fifteen

Graham hadn’t had much time alone with Jack in days. With Harper hiding out from Mason, and Mason camping out in the shop for hours every day, it was hard to find time to talk to her. So, when he walked into the shop and nearly ran into her, it took a minute to realize they were alone.

“Where are Tweedledee and Tweedledumped?”

“I think they went for a walk,” Jack said, laughing.

“I like Mason. Maybe they’ll work things out,” Graham said.

“I like him, too, but it’s nice to have the shop to ourselves again.”

“Yeah, it is.” He took a step toward her. The need to be close to her sparked every nerve, and his skin flushed with heat. He didn’t care what his dad said, no other woman affected him the way Jack did. He let the scent of mint and lime seep from his memory and cloud his thoughts. “Can we talk for a minute?”

Jack moved to put the table between them. Her hands left prints on the smooth, metal surface. “Hutton stopped by this morning. He seemed a little on edge. Do you know why he’s not coming tonight?”

“I think he’s just busy,” he lied. He hated doing it, but he couldn’t tell Jack they’d fought about her. She’d find some way to blame herself. Better to keep her thinking everything was normal.

“You didn’t tell him, did you?” She wasn’t accusing, just curious.

“No. And Harp’s not the one he’s focussed on right now, so you don’t need to worry about her.”

Jack reached out and put her hand on his forearm. “What’s wrong, Graham?” Her voice was as soft as her touch.

“I disagreed with him. He didn’t like it.” When he looked up, she pulled away.

“I know how that goes. He usually comes around though,” she said.

Graham wasn’t so sure Hutton would this time. And he was still mad enough not to care. Another couple of days and he’d probably find himself back in the same lose-lose situation with Jack and Hutton, but, for today at least, he was choosing Jack.

“Are you still coming tonight?” he asked. She stiffened. He wondered if the tension pushing against his chest was all in his head. Taking a deep breath, he said, “If you don’t want to—”

“No, I’m in,” she said so fast it came out as one word. “I was thinking, though, that since Hutt’s not gonna be there, that maybe we could invite Mason.”

So much for a night alone with her. But maybe it was for the best.

“Yeah, sure,” he said.

Jack’s smile made the room vibrate. The lights brightened around her, and he could see every detail of her face in perfect clarity—the sprinkling of freckles across her cheekbones and bridge of her nose, her golden-brown eyes that could hypnotize if he stared into them too long.

How does Hutton expect me to resist that?

“Don’t worry about my brother. Y’all will work it out.”

He nodded and forced a smile when she looked back at him from the doorway.

With Harper out and no idea of when she’d be back, Graham took over icing duties for the day. He grabbed the piping bags from the drying rack and got to work on mixing up a batch of frosting.

He had two dozen done when the back door swung open.

“Would you just tell me why you left? ’Cause for the life of me I can’t figure it out, Harp,” Mason begged.

“It just wasn’t working,” Harper said. She froze when she saw Graham. Her lie filled the room like burning cake batter.

He raised his eyebrows at her but didn’t say anything.

Mason followed her, pulling the door shut with a loud click. “Yeah, you said that already.”

“And I’ll keep saying it until you get the hint.” She turned to Graham and continued as if she hadn’t just been in the middle of an argument, “I was coming back for those.”

“It’s all right. I needed a change of pace anyway,” Graham said. He continued to pipe in quick, overlapping circles.

She grabbed the bag from him, squeezing a stream of icing onto the table. “I said I’d do them. Why do guys never listen?” she asked.

“Why does everyone in your family think they get their way just because they say so?” he countered. There was no heat behind it, just a desire for a straight answer.

“Because you let us.” Harper smiled and dangled the icing bag in front of him.

“Sounds like you and I have that in common, Graham,” Mason said. “Maybe we should start a support group. You up for a drink?”

“Best idea I’ve heard all day,” Graham said. He rinsed his hands, tugged at the knot on his apron, and tossed it to Harper. “Cupcakes are all yours.”

They didn’t talk much on the walk to the coffee shop, both lost in their own girl problems. After they’d ordered, Graham led Mason to a table on the back patio of the coffee shop below his apartment. It smelled like bread, dark roast, and the musty scent of the moss that climbed up the back wall of the building and most of the flagstone walkway.

He leaned back in his chair and let his head hang over the back.

“So, you know them all pretty well, huh?” Mason asked.

“Harper not as much as the other two,” Graham said.

“But still well enough to know how this is gonna go over, I’m guessing. You and Jack have been awesome, but Harp’s barely mentioned Hutton since I showed up, and she doesn’t seem too keen on introducing me to her parents, either. I just don’t know how I’m gonna get her back without their support.”

“They’re good people. Doug and Charlotte might need a couple days to come around, but they’re not the type to hold a grudge. They just want her happy and if you’re what does that, they’ll be on your side.”

Mason rolled a sugar packet between his fingers. A few granules spilled out of an unseen hole to sprinkle across the table. “I take it Hutton won’t be as forgiving?”

“The thing with Hutton is,” Graham started, trying to find the best way to describe his friend, “he loves his sisters. And if he thinks something or someone is bad for them, he’ll do whatever he can to protect them. Even if what he does ends up hurting them more.”

“That seems counterproductive,” Mason said.

“You have no idea.”

“How do you deal with it with Jack?”

Graham closed his eyes and sighed. Stretching his legs out in front of him, he drummed his fist on his thigh. “I don’t.”

“Sorry, man. Harper said that you two were—”

“Does this mean the first official ‘Friends of a Pace Support Group’ meeting has officially come to order?”

“Dude, it started five minutes ago. Where’ve you been?” Mason asked.

“Right. This thing with Jack—whatever it is—is very new and not quite stable yet. It probably could be something more by now if I hadn’t been friends with Hutton since first grade. But I have, so it’s a little tricky.”

Graham couldn’t blame Hutton. Not completely. He could’ve made a different choice the first time he’d been faced with it. Just because he was reconsidering now didn’t mean it wasn’t the right one at the time.

He took a sip of his iced coffee. Without cream or sugar, it tasted burned. He downed half of it anyway. Just because he wanted things to work out with Jack didn’t mean they would. What if this thing faded as it had with his other girlfriends? Then he’d ruin not only two friendships, but his career as well.

He tried to ignore the voice that said the other relationships hadn’t worked out because of his feelings for Jack.

The low rumbling of the grinders inside Three Sugars pulled him back to the conversation. “What about you and Harper?” he asked.

Mason tugged at the leather cuff on his wrist, twisting it around and around so that the snap clanked against the table with each revolution. “Things were great. Better than. I don’t want to say getting married was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but it’s not like we planned it, either. It was almost like we had to, you know?”

Graham thought of how emotional Harper had been since coming home and wondered aloud, “Is she—”

“No, no, no. Not ‘had to’ because she was pregnant or anything. More like had to because what we felt for each other was so intense it was the only thing that made sense.” Mason shifted, leaning closer to Graham. His voice was shaky when he continued. “How’s Harper been since she came back? Does she seem happy?”

“Some days. It’s been good seeing her and Jack become friends again. They hadn’t been close for a long while and I know it hurt Jack, but they seem to be working through it. And what Harper does with icing is nothing short of magic.”

“I just thought she was working the front counter or something.”

“She does that, too,” Graham said.

Mason laughed. “Despite how much she claims to hate people, she’s really good with them.”

“She has her moments.”

***

Jack hadn’t told Harper she’d invited Mason to guy’s night. If she had, she knew her sister would find a reason to stay away. After a week of Mason hanging around, Harper had yet to thaw. She hoped getting them to spend some time together would convince Harper to take him back. Or at least make her admit whatever it was she thought was so wrong with her marriage.

They stood in Graham’s kitchen divvying up who would carry what into the living room and debating which movie to watch first. Jack looked up at the thunderous pounding from the outside hallway. It was followed by a deep metallic clanking of the ancient stair railing.

Hutton and Harper barreled through Graham’s door, gasping for air in between wracking laughs. Hutton had won the race upstairs, but only by a few feet. His triumphant victory lap around the room was cut short by Harper’s yelp of surprise as Mason followed Jack from the kitchen.

Jack bobbled the plates she carried. One slid off the top of the stack, but Mason caught it before it crashed to the floor. She whispered a quick apology. It wasn’t enough to make up for the confrontation she knew was about to come. The only thing she could do was give him a weak smile.

He shrugged at her. A silent What for?

“Didn’t expect to see you tonight,” Graham said. It was almost a growl. The next couple of words were lost in a swig of beer.

“Yeah. Hadn’t planned on coming out, but Harp was antsy. Wanted to get out, do something. She pestered me until I caved, so I figured we’d come crash your evening with Jack. Looks like we’re not the only ones.”

He held his hand out to Mason and introduced himself. They surveyed each other, a quick once-over.

Jack watched Harper, who had yet to move. The door was still open behind her. Jack waited for her sister to bolt, and jumped when Graham’s hand pressed into the small of her back. He nudged her forward, but left his hand where it was.

“You’re not at all what I expected,” Mason said. “Based on what your sister told me, I thought you’d be a Clark Kent stunt double or something.”

“What have you been telling people, Jack? And how come I didn’t know you were dating someone?” He flicked a glance in Graham’s direction before meeting her eyes.

Not wanting to rat out Harper, Jack deflected the comment. “You actually think I’d admit to being your sister?”

“Jack isn’t dating him,” Graham said. His tone was firm, almost possessive. Jerking a thumb in Mason’s direction, he continued more calmly, “This one’s Harper’s.”

Pale and motionless, Harper focused on Mason as if trying to make him disappear one cell at a time. Her eyes narrowed with the effort so only a speck of the normally vibrant blue was visible.

“He wasn’t supposed to be here,” Jack said, looking from her sister to Hutton. Her voice teetered between defensive and apologetic. “I wouldn’t have invited him if—”

“He damn well better not be dating either one of them,” Hutton interjected. “He’s married.” He held up his own hand, pointed to his wedding ring, then pointed at Mason’s.

“Yeah. I’m married—”

“My sister wouldn’t date a married guy.”

Jack laid her hand on Mason’s forearm. The muscles bulged as he fisted his hands. “Just rip the Band-Aid off,” she said when he didn’t shake her off.

“Do you wanna tell him, Harp?”

Harper wrapped her arms around her waist and looked at her feet.

“It’s not that difficult. You just say, ‘Hey y’all, I got hitched. And by the way, this is my husband.’ You don’t just take off without telling me and then freak out when I come after you. I mean, hell, Harp. I’m floundering here without you. And you can’t even bring yourself to tell your family about me.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

Hutton grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. “What the hell is he talking about?”

“I got married in September,” she said. “I just, I didn’t know how to tell you.” Harper’s voice was so low Jack had to strain to hear.

“It’s not a matter of how, it’s a matter of wanting to. And you didn’t. End of story,” Hutton said. He ignored Harper’s pleas to stay and slammed the door behind him.

***

It had taken Jack three days to convince her sister to go to dinner at their parents’. When Harper had finally given in with a grumbled, “Fine,” it was more out of desperation to get Jack to shut up than a desire to go. But she’d take it.

“You look nice,” Jack said when she walked into Harper’s apartment.

The black, three-quarter-sleeve dress hugged her curves and hit just above the knee. A lacy camisole peeked out of the deep V-neck. She hadn’t flat ironed her hair like usual so it hung in thick waves. The pink looked like a trick of the light.

“What were you expecting? A ‘Fuck it All’ t-shirt?”

“Well, kinda, yeah.”

“It’s not every day you bring home a husband that no one knows about,” Harper said. “I figured it couldn’t hurt if I put in a little effort.”

“It rarely does,” Jack said. She rotated the clasp on Harper’s necklace to the back.

“Do you think they’ll like him?” Harper asked.

“I’m still not sure if you like him, Harp.” Jack would’ve laughed if her sister hadn’t looked so broken. She put her arm around Harper’s shoulders and squeezed. Resting her forehead against Harper’s, she said, “Of course they’ll like him. I already told Daddy he would, so I think he’ll try. And Mama will, too.”

“Please help me keep Hutton from—”

The heavy knock on the door reverberated inside the apartment. Neither one made a move to answer it. It sounded again, a little faster, a little nervous.

“We’d better get a move on,” Jack said.

The second she was alone in the car with Harper and Mason, she wished she had taken Graham up on his offer to join the dinner party. The tension was suffocating. It pressed against the windows and seatbacks, filling every spare inch of space like toxic gas. Her lungs ached with the effort to not make a sound. Maybe if she pretended she wasn’t there, they would too.

She could hear every intake of breath, each uncomfortable shift of weight on the backseat. Song lyrics rolled around in her head. They combined and tangled, creating bizarre mash-ups of hard rock and folk, rap and pop alternative. Anything to take her mind off of the silence radiating from the car’s other two occupants.

When they arrived at her parents’, she led them up the sidewalk. Light spilled out of the windows and cast shadows on the lawn. The night was cool and clear. She took a deep breath and prayed they’d make it through the evening unscathed. Harper’s heels echoed on the stones behind her.

Jack opened the door, and Harper whispered, “Last chance.”

“Hello,” Jack called.

Her parents walked down the hall hand in hand. They exchanged a worried look before their Southern manners kicked in.

Jack gave them an extra squeeze when she hugged them.

“Mama, Daddy, this is Mason Shaw,” Harper said. She put her hand on his arm.

Mason returned the hug from her mom and handled what looked to be a death-grip handshake from her dad. He gave a half smile and said, “I’m sorry we haven’t met before.”

The unspoken words hung in the air between them.

“Well, you’re here now,” her dad said. “C’mon in, sit down.”

They sat around the living room, everyone stiff and on edge. Jack eyed the white wine chilling on the bar and considered if it would be rude to start drinking that early.

Backs straight, hands clasped politely in their laps, her parents exchanged a conspiratorial look.

“So, you’re in a band?” her mom asked. She gave Mason a hesitant smile.

Mason leaned back on the love seat, tried to relax. “Yes, ma’am. I’m the bassist and lead vocals. I also work for a home builder making custom cabinetry.”

“And your boss and band mates are okay with you taking some time off?” her dad asked.

“They know Harper comes first,” he answered. He put his hand on her knee, but she shifted away from him.

Jack caught her sister’s eye, a silent be nice.

“Mama,” Harper said, “I was telling Mason about the updates you wanted to make to the pantry. He had some ideas about what you could do to maximize the space.”

“I made a few sketches I can leave with you. Just to give your cabinet guy a few options to start from.”

Her mom smiled and stood. “Do you mind showing me what you’re thinking, Mason? It looks like we’ll have a few minutes before Hutton and Aria get here.”

Mason looked at Harper, who got up to follow her mom. “Sure,” he said.

When Jack could hear them talking in the kitchen, she slipped off her shoes and tucked her legs under her on the wingback chair. She traced the metal rivets along the front of the armrest.

“He certainly looks like your sister’s type,” her dad said. He stood and walked to the bar. Holding up the wine, he gestured to her.

She nodded. “You know you’d be disappointed if she brought home some boy in a three-piece suit.”

“Only ’cause she wouldn’t be happy with that.” He handed her a glass and took a sip of his own. “Just like you wouldn’t be happy with someone who couldn’t bake you cupcakes.”

“You can’t help what you love,” she said.

“Or who,” he added.

***

They’d all moved into the kitchen, where it was less formal, and were spread out at the table and island when Hutton and Aria arrived. If Jack had thought the ride down there had been tense, it was nothing compared to the silence that gripped the room when her brother and sister-in-law walked in. She counted the slow tick, tick, tick of the grandfather clock.

Aria made her way around the room, hugging and kissing everyone, including Mason. Hutton managed to say hi to his parents.

“Let’s eat before it gets cold,” Doug said.

Jack squeezed in on the side of the table with Harper and Mason. The tension in the room was palpable, as if it were something that they could pass around with the bowls of au gratin potatoes and honey-glazed chicken. Spoons scraped and forks clanked as they filled their plates.

Jack smiled when Mason handed her a biscuit. “Thanks.”

Hutton kicked her under the table. He jerked his head for her to move over to his side.

She rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t you think that would be a little obvious?” she whispered.

“What?” Harper asked.

“Nothing,” Hutton grumbled.

Charlotte silenced him with an unspoken threat. Lips pressed into a firm line and one eyebrow cocked so far it was almost lost in her side-swept bangs, she simply waited for Hutton to look up and notice. When he did, her face melted into a puddle of calm again. She picked up her fork and started eating as if Hutton had been no more of a nuisance than a fly.

“So, Harp said y’all have names picked out already?” Mason asked.

Though the question was directed at Hutton, Aria answered. “Right now we’re leaning toward Timothy Shawn.”

“Family names?” he asked.

“Sort of,” she said. She rubbed her hand along Hutton’s back. A few back-and-forth swipes in an attempt, Jack knew, to calm her husband down.

“She lost a bet to a co-worker and now has to name her firstborn after him. Hutton is a little resistant,” Jack clarified. She chanced a smile at her sister-in-law, knowing the topic was a taboo one on the best of days. In Hutton’s current mood, he very well may take someone’s head off.

Better mine than Mason’s.

“Kid’ll have a hell of a story to tell if you go through with it,” Mason said.

Hutton glared at him. “Oh yeah, that’s a great reason to pick a name for our son.”

“That’s not what I meant, dude.”

“‘Dude’? That’s mature.” Hutton pushed away from the table, shaking glasses and plates so they clinked together like a miniature orchestra. His chair scraped against the floor.

Jack stilled her wine glass so it didn’t slosh over the rim.

Harper opened her mouth, but whether she was going to snap at him or apologize, Jack didn’t know. She ended up doing neither and just watched Hutton leave.

They sat in silence, trying not to look at one another. After another couple of minutes, Jack excused herself and followed her brother out.

The porch swing creaked in the dark. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust. Hutton sat, arms crossed over his chest, pushing the swing back and forth. They had always been allowed to storm off, but in the Pace household no one was allowed to completely leave before an argument was done. Not even growing up and moving out could affect that particular rule.

Hutton would talk when he was ready. And she would wait it out with him. She didn’t ask to sit, just plopped down, throwing his steady momentum off balance, then matched her kicks to his and rocked gently back and forth.

The freesia at the base of the porch released their sweet scent into the dark. The petals stood out against the dark foliage in the pale output from the solar lights that lined the front walk. She listened to the cicadas sing their nightly opus. And she waited.

“You’re not gonna make me feel better,” he said.

“Who said I wanted to?”

“I know you.”

“Then you should know that I’m not exactly thrilled that our little sister got married and didn’t bother to tell us,” she said.

“You hide it well.”

Jack rested her head on his shoulder as much to seek comfort as to give it. “Did you know he thought I was a boy? Before he showed up to win her back, Mason thought she had two brothers. If she doesn’t care enough to talk about me a sufficient amount so that the man she married knows I’m a girl, why should I be surprised that she got married without my knowledge?

“Hutt, I know it’s different with you because you’ve always been her favorite, but at the core Harper does what makes Harper happy. And if the rest of us fit into that, then great. If not, we don’t exist. Welcome to my world,” she said.

She tucked one leg under her and continued to toe the floor with the other. After a few back and forths, they regained a steady motion.

“I always just figured I’d be friends with the guy she married, you know?” he said. “That we’d have at least something in common other than her.”

Jack sighed and slipped her hand from his. Crossing her arms over her chest, she didn’t respond.

“Do you think she loves him?” Hutton asked.

“No idea,” she said. “But if she does, you’re not going to change that. No matter how much you want to.”

She waited for him to argue. When he stayed silent, she pushed up from the swing and walked back inside without looking back at him.