Nick had most definitely been right about the back of his house being worth the lackluster of the front. He lived right on the ocean, with a wide deck that faced the sunset. A rocky cliff set him off from the actual beach, but Bree noticed that there was a path that curled down to the sand below that was worn with footprints. Clumps of dry grass waved along either side, blown by the salty wind. A boat was moored to a dock that extended into the water, and in the distance was the hazy promise of the horizon line, obliterated by the glowing orange light of the fading day.
The pizza was waiting in it's box on an old formica table on the deck, two worn out plastic chairs pulled up to it. He'd tossed a blanket over the back of one, making it look warm and inviting. Bree curled into the blanket, tucking the corners over her shoulders excitedly hugging her knees to her chest to cocoon herself in. Nick smiled when he stepped out the sliding glass doors that connected to the kitchen, carrying a couple bottles of Dr. Pepper, napkins and two forks.
"I love Dr. Pepper," Bree commented as he handed her the bottle.
"Your father did, too."
"Really?" Bree lit up, "I didn't know that."
"Yep." Nick sat down in the other chair and cracked his bottle open. He sniffed the soda before taking a mouthful and waved a hand at the pizza. "Ladies first," he said.
Bree took a slice and put it on the paper plates that he'd laid out and licked the grease from her fingers. She watched as Nick selected one and scooped some renegade cheese from the cardboard it'd stuck to. He took a big chomp off it before he put it on the plate and stared into the sunset as he chewed.
"So that road trip you took," Bree said, "Where'd you go?"
Nick wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Forgot the napkins," he said, standing up and ducking into the kitchen.
Bree frowned. She was used to people avoiding her questions about Brian - it'd really become second nature for her to not get answers when it came to him - but she'd expected it to be different with Nick. She picked at the crust of her pizza in a disappointed manner.
Nick glanced out at her from the kitchen, where he was ripping paper towels from the roll. He sighed. He knew he had to get the balls up to actually talk about Brian now that he had her here, but it was proving harder than he'd expected, just as Leighanne had said it would. But Nick was determined. Brian would not have wanted his daughter to be so unaware of who he was. He would've been pissed if he knew she didn't know he liked Dr. Pepper. He wondered what other little idioms about him - things that made him who he was - she had no clue about. He swallowed down the nerves and, taking a deep, shaking breath, stepped back onto the deck.
"We started at the Grand Canyon," he announced as he handed her a paper towel. She looked up from the pizza, her eyes wide with surprise. "And then we went to New Mexico, where we rode a hot air balloon. Next, we went to Colorado, where we went white water rafting and bungee jumping and stayed in this beautiful mountain chateau. We went sky diving in Nebraska, and stopped by your grandparent's house in Kentucky. We went to this huge aquarium in Tennessee and then your father and I went to Atlanta, to your house. He wasn't feeling so great, so we took a break. We planned to go up the Atlantic coast line, with your mom and Baylee, and go to North Carolina, D.C., Pennsylvania, New York, Boston, Maine, maybe even Nova Scotia, but we didn't get the chance." He took a mouthful of Dr. Pepper, then added, "Well, Amanda and I went after, you know, kind of. We drove up and stopped a couple of those places, ended up in Maine." He shrugged. "It wasn't the same."
"It sounds amazing," Bree breathed.
Nick nodded, "It was."
"God I'd kill to do something like that," she commented, shaking her head. "I've only been to Orlando and that's only because mom can't handle being away from Baylee longer than like a minute before she starts complaining she's alone. Sometimes it's like I don't even exist." She frowned into the pizza.
Nick chewed his food, his mind operating. He looked at her as she ripped a bite of pizza away with her fingers and shoved it into her mouth. He couldn't help but feel a bit like that scene in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and could all but hear the Boris Karkaroff voice over saying 'And then the Grinch had an idea, a wonderful, awful idea!'
Bree looked up and caught the funny face Nick was making. "What?" she asked.
Nick's eyes met hers and he smiled.
"You want to what?" Leighanne's voice was pitchy even across the phone. Nick held the phone away from his ear. Bree was sitting on the couch, biting her fingernails and nervously staring up at Nick as he paced in front of the fireplace.
"It's not that crazy of a thought," he argued, "I mean I'm supposed to have her for two weeks anyways..."
"Yeah, at your house," Leighanne said. "Not gallavanting across the country! Nick, you aren't in your twenties anymore and she's not Brian."
"I fucking know she's not Brian," he snapped. The word had popped out before he could edit himself and he looked wildly at Bree, his eyes full of apology, but she had covered her mouth to keep from laughing. "I think it'd be good for her," he said.
"Last time you took one of my family members across the country --" Leighanne started, but she stopped, realizing what she was about to say was an accusation she didn't mean or want to make. She reset and said, "I don't think it's a good idea."
Nick had stiffened at the beginning of her accusation, his jaw now set in determination. To hell with it, he was going to get his way no matter what good reasons she may or may not come up with. It was now his life goal to make it happen. "She's sixteen, she's never travelled, never seen anything. She deserves to see things, Leighanne, you can't bottle her up like a firefly or something and expect her to keep glowing." He was kind of impressed with his own metaphor.
"She's not going."
"Well kind of she's in my custody right now so I can do whatever the hell I want," Nick snapped.
Bree's eyes widened and a smirk crossed her face. She'd never heard anyone talk back to her mother before, and this was kind of enthalling for her.
"Nickolas Gene Carter," Leighanne's tone became low, "I am not amused by this at all." She paused. "I want Bree sent home in the morning."
"What?!" Nick's voice was incredulous, "Oh c'mon now," he said, "I'm being a pain in the ass, I know but you don't gotta be a bitch about it." Bree almost exploded from the couch, and she pressed her face into a cushion to keep from laughing outloud.
"Don't you dare call me a bitch," Leighanne snapped. Even as she said it, though, she realized how bitchy she sounded, so she took a deep breath, bringing her tone down a notch. "Nick, I don't approve of this. I don't trust you driving across the country with my daughter, bringing her on dangerous adventures, and risking her life - not to mention your own. It was ridiculous when you did it with Brian, and it's even more ridiculous now." Her voice was final.
Nick chewed the inside of his mouth. "You didn't think it was ridiculous then," he pointed out.
"Brian hadn't died yet," she said, "I didn't realize how precious little time I'd had left."
A thick silence fell between them, and finally Nick said, "You don't treat her fairly."
"What?"
"Bree. You don't treat her fairly. You keep her in a bubble, protected from everything, so damn close to you that she can't experience life, then you deny her your full love because you're so damn hurt about Brian," Nick's voice was rapid and sharp with anger. "Brian's dead, he has been for sixteen years, but Bree is alive and deserves to actually get a chance to live. Your husband wanted to die living, not live dying, and you can't even respect that for his daughter."
"Send. Her. Home." Leighanne's words were ice cold, dripping with venom. "Now." She slammed the phone down in his ear.
Nick clicked the phone off. He was facing the fireplace.
"What happened?" Bree was breathless.
Nick turned around.
"She said it's okay, you can go."
