Page 22 of Last Call (Open Tab #5)

Chapter Four

Fallon chuckled to herself, marveling at Owen's persistence with the same question on repeat. She thought they had passed the broken record phase. Apparently not. "When are we leaving for school?" he’d asked, not once, not twice, but at least twenty times in the past twenty minutes. He was captivated by the stories Evan, Emily, and Summer told him about their adventures with friends at school. He’d gone to Emily’s science fair and watched Evan play baseball at the junior high school.

And he loved watching the bus when it pulled up in front of Ida’s house.

Fallon stepped into Owen’s bedroom. Owen was on the floor playing with a toy school bus Ida had bought him, along with some of his block figures.

He held up one of the figures. “You need to go to school,” he said theatrically.

“Okay, Momma,” he said, holding up another figure.

“Hurry. The bus!” the other figure said.

Fallon grinned. She imagined he’d heard Ida and Beth press Evan to hurry up more than once. She cleared her throat. “Ready to go?” Fallon asked.

Owen popped up and ran out of his room, nearly tripping Riley as she came down the hallway.

“Slow down,” Riley called after him.

“We gotta hurry, Mommy!” Owen yelled back.

Fallon emerged, chuckling. “Do you think we could rent a bus to take him to preschool next year?”

Riley laughed.

“Momma!” Owen called.

“That’s you,” Riley said.

“How did he get so big, Riley?”

Riley shook her head with amusement. Owen had been a curious soul since birth, always exploring his world with wide-eyed wonder.

Spending time with his older cousins only fueled his curiosity and enriched his vocabulary.

He struggled a bit at first when Beth and Barb moved to Whiskey Springs.

It wasn't easy for him to suddenly share the attention of the adults he had once claimed all to himself. Recently, Owen had focused on finding his place among his cousins, determined to fit in despite his age. He seemed to understand that attending school was the first step in leveling the playing field. For Owen, the idea of riding the bus would make him his cousins’ equal.

“He has grown, hasn’t he?” Riley agreed. She turned to Fallon and smiled. “You’d better get moving before…”

“Momma!”

“That happens,” Riley said, placing a kiss on Fallon’s cheek.

“Momma!”

“I’m coming!” Fallon called back. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Mm.”

“What? We’ll be back in less than an hour.”

Riley pursed her lips.

“What?” Fallon asked.

“Try not to get lost at the ice cream shop or the pond on your way back.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Fallon said, walking away.

“At least, do me a favor and don’t wash the ice cream off in the pond!” Riley called after her.

“Bye, Mommy!” Owen yelled as the door closed.

“Clearly heartbroken to leave me behind,” Riley said just as Hope cried. “And my sister thinks life in Whiskey Springs is boring and quiet ?” Riley laughed. “Somehow, I don't think things are going to get quieter any time soon.”

“Momma?”

Fallon looked down at Owen, who was sitting in the dirt, eating an ice cream cone while Evan skipped rocks across the water.

He’d better not get wet, or I’ll be doing the laundry for a week.

“Can I ride a bus?” Owen asked.

“You will ride a bus to school in another year.”

“But I get to go to school.”

“Yes. You’ll go to preschool at the end of the summer,” Fallon said.

Owen looked up at Evan. “With you?” he asked.

“Not with me,” Evan said.

Owen huffed.

“Evan is going to high school,” Fallon explained. “It’s where the big kids go.”

“I’m big!” Owen declared.

And determined . “You are big.”

“She means where the older kids go,” Evan said.

“You is not old,” Owen told Evan. “Momma is old!” He pointed at Fallon and laughed.

“I’m not old ,” Fallon said.

“Uh-huh,” Owen chimed. “You is older than Mommy.”

“Well…”

“You is older than Grandma,” Owen continued.

Fallon’s jaw dropped. “I’m not older than your grandmothers.”

“Uh-huh. Grandma Billie says.”

I’ll bet Grandma Billie says a lot of things. “Two months older,” Fallon said.

Evan laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” Fallon asked.

“It’s just funny listening to you defend yourself to Owen.”

“Mm.”

“Momma?”

“Yes?”

“I can ride the bus?”

Fallon wanted to smack her forehead. As much as Owen had grown, time was a concept he still didn’t fully grasp. “When you are five,” Fallon replied.

Owen held up his hand and tried to spread his sticky fingers apart as chocolate ice cream dripped between them. “One, two, three, four—Frog!”

Fallon blinked.

Owen pointed a few feet away at a rock by the water. “Frog!” He handed Fallon his ice cream cone, hopped to his feet, and sprinted toward the rock.

Evan looked at Fallon and shook his head. “Aunt Riley is definitely going to make you do the laundry,” he said, heading to join Owen.

Fallon looked down at herself, finding that chocolate ice cream had flowed like a tiny river down her white shirt. Just great.

Fallon swung open the door to reveal three pairs of blinking, curious eyes.

Riley’s brows shot up. Fallon was drenched—her jeans caked in mud, and a twig appeared to be stuck to her sneaker.

Owen stood beside her, equally soaked, his blond curls flat against his forehead and a rogue lily pad stuck to his bright red t-shirt.

“I think someone might be headed to a time-out,” Evan whispered to Fallon.

Fallon forced on her best innocent smile and directed her attention to Pete. “I didn’t think you’d be here this early.”

“That means she thought she had more time for pond-side ice cream,” Riley teased. “Or maybe you ate it in the pond?”

“Owen spotted a frog,” Evan explained.

Riley raised an eyebrow again.

“Aunt Fallon tried to catch it before it hopped away,” Evan added.

“Momma slipped,” Owen announced, giggling.

“More like she baptized herself,” Riley declared.

Fallon groaned. “It was slippery.”

“Uh, usually is down by the pond,” Pete chuckled.

Fallon glared at him. “I should probably shower,” Fallon said.

“Bring your little frog-chaser along,” Riley suggested.

“Come on, buddy,” Fallon said to Owen. “Let’s go get clean.”

Riley rolled her eyes. “I’m sure they’ll find some new way to make a mess.” She turned to Evan. “At least one of you escaped the pond unscathed.”

Evan shrugged. “Owen really wanted to eat ice cream and chase frogs,” he said.

“Oh, I bet that was all Owen’s idea,” Riley smirked.

Evan cleared his throat. “How’s Marge?” he asked Pete.

“She’s good,” Pete answered. “I think she’d love to hold the baby if Dale would let go of her for a minute.”

“Dale’s a little enthralled,” Beth offered.

“But Marge is okay?” Evan asked.

“She got up and walked around before I left,” Pete reassured him.

Evan nodded.

“Evan,” Riley said. “Grab a soda, and you two,” she pointed at Pete, “Can head outside. I’m sure Fallon and Owen will be ready to get dirty again in a few minutes.”

“What about you?” Pete asked.

“Beth and I are on wine duty in the kitchen. You and Fallon have grill duty. We’ll meet you out there shortly—just promise me one thing,” Riley added with a playful wag of her finger.

“Sure,” Pete said, raising an eyebrow.

“No sprinkler shenanigans,” Riley warned.

Pete saluted and guided Evan outdoors.

Beth chuckled. “You know that just puts the idea in their heads.”

“Mm. I do,” Riley smirked. “If she wants to make another mud bath, she can do the laundry all week.”

“Harsh,” Beth giggled.

“Brilliant,” Riley winked. “Now, a glass of wine before Hope wakes up?”

“Lead the way.”

Owen ran around the yard, dodging Evan's attempts to grab him. "You can't catch me!" he taunted his cousin with a giggle just before Evan lunged and lifted him triumphantly into the air.

"Gotcha!"

Owen squirmed in Evan's arms, giggling wildly. "You're it!" he proclaimed with a laugh as his feet touched the ground, dashing off again.

“Man, that kid has energy,” Pete commented.

“He’ll sleep tonight,” Fallon said. She watched as Pete fingered the rim of his beer bottle. “It won’t drink itself.”

Pete nodded.

Fallon took a deep breath and sighed. She had known Pete her entire life and considered him one of her closest friends for over a decade.

He was always the quiet one—the steadfast friend, the gentle presence who occupied the same seat at the bar every night.

People often underestimated Pete McCann, not realizing that behind his kind demeanor lay a sharp mind and deep insight.

They didn't take the time to get to know him. He was aware of the whispers about the simple man who spent his nights with burgers and beers at Murphy’s Law.

She understood people sometimes equated a love for simple pleasures with a lack of ambition.

That wasn’t Pete. He valued the people in his life far more than money.

He would do anything to protect his little sister and help her achieve her dreams, even if it meant putting his own aside.

Marge had been the center of Pete's world for most of his life, and Dale was his constant sidekick. Dale was now the center of Marge’s life.

It seemed appropriate when Fallon thought about it.

She sensed that someone else had now captured Pete's attention.

Fallon let her gaze fall on Evan. “They’re lucky to have you,” she said.

“Fallon, I—it’s not like that.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation,” Fallon said. “Beth is great.”

“She deserves more than I can give her.”

“More, huh?”

Pete took a sip from his beer.

“I had ideas about more once,” Fallon offered.

“I went to the city looking to prove I could be something more . More than this place offered. I looked for something more with Liv. Maybe to prove I was more than Dean,” Fallon admitted.

She turned to Pete. “What is more ? Everything I needed was right in front of me. Andi taught me that,” she said.

“I learned to stop looking at all the things people like to add up—houses, money, degrees—lovers.”