Page 43 of Castling the Rook (Checkmate 3)

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Andi

Welcome Home, Swine

At a little before seven that evening, I drive my niece and nephew to the airport and drag them through the multi-level parking garage with glitter bomb signs and copious amounts of pent up anxiety a’la Benny. Dropping our shit with grunts and groans, we stop by the luggage carousel while Livi cracks open a three-inch thick hardcover book, and Benny walks a path into the carpet like he’s worried his mom changed her mind and won’t come home.

Hands in his pockets, eyes on the floor, hat pulled low, his broad back flexes and rolls, proving he’s been in the gym a lot more than I thought.

On his twentieth lap past, I sigh and drop down beside Livi. “Ben, honey, you’re exhausting me.” Bending my knees and leaning against Liv’s shoulder, I let me head drop back against the wall, but I keep him in my sight. Without supervision, he might run straight out to the tarmac to speed shit up. “You need to smoke a doobie or something, baby. You need to chill the hell out before you give me gray hair. Have you seen my hair?” I grab a lock of the midnight black lengths. “I can’t hide grays in this, and I can’t afford touch ups every six weeks.”

“They should’ve landed already.” He reseats his hat and blows out panicked breaths. “They should already be coming off the plane.”

“No, honey. They land at seven.”

“It is seven!” He points to the giant screens on the wall. “See!”

“Baby, that says six-fifty-eight, and even if they arrive a few minutes late, you need to relax. Your mom texted that they were taking off. She’s on the plane, they took off. That’s half the battle right there. Now you gotta wait till the pilot is good and ready to bring her back.”

“You’re not helping, Andi. You’re actually making it worse.”

“You know what would be way,wayworse?” I wait until he stops and meets my eyes. “If you drop my Aunt title one more time and I’m forced to take you over my knee and spank you for being an insubordinate little ass. I get that you’re grown now, I get that you’re taller than I ever expected you’d grow, but mountain men all fall the same; heavily, and permanently. What would your girlfriend think of your aunty doing that?” I scrunch my nose. “Not very badass, is it?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“He has two,” Livi jabs. “He can’t make his mind up.”

“Shut up, Olivia. That’s not true. I don’t haveanygirlfriends. I just have female friends, so drop it.”

“But your female friends aren’t friends with each other, are they?” she returns. “In fact, I’d suggest they hate each other.”

He rolls his eyes. “No fuckin’ clue what you’re talking about, so mind your own business before I tell Aunt Andi what you did.”

Eyes wide, I turn to my angelic niece and bump her shoulder. “What did you do, sweet pea? Why are you holding out on me? I thought we were pals?”

She doesn’t lift her eyes from her book for one single second, and yet, I can still sense her eye roll. “I failed my English paper; it was a stupid poem, but because mine didn’t rhyme, I failed.”

I lean in close and whisper, “Poems are supposed to rhyme, baby.”

“That’s not true!” She turns to me. “Not all poems rhyme, you dummies. And because Mr. Latham is too stupid to know that, because he’sintimidated by smart women, he failed me. Benny’s also intimidated by powerful women, which is why he’s got a crush on one, but is hanging with a different one. It’s also why he’s throwing me under the bus instead of admitting he’s losing his shit over mom.”

I mockingly grit my teeth. “I don’t think he’s denying that, Liv. He’sclearlylosing his shit. Look at him; he’s a hot mess.”

“Shut up!” He throws his hands up and turns away.

Rolled up beside my leg, Liv and Ben’s welcome home signs spew glitter and make a mess of the ugly carpet. Well, Liv’s spews glitter, but Ben wouldn’t dare lower himself to something as ridiculous as sparkles and colors that strayed from black or… black.

That kid is going to have a heart attack before he’s twenty, because he’s created these parameters for himself, these rules that he wishes he could break, but since he was four and Lindsi shot and killed her late husband, Ben’s taken on man of the house duties and wound them up inside his body until he’s become who he is today; a Jack-in-the-box that someone spun the handle onriiiiightup to just before the lid pops.

“You excited to see your mom, Liv?” Leaving Ben to his breakdown, I turn back to my niece and grin when she huffs about disrupted books. “I bet you can’t wait to see her.”

“Maybe.” She bites her lip and pretends to read. “It’s been a fun week with you, Aunt Andi. So it’s not like I’ve been miserable or anything.”

“Thanks, sweet pea. I love sneaky compliments. They warm my heart six hours after they were delivered, because that’s how long it takes me to realize one was dropped.”

She snickers and leans heavier against my side. “Yes, I miss my mom. I miss Oz, too. But I also miss you when you’re gone. I wish you could stay.”

I throw my arm over her shoulder and pull her in until her cheek smooshes against my breast. “Maybe one day, baby. My job back home kinda sucks, and this week was somewhat… unsanctioned. So who knows what kind of shitstorm I’ll be going home to. But a move all the way over here is a big deal. I don’t have a job. I don’t have friends. I just have you guys, and you’re busy with your brand-new family that I don’t exactly fit in.”

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