It Started with a Crush by Piper James

Chapter Two

Chase

The tile I was laying on the kitchen floor was straight and even, despite my lack of concentration. I’d done the job so many times, I could probably do it with my eyes closed, which was a good thing since my head was miles away this morning—specifically, at Red River Elementary, where my eight-year-old son was attending his first day of school.

I had no idea how much longer the renovations on the ranch would take, and I hadn’t wanted Daniel to fall behind by missing the first few months of school until we moved back to L.A. Plus, the poor kid had been stuck with me and my brothers all summer with no other kids to play with. He seemed happy, trekking around the property, catching bugs and lizards and such, but I knew he must’ve felt lonely sometimes.

So I’d made the decision to enroll him at the town’s public school for the time being. I just hoped that had been the right choice. Red River was very different from Los Angeles, and I really hoped some of the small-town southern hospitality we’d experienced from the adults here had rubbed off on their kids. And that they were being nice to Daniel.

My brother Ryder walked by, eyeing my tile job with a firm nod before heading back into the bedroom area where he was hanging fresh drywall. My brow furrowed as I stared in the direction he’d gone, and my thoughts turned, once again, to the future.

Ryder, our brothers Ethan and Noah, and I had formed our company, Perry Brothers Construction a decade ago in L.A. With a lot of hard work and networking, we’d turned it into a multi-million dollar company, serving some of the wealthiest families in the greater Los Angeles area. And with some savvy investments by our brother, Ethan, we were set for life and able to do whatever we wanted with no financial worries.

That was why we were able to take several months off and come to Texas to renovate the old ranch our great-uncle left us in his will when he passed. I’d wanted to get out of the city for a while, and had talked my brothers into joining me on this project. I thought it would be good for Daniel, too, to see other parts of the country and experience some real nature L.A. just couldn’t provide.

But things changed when Ryder met Annabelle Parker. He married her two weeks later—a business arrangement she’d proposed to him to appease her asshole of a father—and the two had fallen in love pretty quickly after that. They were extremely happy together, and there was zero chance Ryder was ever going to consider going back to Los Angeles with us when this project was over and we sold the ranch.

In fact, Belle recently started her very own nonprofit, ARP, or the Annabelle Rae Perry Foundation, which built and renovated homes for less fortunate families. And Perry Brothers Construction had become an integral part of the foundation. We used our connections to garner donations in addition to using our skills to help restore old homes and build new ones. The four of us were splitting time between this ranch and the work for the foundation, which was why this project was taking much longer than expected.

And I had no idea what would happen when we were done. Would Ethan, Noah, Daniel and I go back home to our old lives without Ryder? Would Perry Brothers continue to thrive, or would we end up closing up shop to pursue new ventures on our own? I knew nothing would be the same without him, and I wasn’t sure any of us had the heart to continue on, business as usual, without our brother by our side.

I was worried, too, about uprooting Daniel once again. We weren’t living in that dingy motel anymore, thank God, since we found a small, tidy house with three bedrooms to rent for the duration of our stay here. It wasn’t a real home for Daniel, but he loved living with Noah and Ethan, and he had a yard to play in. And if he made some friends at his new school…

Hopefully he made friends. I’d been so worried about him being alone with just grown-ups all day, but being at school with a bunch of kids his age and having them ignore him, or even worse, pick on him? I don’t know what I’d do.

“Are you trying to stare a hole into that wall?”

My body jerked, my gaze flying up to see Ryder standing over me, one black brow arched in question. I hadn’t even seen him walk back into the kitchen, I’d been so preoccupied. When I didn’t respond, he dropped to his knees to help me finish laying the tile.

“Still worrying about Daniel?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I admitted. “I’ve been nervous all morning. What if he doesn’t fit in, and the kids aren’t nice to him?”

Ryder shook his head. “Daniel is the coolest kid on the planet. He probably has those kids eating out of his hand by now. Besides, Sage will take care of him.”

Sage Barlow, Daniel’s new teacher, was one of Belle’s best friends, and since my sister-in-law seemed to be an excellent judge of character, I had no choice but to believe Sage was good people. I’d yet to meet her myself, even though Belle and Ryder had tried more than once to get her friends together with us so we could all meet. It just hadn’t happened yet.

“You’re right,” I said sighing. “I know he’ll be fine, but the dad in me can’t help but worry about him.”

Ryder was right. Daniel was a bright, kind-hearted kid who’d never had any trouble making friends before, so all my worrying was probably for nothing. Probably.

But I was a dad, and that’s what dads did. They worried about their kids. They wanted them to be happy and healthy, and lead fulfilling lives. And they didn’t want them getting picked on because they were the new kid in school. Or ignored and avoided.

“Daniel can handle himself,” Ryder said, pulling me out of another doomsday spiral. “Hell, Chase, he’s spent enough time around the four of us to know how to handle anything. I’m not worried, at all, and you shouldn’t be, either. He’ll be fine.”

His confidence was comforting, and I gave him a nod. “Thanks, bro.”

“Any time, brother. Any time.”

* * *

I was pacingby the front window for twenty minutes before I saw the long yellow school bus stop at the end of the drive. My first instinct was to rush out to meet my son, but I checked myself and moved to the couch, instead. I didn’t want to embarrass Daniel in front of his schoolmates by acting like a helicopter parent.

I was fiddling with my phone like I didn’t have a care in the world when Daniel walked into the house.

“Hey, buddy. How was school?” I asked, keeping my tone upbeat and casual.

“It was good!” he said, his voice chipper and a smile on his lips. “My new teacher is super nice, and I made a couple of friends! Tyrell asked me to sit by him, and Jayson played with us at recess.”

“That’s great, bud. I’m so glad you had a good first day.”

The tension I’d been carrying all day drained out of me. I stood up and headed into the kitchen to make Daniel a snack. He followed behind me, chattering away about all the new things he learned today, what he ate for lunch, and how they played kickball during P.E.

“Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Is Uncle Noah home yet?”

“Not yet,” I said, cocking my head to study him. “Why?”

“Oh, I was just wondering,” he said, taking the plate of apple slices smeared with peanut butter I held out to him.

He chattered on as he ate, talking about the lizard he saw outside the gym, the artwork plastered on the walls of every hallway, and how Miss Barlow was so funny, she made all the kids laugh with her jokes.

It sounded like Sage Barlow was amazing with the kids and made Daniel feel right at home. I was grateful that she made Daniel’s first day so seamless, and I couldn’t wait to meet her so I could give her my heartfelt thanks.

I’d have to talk to Belle about trying to set something up again, and soon.