Just Like That (The Kings)

I couldn’t recall the last time I had enjoyed a midday, leisurely stroll through downtown.

Probably never.

After Teddy got restless at the beach, we’d packed up, and Hazel said she planned to find them another adventure so I could finally head to work. We parted ways, but it surprised me how I couldn’t stop thinking about what they were up to.

Do seven-year-olds nap?

Did they check out the library?

Maybe I could call Sylvie and see about blueberry picking.

There’s a new go-kart place that just opened up. Would he like that?

Early-morning beach day with Hazel and Teddy was messing with my head . . . and my routine. Typically my workday started at 5:00 a.m. with sorting emails while I ran three miles on the treadmill. By seven I was sequestered in my office, hunched over proposals, projections, and paperwork.

I released a breath and took in my surroundings. Somehow I had forgotten how quaint and folksy my hometown was. By now summer was waning and the vacation crowds were dwindling. We were in that precious lull where tourism shifted from the peak of summer on the beach and transitioned to a cozier fall with apple picking and hayrides.

Even the air smelled different.

I hadn’t missed the way the slight chill of the lake breeze made Hazel’s nipple rings press against the flimsy fabric of her lavender bathing suit top. She didn’t seem to care at all that she was driving me mad by simply existing.

Despite the mirrored lenses of her sunglasses, I could feel her eyes on me all morning. Whether she was assessing my interactions with Teddy or recalling the way my teeth had nipped at her neck as she rode my hand, I didn’t care. I liked how her appreciative gaze heated my skin and puffed my chest.

I shook her from my thoughts.

Walking in my direction, Ms. Tiny was bustling down the street, staring at me with a strange expression. The elderly woman’s face looked like a worn leather couch that was pissed off you’d ruined the finish. When I realized I had been whistling, I cleared my throat and stuffed my hand into the pocket of my slacks.

“Ma’am.” I tipped my head in her direction.

“Mr. King.” Her thin lips pressed into a demure smile.

Mr. King.

I had noticed that, around town, more and more people had stopped calling me JP. It was an unofficial recognition that I was now the head of King Equities. My stomach roiled and bile scorched the back of my throat.

“Please. Call me JP.” I attempted a smile, but it felt more like a grimace.

Her lip curled. “I’ll call you whatever I like.”

She brushed past me and I stifled a snort. At least one thing hadn’t changed, Ms. Tiny was still mean as a snake. “Tough old bird,” I muttered at her back.

As I waited at the corner for the light to change, I sat back on my heels and looked up at my corner office building. The building itself was one of the original structures constructed when the town was established, and it was starting to look its age.

Veda and I were cramped in the tiny upstairs office. When I’d set up the temporary office space, I was tempted by the circular bay window that provided a panoramic view of Outtatowner—from the lighthouse at the end of the pier to the stretch of Main Street that welcomed tourists downtown.

Once it was fixed up, it could make a stellar office with high ceilings and functional meeting spaces. Veda had made comments about how perfect the afternoon lighting was, and she didn’t know it yet, but I’d just purchased the entire thing and planned to renovate it. If we really were going to take over the world, she could have the corner office to enjoy the view she loved so much.

It felt like the least I could do for her role in helping put my father behind bars.

The crosswalk light turned, but my phone rang, so I stepped to the side. Abel’s name flashed across the screen and my heart sank.

Tourists flowed around me as I pressed a finger into my ear. “Hello?”

“Hey.” Abel’s voice was grim—more than usual, and that was saying something. “You need to come out here.”

I could feel the blood drain from my face. All day I’d tried to ignore the fact that a crew was dredging Wabash Lake and divers were looking for evidence to use against our father.

I steeled my voice. “They found something?”

He blew out a sad stream of breath. “Not just something.” The hairs prickled on the back of my neck as his pause stretched over the line. “They found Mom.”

Leave it to Dad to finally unite the King siblings in the most horrible way possible.

He did this. It was his fault.

The six of us were standing in a line along the far side of Lake Wabash’s south shore. Abel looked as though he was about to plow his fist into something. Whip’s arms were crossed as he slowly shook his head. Royal’s jaw flexed as he fought back emotion. He slung an arm across Sylvie’s shoulder. She and MJ locked arms and silently wiped away tears as quickly as they fell.

The Sullivans were off to the side, offering their silent support. It seemed they understood we needed this moment.

I watched in restrained horror as the coroner confirmed that the remains they found were, in fact, human.

It struck me as funny how quickly I could recall being five years old. We had woken up one morning and Mom was just gone. No note. No tearful goodbye. No promises of coming back to get us.

Nothing.

It was the exact same confusion and emptiness I felt when we all realized what the divers had found. For the twenty-seven years she’d been gone, I did everything I could to not miss her. I set my emotions aside in a little box and refused to open it—I had to in order to survive. Even as a child, it was drilled into me that the only thing I should do was step up and fix whatever problems arose in her absence.

This was no different.

Only now it wasn’t anger and betrayal I felt at her absence. It was the unshed grief of a five-year-old boy.

“She was here the whole time,” MJ whispered, her voice wobbling at the edges and giving voice to what we’d all been thinking. “She was so close.”

Sylvie swallowed and rubbed MJ’s arm. “She got to see a lot of life here. Kids laughing. Picnics. Surrounded by nature. There are worse places, I guess.”

I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to feel the bone-deep loss of the mother I had loved more than anyone.

He did this.

My bones were rattling with rage as we watched from a distance. Beyond the police tape, the medical examiner took great care of the remains while divers continued to search for and collect additional evidence.

“What are we going to do?” Royal turned to me. Despite being the younger brother, my siblings were always looking to me for answers. Once again, it was my responsibility to step up and fix the problem.

“We don’t know for sure it’s her,” Whip added, though the lack of hope in his voice was telling.

We all knew.

It would only be a matter of time until it was confirmed that Maryann King’s remains had been intentionally hidden. It was why Dad had dragged Veda here to threaten and scare her. It was why he fought so long and so hard against June Sullivan when she turned the lake and its surrounding land over to the Department of Natural Resources. Our father’s odd affection for June Sullivan had soured when she stood against him and facilitated the development of the hiking trail. It was, in part, her way of shining a spotlight on what she’d suspected he had done to his wife.

For nearly thirty years, he had done everything in his power to successfully keep his secret hidden.

“Nothing changes.” My face hardened. “This is good news.”

Sylvie’s gaze sliced toward me, tears simmering in her eyes. “How could you say that?”

My jaw flexed. “We knew she wasn’t coming back. Now we know why. Dad can’t buy his way out of this one.”

MJ surged forward, squeezing me in her embrace. Her face was buried against my suit jacket, muffling her words. “It’s okay to feel it. It’s okay to be sad.”

My nose burned.

I did feel sad. An aching emptiness. A final knowing that my mother wasn’t off having some exotic adventure without us. She hadn’t willingly abandoned us.

She’d never even left town.

My arms wrapped around my little sister as emotion won out. I buried my nose in her hair and struggled to keep my sob in check. Behind me, Royal caught us in a bear hug and squeezed the air from my lungs. Soon Sylvie, Whip, and Abel joined in and we stood in a clump, holding on to one another and trying to make sense of it all.

For a moment, wrapped in a cocoon of sorrow with my siblings, I allowed that little five-year-old boy to feel the sadness of losing his mother. We cried and held on to one another as we each let the pain of the truth sink in.

When we finally separated, Lee stepped forward with glassy eyes to hand us some tissues before pulling Whip in for a hug. I thanked Lee with a nod and wiped under my nose, then cleared my throat and reined in my scattered emotions. Duke grabbed Sylvie and offered comfort to his grieving wife.

“Why don’t we meet up at the brewery. Lunch and a few beers on me,” Abel said.

He was met with gratitude and acknowledgment, but I simply shook my head. “I’m going to head into the office. I’ve got work to do.”

My father’s reach was long and wide. I didn’t trust the investigators to not be tempted by whatever strings Dad thought he could pull from behind bars. Outtatowner’s crime rate was astonishingly low, so reports of human remains being found at Wabash Lake would be all over the news within hours.

We needed to get ahead of it.

I needed to show the world that there was a new ruler at King Equities, and nothing—not even this—would shake us.

The porch light was on as I slowed down the driveway. Hazel’s skoolie was still parked haphazardly in the drive, and I cruised past it to park. After turning the car off, I sat in silence and sighed.

What a fucking day.

I was tired—bone-deep weary and worn thin.

As I’d suspected, news reporters called nonstop asking for a comment. Colleagues voiced their “concern” while poking and prodding, trying to get information on the future of King Equities.

We lost another huge account. Go figure.

I pressed my thumbs into my eye sockets and tried to remember how to breathe.

A sharp knock on the glass beside my head jolted me. “Holy fuck!”

“Sorry!” Hazel’s voice was muffled by the window. I looked over to see both of her hands up and a strained grimace on her face.

I opened the car door with a huff.

“Hey . . .” she started. “I’m so sorry. I heard you pull in and then you were out here for a while . . .” Nerves rolled off her small frame. She took two steps back. “You know what? I should go, I’m sorry. You look like you need a minute. I shouldn’t have⁠—”

“Stop.” I stepped from my car and shut the door behind me. I leaned against the car, and my arms hung at my sides in defeat.

Hazel stood, frozen in the darkness as she stared up at me. In the moonlight, the strands of her strawberry blond hair were silver wisps.

I reached forward to clasp her wrist. I closed my eyes with a heavy sigh and pulled her closer.

I didn’t know what I was doing. It was very likely a mistake, but I needed something.

I needed her.

“Come here.” I wrapped my arms around her and Hazel sagged into me. Her arms wound around my waist and she squeezed. My head fell on top of hers and I breathed in her warm, citrusy scent, filling my lungs and holding it inside. If I could focus on her, I wouldn’t have to think about anything else.

My bones were so tired it amazed me I was still upright. All five foot six of her was holding me up, and she didn’t even realize it.

My eyes burned and my throat was thick as I released her. “Ah . . .” I cleared my throat. “Thanks.”

Hazel was looking up at me, waiting for me to make sense of my actions. My hand found her face. “Thank you,” I said again, this time with more intention as I gazed at her pretty face.

Her smile was soft and sweet. “You keep thanking me, but I’m not sure what for.”

My eyes bounced between hers. A wry chuckle bubbled in my chest. “Honestly, I don’t even know either. Being here? Stepping up and being a good mom for Teddy? Hell if I know.” I looked down at her and my fingertip brushed away a rogue strand of hair. “All I know is it was nice to not come home to a cold and empty house tonight.”

Her brown eyes were shaded in the moonlight. “Even if I am a squatter?” she teased.

A smile twitched the corner of my mouth. Sparring with her was exactly the levity I needed. “And a witch,” I added.

The musical notes of her laughter soothed my soul. She playfully rolled her eyes. “Obviously a witch. Always.”

She stepped away, but my hand grazed the thin skin on the inside of her arm. I needed that connection, to feel her warmth, even if I didn’t know what that meant.

Her warm eyes looked up at me as I watched the tears shimmering along her lash line. “I’m so sorry about your mother.”

My thumb grazed the outside corner of her eye, brushing the tear away. “You don’t have to cry for me.”

Her wet lashes closed, and she squeezed her eyes tight as she whispered, “But if I don’t, who else will?”

Her words were a dagger to my heart. My hand moved to her face, tipping it backward and urging her to look at me. My thumb brushed her cheek as I studied her features. “I don’t want to make anyone cry—least of all you.”

My eyes dropped to her mouth as her lips parted on an inhale. My thumb dragged across her lower lip.

She was too young.

Our situation was far too complicated.

She deserved a man who wasn’t me.

I lowered my head and placed a whisper of a kiss at the corner of her mouth. Her quick inhale was nearly my breaking point, but I pulled back.

“Good night, Hex.”