Page 134 of Townshipped
“Grab that tablecloth, Paisley,” Aiden says as he walks out the door toward the barn where tables are lined up and filling with bowls and platters of every type of food as more and more guests arrive at the farm.
Paisley grabs a folded red-checkered cloth off the laundry machine by the back door and follows Aiden outside.
The weather’s cooling off the closer we get to fall. A little rain is forecasted for the coming week, but we’ve got a cloudless night ahead for the bonfire.
I grab the fruit salad I brought off the counter and look around at the kitchen to see if Aiden needs me to bring anything else out. This kitchen. It still feels odd not to be living here, even though I’ve been back in Bordeaux for five months now. I’m here at the farm most of my waking moments, but it’s not the same as living in this house.
Gabriela busts through the back door. She’s visiting me over the three-day weekend for the Labor Day holiday. I miss her even though we call, text, and FaceTime almost every day.
“Hey, chica! Let’s get out there and help Aiden with Ty. He seems to think it’s a good time to start showing all his preschool friends the goats. I just know it’s only a matter of minutes before the gate to that enclosure gets left open and all those little beasts take over the property!”
I walk with Gabriela toward the back door, down the hallway, past my old room. I always glance at the door, which is kept shut as if in memoriam of the time I lived here. Another era, it feels like, when I lived in chronic uncertainty and longing.
“Speaking of goats escaping and causing mayhem. Did Lexi ever tell you the story of their wedding day?” I ask Gabriela.
“You told me. But I’d love to hear it from her.”
The screen door shuts behind us with a clatter and we walk down toward the gathering crowd of people here for the party.
Aiden’s eyes lift from the firepit where he’s putting a pile of wood for tonight’s bonfire. He sends me one of his private smiles—the ones he reserves for me alone. It says everything, and my heart kicks up a little knowing he’s looking forward to the bonfire and our celebration, but looking far more forward to our time together after the kids are tucked in and the guests have all gone.
Today’s special, though. And it’s not about us. It’s about Ty and Paisley. Aiden was awarded permanent guardianship of the kids this past week. They toggle between calling him Uncle Aiden and Dad now. Ty started it. He said his friends all have dads, and just like that he started calling AidenDadmost of the time.
Ty’s always the instigator of increased connection, and then Paisley seems to follow closely behind, even if her pace is wary and tentative at first. It’s like Ty leaps off a high dive while Paisley watches to make sure he doesn’t drown, then she slowly steps down the stairs in the shallow end, but eventually they end up swimming in the same pool. We let her enter at her pace. That’s been the key.
I hear Laura before I see her. “Hey, Em! We’re here! The party can start now!”
Rob, Lexi, Trevor, Shannon, and Jayme all walk up the driveway together with Laura.
Shannon scans the property and her eyes land on Duke from across the property. And he seems to notice her right back. He’s chatting with Aiden, but his eyes are on her.
Duke keeps insisting Shannon’s like a little sister to him, since her big brother, Chris, is one of his best friends. I’m with Laura on this one. If Duke and Shannon are like brother and sister, then Aiden’s a monk and I’m a nun. The chemistry between the two of them could set the barn on fire.
Laura elbows Shannon, and Shannon gives her a look in return. This town. Gotta love the meddling and the way we never leave one another too much space to work things out on our own. We’re all up in one another’s business, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I’ve adapted to Bordeaux so thoroughly I barely remember what it was like to be surrounded by the stuffy high society I grew up in where no one said what they were really thinking and image was king. Not here. Here we tell you what we’re thinking, and we tack on what you should do about it for good measure.
I look over at my bestie. She’s talking to Brooks, one of the firemen in town, laughing and touching his forearm as if she’s known him all their lives. Gabriela would fit right in here with her outspoken ways, but she’d never leave Boston. It’s everything to her. Though, from the looks passing between them, maybe Brooks could convince her to visit more often.
People keep streaming onto the farm, parking their cars up and down the driveway and on a little gravel area we have between the house and barn. Aiden’s family is all here. Our friends all came. My heart swells as I take everything in.
Aiden walks over from where he had been standing with Duke talking.
“How are you?” he asks.
He loops his arm behind my back and places a soft kiss on my forehead.
“Better now,” I say, smiling up at him.
“Always better when we’re touching one another,” he says softly into my ear. “Want to see if we can sneak off? No one will notice.”
“I think they’ll notice,” I tell him. “You’re kind of the reason they are all here today.”
He pretends to be disgruntled. “Yeah. I guess I’ll have to wait until after dark to have you all to myself.”
“It always was your favorite time to kiss me,” I tease.
“Every time of day is my favorite time to kiss you.”
