Page 121 of Ship Happens

And while he was waiting for his other artists to show up, Owen figured he might as well do inventory, get the numbers ready for restocking ink as well as any miscellaneous supplies that the shop would need, like paper towels and cleaning solution.

Once Derek—Owen’s second-in-command—showed up, he left the meeting with the security company to him, trusting Derek to handle the issue. Normally, he would’ve hovered around the shop, finding something else to do even though he had no appointments scheduled for the day, but Derek wasn’t hearing any of it, pushing Owen out the door and promising that he could deal with everything himself.

On the way back home, just as it was pulling away from the stop, the bus Owen was on broke down, the passengers ordered to get off and wait for the next one, which was late. By the time he got home and finally had the chance to shower, Owen went from having the entire day to get ready for Jacob’s party to just a few hours.

“Mommy, what’s a credit line?” Pari asks, looking up at her mom.

“Please don’t teach my daughter about finances yet, she’s four.”

“Might as well learn young,” Kevin adds. “Have you gotten her 401(k) started yet?”

“What’s a 401(k)?” Pari asks, genuinely curious.

“Something that I’m going to let your father teach you about,” Owen hears Hailey whisper under her breath.

His phone lights up again, another text from Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn: we’re outsideeee!!!!!!

“Shit! Shit, shit, shit! They’re here!” Owen almost sprints out of the kitchen, turning the lights off behind him.

“Uncle Owen just cussed a lot . . .” Pari adds helpfully as she’s hoisted into the air by her mother.

“Where are we hiding?” Kevin asks, rushing after Owen.

“Behind the couch!” Owen points. It’s the only spot that makes any sense.

“We’ve got to get better at coordinating,” Hailey says under her breath, shooting a glare at Owen when he shushes her.

Fitzwilliam soon joins them, ecstatic that people are down on his level. They hear the jingling of keys on the other side of the door, then the deadbolt clicks, and the door swings open. They listen to footsteps, shoes being kicked off, and then Kevin reaches for the floor switch of the lamp, all of them jumping out at once and shouting in unison.

“Surprise!”

Pari throws her arms out wide, nearly hitting Owen in the face. And Kevin stumbles forward, stepping on Fitzwilliam, who yelps and sprints into the bedroom.

“Oh!” Ravi stares at the four of them, barely balancing the bags of food in his arms. “Sorry, guys, I guess I should’ve called you . . .”

Hailey shakes her head as she races to help grab the food from Ravi.

Then Kaitlyn and Abigail come in behind him.

“What’s the front door doing open?” Kaitlyn asks, standing with her hands out like she’s confused. “Owen? Why are the lights on? Didn’t you get my text?”

“Our lines sort of got crossed,” Owen tells her as she follows Kevin into the kitchen. Then Owen sees him, pulling his roller suitcase behind him with one hand, his niece Poppy held in the other. Her tiny hands are tangled in Jacob’s beard. Owen doesn’t want to make a big deal out of him being here again; he wants to act normal, be nonchalant. But there’s no denying the fluttering in his heart, that floating underneath his feet that he feels whenever he sees Jacob again.

“Yeah, I know,” Jacob replies to a question Poppy asked that Owen didn’t hear. “I need to trim it. I got lazy.”

“It’s itchy,” Poppy tells him.

“I’ll say.” Owen smiles at him, helping to take the bag hanging off Jacob’s shoulder.

Jacob can’t quite turn to face him, but his eyes meet Owen’s, shining so bright. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“All right, missy.” Kaitlyn gets her hands under her daughter’s armpits, scooping her up. “That’s enough harassing your uncle.”

As soon as Poppy’s on her own two feet, she joins Pari in playing with Fitzwilliam, giving the poor cat some much-needed cardio.