Page 60 of Everything After (Everything Trilogy)

ALFIE

“Good luck today. I’m sure you’ll feel better once you’ve spoken to her. No matter which way it goes, you’ll have had a chance to tell her how she made you feel, and you’ll get closure.”

“That’s just it, with all these hormones flying around inside me, one minute I’m like, ‘okay, I can be the bigger person. I found the love of my life in you, we have a great life’, and the next I feel all stabby and want to scratch her eyes out the moment I see her.”

I chuckled. “The bigger person gets my vote.”

She sighed and I heard how heavy the thought of the meeting with Saffy rested on her chest. “I know, mine too.”

“Just do it and hurry back. I want you to spend time with Kara.”

“I still can’t get over you inviting Neil.”

“Why not? He was a good kid in college… a good musician too. I’m interested in where he’s at now and… I guess I want some normality from good, grounded people that have nothing to do with the music industry.”

“I hear you. Okay, well, I’ll do my best to keep my temper in check and get home as soon as I can.”

Lily had been on tenterhooks since the moment Holly had rung to say she was bringing Saffy to Miami. The face-to-face between them was intended to clear the air before Holly’s wedding. Holly had flown in her daddy’s jet from Dallas to pick up Saffy from Oklahoma and planned to mediate between them.

Obviously, the less stress for Lily the better, in my view, but she’d insisted on going alone, but conceded to Oscar driving her there, staying with her and bringing her home.

Since I knew I’d be home alone for most of that day, I’d invited Kara and her daughter over with the view to looking at real estate and having a proper catchup.

Meeting Neil had given me an idea the moment I’d learned he wasn’t with anyone, and as he and Kara had daughters, I figured that they should be introduced to each other. Kara needed friends, and Neil looked like he could do with one when I’d seen him at the reunion.

Usually, I wasn’t interested in anyone else’s business, but Kara was different. However, when I’d invited her and her daughter over, Neil hadn’t been in the picture. Now that he was, I figured I wouldn’t tell her that he was coming, in case she found an excuse not to come.

I’d sent a car to pick up Kara and Poppy from Sienna’s and had them come to the helipads at the executive airport in Miami. It had been weeks since I’d flown and wanted to keep up my hours, plus, what can I say, it was a fun way to travel.

“Wow, are you really going to drive a helicopter?”

“Fly a helicopter. I have no idea what they’re teaching school kids these days,” Kara said, rolling her eyes to the back of her head.

“I know, I was being silly,” Poppy remarked.

The girls climbed in, buckled up then I took off for the short ride back to the island. “This is awesome, I can’t believe I’m actually in a helicopter being flown by a famous rock star to his house,” Poppy gushed.

“Me neither.” Kara beamed a smile that moved me, and I considered that it was the first time I’d seen a genuine smile that reached her eyes since we lost Gary.

“I didn’t know you flew your own helicopter,” Kara admitted.

“Lily’s dad was a commercial helicopter pilot in London, it was him who suggested it.

At first, I thought it sounded pretentious given we have a jet.

Although, since Charlie taught me, Lily bought me this for my birthday.

I know it’s extravagant, but it cuts down a lot on time when longer distance meetings are required.

You have no idea how many pressures there are on our time.

I’d take it everywhere, but finding places to land it is tricky. ”

“Is Lily at the house?”

“No, she had an errand to run this morning, but she’ll be back later.” What happened between Lily and Saffy was their business, and I found the more people that have opinions as to how someone should react when they’ve been wronged, the more convoluted the resolution becomes.

Poppy played in the pool and sunbathed while I made Kara and I drinks before we studied properties on some realtor sites. After some persuasion and a ton of deliberation she chose two quite moderately priced places in gated communities to view.

Once I’d made us fresh drinks we headed out to the patio.

“This is great timing,” I said, smiling.

“What is?” Kara asked.

“I invited another friend over. Neil was one of the students I worked with at FSU, he was in the same year as Lily. I met him at their alumni reunion a few days ago and invited him and his daughter over.”

“Do you want us to leave?”

“Hell no. Neil’s a single guy and part-time dad from what I gather. I’ve invited him and his daughter over to chill.”

“I’m confused, you invited us and him?”

“Yeah, I thought I’d introduce you to each other.”

“I’m not looking for a man, Alfie.”

“And I’m not suggesting that’s why he’s here. But you could use some friends since you’ve been out of the loop for so long. Trust me, he’s a nice guy, you’ll like him.”

“I’m not looking for a man and yet I smell a set-up.”

“Then you’re wrong, but if you were, you could do worse,” I said, chuckling. “Look, I asked him on the spur of the moment… and yes, as I haven’t seen him in years, I figured it would be good to invite him with someone else.”

“And I happen to be that ‘someone else’?” Kara asked, wide-eyed.

“You are. I just thought it might be mutually beneficial to us all to hang out since I haven’t spent time with either of you in years.”

We both glanced down at the dock and saw Skipper Ronnie lift Neil’s daughter and set her down beside Neil on the dock. After waving him off, Neil took his daughter’s hand, turned and looked up at the patio. I stood and waved, then waited for them to reach us.

“You never said he was good looking,” Kara muttered out the side of her mouth as Neil and his daughter drew nearer.

I chuckled. “He’s not exactly my type.”

“I wish he wasn’t mine. He’s hot… and getting hotter by the minute,” she admitted as she shuffled her feet, then shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “Damn, look at all that long hair and those sculpted abs. Men with bodies like you and him shouldn’t be allowed to wear tight T-shirts.”

“Thought you’d sworn off men?” I asked, laughing.

“My head is, but my lady parts are weeping at that decision.”

“Did you just tell me he makes you wet, Kara?”

For a whole two beats Kara stopped breathing, stared up at me with eyes as wide as the moon.

When her thoughts had thawed out from the shock, she swiped my arm with the back of her hand.

“I-I didn’t mean th-that kind of wet,” she stuttered as Neil stepped onto the patio. “Hi, Alfie, thanks for the invite.”

“Glad you could make it. And who is this little lady?” I asked.

“Alexandra, but you can call me Allie.” I instantly got the vibe that Allie was not only cute with her dark mahogany hair and big brown eyes, but as sharp as a tack.

“Poppy, can you come up here for a sec,” Kara called, waving at her daughter who was laying down by the pool.

Poppy glanced up, shaded her eyes and stood up. She wrapped a sarong around her waist and came up to meet us.

“This is an old friend of mine, Kara and her daughter,” I said, gesturing at them both with one hand.

“Didn’t you used to go to FSU?” Neil asked Kara, looking from her to me for confirmation. From his narrowed eyes, I could see he wondered how we knew one another.

“Yeah. No,” Kara and I said in unison.

I chuckled. “Kara lived in my apartment while I mentored there.”

Neil frowned and I could see he was puzzled. Kara glanced at Poppy, and I immediately sensed her unwillingness to expand on the explanation while the kids were around.

“Poppy, do you know how to use a Virtual Reality headset?

“Yeah, they’re so cool,” she said excitedly.

“Alright, if you go down the hall, second room on the right, there’s a couple of headsets there. Pick a game that Allie can do, and we’ll come get you for lunch in a bit.”

Poppy took Allie’s hand and they both headed inside. “Who is your favorite singer?” Allie asked Poppy on the way inside.

“Alfie Black,” Poppy replied, and I chuckled.

“Oh, Ariana Grande is mine,” she replied. Their chatter continued but I couldn’t hear what else was said before I heard the game room door click shut.

“Kara lived on campus, but she never attended college. It’s a long story but Kara was my best buddy, Gary’s girl.

Gary was killed in action overseas and I’d promised before he was deployed that I would take care of Kara if anything happened.

Obviously, had I known he was going to get himself killed, I’d never have agreed to taking care of such a handful. ”

Kara smiled, leaned in and hugged me. “He’s my guardian angel.”

“You promised you’d never say that in public.”

“I’m not, we’re among friends, right?” she asked. She glanced toward Neil and gave him a flirty wink.

I chuckled. “Did you just hit on him? I thought you were sworn off men?” I asked, calling her out.

“I-I just said I wasn’t looking for a relationship right now.”

“Then your eyes are another part of that betraying body you need to get under control, because they just winked at him.”

Kara’s face flushed all the way down to her cleavage. “Did not,” she argued.

“Yeah, you winked at me,” Neil confirmed. “But it’s been a while since any girl has, so I’ll take it.”

“See,” I remarked, wagging a finger at her.

Neil chuckled. “Do you want me to tell him to stop ragging on you? I will, if you want me to. Even if it means my daughter needs to climb onto my back and I need to swim back to shore once he asks me to leave.”

“Ouch, I felt that spark,” I stated, grinning at the way they’d hit it off.

Kara swatted my arm hard, the sharp sound loud in the air. “Are you determined to embarrass me?”

I reached over and smoothed one side of her hair. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist teasing you. It’s been a while since I’d gotten a rise out of you. Funny how quickly that memory muscle kicked in though, right?”

“So this isn’t the first time he’s ragged on you?” Neil asked, as he ran a hand through his hair, then bit back a grin.

“He and Gary lived to mortify me, but it was never in malice. I gave as much as I took,” she admitted.

“Then I’ll do what I can to protect you from this wayward rock star and his slick, barbed tongue,” Neil promised.

“All this flirting and I bet my tongue’s not the only thing that’s slick right now,” I said, laughing.

Neil’s eyes narrowed as his brain caught up with what I’d insinuated, and his lips puckered inward in an attempt not to laugh. “You’re relentless,” he admonished.

“Maybe, but I bet I’m not wrong.”

Neil’s eyes darted to Kara, who immediately ducked her head, but I caught the slow smile she tried to hold back. “I’m just going to go see if the girls are okay,” she muttered, slowly backing away with her thumb hitched over her shoulder.

“Kara,” I called after her, and she stopped. “I figured you two would like each other, hence my introduction. One day you’ll thank me, and I’ll tell you both, ‘You’re welcome’.”