by Candis Terry
Face redder than when she wore too much blush, Aunt Pippy sat trapped in the middle of the sofa with Ethan on one side and Declan on the other. Brooke, Declan’s fiancée, was perched on Dec’s lap so he couldn’t get up and strangle anyone. Jordan and Ryan stood in the center of the room arguing with fingers pointed while Lucy held the back of Jordan’s sweatshirt in a death grip. Nicki stood on the bottom step of the stairs interjecting her arms-folded opinions at high volume. And Lili sat in a lone chair, wary eyes darting side to side, searching for the best escape route.
Even Nicki’s kitten Fezik got into the act by attacking the tail of Lucy’s dog Ziggy. The only person absent from the chaos was Ryan’s nine-year-old daughter, Riley.
Parker wanted to run back out the door. It would be easy to do since no one in the mix had even noticed he’d come in. But he couldn’t be a coward. This shit had to stop.
He swallowed the remains of the moist cookie, put two fingers to his mouth, and whistled as loud as he could.
The yelling stopped and heads swiveled in his direction.
Judging by the glares he received, it was a good thing they weren’t holding weapons.
“Thank fuck you’re finally here,” Jordan exclaimed.
“Language!” Aunt Pippy, Lucy, Brooke, and Nicki yelled at him in unison, then everyone began arguing again.
Frown lines deep, Ryan turned toward Parker. “I’ve tried to get a handle on this. So can you reach into that bag of snark you usually tote around and find something to break this up?”
“Pretty sure it’s going to take a sledgehammer.”
At that moment the shrill of Nicki’s screech sliced down his back and he’d had enough.
He whistled again. “Stop!”
When he had everyone’s attention again, he could think of only one method that would work in this situation.
Shame.
“You should all be ashamed of yourselves,” he scolded. “You’re at each other’s throats and you’ve got Lili scared to death. What’s yelling and arguing going to accomplish?”
His question was met with icy silence.
“Everyone sit the hell down. Take a breath. Take a shot of whiskey.” He pointed. “Not you, Nicole. The rest of you . . . do whatever you need to do to pull yourselves together. Now!”
“Thank you, Parker,” Aunt Pippy said, brushing her carrot orange hair off her forehead like she’d been in a back alley brawl.
“You’re not off the hot seat, Aunt Pippy. So above all, you need to take a breath. Because you have a lot of explaining to do.”
Rightfully so, their aunt hung her head.
She’d been the only one with the knowledge of what had happened between their parents all those years ago, of what had caused such a rift that their father would cheat, produce an illegitimate daughter, and then steal money from their family-owned business.
She’d been the only one who’d known why their father would risk everything he’d worked hard for, his family, and the legacy his own father had created decades ago.
She’d been the only one who could tell them the truth so that they could—hopefully—mend the gaping wound left open after their parents’ deaths and move on.
She’d been the only one who could help them heal, and she’d been avoiding them like a cat burglar at the Louvre.
“I’m not the oldest. So pulling this mess of a family meeting together is Ryan’s job.” Parker set the box of cookies down on the coffee table and looked at his brother. “Unless you want to defer.”
“I’m good.” Ryan’s broad chest lifted on a harsh intake of air to clear the obvious ire from his system. “Thanks.”
“Then the floor is all yours.” Parker took the chair next to Lili, gave her a smile, and felt mildly relieved when she returned a tentative version of the same gesture. He took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Glancing across the room, he then crooked his finger at Nicki.
She shook her head.
Damn stubborn girl.
With a little more insistence and a glare, he crooked his finger again.
A long hesitation followed before his baby sister finally rolled her eyes and stomped across the carpet in the living room like a two-year-old in the midst of a tantrum. Parker tipped his head, indicating for her to sit in the empty chair on the other side of him. After Nicki flopped down in it like she’d just run a 100K marathon, he reached over and held her hand too.
And there he sat, the only glue between two sisters who’d barely uttered a word to each other that wasn’t heated or accusatory. While his heart pounded and ached, everyone else in the room looked at the three of them and suddenly seemed to realize how much was at stake.
He’d be damned if he’d let go of the two fragile flowers in his immediate care. Not until they both realized that whether there was love or tension in the air, they were all bonded by blood.
And no one could take that away.
“Parker’s right.” Ryan spun his gaze around the room. “We should all be ashamed. We’re a family. Every single one of us belongs here. And regardless of what household we were raised in, each one of us deserves to know the truth so we can make things right.”
All eyes then shot in Aunt Pippy’s direction. By the look in her eye, she was finally resigned to tell the story that would either make or break them and their fragile beliefs.
“Time to do the right thing, Aunt Pippy,” Ryan said.
Their aunt looked at each and every one of them before she spoke. Parker’s chest tightened as the sister on either side of him gripped his fingers tight.
“For the record, your mother and father never wanted any of you to know about this.” Aunt Pippy stated the obvious, suddenly looking much older than the fiery orange hair and globs of makeup would have you believe. “And honestly, I’m tired of trying to keep their secret. They managed to keep it buried for twenty-five years. But since they’re gone now and their secret seems to be hurting everyone they loved and tried to protect, I guess you’re right. It’s time.”
Everyone leaned forward. Waited. Listened.
“Things fell apart shortly after Ethan was born. No fault of yours, sweetheart,” Pippy said to their youngest brother, who flinched but said nothing in return. Parker could see the distress on his face and he could almost hear Ethan wondering if not blaming him was just one more of the lies their parents had told.
“Your father wasn’t the first to cheat,” Aunt Pippy announced.
Parker’s head snapped back so fast his neck cracked.
“That dishonor went to your mother, who felt that with five rambunctious boys, your father paid more attention to all of you than her. In essence, she was jealous of the lives she’d created. It didn’t stop her from being a good mother, but her attitude and her affair with a local man did irreparable damage between her and your dad.”
Unable to loosen the invisible fist gripping his heart, Parker glanced around the room. Not a single person was looking up. Not a single eye was on their aunt. Everyone seemed to have a sudden interest in the floor, and Parker knew they were all trying to grasp onto the dirty hand they’d just been dealt.
They’d all been blaming everything on their father when he wasn’t the only one at fault.
“After a couple of years of sleeping on the sofa and the cold shoulder, your dad couldn’t take the silent treatment and the long dragged-out fights anymore, so he went back east to spend some time with Uncle Richard. He figured while he was away he’d have the peace of mind to figure out how to save his marriage. His biggest fear was losing you boys. He loved you more than life itself.”
Now there was something Parker could believe. Their father had always taken time for him and his brothers, and he truly seemed to enjoy the time they spent together.
“While he was there he met Lili’s mom, Natalie.” Pippy’s clasped hands began to flex and tighten. “She paid attention to him. Listened to him. She tried to be the open heart and the soft shoulder he’d needed from your mom. She
was a good, sweet woman.” Pippy shrugged. “It doesn’t seem so far-fetched that they then fell in love.”
Parker felt Lili tense. She tried to pull her hand away but he held on and tightened his grip. Then he leaned over and kissed the side of her head. A stuttered breath lifted her shoulders and Parker knew this was as devastating for her to hear as it was for the rest of them.
“But your dad knew he had to come back and try to save his marriage, if only for the sake of you boys. It wasn’t long after he came back that Lili’s mom informed him that she was pregnant.”
Aunt Pippy paused, dropped her head into her hands, and slowly shook it back and forth.
“God, he was so torn apart. He loved you boys, he still loved your mom, and he loved Natalie too. Though he knew what he’d done was wrong, he couldn’t help being excited about Natalie’s pregnancy. He didn’t know what to do. A few weeks later, Natalie—bless her heart—told your dad she’d lost the baby so he wouldn’t feel the need to make such a dramatic life-changing decision. With five boys and a longstanding marriage, she knew where his loyalties needed to lie. So she broke it off with him for good and he . . . was heartbroken. A few months later your dad had to take a trip back east. He looked her up and discovered that she’d given birth to Lili.”
Pippy paused again and swiped at the tears hanging on her bottom lashes. The action smeared her mascara and she came up looking like a raccoon. Lucy handed her a box of tissues. She plucked out several and blew her nose.
“My mom told him he didn’t need to feel responsible,” Lili said in a shaky voice. “That’s what she told me just before she died. She told me that even though she loved him, she made him promise to stay with his wife and sons.”
“That’s right.” Aunt Pippy gave a nod. “And walking away from you, Lili, was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Don’t you ever think that because he wasn’t there, that he didn’t love you. Because he did.”
On his other side, Parker felt Nicole start to tremble. He looked at her and her emotions were right there on the surface for everyone to see. He knew she wanted to scream “But what about me?” Because, in essence, their father had abandoned her too. He leaned in and kissed the side of her head. It wasn’t much of a reassurance, but at the moment it was all he could do not to fall apart himself.
“When your father came back home he told your mother everything,” Pippy said. “She was livid, and she threatened to take you boys away and the vineyard too. He told her that he’d never leave her because he still loved her and he loved his sons. But he also admitted that a huge chunk of his heart had been left with Natalie and Lili.”
Pippy sniffed. “After a time, your mother thought everything would go back to normal, but it didn’t. There was just too much damage for it to heal. Like a lot of other women desperate to save their marriages, your mother thought if she had another child it would make things better.”
“But having so many children is what seemingly started the problem in the first place,” Jordan pointed out.
Aunt Pippy nodded and brushed her hands over her paisley print dress. “But she thought having a daughter this time would take your daddy’s mind off Lili. So she talked your dad into going to a doctor for artificial insemination and using sperm separation for gender selection. At that point your dad was numb. Basically he went along with it to keep your mother happy and to save an argument.”
Nicki’s sob tore everyone’s attention in her direction.
“It’s okay, Nic,” Ethan reassured her from across the room. “Just hang on. We need to hear the truth. Okay?”
Nicole didn’t answer, but she gripped Parker’s hand tighter and he could tell she was barely holding onto her composure.
“I’m sorry, honey,” Aunt Pippy said to her. “I know this is hard to hear. And no matter what you think, your daddy loved you. He was just so torn up inside he didn’t know how to react anymore. He withdrew into a shell of the man he’d once been. I can tell you I’d never seen him like that before and I didn’t know how to help him. I know your mother was my sister and I was supposed to be on her side. But it was a tough side to be on when I had to watch a man’s emotions shrivel up the way your daddy’s did.”
“I noticed a definite change in him over the years,” Ryan said. “He became quieter. More withdrawn. I just thought maybe that was a part of aging.”
“Now you know why.” Aunt Pippy shook her head. “When he started siphoning money from the vineyard he fell into a deeper well of self-hate. Even though he couldn’t be a part of Lili’s life and had seen her only one time, he wanted to support her in any way he could. So he sent money even though no court ever ordered him to do so. Natalie refused it time and time again, but he insisted.
“Nicole, I know you feel like your daddy abandoned you too, and for the most part, you’re right. But your mother spoiled you rotten, and your father allowed for that, thinking it made up for what he couldn’t give you emotionally.”
For a long drawn-out silent moment everyone in the room looked back down to the floor like it held the rest of the answers to their questions.
“I’ve got one last thing to say and then I’m done. Unless someone has questions.” Their aunt looked pale and drained, despite her raccoon eyes. “No one in this room with Kincade blood in their veins should ever doubt that they were loved. Your parents weren’t perfect. They made a mess of what they had, but they tried to make it work. In the last few years they’d finally started to communicate like a husband and wife again. They took that Hawaiian vacation to try and rediscover the love they’d once had many years ago. Unfortunately they never got that chance.”
Aunt Pippy stood, and in a stern voice said, “It’s a week and a half until Thanksgiving. A time when families come together. Don’t let their mess destroy your lives. Don’t let it make you afraid to fall in love. Don’t let it make you afraid to disagree with the ones you love. Just remember to look at the person you’re with—whether it’s a brother, a sister, or a spouse—and let yourself be honest with your feelings. Talk things out. Embrace the other’s differences. And at the end of the day, remember, you’re all in this together. You all have each other to rely on. Yes, you’ve all been lied to, cheated, or robbed in one way or another in the past, but please, don’t let that dictate your future.”
A collective exhale rippled through the room as though someone had let the air out of a bunch of balloons.
“Questions?” Pippy looked at them all. No one said a word. “Good. Because I need a glass of wine and a long nap.”
Her age never appeared more obvious than when she creaked across the room and climbed the stairs. No one moved a muscle until they all heard her bedroom door close. Then Nicole and Lili looked at each other. Unsure of what was going on in their minds, Parker held tightly onto their hands. A second later he let go when they got up, grabbed each other in a bear hug, and started crying together.
Sisters united.
Parker’s eyes welled up with tears.
A second later the entire family formed a group hug.
And they cried.
For the past, for transgressions that had created broken hearts, and for the loss of everything they’d once believed.
But now it was time to move on.
Together.
Chapter 9
Pushing a cart with a wobbly wheel through the grocery store to the Muzak version of “Home for the Holidays” did not put a spring in Gabriella’s step. Just the opposite. She clung to the metal cart and shuffled down the bread aisle like she’d have to face the grocery gremlin at the endcap filled with cans of pumpkin pie mix.
Shopping for a Thanksgiving dinner she’d have to eat alone while being eyed by the ever-cranky Basil the betta fish held about as much appeal as going on a honeymoon alone. But that was the hand either fate or Gabi had dealt herself.
When you were alone, the holidays sucked.
As if the ever-present romantic or warm, loving family commercials weren’t bad enough, the
store aisles packed with Christmas tinsel, lights, ornaments, and artificial trees had started popping up way before Halloween. Gabi hadn’t been prepared for the empty feeling it left in her gut. So she’d decided that this year she’d at least put up a tree. She’d celebrate with a spiked hot chocolate and she’d light cranberry-apple scented candles and watch Christmas Vacation while she baked cookies for the women and children’s shelter. She’d do what she could to wipe away the loneliness the holidays always brought to people like her who had no plus one.
But first, she had to make it through Thanksgiving.
While she perused the meager selection of turkey breasts—because why would she bother buying an entire turkey—several mothers with their adorable pack of kids in tow joined her in the poultry section. Gabi watched in total amazement and appreciation of the women who managed to control their children, who appeared to have octopus arms as they reached for this and grabbed for that off the shelves.
None of the mothers lost their cool. They merely gave their children the stink eye accompanied by a tight smile. Like magic the kids behaved. Well, at least for all of five seconds before they started octopus arming again.
Gabi chuckled and wondered if that’s what it had been like for Parker’s mother when she’d taken all five of her boys shopping.
Parker.
He was never far from her mind. In fact, he was mostly all she thought about since he’d walked away from her door two weeks ago. Two long damn weeks ago when he’d cut off any hope for intimacy and distantly instructed her to come by after Thanksgiving for a job interview. And for all of those two weeks she wondered how in the world they’d gone from licking each other’s bodies to such a formal situation.
True, they’d initially had an understanding that their fling was for one night only. But after that there had still been kissing, and touching, and it had felt like something between them had changed. She hadn’t intended to let her heart get involved, but, boom, there it was. Her heart had snuck its way into the mix and made things difficult.
