Page 21 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)

“ I ’m sorry we’re a little off today,” Simone said as she set a steaming mug of coffee in front of Vivian. “We had an unpleasant phone call earlier.”

“It was Tobias,” Ben snapped as he hovered impatiently on the other side of the kitchen. He was supposed to be in his meeting, but had canceled it. “And the word unpleasant doesn’t quite cover what we went through before you and your horde arrived.”

Rowan winced. There was no love lost between his Aunt Vivian and Ben.

The sad thing was that Ben understood he was the villain in her story, and while remorseful, he knew damn well he couldn’t change the past. His aunt knew this also, but whenever the topic of Ben came up, she couldn’t help but release a venomous quip or two.

It was for the best that everyone kept their distance, and that’s exactly what he and Annabeth were doing.

Izzy and Abe had retreated to the media room, along with Bernie and Will, so that they could have privacy in the kitchen.

Once Holden got there, Samuel had taken his crew home, save for Josie, who had wanted to stay for whatever reason.

Liam and Jamison were out the door the second Holden brought one of the Fairweather boats alongside Haven’s dock. Rowan had been a little pissed when he saw the make and model, knowing that particular class had a small single cabin.

With a bed.

Bastards .

“I knew you were up to no good, Ben,” Vivian said, sipping her coffee. “But even I’m surprised to hear you were up at dawn conversing with serial killers.”

Bianca adjusted her oversized glasses and pinned Rowan with a glare. “Care to elaborate, Randall?”

Randall?

Ouch.

It was a little early to be throwing out government names.

“Listen, Aunt B, things around here are complicated, and I’m doing my job.”

Bianca leaned sideways, peering around him at Annabeth. “Hello, Job . Lovely to meet you.”

“He-hello.” Annabeth bravely met each set of appraising eyes. “I’m Annabeth. It’s lovely to meet you all.”

Bianca opened her mouth to reply with some off-the-wall remark but was poked in the shoulder by Vivian’s oldest daughter. Jenny excelled at keeping their aunt’s crazy in check. “Calm down,” she ordered Bianca. “We came to make sure Rowan is okay, and now that we see that he is, we can leave.”

“Yeah, fat chance of that,” Sasha mumbled from her spot on the wall. Unlike her sister, Sasha had no patience for their family’s particular flavor of crazy. She thrived in high-stress situations, but had her limits when it came to Bianca. “You’ve awakened the beasts, Row.”

Vivian placed her cup down and kept her gaze trained on Ben.

“I don’t believe you’ve met my daughters,” she spoke smugly, always proud of her children.

“Jenny is my eldest and has recently finished nursing school. Then we have Sasha over by Rowan. She’s in her second year of college but is still undecided on her future path in life. ”

“Oh, I’ve decided, but according to my mother, seeing the world isn’t a valid life path,” Sasha whispered loudly to Annabeth.

“And let’s be for real. She shouldn’t be surprised that I don’t care about college and want to wander instead.

It’s in my DNA. McIntyres can’t sit still for very long, or we’ll go insane. ”

Sasha was a good kid and only trying to be friendly, but the way Annabeth edged further along the wall had Rowan going on alert.

He was positive that Killian had briefed every McIntyre woman in this room on what Annabeth meant to him and the challenges she faced.

Knowing his weak ass brother, Kill probably folded the second they closed ranks and spilled all the details, including what went down here.

“Children do what they want in the end,” Josie said, standing by the kitchen island where Simone had retreated. “Look at Selah. He was supposed to be head of Fairweather, and now he’s off changing the world for the better.”

“How is Selah?” Vivian asked Simone. “He had the best smile when he was a little boy and was always so kind.” Her gaze drifted toward Ben. “So much so, it was hard to believe he was your child.”

“Selah is fine.” Ben crossed his arms, jaw ticking. “Cut the shit, Viv. What do you know?”

Vivian hesitated for a moment. “Simone, would you mind if my girls peeked at the conservatory? I think they’d enjoy it.”

Understanding immediately, Simone nodded. “It’s lovely this time of day, and all the new kittens should be out basking in the sun.”

“I’ll go with them,” Bianca said, rising from the table. The damn parrot flapped wildly as she stood, its wings knocking poor Jenny in the head. “Easy, Monty. And no terrorizing kittens.”

Simone led the McIntyre women out while Vivian remained engaged in her endless glaring contest with Ben.

“I know everything,” she said once the others were gone. “But I don’t want them to know. I don’t want them to even come close to understanding how evil and awful the Fairweathers can be or of what I had to endure before their father came into my life.”

The lines around Ben’s eyes softened a fraction. He looked tired. More tired than Rowan had seen him through this entire ordeal. “Goddamn it, Viv,” Ben said in a low voice. “Why did you have to show up today of all days?”

Rowan moved to intervene, but Josie beat him to it, seating herself next to Vivian. “How is Aiden?” she asked. “Is he doing well?”

It was the perfect pivot. Aiden and Vivian had the kind of relationship other couples could only dream of having. They adored each other and did everything together with their girls.

“He’s good.” Vivian was immensely proud of not only her daughters, but also of her husband. She gave Josie a bittersweet smile. “I was very sorry to hear about Miranda. She was such a brave soul. ”

Both Josie and Ben stiffened. “Thank you,” Josie said finally. “She often said the same thing about you.”

Vivian gave a small laugh. “I still remember how Helen would throw those dreadful Christmas parties. Miranda and I would pretend Samuel was a fussy baby just so we could sneak off and hide from those insufferable assholes James and Helen called friends.”

Ben looked like he might actually smile. “You two disappeared so often at those things, I started wondering if my son had some kind of allergy to people.”

Josie snorted. “Samuel is kind of allergic to people, Ben.”

“You can blame me and Miranda for that,” Vivian replied. “We probably ruined him early on.”

A rare hush settled over the table until Rowan cleared his throat. “Aunt Viv, I don’t want my mom to worry—”

“Too late for that,” she interrupted.

“But I’m not leaving,” Rowan continued, taking Annabeth’s hand. “Ever.”

Vivian’s sharp gaze dropped to their joined hands. “I see.”

Josie looked impressed, while Ben let out one of those sighs that said he really didn’t want to be involved with this discussion.

“You know what?” Annabeth squeaked, wiggling her hand free of his grasp. “I think I’ll go check on the others. No offense, but I don’t trust that parrot around the cats.”

“No offense taken.” Vivian drummed her manicured nails against the ceramic coffee mug. “You’re right to be worried. Monty is a monster.”

Annabeth made a quick exit with Ben not far behind her. “Come on, Josie,” he said. “Let’s go check on the cats.”

Josie didn’t move. “Why me?”

Ben let out another one of his sighs. “Because Simone is probably in a full-blown panic over that damn bird, and she’ll expect me to do something about it, and I have no idea what the hell to do with a parrot. Just… come be my backup.”

Grumbling under her breath, Josie followed, patting Rowan’s shoulder on her way out.

Alone with this aunt, Rowan sat at the table. “ Go ahead and say your piece.”

That was all the leeway Viv needed. “This is absurd. We were against you taking the job in the first place, thinking it was simply you being your usual rebel self, but you have no business being involved with these people.”

“These people were once your family.”

“They were once my family when I was a young fool.” Vivian's spine snapped straight. “Back when I was so in love, I couldn’t see Charlie for what he really was.”

He shouldn’t say it. He should keep his damn mouth shut because his aunt had suffered enough, but he wasn’t about to sit here and listen to a bullshit comparison. “Annabeth isn’t Charlie. Hell, she’s not even a Fairweather.”

“It doesn’t matter that she’s not a Fairweather by blood. That girl is one of them.”

“And what if she is?” He leaned forward to drive his next words home. “Fairweather or not, she’s mine.”

Vivian’s mouth slammed shut, her nostrils flaring.

“Yeah, you heard me. This is the end of the line for me. I want nothing else in life but her,” he continued. “I love Annabeth. I’ve loved her for years. Years, Aunt Viv. I’ve bided my time until I couldn’t wait anymore.”

“You do realize you’ll likely never leave Haven House?”

He was so damn tired of hearing this argument. “So what if I live and die in the same spot? If I’m with her, it doesn’t matter.”

Vivian relaxed, settling back into the kitchen chair. “My, oh my. You sound just like your father.”

He loved his father, but they were nothing alike.

Phillip McIntyre was a serious man who had dedicated his entire life to running McIntyre Industries until his health no longer permitted it.

Rowan would never call his father uptight, but yeah, that was as close of a description as possible and the exact opposite of himself.

No, he was more like his mother. Margie McIntyre was a free spirit who could hold her own with Bianca. His mom always wanted everything to be fun and beautiful for their family, even coaxing her husband to engage in a few of her more eccentric ideas.

“I don’t know how I could possibly sound like my dad.”

“When Phillip brought Margie home, our parents hated her and thought she was just a passing phase,” Vivian explained. “Then, when he said he wanted to marry her, I honestly thought The McIntyre might disown him.”