Filed to story: My Life with the Walter Boys Book (I & II) PDF Free
“Hellooo, earth to Jackie.”
Across the deck, Isaac, Lee, Alex, Kim, and Nathan were sitting at the patio table. Something about the scene looked wrong, like someone had photoshopped out a part of the picture. That was when I realized it was because the eldest set of Walter twins was missing. My ribs grew tight as I thought of Danny. We’d spent the entire summer together, so his absence was disquieting, but he’d decided to stay behind in New York to pursue acting, and I couldn’t begrudge him chasing his dreams.
Alex raised a brow at me, then pushed out the empty chair at his side. “Plan on standing there all night, or are you going to join us?”
A hand wrapped around my wrist.
“No, come sit with me,” Parker said and tugged me toward the lawn. “I haven’t finished telling you about my summer.”
Her smile was too innocent to be trustworthy, but I couldn’t face Alex and Kim yet, not when what happened this afternoon was fresh in my mind. After sending an apologetic smile in Alex’s direction, I let Parker lead me over to a picnic table where the younger kids were eating, and Zack and Benny watched with rapt attention as she directed me to a specific spot on the bench. Jack was intently focused on his food, but it was obvious something was up since his twin was missing. Knowing Jordan, he was probably lurking nearby with their camera, hoping to catch whatever action arose. Following a cursory look under the table (I’d play along provided their plan didn’t involve another encounter with Rumple, Jordan’s corn snake), I sat down and braced myself for whatever was coming.
I didn’t have to wait long.
Parker tried to distract me with outrageous stories about her week at summer camp, but the Walters didn’t do subtle, and I noticed Jack nod out of the corner of my eye. His signal triggered a strange sputtering noise, and a split second later, a stream of water blasted me in the back. I screamed, more because of the cold temperature than the surprise of the attack, and the kids shrieked with laughter. Hidden in the bushes behind me was a sprinkler, and it sprayed me once more before I could scramble away from the table and out of range.
“What’s going on?” Nathan stood at the edge of the deck, a frown marring his face. Nobody responded, but it only took him a second to survey the scene and figure out what had happened. He snatched a towel off one of the pool chairs and rushed down the steps. “Jackie, are you all right?”
“I’m good,” I said, taking the proffered towel and wrapping it around my shoulders.
My answer must not have appeased Nathan, because he rounded on his siblings with a scowl. “What the hell is wrong with you guys?”
“Lighten up, Nate. It was just a welcome-back joke,” Jordan explained as he emerged from the bushes, camera in hand. His accomplices snickered. “I caught the whole thing. Who wants to see?”
The expression on Nathan’s face warned of an imminent explosion, so I placed a hand on his arm in an effort to calm him down. “Hey, it’s okay. I promise.”
“It’s not okay,” he snapped, still glaring at his younger brothers and sister, all of whom had crowded around Jordan to watch their ambush play out on screen. “You’ve been home for less than three hours and they’ve already—“
“Nathan.” I threw him a look, and in a much lower voice, I added, “Nobody did anything I didn’t allow to happen.”
He opened his mouth to argue, then paused as my words sank in. Understanding flickered in his eyes shortly afterward. “Oh! So you let them…”
I nodded. “Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”
And it truly wasn’t.
Old me would have insisted on drying my hair and changing, but I’d come a long way from my first meeting the Walter kids when Zack and Benny tackled me into the pool. Dry clothes were never a guarantee in the Walter household. Sometime between being thrown into a freezing cold swimming hole, getting caught in the rain on multiple occasions, and surprise squirt gun attacks, I’d learned that a little bit of water never hurt.
After all, what was a little bit of H2O in comparison to the smiles on their faces?
Two
Two
The rest of my first night back was spent reconnecting with the Walters. After dinner, George built a bonfire in the backyard, and we all sat around it swapping stories about summer. Lee recounted a disastrous family camping trip that made me laugh so hard my sides ached, and I told them all about Danny’s first experience on the subway, where he was pelted with gummy bears by a woman in a ball gown for no reason other than New York was weird. It was well past midnight when I finally called it a day and went to bed. I hurried through my nighttime routine—teeth brushed, face scrubbed, hair detangled—before trudging upstairs to my room. Katherine’s old art studio was a welcome sight. I’d missed the colorful wall murals and sash windows that gave me several different views of the ranch. Even the creaky floorboards made me smile.
The last thing I did before turning off the light was remove my necklace—a dried lavender stem encased in a pendant—and tuck it into the jewelry case on my dresser. It belonged to my mother originally, a prized possession and signature accessory, and although I’d long admired it, I couldn’t bring myself to claim the delicate piece after her death. That changed last month when I finally began the process of cleaning out my parents’ room. The moment I came across the necklace on her vanity, I’d fastened the silver chain around my neck. Now, I wore it on occasion to feel closer to her.
By the time I climbed into bed, my exhaustion was so great I thought I’d fall asleep the second my head hit the pillow. After all, I could barely keep my eyes open.
Much to my frustration, sleep eluded me. My brain had a bad habit of whirling to life whenever I was most tired, and tonight it zeroed in on one thing—Cole Walter. I was both relieved and frustrated to learn he’d be at work tomorrow. Knowing I didn’t have to face him yet felt like a stay of execution. It would give me a chance to enjoy the block party without worrying about our reunion turning into an angry confrontation. On the other hand, I wanted to rip the Band-Aid off, and there was no way I could wait until next Friday to do so. If he didn’t show up at the ranch by the end of the weekend, I’d track him down on Monday even if it meant begging one of the Walters to drive me into town.
The two of us needed to talk.
Things had changed for me over the summer.
At the beginning of the year, Uncle Richard sent me away from
New York because he thought I wasn’t handling my grief well. Not only did he think it was unhealthy for me to remain in the home my family would never return to, but he suggested I was using homework, school organizations, and volunteer work as a coping mechanism; if I burned the candle at both ends, then I could exhaust myself to the point of apathy. Moving in with the Walters had helped to an extent; I learned important lessons about letting loose and being less of a perfectionist.
But it wasn’t until I returned to the city and was forced to face my grief by once more living in a place where my memories were inescapable that I realized Uncle Richard was right—I’d been running from the pain from the moment my family passed. I’d acted no differently in Colorado. Instead of school and clubs, I used Alex and Cole as a diversion. Getting to know both boys made it possible for me to ignore the crushing weight of my loss. With that realization came both guilt and regret. My family was gone, and rather than mourning them, I dove straight into dating and concerned myself with unimportant things like flirting and kissing.
Now, I needed to stop distracting myself. Lucy and my parents deserved better.
I deserved better, and Cole did too. Alex would obviously be fine; we parted on good terms, and he admitted to using me as much as I had him. I wasn’t sure about Cole, though, since nothing was ever simple with him; drama followed in his wake at every turn. We weren’t even dating, and our relationship was a labyrinth of land mines and obstacles. On top of that, Cole was leaving, and I needed to refocus on my own education.
As much as I cared about him, I couldn’t date Cole Walter.
Life would be less complicated if we just stayed friends.
***
The next day, I watched the sun rise over the ranch while waiting for Nathan to join me for our morning run. When he failed to appear before I finished stretching, I figured he overslept and decided to go without him. The Walter kids made a sport of sleeping in on Saturdays, so I was unsurprised to find the house still silent when I came back. It wasn’t until I neared the kitchen and caught the tail end of an argument that I realized someone else was awake.
“…barely seven and you’re just getting home,” Katherine was saying. “That’s unacceptable.”
“I already told you I fell asleep watching a movie at a friend’s house,” someone replied, but I wasn’t sure who. Isaac maybe? “What more do you want me to say? It was an honest mistake, I swear.”
“I’d be willing to give you the benefit of the doubt if this was your first offense, but you’ve been pushing limits and breaking house rules all summer.” Based on her tone alone, I could easily picture Katherine’s unimpressed expression. “I’m done putting up with this kind of behavior.”
The coffee maker beeped, signaling the end of a brew.
“Sorry. I promise it won’t happen again.” Yes, that definitely sounded like Isaac. I could tell by the lack of regret in his voice.
“Be that as it may, you’re still grounded.”
“