Allie turned and watched her brother smile down at his high school sweetheart and say, “Thank you for him.” It was a cute little thing the two of them always said to each other that always carried such meaning. It warmed Allie’s heart each and every time she heard it, even more so now since the two of them were no longer married.
Gillian responded the way she always did, “My pleasure.”
The moment could certainly pass for an intimate one, had they not been standing surrounded by many other people while the graduation got underway. Seeing her brother’s obvious adoration of Gillian bummed her out a little because, let’s face it, he was her brother, and she wanted him to be happy, but that ship had obviously sailed. After everything between Gillian and Logan went to shit, Allie had been furious with him and didn’t speak to him unless she absolutely had to for a few months. She’d even physically assaulted him a few times when Gillian had been hurt and emotions were running high, but she knew he accepted the fact that it was all his fault. At that point, all she could do was be his sister; he was taking care of the rest of the guilt just fine on his own.
Allie didn’t want to interrupt the moment passing between her brother and Gillian—they had tons of history together, and she knew the fact that their oldest was graduating high school was a big deal for them—but she kind of wanted to snap her brother out of the dreamy state he appeared to be in. Gillian wasn’t his anymore, and he looked like he was momentarily forgetting that, so she spoke up. “Hey, before I forget, I need a ride to your place. I got kidnapped and tossed into a big truck while standing in the parking lot at my condo. Thank goodness for short skirts and the power of female persuasion, if you know what I mean, otherwise I would’ve missed the graduation.”
Gillian snorted a laugh as she disengaged herself from Logan and leaned completely into Allie’s side. “Kidnapped, huh?” Logan didn’t find it quite so funny.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled as his big brother status dictated he do.
“Stop goading your brother, Allie,” Gillian said with a smile before telling Logan, “Calm down, she’s just messing with you. She got a ride with Mike.”
Logan just scowled at Allie and said, “I’m not sure I like that guy.” It was Allie’s turn to snort at her brother. Mike was a completely likeable guy; Logan only had an issue because Mike was Gillian’s first date after the two of them split. Never mind the fact that Logan had a mistress at one point, but he could hate another guy because he took Gillian on a date. Can someone define irony here? “Anyway, you can ride with me if you want. Gillian stuck me with the duty of picking up the balloons, and that would be easier if I had a co-pilot. Not sure why an eighteen year old boy needs balloons, but I’ll do what I’m told.”
Allie was about to say something sarcastic when Gillian beat her to it, “It’s about time you did, geesh!” Both Logan and Allie huffed a laugh, and the three of them fell silent as the graduation began. As the names began to be called, the rest of the family moved closer to them, Logan shifted away from Gillian, and Jake came up alongside of her instead. Jason came up alongside of Allie while Sean, Morgan, and his family congregated nearby. This was her family, and she loved that they were all together.
MIKE and his family planned on an early dinner together, so there he sat chatting with his sister and brother-in-law, when all he could think about was getting it over with so he could see Allie. His sister must have sensed his distraction and asked, “What’s going on with you? You’re here, but not really here.”
Before he could answer, his niece asked, “What’s that mean, Mommy? Uncle Mike is right there. I can see him.”
“It’s nothing for you to worry about Hannah. Can you do Mommy a favor and draw me another flower? I need a purple one for my desk now.”
“Okay!” the little one declared with enthusiasm, and set about her task of creating what her mother asked for.
Mike was smiling at her when his sister spoke up again, “She has been redirected, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to answer me.”
Paige was nothing if not persistent and was certainly not a pushover, so he answered her, “Just thinking about somewhere I want to be.”
“And where might that be, dear brother? Since you just admitted to not wanting to be with us, I will try my hardest not to feel rejected, so make sure wherever it is, it’s totally worth it.”
Laughing at his sister’s attempt at being insulted, he said, “Of course it’s totally worth it, dear sister. You know I would never just pick any girl over you.”
His sister sat up straight, dropped the fake expression and gave him an excited yet questioning look. He once again let out another laugh at her as he waited for her to say something else. “Did you just say … girl?” It came out in a whisper as his sister remained sitting straight and tall in her seat, looking like she was going to pounce on him at any moment.
Wanting to string her along a little, he said, “Did I say girl? My mistake, that’s not what I meant.”
His sister visibly deflated at his statement, and he immediately felt bad for deceiving her. “What I meant to say was woman.”
And just like that, his sister pounced on him and just about squeezed the life out of him as she whispered a threat at him, “I expect full details.”
“Mommy, why are you squeezing Uncle Mike so hard?”
The two of them let go and he smiled when Paige said, “’Cause he is my big brother, and I love him so hard, so I have to squeeze him so hard.” He watched as the five year old processed the load of crap her mother just gave her, before she shrugged and went about her business. His parents caught the exchange and gave them a questioning look so he shrugged and repeated his sister’s excuse.
“What? Paige loves me so hard, so she had to squeeze me hard.”
His mother just shook her head, took a sip of her drink, and returned her attention to her grandson and the interrogation about his future plans. Poor Zane, he thought. Looking back at his sister, who was practically bouncing in her seat, strongly resembling her daughter. Placing a patronizing hand on her shoulder he said, “Are you okay there, Paige? Do you need your medication or something?” he heard his brother-in-law, Brett, almost choke on his water before breaking into a coughing fit, when trying to laugh.
She looked over at her husband and said, “That’s what you get for laughing at your wife.” Then her glare swung back to Mike, and she added, “Just give me a name so I know you aren’t being a total jackass and lying to me.”
“Why would I lie to you about something like that?”
“Because you like to tease me and laugh at me. I think I recall a time when you used to push me down and make me cry, then you would stand over me and point while you laughed at me crying.”
Mike heard Brett choke on his water again before defending himself, “I never did anything like that!”
“Sure you did! Don’t you remember? You wanted to play with my Barbie, but I told you no, that only girls and sissy boys did that. But you insisted and I continued to tell you no. So you just decided you wanted it so bad that you had to take it from me and push me down so I couldn’t take it back from you.”
Thankfully, Brett had given up on drinking his water because now he broke out in a hysterics at his wife’s antics. Mike just shook his head at her and waited for her to continue, ‘because he knew she would. And she did. “Remember, we were playing chess, on the frozen lake, and then you took off your energy mask … oh wait, there’s a chance this might have been a dream.”
Then both of them laughed out loud because she was obviously quoting a line from Friends and they loved that show. It was their thing. Around them, the other family members ignored them, used to the show they were putting on. The evening continued and things wrapped up. They said their goodbyes, and when he walked them to the car his sister said, “Are you even going to tell me her name? She is real, right? Are you going to see her right now?”
“You know, you sure seem to resemble your daugh
ter a lot tonight.” He hugged her, then kissed her on the cheek. When he pulled back he told her, “Her name is Allie. Yes, she is real, and yes, I am going to go see her right now.” His sister’s smile was electric. He loved that she could smile that big over something that really had nothing to do with her.
“Please call me tomorrow. I want to chat without prying ears of both the five year old version and the sixty-something version,” she pleaded with him.
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he offered, and with that, he made his way toward his truck.
Mike had already said goodnight to Zane, who, of course, had plans with some of his friends. It was graduation night, so Mike made sure to give him the same instructions he always did, telling him, “Have a good time, but make sure you’re smart about it. You need a ride, you call me any time of night, and I come, no questions asked.” He was proud of his son, and he made sure to tell him that in both words and action. Trust was important, and he felt that the two of them had a great relationship. There was no doubt in his mind that if his son found himself in a situation that had potential for disaster, he would call him. This trust allowed him to sleep at night. Now heading to Gillian and Jake’s place, he felt himself getting excited about seeing Allie. A mixture of anxiety and anticipation fluttered around his gut.
ALLIE struggled with the ridiculously oversized bundle of balloons as she made her way into Gillian’s house. The party was due to start in the next hour, and she wanted to make sure she was there early enough to prevent Gillian from doing more than she was supposed to be doing. Making her way into the kitchen, she found Gillian crouched down talking to Ryan.
Ryan was Jake’s son from his brief fling of a marriage to a complete idiot, who took off and left him without a mom. Not that the little guy was left without motherly-type love, oh no. Since he was attached at the hip to Dylan, Gillian’s son, he got plenty of attention from Gillian. And of course from Morgan, herself, and any other woman in the group they considered family. Ryan was an easy little boy to love. Allie watched for a moment while the two of them shared what looked like a private moment, then she couldn’t help the smile and simultaneous heart clench when Ryan threw his arms around Gillian’s neck and hugged her.
Gillian closed her eyes and embraced the young man tightly, a look of complete adoration on her face as she accepted his affection. When Ryan pulled back, he kissed her on the cheek and said, “Thanks Mom,” before walking out of the kitchen. Allie watched as he strode out of the room with a big smile on his face, before turning back to her best friend.
Gillian was still crouched down close to the ground, staring in the direction of Ryan’s retreat as she saw a tear roll down her cheek. Looking up to Allie, she said, “It doesn’t matter how many times I hear that adorable boy call me Mom, it still chokes me up.”
Allie moved to help Gillian stand up and said, “No kidding. This lump in my throat is going to require a serious dose of sarcasm and alcohol to get rid of it.” Gillian gave her a knowing look as she wiped away the remaining moisture around her misty eyes.
“It can’t be as bad as mine was on Mother’s Day.”
“Pretty sure that lump was visible from space,” Allie said as she recalled the emotions she felt that day.
Gillian huffed a little laugh as she said, “You’re telling me. It took the whole day to get me to stop crying. Then it took another two days before that damn lump finally disappeared.”
“I do believe Ryan had all of us chicks in tears on Mother’s Day.”
Allie remembered it well. They had gathered at Gillian’s house, as they always did. Her place was just set up to accommodate the whole crew, including the grandparents. The men had all put together a Mother’s Day brunch and set it all up in the backyard. It was sweet, because even though Allie wasn’t a mother, they included her in the celebration because they didn’t have an Aunt’s Day. As they had all gathered around the table, the women were all seated and chatting when the kids and men carried out the food and gifts.
Each kid stopped and gave flowers to their grandmothers and aunts, before making their way over to their mothers. This was something they all did together and Allie loved it since it allowed her to celebrate the holiday with all of them instead of everyone doing it individually. She happily accepted flowers from Jonathan, Madison, Dylan, and Ryan as well as a card full of scribbles from Morgan and Sean’s kids. It was beautiful and touching to be loved by so many adorable kids. She had been taking a whiff of her flowers and thanking her oldest nephew when Jake tapped her on her shoulder.
“You might want to watch this,” he said as he gestured in the direction of where Gillian sat, while he squatted his large frame next to Allie’s, camera in hand.
The noise level around the table slowly died down as they all became aware that something big was about to happen at the end of the table. With all attention directed toward Gillian, Jake was filming it as his son handed Gillian a single gerbera daisy with a bow tied around it. Gillian said, “Thanks, buddy. You remembered that these are my favorite, didn’t you?”
Ryan nodded proudly as he said, “And I remembered that you like the pink ones, too.”
Allie watched as Gillian leaned over and kissed him on the cheek saying, “Thank you so much. I know just where I want this to go.” Then there was a long pause and Ryan just stood there with his hands behind his back. Allie could tell he was nervous about something. Gillian gave him a questioning look before asking, “What’s wrong Ryan? Is there something else?”
The young man was silent, but nodded slightly as he pulled a handmade card from behind his back, and thrust it in Gillian’s direction. She glanced down at the card then back up at Ryan’s face as she took it from him. “Thank you sweetie. I love when you boys make me stuff.”
Ryan just stood there and watched Gillian as she looked back down at the card. It was very obvious that there was something the boy was worried about, and for the life of her, Allie couldn’t figure out what it was. She had never witnessed the young man look so nervous. She inwardly laughed as she thought that maybe his nervousness was due to the fact that Dylan wasn’t there to speak on his behalf. Smiling at that thought, she watched as Gillian opened the card. There was a few seconds of pause before Gillian gasped, and her hand flew to her mouth in surprise. Tears instantly filled her eyes and poured out the sides as she looked over at a still-nervous Ryan.
When Gillian moved her hand from her mouth, she smiled at him and said, “It would be a great honor for me if you did.” Allie watched as Ryan’s eyes filled with tears, too, and he flung himself around Gillian’s neck and held on tightly.
Gillian sat there holding him as Allie said, “I'm about to cry over here people, and I have no idea why!”
Gillian lifted the card in her hand and held it up and open so that they could all see what was inside. It took Allie a moment to focus past the sheen of tears that formed just from watching the exchange. When she heard the intake of breath next to her confirming what she was reading, the tears filled to abundance and poured out. Simultaneously, all the women dissolved in silent tears as they read the handmade card … from an eight year old boy … to a woman … asking her, “Can I please call you Mommy?”
Allie blinked rapidly and fanned her eyes in an attempt to stop the moisture from falling out and ruining her make-up. Just thinking about that scene was like having a Lifetime movie on repeat in her head—got you choked up every damn time. Even if they were happy tears, she was ready to move onto the celebration at hand today. “All right, tell me where you want these so we can get this party underway. I do believe we have an eighteen year old boy to pay a ton of attention to. So much that he is going to regret deciding to move away for college.”
Gillian gave a sad face and another supply of tears welled up at the mention of her son going away to college. Damn, screwed up on that one! “I’m sorry, sweetie, I didn’t mean to bring that up, too. It’s going to be a long day for you, isn’t it?”
“I’m oka
y, just hormones. I can do this,” Gillian said in a clear attempt to convince herself.
Being one of her usual cheerleaders, Allie chimed in, “Hell yeah you can! Now get yourself in gear and boss these people around so you don’t overdo it. Where’s Jake? He should be fanning you and feeding you grapes or something. Jake!” At the mention of his name, Gillian giggled and snapped out of her hormone-induced tear fest. She smiled even bigger when Jake came trotting into the room.
“What’s the matter? Were you crying? Are you in pain?” Now was Allie’s turn to giggle because there just wasn’t anything funnier than watching Jake Michaels turn into a panicky lovesick puppy dog whenever Gillian was concerned.
“She’s fine Jake, just hormones.”
Allie watched him visibly relax as he rubbed Gillian’s upper back with one hand and her baby-bump with the other before continuing, “But it’s a good thing you’re here. She was saying something about climbing a ladder and attaching these balloons everywhere. I tried to tell her that you wouldn’t be happy about that, but she ignored me.”
Gillian sucked in an indignant gasp before defending herself, “Allie Baxter! What the hell is the matter with you? I’m lucky he doesn’t have me wrapped in bubble wrap, and you go and spout shit like that!”
Allie smirked and said, “Well, you know you were thinking about doing all that stuff. But it’s not like he believes me, do you Jake?”
Gillian answered instead, “No, he doesn’t believe you, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t visualizing me doing all that crap, and now he probably won’t let me out of his sight!” Allie looked to Jake whose face was drawn up in tension. Apparently she had taken it a little too far.
“Oops, my bad. I better go put these balloons out so they don’t go to waste,” she said as she made a hasty retreat from the glares they were both aiming at her.
CHAPTER FOUR
MIKE made his way into the house and the direction of the party that was going on. He had been to Gillian’s house more than a few times and knew where he would most likely find everyone. There was music playing, people were mingling, and from the looks of the packed driveway, there were plenty of people there to celebrate. Carrying a small bundle of flowers for Gillian, since she was the host, and a card in the other hand for the graduate, he tried to locate his target. Allie had to be around somewhere. He just needed to get his eyes on her and he’d be able to relax—well not entirely, but some. While gazing around, he spotted Gillian making her way toward him with a smile on her face.
Love Resisted (The Real Love Series) Page 4
