Page 52 of Saving You

I toss everything in the salad, and then the doorbell rings. I grab a dish towel and wipe my hands before I make my way tothe front door, calling, “I’ll get it.”

I excitedly pull open the door and smile at Olivia and Josh on the other side. “Come in. Caleb is just upstairs in the shower.”

Olivia pulls me into a hug as she steps inside. When we pull apart, she hands me a bottle of red wine. “I may not like wine or be able to drink, but that doesn’t mean you guys can’t.”

I smile at her.

Josh gives me a side hug as he comes in and says hi before making his way into the kitchen. I grab a couple of wine glasses and pop open the bottle.

“So, how is living with Caleb going?” Liv asks.

“It’s going well. We seem to have found a routine. I’m just eternally grateful he’s letting us stay here.”

A smile spreads across Liv’s face, and she nudges Josh with her elbow. “You know, this reminds me very much of you and me,” she says, and he starts coughing on the baby carrot he’s chewing. She looks back at me.

“In May, I caught my boyfriend cheating on me. We were about to sign a lease on a new place. I had given my landlord notice I was moving out and everything. I needed to find a place to live, and Josh offered me his spare room. I moved in and shortly after, we started dating, in secret at first. Josh and I have been friends for years, but he’s also my brother’s best friend, and I didn’t want our relationship to ruin the relationship the two of them have. Our relationship eventually came out at a hockey game, of all places.” She laughs. “But everything turned out all good. Josh proposed that night, and then we found out about the baby. We found out at our wedding that everyone knew about us and they had a whole bet going.”

“Yeah, Zoey raked in on that one,” Caleb says as he joins us. “Did Liv tell you about her punching a guy on the ice at one of our games?” he asks as he pops a piece of cut pepper and ranch into his mouth.

I’m shocked. “You punched a guy at one of their games?”

A blush spreads across Liv’s cheeks, and she moves in closer to Josh, who wraps an arm around her and kisses the top of her head.

“Yeah, she did. The guy had cross-checked Josh and his head hit the ice. When Josh didn’t get up, she ran onto the ice to check on him. When he finally opened his eyes and got up, she turned around, hauled one back and punched the guy. It was pretty great to watch.” Caleb chuckles. “We had all suspected they were together for a while, but that and the fact that Josh had to pull her back and talk her down while calling her ‘babe’ just confirmed it.”

I cover my mouth with my hand, trying to hold back my laugh. I can’t help it. I let it out. “You ran onto the ice and punched a guy in full hockey gear?” I can’t stop laughing, imagining what that would look like. “Remind me to never get on your bad side,” I say.

The doorbell rings, and Caleb excuses himself to answer it. Liv goes to find Charlie.

“You know he cares about you and Charlie, right?” Josh asks.

We stand there in silence, his question hanging in the air.

“He doesn’t let people in. Matt and I met him after his last deployment, but Grayson knew him before. None of us know anything about his time in the service. He’s always there for us. I would trust that man with my life, with Olivia’s life, with the life of our child. His moving you guys in here is a big step for him, though. He’s had us over for poker nights, but he likes to have a safe space. A place to retreat. You guys mean something to him if he’s sharing that with you.”

I don’t have time to process his words before a large group files into the kitchen. I’m greeted with hugs, and then I put the lasagnas in the oven, setting a timer. I watch as Charlie rotates through people. Some draw with her, and the girls sit on the floor and play Barbies with her for a bit before she decides she wants to hang out with Caleb. She asks him to pick her up, and he does, positioning her on his hip as he holds her. She just rests on him as he continues his conversation with Grayson and Matt, and my heart squeezes. This is what I always wanted for her, a family. I turn towards the kitchen sink and wipe at the tear that’s escaped when an arm wraps around me.

The smell of Lily’s perfume has me leaning into her.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, worry filling her voice.

“Nothing.” I sigh, gathering myself. “This is just what I always wanted for Charlie, this little chosen family.”

She squeezes me close. “You’ve got that now, hun.”

I nod and turn into her, holding her in a real hug. “Thank you for standing by me this whole time. You’ve been there for everything. I don’t think I would have survived the last six years without you.”

She holds me tight. “Always. I’ll always be here.”

The timer goes off, and we separate. I put the garlic bread in before topping off my wine. Lily and I chat until the timer goes off again, and it’s time to take the food to the table. Everyone filters into the dining room, but Caleb stays behind. He grabs one of the lasagnas and takes it in before returning for the other one. I take the garlic bread, and we join everyone in the dining room. Charlie insists on sitting between Caleb and Olivia, so I sit between Caleb and Hannah.

Everyone helps themselves to food, and the conversation flows.

“So, I was thinking about doing another group camping trip this summer,” Olivia says.

“You mean you want more freaky in the woods time,” Hannah says with a laugh, and Josh starts choking.

Liv pats him on the back ashe clears his throat. His cheeks and the tops of his ears are both red, and it’s adorable. Not a word I ever thought I’d use to describe Josh, but it is.

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