Page 27 of Soaring Free
I hum. “Okay, who sent you a text?”
Daddy laughs. “Bingo, you always knew how to ask the right questions. Honestly, Sav, it was all of them. I heard you had a tough day and wanted to pop by.” He follows me into the family room as little feet stampede down the stairs.
“Papa!” Lucy attacks him with her version of a bear hug. She’s been the one with the hardest questions since everything happened, but at six years old, she doesn’t have a social filter and I kind of love that she isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions—of Shane or myself.
“Do you want to come play a game with us? You can pick!” Emily pleads. She always wants to be doing something fun and is the first to ask what we’re doing next, even if we are still in the middle of an activity.
“Oooo, let’s play Uno! I don’t want to play Scrabble because I can’t make up words like you guys can. It’s cheating because I can’t read yet,” Vivian’s daughter Eloise declares.
My daughter Olivia slides into the recliner and opens her book back up. She’s been the quietest one since Shane officially moved out, but as the oldest, she’s also the most aware of what’s goingon, and what this means in the future of things. I need to have a one-on-one date with her to pull some of those feelings out.
Shane was supposed to take them to dinner the week after he moved out, but he rescheduled. His assistant later cancelled that dinner all together, and except for a few phone calls with the girls, they haven’t seen their dad in person in weeks. I get mad at what Shane is doing to our family and to me personally, but when I see the hurt he has caused our girls? I want to push him right off a dock into a crocodile infested swamp while he wears a vest of chicken cutlets. Chomp, chomp, asshole.
“Did someone say Uno?” I hear the beep of the front door closing and look up to see Finn and Ryan coming in. Our security system has custom codes that I can give to people that I want to have access. It also allows me to program the time or day the codes can access the house, like for the cleaning company or a repairman, but of course, my family’s code allows them access whenever they want. Daddy just insists on ringing the doorbell out of habit.
Ryan sets a stack of pizzas on the coffee table before coming over and pulling me off the couch and into a hug. I love that my brothers just handled dinner for our crew and removed a task off my to-do list for the day.
“You good?” he quietly asks me.
“I’m good. I promise, Ryan.” We’re all close as a sibling group, but with our December birthdays, Ryan is just twenty-five days shy of being my Irish twin. Our parents were pretty busy and actually came close multiple times to having Irish twins. Jack may be the oldest at forty-one, but Liam is only thirteen months younger than him. I turned thirty-nine a few months ago and Finn will be thirty-seven next month, making him a mere fourteen months younger than Ryan. I guess Mama figured out she needed a bit of a break though after Finn because Vivian came along three and a half years later. I honestly still don’t know how she did it all.
Finn throws Eloise over his shoulder as she squeals with delight. “I will dominate anyone in Uno, but first, I require pepperoni pizza!” Finn declares in a voice that sounds oddly likehe is trying to do a Hulk impersonation. I quickly pack up the rest of my laundry and move it out of the way while Vivian gets a stack of plates and napkins.
Soon enough, we’re in a massive game of Uno, with two extension packs added, and chaos ensues in my family room. But amidst the noise and the mess, a sense of peace wraps around me like a snug blanket. Whatever happens with the divorce, what co-parenting with my ex looks like moving forward, or even what my dating life could look like one day, so long as I have these people by my side and covering my back, everything is going to be okay.
They won’t allow for anything less.
Chapter sixteen
“Man, this is an awesome house,” I tell Ryan, shaking his hand to say hello. Jack sent me a text this morning with just a time and an address, so either I was joining a poker game or helping move a body. Pulling up to Ryan’s farmhouse has me slightly jealous of how much land he has surrounding his home. Although I like our neighbors, there’s something appealing about the space and privacy of being in the country. Maybe Gigi and I need to buy a rural property, somewhere to get away from everyone when life gets too hectic. She had fun with the horses in France last summer, so maybe we could get a few horses for her to ride too. Ryan has enough land out here he could easily have some animals.
Even though it looks like a 1920s farmhouse on the outside, I quickly discover that the interior has been completely updated, and someone would never guess it wasn’t a new build if it weren’t for the historical marker I passed on the way in. From electronics that I don’t even have in my house to the bright LED Edison bulb light fixtures, his house feels new, but comfortable. Ryan’s expansive kitchen has a massive island in the center and opens to a dining space and hearth area with a large stone fireplace. He explained how they opened up four rooms to make this part of the house flow better. It’s a lot of house for a single guy, but something tells me that the Callahan men never do anything without a plan in mind.
“Thanks, man. This house was our grandparents’ and we all grew up about a mile down the road, where our dad still lives. I bought the property from him after I decided to make ForrestFalls my permanent home. The house had been empty for a few years after our grandparents passed away, but Finn gutted it down to the studs and updated everything. He did a great job on the renovation.”
“I personally appreciate the guest room upgrades. I think I might stay here more than Dad’s at this point.” Liam looks up at the ceiling quizzically. “I take that back; I have stayed at Ryan’s fifty-eight percent of the time in the last twelve months.”
Did he just calculate that random yet very specific number in his head? Who does that?
“Regardless, taking this property from Nana’s house to Ryan’s place was one hundred percent the most fun I’ve had on a job yet, especially with this place being so special to our entire family, you know?” Finn chimes in as he runs his hand along a bookcase near the fireplace. “I’m still proud of the restoration we did to the fireplace. I know Ryan had a specific vision for it, and for the most part, I let the client get his way.”
“We really only had that one fight when I wanted to add the greenhouse out back,” Ryan adds.
“And if you had done that, you know you would have obstructed the views from your deck. It wasn’t necessary and you would have regretted it. So really, you’re welcome.” Finn lifts his beer in cheers and Ryan shakes his head.
“Most of the time it’s just me here anyway, so what do I need a greenhouse for? I just thought it would be cool to have after I read an article about the types of things you can grow in them year round, but I do love the sunsets and the view out the back.” The brothers share a look; they must like sunsets in their family.
“Who owns the property west of here?” I nod out the window. I’m curious but also wondering if someone else could build and ruin his view.
“Our family does.” Jack doesn’t elaborate.
“Like your dad or a family trust?” I doubt their individual names are all on that much property, but I’ve seen stranger things as an attorney, and even stranger things as the member of a very wealthy family. Rich people can be really bizarre.
“Something like that. This property runs up next to our dad’s to the south then it extends another few miles or so beyond his house.”
“And how far west does it go?”
“Couple hundred acres, give or take.” Jack clearly doesn’t want to give me any specific answers. Hmm. Interesting.
