Page 19 of Cheap Shot

“What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the tall, upright stem with many smaller flowers along its length.

“Snapdragon!” he explained. He picked up one of the flowers he’d trimmed from the lower portion of the stalk. “Do you know why it’s called that?”

“No.” She gave him a curious look.

“Because the flower looks like a dragon!” He pinched the sides of the flower, making its “mouth” open and shut, pretending like it was trying to nip at Harper’s shoulder.

She giggled madly. “Lemme try.”

He handed over the flower and let her pretend to bite him. From across the room, Brie smiled at them.

But there was something tired in her eyes, so he held out an arm. She came over, tucking herself close and letting out a shuddering breath. He wondered if it was the first time she’d relaxed all day.

After Harper had tired of pretending to be a dragon, Sebastian forced a casual note into his voice and said, “Hey, Harper, what do you think about going up front to see Morgan? I think she has some candy by the register.”

“Ooh!” Harper wiggled. “Yes. Put me down!”

“Please,” Brie reminded her.

“Please!”

Sebastian lowered her to the floor, and she took off as fast as her legs could carry her. Which … wasn’t as fast as a typical kid her age.

One of the issues that PHACE Syndrome caused were motor development issues. She worked with a physical therapist and had for years, but it still left her with some coordination and balance challenges.

“You doing okay?” Sebastian asked his sister when Harper was out of earshot. “Issheokay?”

“Yeah.” Brie rubbed a hand across her face, and he pulled her against his chest, turning his head to rest his cheek against the top of her hair. “We’re both okay. Cardiology appointment went well. I’m just …”

“Exhausted?” he supplied when she didn’t finish.

“Yeah. And like … it’s just the amount of shit I have to keep track of, you know?” She rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s one good thing about Zack being gone. At least I don’t have to deal with all his bullshit too.”

Sebastian nodded. Not only had Zack walked out on Harper and Brie last year, he hadn’t really pulled his own weight before then either.

Brie might give him crap for his terrible taste in men, but it was only because she’d made the same mistake with Zack. Howanyonecould walk away from their family when their child was dealing with a condition like Harper’s was beyond Sebastian.

“Anything I can do?” he asked.

“No.” She sighed and straightened, pulling away. “No, you do enough. Too much, really.”

“You know I’m happy to do it.”

“I know that. I just feelguilty.” She leaned a hip against the workbench.

“Well, stop that,” he said lightly as he resumed arranging the bouquet. “I’m here because I want to be.”

“I know. But you’re young and single. You should be out having fun.”

“I’m thirty-three,” he said drily, “and I run a business with multiple locations. Trust me, I don’t have the timeordesire to be out bar hopping.”

She made a face. “Yeah, you don’t have Nicky to drag you out to have fun anymore.”

Sebastian laughed ruefully. Unfortunately, that was true. Nicky had been a huge part of his social life when he was in New York. Nicky’s injury had made that more difficult, and it had only gotten worse when Sebastian moved to Boston.

Without Nicky as that anchor, a lot of their mutual friends had drifted away. Even if on the surface it felt like he and Nicky weren’t as close now as they had been in the past either, Sebastian knew their ties were deeper. Would last. Even if they hadn’t talked much lately, the next time they saw each other it would be like no time had passed.

That was how it had always been.