LOVE IS HERE TO STAY (Hazel Island #3)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

The principal of Hazel Island Middle School wasn't an imposing man, but Mr. Foster had perfected the disappointed frown. And he was using it quite effectively on Aaron Morrison. Although Aaron hadn't been in grade school student in nearly twenty years, he still had to refrain from squirming in his seat.

His eleven-year-old nephew Logan wasn't fazed. He just kept swinging his feet and staring out the window, where other students were currently playing dodgeball.

Mr. Foster folded his hands. "There has been another incident," he intoned heavily. He looked toward Logan, and his expression seemed resigned. "In the cafeteria this time."

Considering there had already been three other incidents in the past two months, Aaron was grudgingly impressed with his nephew's ability to get into trouble no matter the location.

"Logan," said Mr. Foster sharply. "You need to pay attention."

Logan seemed tempted to roll his eyes, but when Aaron shook his head slightly, his nephew apparently decided not to push things.

Mr. Foster then proceeded to describe how Logan had come up behind another student and had dumped an entire bowl of applesauce on his head.

Logan snickered. Aaron wanted to melt into the floor. Or shake his nephew until his teeth rattled.

"Is something funny, young man?" asked Mr. Foster.

Logan folded his arms, a smirk on his face. Aaron hated that stupid smirk. In the last year, Logan had gotten way too good at making a face that screamed he didn't care what you said to him. The kind of face only an eleven-year-old with an attitude could come up with.

"Noooooo," was Logan's reply, but the smile wouldn't leave his lips.

"This is very serious. This is the fourth incident this year. You've already been suspended twice." Although Mr. Foster didn't raise his voice, his tone hardened with each word. "You could be expelled. Do you know what that means?"

Logan grinned. "I don't have to go to school anymore?"

"Logan!" hissed Aaron. Now he wasn't just embarrassed—he was pissed. "Mr. Foster, I'll deal with him. He'll apologize to the student, too."

"What? No, I won't!" squawked Logan.

Aaron decided to ignore that outburst. After more promises to Mr. Foster and assurances he'd get Logan in check, he and Logan headed home.

As a real estate developer, Aaron could work remotely. When he'd had to take in his niece and nephew after their parents' sudden deaths, being able to work from home had seemed like one of the few bright spots in Aaron's life.

Now, though, Aaron suddenly wished he had an office to get away from it all.

I'm out of my f*****g depth, he kept thinking to himself on the silent ride home. Logan just stared out the window the entire time.

"Well?" Aaron said finally, gripping the steering wheel hard. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Logan shrugged. "Nope."

Aaron gritted his teeth. He forced himself to stay calm. He knew that Logan wanted a reaction from him, and he was not about to be bested by an eleven-year-old.

"You realize you could be kicked out of school? The only middle school on the island?" said Aaron.

"School is stupid."

"Everybody your age thinks school is stupid. But you still have to go. I'm not homeschooling you. If you get expelled, you're going to boarding school."

Aaron knew it was an empty threat, but Logan didn't know that.

Logan shot him an outraged look. "That's not fair!"

"What's not fair is you dumping applesauce on someone. Why? Why did you think that was okay?"

Logan's expression turned mulish. "You wouldn't understand."

Their conversation continued after they'd arrived home, although it was mostly Aaron following Logan to his room, admonishing him with every step. Logan, for his part, was just getting angrier.

"You're not my dad!" shouted Logan once he'd reached his room. "So just shut up already!"

Logan slammed his bedroom door in Aaron's face. When Aaron heard the click of the lock, he knew his nephew had won this round.

Lately, it seemed like his nephew always won. Aaron was just thankful that his niece, Penelope, was perfectly behaved. Even at thirteen, she was mature beyond her years.

"Jason, why did you have to die?" Aaron whispered to himself as he went to his office and shut the door. On his desk was a framed photo of his brother's family taken only a few months before Jason and his wife, Ashley, had died.

Jason had always been the one who'd known what to do. But he wasn't here. So Aaron was muddling through, all the while knowing he was making a mess of things.

Aaron picked up the photo but seeing his brother's smiling face made him angry. Angry, because it wasn't fair that Jason had died so young. Angry, because if anyone should've died, it should've been Aaron.

Aaron sighed. He had work to do before scrabbling together a dinner for the kids. Not that they couldn't make their own meals, but Aaron felt obligated. Ashley had always cooked dinners for her family. Aaron had been invited to their house for dinner often, back when things were happy and normal.

Aaron shook himself. He couldn't let himself fall into a black hole of despair. No, he could think about other things.

He smiled to himself as he thought of his surprise encounter with his mystery woman. When he'd been visiting Hazel Island earlier in the summer, he'd been walking along the beach when he'd run into her. And against his better judgment, he'd kissed her.

He should've known she wasn't just a tourist he'd never see again. It seemed as though she lived here.

Aaron had met plenty of beautiful, alluring women. He knew how to charm them, how to get them into his bed. But when he'd encountered his mystery woman, his curiosity had been piqued.

"She's not even my type," he groused. Which was true: he preferred leggy blondes. This girl was short and curvaceous. She also had a mouth on her. Aaron got enough mouthiness from his niece and nephew. He didn't need it from any woman he dated.

Aaron didn't have time for dating, anyway. He sometimes had time for a fling or two, but nothing long term. Very few women wanted to become stepmothers, let alone stepmothers to two kids grieving their parents.

Aaron opened his inbox, going through his emails. He'd recently purchased a retail property here on the island, one that was located in a prime spot on the island's main street. It also had ridiculously low rents for its tenants. When Aaron had first seen the amounts, he'd assumed it'd been a typo in the initial email.

He worked until it was close to eight o'clock. He grimaced. So much for making dinner.

"Pen? Logan?" Aaron called outside their rooms, which were just across from each other. "Are you hungry?"

Pen opened her door to say, "We already ate."

"Why didn't you tell me how late it was?"

She shrugged. Pen was tall for her age, nearly two inches below six feet. Sometimes Aaron had to remember she was only thirteen, not eighteen. With her dark blue eyes and sandy brown hair, she also reminded him painfully of Jason.

"I made us some frozen pizza," she explained. "You were busy."

"You know I've told you that I'm not too busy to make you guys dinner."

"I'd rather have frozen pizza than eat your cooking!" yelled Logan from inside his room.

Aaron rolled his eyes. "Did he tell you that he was sent home from school again today?" he said to Pen.

"No." Her eyes widened. "Is he gonna get expelled?"

"That's what I'm trying to prevent." He eyed her. "Do you think you could talk to him? He won't listen to me." Aaron felt guilty for asking, but he was desperate.

"Maybe. He doesn't really listen to me, either," replied Pen.

Aaron felt awkward, standing in the hallway like this. "Can I come in?"

Pen hesitated but eventually nodded. She opened her door to admit him into her little corner of the universe.

Pen loved anime and manga, and her room was covered in posters of her favorite series. Most of the posters consisted of extremely pretty boys with the lead heroine, with an adorable animal or two as well. She had an entire bookshelf filled with volumes of manga. When Aaron had tried asking her about her favorite series, she'd gotten so embarrassed that he hadn't asked her a second time.

She'd painted her walls a bright, cloying magenta, although there were so many posters you could barely see the color under them. Her schoolwork covered her desk, while mounds of clothes were draped on various pieces of furniture. A stack of books looked ready to collapse next to her bed.

Pen sat on her bed and pulled her knees to her chest. In that moment, she looked so young and lost that Aaron's heart twisted.

"May I sit?" he asked.

She shrugged. He'd take that as a yes.

Sitting next to her, he commented, "Did you get more posters?"

Pen nodded. "That one," she said, pointing at one near her desk.

"That's cool. You really like this stuff, don't you?"

He could feel her eye roll. "Obviously."

Aaron felt his palms grow sweaty. When he'd agreed to take in his brother's kids, he'd naively assumed that things would just work out. He'd known the kids since they'd been little. They were family. They'd grieve, of course, but then they'd get along just fine.

Aaron hadn't known how astronomically his life would change, taking in Pen and Logan. It was like someone had launched a bomb into his life and he had only just started picking up the pieces.

"How are you doing?" he asked Pen. He cleared his throat. "Are you okay?"

She gave him a weird look. "I didn't do anything."

"No, no. I know. You're very well behaved. Which is appreciated." He rubbed her hair, which got him another annoyed look. "I just wanted to check in. I know Logan takes a lot of my attention."

"He's always been like that. Even when Mom and Dad were alive."

"Younger siblings do that." His lips quirked. "I probably did the same thing. Your dad had to put up with me getting into all kinds of trouble."

Pen said nothing. Aaron was tempted to leave her alone once more, when she suddenly said, "I miss them." Her voice was small and sad; she hugged her knees more tightly.

"I miss them, too," murmured Aaron.

"I don't get why we had to move away. I liked my school. So did Logan."

"I thought a fresh start would be good for all of us."

"Maybe you were just thinking about yourself."

"You know that's not true. You guys weren't happy in my tiny apartment in Seattle. Here, at least, we can live in a house."

"I didn't mind it." Pen shrugged a shoulder. "At least I still had my friends. Now I don't have any."

"You will. It takes time. And you still talk to your Seattle friends, right?"

"It's not the same."

Aaron knew he was losing this argument. He assured Pen that she'd end up liking her new school, although she remained unconvinced.

When Aaron went downstairs to make himself dinner—microwaved ramen with a few hardboiled eggs—he wondered if Pen were right. Had he uprooted their lives because he'd been running away from his own demons?

He shook his head. They'd needed more space, and that hadn't been affordable in the city.

When he returned to his office, he opened his newest email, his eyes widening as he read it. Then he let out an incredulous laugh. Apparently, the owner of the bookstore he'd just gone to had some balls. Too bad he wasn't about to let them get out of the necessary rent increase Aaron had instituted.

Aaron might be failing in the child-rearing department, but nobody could say he didn't know how to do his job—even if that meant being ruthless at times.