“What?” Brogan and I ask at the same time.
Aunt Ruby nods. “Word on the street is he wants to come home for good.”
“She can’t let him,” I decide. “I mean, he left them. She can’t just forgive that.”
“She’ll do whatever is right for her family. And if that’s forgiving her children’s dad so they can all be together again, that’s what she’ll do. We need to support whatever choice she makes,” Aunt Ruby announces this in such a way that she expects no disagreement.
Brogan intervenes. “We’ll support her all right. But meanwhile I’m going to stop in and have a talk with Damian. You know, man-to-man.”
Aunt Ruby smiles at her younger son while pointing at Brogan, “This, right here, is a small town in motion. Now, do me a favor and quit chasing eligible women off your property.”
“How do you know she’s eligible?” James wants to know.
“Was there a ring on her finger?” Aunt Ruby asks.
“Not that I saw. But how would you know that?”
His mother replies, “Because there is only one new woman that I know of in town and she’s single.”
Before James has a chance to respond, a handsome older gentleman walks up to our table. There’s something familiar about him but for the life of me I can’t put my finger on it.
He smiles at us before pulling out a chair and sitting down. “I’m sorry to be late. I stayed in town longer than expected.”
Every single one of us opens our mouths in shock and demands, “Billy?”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
The Mothers
Ruby: Not only am I sure our kids are crushing on each other, but James has met the woman I have in mind for him.
Libby: So dinner went well?
Ruby: Libs, we’re half-way to becoming grandmas together, I feel it in my bones.
Libby: Hot damn! I’ll be there in a couple of days. What happened with James?
Ruby: Let’s just say I’m #1 on his list. Oh, and you would not believe what happened with Billy. I’ll tell you everything when you get here.
Brogan
We’re all staring at Billy like we’ve never seen him before. The truth is we never have seen him like this. He’s positively respectable looking.
My mom looks across the table at him and says, “You look wonderful.” He does, too. His hair has been cut and his beard shaved off. He’s wearing what I would guess are brand new clothes. I would have never known it was him if I didn’t recognize his voice.
Billy tips his head. “Thank you. You all look quite nice yourselves.”
“Do you want some champagne?” I ask him, still not totally convinced it is him.
“I think maybe I’ll have a beer tonight, thank you.”
I signal the waitress while my mom tells Billy, “You’re quite handsome when you’re all cleaned up.”
He smiles shyly. “I figured it was about time. Amber down at the Style and Blow kept me a little longer than I’d planned though.” He holds up his hands and announces, “She gave me a manicure.”
Addie starts to laugh. “I need a manicure. Maybe we can go back next week and have one together.”
Billy shakes his head. “No, ma’am, I’m good for one nail buffing in this life and I just had it. You’ll have to go on your own.”
The waitress brings over a selection of appetizers and takes Billy’s order. While we dig in, my mom says, “Billy, I have a favor I need to ask of you.”
He smiles at her. “Whatever you need.”
She says, “I’d like you to move into Addie’s cabin when she leaves and become my full-time glamping manager.” Before he can respond, she says, “I know you’ve never wanted to do anything like this in the past, but Billy, I need you.”
He doesn’t hesitate a moment before saying, “I’d be honored to accept the job.”
We are all one hundred percent stunned. Everyone but Addie. She just smiles at Billy and seems to be sending him some kind of psychic message to keep talking. So, he does.
“There’s something I’ve wanted to talk to you all about and I’m hoping this is a good time,” he starts to say.
“Please,” my mom encourages. “Now is as good a time as any. And thank you for helping me out. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”
Billy smiles at her fondly. “I don’t think I’ve ever told you about how I came to live here.” When none of us respond, he says, “My mother raised me on her own. She told me that my dad died in the Korean War.”
“I’m sorry,” my mom says. “That had to be hard, not knowing him.”
“Well,” he says, “it turns out that wasn’t the truth. My mom served in Korea as a nurse. She met my dad there, but he was long gone and back to the front when she learned she was pregnant with me. She went home, planning on putting me up for adoption.”
No one at the table quite knows what to say, so we remain quiet while he explains. “After giving birth, she decided to keep me. She only told me who my dad was before she died.”
We’re so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
He continues, “His name was Josiah Cavanaugh.”
My mom’s champagne glass slips through her fingers and shatters when it hits the floor. Our waitress hurries across the room to clean the mess up as Mom says, “You’re Tom’s brother? I don’t understand. Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
“I didn’t want to cause problems for your family. I surely didn’t want to cause any heartache for Elaine.” Elaine was my grandmother.
“Did Josiah know?” my mom asks.
“Nothing was ever spoken out loud. I did tell him my mother’s name once, and he seemed to recognize it, but my whole point in coming here was to meet him, not to upset his life in any way.”
My mom shakes her head. “While that’s very considerate of you, Elaine and Josiah didn’t even meet until after the war. It’s not like he cheated on her.” She doesn’t let him respond before adding, “Plus, Elaine died five years before Josiah. You could have told him then.”
“For what purpose?” Billy wants to know. “We’d already formed something of a friendship and honestly, that was enough.”
“But Tom would have loved to have had a brother,” she pushes.
“Tom did have a brother,” Billy tells her. “He just never knew me by that name.”
“Half of this lodge is yours,” my mom hurries to say.
“I’ve been living here and availing myself of the land for thirty years. That’s enough for me.”
“Billy,” she says with tears forming in my mom’s eyes, “you’re our family and we never knew.”
“But you always treated me like family. And for that kindness, I can’t thank you enough.”
James interrupts. “Why are you telling us now? Not that I’m not thrilled, I am, but why now?”
Billy smiles at Addie. “I finally realized that no man is an island. And while I’ve been living here on the same land as you, I’ve isolated myself. I no longer want to do that.”
“It’s nice needing people, isn’t it?” I ask him while looking at Addie.
“Yes, it is. I know your family has always asked me to join in on holiday celebrations and to have dinner with you. I’m ready to do that if the offer still stands.”
My mom is full-on bawling now. She stands up and walks over to Billy before ordering, “Stand up.” Once he does, she wraps her arms around him and declares, “It’s my greatest honor to call you my brother.” Then she looks between me and James and says, “Boys, do you have anything to say to your uncle?”
James says, “Now that I know you’re family, you have to help me shovel manure. No more sissy berry picking for you.”
Billy laughs. “Sorry, boy, I’ve got a full-time job working for your mom. I don’t think I’ll be farm laboring anymore.”
My mom says, “I’m going to call our lawyer in the morning and turn over half of this place to you.”
Billy shakes his head. “No, thank
you. Just because I agreed to live in a cabin doesn’t mean I want to be tied down to stuff.”
“But Billy, it’s the right thing to do.”
“If you do that then I’ll just have to hire another lawyer to leave my half to your sons. Please, save me the aggravation.”
My mom eventually gives in, but if I know her, she’s not going to be able to let Billy continue on as he always has.
The rest of our meal is full of excited conversation about the future of Willamette Valley Glamping. Addie shares some of her ideas about fun ways to keep the kids entertained and Billy suggests giving them lessons in things like how to scale a fish and cook it over an open fire.
While an atmosphere of excitement permeates the air, I decide that now’s the time to confront my mother. “Mom, I think there was something you were going to apologize for earlier.”
She looks alarmed. “I can’t think of anything.”
I arch an eyebrow at her and say, “If you come clean, I’ll come clean.”
She looks across the table between me and Addie and seems to notice for the first time that we’re holding hands. Normally this would be the first thing she saw, but our meal has been an eventful one.
“Okay,” she announces. “I’m sorry I greased your doorknob and floor. I’m also sorry about the spoiled sour cream, glue, and blue cheese concoction.”
“It was you!” I unnecessarily accuse. After all, she already confessed. “Why?”
But before she can answer, Addie asks, “What about the snakes? And the leaves in Brogan’s bed, and the outhouse?”
“I was behind the leaves,” James confesses.
“Why?” I ask.
“Why not?” he replies.
Billy pipes in with, “I put the honey on the toilet seat.”
My mom adds, “Chris wrapped your toilet and Megan threw the snakes on Addie.” Then she announces, “I did everything else.”
“Not to be repetitive, but again, why?” I want to know.
Mom inhales deeply before spilling it. “I knew that Addie was mad at you for all the pranks you used to play on her. I figured if I could help her get revenge, she might see you for the handsome and charming man you are.”
“You brought her out here to set her up with me?” I’m beyond stunned.
“What about the glamping?” Addie wants to know.
“That was just an excuse to get you here, dear. But you’ve done an amazing job with it.”
“Was my mom in on this?” Addie demands.
“Of course. I couldn’t have pulled this off on my own.”
Addie and I stare at each other, totally blown away that all this game playing was done for the benefit of bringing us together.
“You’re welcome,” my mom says, smiling brightly. Then she turns to our waitress, who just walked over, and says, “Could you please tell Tara that we’re ready for dessert?” She smiles at James and adds, “I asked her to make one of your favorites.”
“Who’s Tara?” James wants to know.
“She’s our new pastry chef from Los Angeles,” my mom announces as a very familiar face walks across the dining room carrying a giant peach shortbread on a platter.
She smiles around the table when she arrives. When her eyes land on James, she practically shouts, “You!”
James stands up like someone just poured boiling water on him. “What are you doing here?”
My mom introduces, “James, I’d like you to meet Tara. Tara, this is my youngest son, James.”
James shakes his head like he’s trying to get the rocks out of it. “You were trying to get me certified organic so I could sell you your work produce when I’m already the person who supplies your produce?”
“How was I supposed to know it was you? Your invoices only say James on them. Your farm stand is named Poppa’s. Nowhere does the name Cavanaugh show up.”
“You wanted to replace me because I’m overpriced?” James is practically foaming at the mouth. “Do you have any idea how cheap my prices are?”
“They seem steep for being in Oregon.”
“What does that mean?” he demands. “It costs just as much to run a farm here as anywhere else.”
“I was trying to save your mom money.” Tara looks like she’s contemplating throwing the shortcake at my brother.
Meanwhile, my mom has a wicked smile on her face as she says, “Tara, why don’t you pull up a chair and join us?”
“No, thank you, Mrs. Cavanaugh,” the pastry chef says, “I have work to do.”
Before she can walk away, Addie asks, “Are you Tara Heinz? You look just like her.”
Tara shrugs her shoulders before answering, “Yes.”
“Do you know her?” James asks Addie.
“Um, yeah. I’m pretty sure everyone at this table knows her.”
That’s when it hits me. “Heinzie, the best heinie of our generation?”
“Excuse me?” my mom demands like I’ve just said something untoward.
“She was a supermodel when James and I were in college,” I explain. “She was known as ‘the best butt in the business.’”
Mom looks up at Tara and asks, “Really?”
Tara nods her head once before saying, “I need to get back to work now.” She walks away, leaving us all wondering how one of the world’s most beautiful women is working as a pastry chef in Oregon.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
The Mothers
Libby pulls around the circular drive in front of the lodge. She doesn’t even bother to get her suitcase out of the trunk before running inside.
Ruby spots her friend across the lobby and makes a beeline for her. “We did it, we did it, we did it!!!” she yells.
The two friends hold hands and jump around like two little girls with a secret. “Addie texted me last night to thank me for bringing her here. Can you believe it?” Libby practically squeals.
Ruby hurries to interject, “I predict an engagement by this time next year and a wedding by the following year. According to my calculations, we could be grandmas by the time we’re sixty-three!”
“I should have never doubted you.” Libby shakes her head in awe. “I only wish I had another daughter for James.”
Ruby dusts an invisible speck off her shoulder before blowing on her fingernails. “While that would be wonderful, I’m pretty sure James is already spoken for.”
“So, you think things are going to work out with him and your pastry chef?” Libby wants to know.
“James and Tara are even more at odds than Addie and Brogan were. I predict a super fast courtship with those two.”
Addison
Sometimes life throws you a curveball that’s so spectacularly wonderful you never see it coming. Brogan Cavanaugh is my curveball. I would have sworn up and down that he was the devil incarnate when I arrived in Oregon. Yet, through the machinations of our mothers, I realized that he’s exactly what I need in my life.
It’s been a week since Aunt Ruby confessed the real reason for my being here. Brogan and I are cuddled up in his hammock sharing a sweet and sexy moment. He lifts his head from where it’s nestled next to mine and says, “We should go camping together.”
“Real camping?” I ask in shock. “Like in a tent?”
“Yeah, real camping. I thought we could head up to Cheater’s Ridge.”
“So, we’d just sleep up there and come back here to eat and bathe and everything else?”
“No. Real camping implies that we’d stay up there for the entirety of our trip. We would be camping.” He says the last word like is Greek and I’ve never heard it before.
“Why would we do such a thing?” I want to know.
He nuzzles my neck. “We wouldn’t tell our moms where we’d be so they couldn’t keep dropping by three times a day for a visit.”
“They have been very present, haven’t they? But camping? Why don’t we just go away together? We could go to your place at the coast.”
“We can go there next week. I
want you to feel as strongly about Cheater’s Ridge as I do. I want to share my dreams with you.”
“Well now, that’s just sweet,” she says. “How can I refuse such an offer?”
* * *
The three nights Brogan and I were going to spend camping, turned into four. For the sake of modesty, I won’t bore you with the details, but it’s safe to say that in addition to learning how to make pancakes on a campfire and discovering how much fun it is to skinny dip in the falls, Brogan and I also forged a very real bond. We shared more than our dreams with each other, we made plans for a future that include one another.
I watch as Brogan finishes packing up his suitcase. “I’ll head down to the lodge and get a golf cart so we can drive our things down,” he says. “My mom is going to take us all to the airport together.”
“I hope you don’t mind flying to New York with my mom. I promise not to let her ask too many questions.”
“I love your mom, she’s my aunt Libby. She can ask me as many questions as she wants.”
I reach up and give him a kiss that if we’re not careful might lead to something we don’t have time for. “I’ll be ready by the time you come back.”
After Brogan leaves, I look around the cabin that has been my home for the last month. I love it here and I’m thrilled that it’s going to be Billy’s home. I’ve made some changes with him in mind. For instance, I switched out the beaded lampshade for a leather one and I put pictures of him and the Cavanaugh family into the frames. He wasn’t too keen on being photographed at first, but he stopped objecting when he realized I wasn’t going to stop.
A knock on the door jolts me back to the present. “Come in,” I call out.
Billy opens the door slowly. “You all alone up here?”
“Brogan went down to get the golf cart for our luggage.”
“I wish you weren’t going,” he says.
“I’ll be back for Christmas. I’m spending the whole month of December here through the New Year,” I tell him.
Love is a Battlefield (Seven Brides for Seven Mothers Book 1) Page 25
