Moore than a Feeling (Moore Than a Feeling #1; Needing Moore #4)

by Julie A. Richman

  Thanksgiving… Again

  “YOU LIED TO ME, WOMAN.” Schooner pointed a finger at his wife. “Flat-out lied.”

  “I was wrong. Enjoy hearing me say those three words, because it’s going to be a long time before you hear them come out of my mouth again, Pretty Boy. Now, grow a pair and go make that phone call. Now!”

  “Grow a pair? I can’t believe you just said that to me.” He shook his head and laughed. “So how much does she know?”

  “You’re asking me? It’s not my ex.” She smiled at him before muttering, “Thank God.”

  “Does she know about the baby?” he asked, opening the cabinet, looking for a bottle of scotch. This phone call required alcohol. He eyed the larger water glasses, just for a moment thinking even that might not be enough, then poured two fingers into a rocks glass.

  “Not unless Zac mentioned it to her, and I can’t imagine he’d want to be the one to share that news.”

  “Well, I’m certainly not telling her.” He took a sip of his scotch. “She is going to be pissed when she finds out everyone knew, and no one told her.”

  Mia held up her hands. “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”

  “And Holly’s going to shit when she sees her there. I think last Thanksgiving was the last time they spoke.” He and Mia walked into the office.

  “I’m pretty sure Holly has not spoken to her since,” Mia confirmed.

  As he sat down behind the desk, he asked, “And why are we inviting her again?”

  Squinting her eyes at him, Mia didn’t need to say a word.

  “You may be little, but you are scary.” He gave her a side-eye.

  “Dial.”

  “And bossy.” He laughed.

  He put the phone on speaker and dialed. With each ring, he whispered the number. One. Two. Please go to voicemail.

  “I hear there’s good skiing in Hell now that it’s frozen over.” Answering the phone with a barb, CJ was clearly surprised by the call from her ex.

  “You always did like doing the snow bunny thing. Will you be spending Thanksgiving there?” Please say you have plans.

  “Well, it would certainly be an improvement over last year’s Thanksgiving.”

  “You won’t have any argument from me on that.” Schooner laughed. “That’s something we actually agree on. So, the reason I’m calling is…”

  She cut him off, “To torture me with another Thanksgiving with your family?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes.”

  “Well, thank you, but no thank you.” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Hey, CJ, it’s Mia.”

  Schooner’s eyes widened, and he picked up his scotch, smiling as he lifted the glass to his lips.

  “Oh, how nice, you’ve had me on speaker.”

  Mia continued, paying no attention to Schooner’s exes comment. “CJ, you need to be here this year. We’re going to be having Thanksgiving out at the beach and Holly doesn’t know this yet, but she’ll be getting engaged that day.”

  “What? Who is she getting engaged to?”

  Schooner looked surprised and whispered to Mia, “She really doesn’t know anything.”

  “She’s getting engaged to Aiden. They got back together over the summer,” Schooner explained, picking up a black enamel pen and rolling it between his fingers.

  “Aiden is the bartender she was seeing for a few years after she dumped that nice boy from Brown?”

  Her condescending tone caused Mia to sneer. “Actually, he’s a restaurant owner and he’s a really great guy, CJ. I know you don’t want to miss your daughter getting engaged.”

  “Of course, I don’t. Does she know I’m coming?”

  It was Schooner’s turn to sneer. “She’s coming,” he whispered, with a mortified look on his face.

  “No. But she doesn’t know she’s getting engaged either,” he explained.

  “Will I be able to take a cab from the airport out to the beach? And what hotels are close by?”

  “No. You’ll have to take a ferry out and there really aren’t any hotels open on the island in winter, so you’ll have to stay with us.”

  There was dead silence on the other end of the line.

  “Or if that doesn’t work for you, you can take a late ferry back to Long Island and then the train into the city. It will take you right to Penn Station.” Mia offered the alternative.

  “Will that take long?”

  “A few hours.”

  “A few hours,” her voice was shrill. “Where the hell do you people have a beach house?”

  Covering her mouth so CJ couldn’t hear her laugh, they heard a resigned sigh over the line.

  “So, how do I get there?” she asked.

  “We’ll have Zac and Lily pick you up at JFK and you can drive out with them.”

  “Oh, so you can drive there.”

  “No. He’ll be driving to the ferry and then you’ll take that over. There are no cars on the island.” Schooner drained his drink and opened the bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out a bottle of Hennessy and an extra glass for Mia. He decided having a second drink and moving to cognac was permissible, given the circumstances.

  “CJ,” Mia began after taking a sip of the cognac. “You’ll want to wear comfortable shoes to walk from the ferry to the house. And make sure you have warm clothes, sweaters, a good jacket. It’s cold out on the beach this time of year.”

  “I have to walk to the house? This is making last year’s Thanksgiving sound good. All I had to do last year was take a cab from the Four Seasons.”

  “Just think of this as an adventure.” Mia laughed.

  “If I wanted an adventure, Mia, I’d go to Canyon Ranch.”

  Mia rolled her eyes. A pampered adventure? Seriously? “Yeah, well, you might need to go there for a little rest and relaxation after another Thanksgiving with us.”

  Mia took another sip and whispered to Schooner, “It’s a lot more fun when you have a buzz.”

  Smiling, he nodded and whispered, “Exactly why I started before dialing.”

  “Will Henry be there?” she asked.

  “Yes, Henry and Seth will be there,” confirmed Schooner, now sitting back in his chair.

  “Oh, good, I liked Seth, even though he reminded me of you, Mia. What about your parents? I liked your mother.”

  “No, my parents will be on a cruise over Thanksgiving week.”

  “Oh, what a shame.”

  “Don’t worry, I don’t think you’ll be needing the extra firepower this time.”

  “Oh, what a shame,” she repeated. “Last year was some of my best work to date.”

  “On that note, let Zac know when your flight gets in. See you Thanksgiving.” Rushing her off, he hit the button and disconnected the call. Looking at Mia, he just shook his head, “Sorry, I just could not do anymore.

  “No apology necessary.” Mia held up her glass as if toasting Schooner.

  Your mother is joining us for Thanksgiving. I’m going to need you to pick her up at the airport and bring her out to Fire Island with you. Schooner texted Zac.

  k.

  She doesn’t know Holly’s pregnant, so don’t mention it.

  Sweet. The good child has dropped out of her masters program and is preggers. And not married. She’s going to shit. This should be fun.

  Mia said to tell you we’re not recuperated from last year yet.

  Ha-Ha. Lily just said the same thing.

  Putting down the phone, Schooner looked at Mia, his expression was beyond amused. “She actually said last year was some of her best work to date. I did hear that correctly, didn’t I?”

  “Yup, she said that.” Mia couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

  “You are my witness, I’m saying a prayer, right here and now, to the Ex-Wife god. Please Ex-Wife god, I don’t ask much of you. I’ve paid all my alimony, supported my children, given them great educations, left my ex financially stable, so much so that she supported my ex-friend, so in essence, I supported his l
ame ass, which is way beyond ex expectations. So please, Ex-Wife god, please make sure we don’t have any encore performances this year.” Smiling at his wife, he added, “I used to love Thanksgiving. Why are we doing this again?”

  “You married her. Not my circus, not my,” she paused, looking truly confused, “whatever she is.”

  Laughing, he pointed a finger at her as she got up to leave the office. “And by the way, I’m still not over that grow a pair comment.”

  That, she knew, was far from the truth.

  “You’ve gotten a lot accomplished.” Schooner looked around at the progress the contractors had made on Acebo in the three months since summer ended. The bones of the bar were built, plumbing was in for the bar area and the kitchen. The electrical work was in progress.

  “I see it every day, so it feels slow for me and I’m seeing all that needs to get done versus what we’ve accomplished.”

  “I think that’s just a natural thing we do in all aspects of our life,” Schooner commented.

  “True, I definitely do that with my personal progress,” confided Aiden.

  “How’s that going?” Now that he’d opened the door, Schooner felt comfortable walking through. Something he’d never do without Aiden making the initial overture.

  “Much better than I expected. When I started the process, I was skeptical of it working. You know, it was Mia who told me that I was going to have to work my ass off, but that if I wanted it badly enough, I could make it happen.”

  Schooner nodded.

  “And she was right. Holly does one day a week with me in therapy and has really gotten involved in the Vets’ group meetings. They love her 7-layer dip.”

  “My daughter can cook?” Schooner looked shocked.

  “No. She definitely cannot cook.” Aiden couldn’t help but laugh. Holly’s many talents did not include culinary skills. “But she can layer food in a bowl with the best of ʼem.” Aiden’s smile was the true barometer of his happiness. “Luckily for her, I’ve got fifteen-plus years in the restaurant business, or we might be resorting to cannibalism over the winter months out here.”

  “I’m glad she’s in therapy with you. I was pretty worried about her,” Schooner admitted.

  “I’m sorry about that. I know I sent her life into a tailspin and totally blindsided her. The truth is, when I broke up with her, it wasn’t like I’d been thinking about it for a long time, it was totally unplanned and done during a freak out about what might happen overseas and how it would affect her. And I did a great job of rationalizing it every which way I could, and then I stuck to my guns.” He shook his head, a solemn grimace on his face. “Unfortunately, I left a lot of carnage in my wake.”

  “And now you’re fixing it.” Learning from mistakes was something Schooner knew well and prided himself on the lessons he learned and on making the changes accordingly.

  “That’s my focus. That and this place. And this will be done by the time the baby comes.”

  “You’ll have a newborn when you open.” Schooner commented, thinking Aiden and Holly had no idea of the exhaustion that lay ahead. Either event was all-encompassing, successfully melding the two would galvanize their relationship in a way they could not yet fathom.

  Looking up at the transformation of the cathedral ceiling which was now covered with exquisite raw wood and beams, Schooner could totally visualize the concept he had seen in Aiden’s renderings. This place was going to do exceptionally well and wouldn’t be the last restaurant this young man opened.

  “I’m ready for it. We just need to find a place to live.” They’d been staying at the Moore’s house, and at Holly’s insistence, he had continued to rent the studio apartment so that he’d have a ‘cave’ to go to if he needed alone time. He rarely stepped foot into the place anymore and was ready to let it go.

  “If there’s anything you need, let me know,” Schooner offered, knowing his future son-in-law well enough to know that Aiden would never take him up on it.

  Aiden nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate that, and I also want to thank you for not judging me for needing help to get my life back on track.”

  “Oh, but I do judge you.” Schooner took Aiden by surprise with his response.

  Aiden nodded, devastated he’d let down a man he deeply respected.

  “It takes a secure man to admit he needs help,” Schooner went on, his response not what the younger man expected. “And I’m glad my daughter is with a strong man.”

  “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

  “Admitting there’s an issue is a big step. Actually doing something about it, and being dedicated to beating the demons, takes a lot of inner fortitude.” He stopped and smiled, a thought obviously occurring to him. “And you are going to need a lot of courage and bravery,” he paused, “to deal with Holly’s mother.”

  Aiden laughed. “Do you have some words of advice for me?”

  “Do not let her get you alone. Seriously, if you need to go to the bathroom, take Natie with you.”

  “Should I be scared?”

  “Yes.” Schooner looked dead serious. “We want this baby to grow up with a father.”

  “You’re scaring me,” the former Army officer said with a smile. “She can’t be that bad.”

  Schooner just laughed. “You’ve been warned.”

  “Zac and Lily are here, and they brought that lady.” Nathaniel had been looking out the window, waiting for them, when he saw them coming down the street.

  “What lady?” Holly asked from the kitchen, looking up from slicing the apples for her pie.

  “The one who looks like you, Holly.” He called over his shoulder as he ran to the door, flinging it open. “Zac!” he screamed, running out into the cold without a jacket to greet his older brother.

  Holly met her father’s eyes with disdain. “I hate you,” she declared through clenched teeth.

  “Get over it.” He smiled at his oldest child, an amused look on his handsome face.

  “I really hate you,” she reiterated, punctuating her point with the sharp paring knife in her hand.

  Coming up behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders. Leaning down he whispered in her ear, the amusement evident in his voice, “And you can’t drink.”

  “Have I told you today how much I hate you?”

  Kissing her cheek, he said, “This had to happen at some point. Let’s get it over with.”

  Turning her head to look up at her father, she begged, “Please don’t let her run Aiden off.”

  And although it was said in jest, Schooner could see her unbridled fear. CJ was her very own apocalypse and the smoldering wake was always unfortunately very real. “Not a chance,” he promised. “Now put down the knife.”

  Holly smiled at her father and shook her head.

  “God, I love you.”

  “Yeah, well that’s good, because I hate you.”

  As they entered the house, Mia looked over at Schooner and Holly and smiled. “Let ShitStorm2.0 begin,” she said just loud enough for the two of them to hear. “Holly, put down that knife.”

  Her stepdaughter shook her head. “Protect Aiden. I don’t want my baby to grow up without a daddy,” she whispered to Mia. “You of all people know this, she makes men disappear.”

  Mia couldn’t help but snort, immediately attracting CJ’s attention, the two women locking gazes. Time passing would never diminish the deep-seated emotion that accompanied their history.

  Walking over to the kitchen island across from where they were working, CJ smiled, it was again her practiced, close-mouthed smile. “What a beautiful home you have. Although it is kind of remote out here.”

  Mia smiled at the backhanded compliment and bit her tongue to stop from saying, not far enough from you. “Please take off your coat.” Or don’t.

  CJ ignored Mia and set her sights on her daughter. “Hello, Holly. It’s been a while.”

  “Dad didn’t tell me you were coming.”

  “Well, then, surprise.” CJ mu
stered another close-mouthed smile.

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Mia said under her breath and moved to the counter along the wall.

  “CJ,” Henry came up behind her, saving the day. Giving her a big hug, he then stood at arm’s length, “Don’t you look beautiful. Let me take your coat.”

  CJ shrugged out of her winter white cashmere coat revealing a pale pink sheath dress with an asymmetrical neckline.

  “St. John’s Collection is perfect for you,” Seth commented, as he stepped up for an air kiss.

  “Thank you, Steve. I feel that exact same way every time I try on one of their pieces.”

  Excusing himself and leaving her with Henry, Seth joined Mia and Holly in the kitchen. “Okay, my love affair with her is over. She called me Steve.”

  “Want this?” Holly held out a six-inch chef’s knife.

  He was seething. “I want the eight-inch.”

  “Of course, you do, Princess,” Mia smirked.

  “Well, she’s a little overdressed for the occasion,” Holly remarked, checking out her mother’s head-to-toe perfection.

  “I guess I should have told her this was casual. My bad.” Mia smiled at Holly.

  “I’m afraid to come out from behind the counter.” Holly had begun to show, but dressed in black yoga pants, a partially buttoned oversized black, grey, and white flannel shirt, with a white tank underneath, she was well camouflaged.

  “Can’t tell. Black plaid hides everything.” Mia gave her a once over. “Your face is a little fuller, but that’s about it.”

  “Ugh. I wish Aiden would get here already.” He had gone back to Acebo and was going to meet his parents at the terminal and accompany them to the house.

  “Are his folks on the next ferry?” Mia opened the oven to baste the turkey.

  Holly nodded.

  “Mommy, I’m hungry.” Nathaniel came into the kitchen.

  “Hmm, what can we feed you that won’t ruin your appetite or make you throw up all over the dinner table?”

  “Want to help me, Natie? I’m making pies and I think there’s some extra apples with cinnamon on them.” She pulled out a stepstool for him to stand on.