Lucas stayed with me, walking up to the house slowly.
“Is Rett spending the night?”
For a second I thought he was jealous, or worried about sharing us with my nephew. Until I looked down and saw excitement in his eyes.
“I’ve never had a sleepover,” he admitted.
Damn. The simple little things that we all took advantage of, and Lucas had never gotten to have—a sleepover.
“Yeah.” I swallowed down the rock that had appeared in my throat out of nowhere. “But this doesn’t count as your first real sleepover. We’ll figure out how you can have an actual sleepover another night. Pick some of your friends, and I’ll talk to Carter about it.”