Abigail would be his wife. And it was with that one final thought that he let go too. He groaned—biting her ear—christening the counter top. Yeah…this was the best fucking moment he’d ever experienced in his life.
Chapter Twenty–Five
An hour after their hot little countertop interlude, the sounds of tires rattled up the gravel drive, followed by exactly four doors slamming shut. Cuddling against the couch—entranced by some ridiculous chick flick of epic proportions—David left Abigail to see who’d shown up. He flipped on the back porch light, squinting through the glass as two sets of suitcases were drug up the sidewalk by two different guys. One being his dad, the other being…oh shit—surfer boy was here?
He grinned and yelled for Abigail. “Hey, Abs, get in here.”
“Why? What’s up? You ready for some more kitchen lovin’?” She giggled. Her giggles did amazing things to his body and he pressed his hand to his chest to try and still the raging beat. The simple sound of her bare feet hitting the tile as she sauntered up next to him sent disturbingly fantastic chills up and down his arms, too.
Jesus…If he could have taken her up on the idea, she’d already be on that countertop. Didn’t she realize that? It was bad enough that he’d never again be able to eat his cereal in there without visions of her nakedness on the tiled surface… Well, bad was the furthest thing from his mind when he thought back on the memory, but still…this girl, God, he wanted her just as much now as he did an hour ago! How was it possible for him to have so much need for one, single person? And the best part about this constant yearning for her? It meant that the drugs he took for his head weren’t even touching his dick anymore. That meant one thing: His body was his own once again. And it was hers too dammit—all hers.
“Holy shit, is that…?”
She squealed as the door flipped open, breaking him out of his dirty, needy thoughts. The cold, late night, September wind swept over his body, and he wrapped his arm around Abigail’s shoulders as she pressed against his side. Leaning over, he kissed the top of her head, smiling into her mango–scented shampoo. It was time to show his curly haired twin that he’d taken the Abigail plunge once and for all.
“Surprise!” His mom was the first to speak, shivering as she tore her coat off and settled it on the coat rack behind the door.
“Wow, this place smells awesome, like always,” Mason–the–suck–ass grinned his white toothy smile, winking down at Harley as they entered behind her parents. Their dad, quiet as always, placed the suitcases on the foot of the stairs.
“Abigail…David…long time, no see!” David couldn’t help but smile as Mason came in closer, mock punching him before one–arm hugging Abigail. “How’s the bun in the oven, you two? Cooking nicely, I assume?”
David pulled a groaning Abigail even closer, staring up at his mom in the process. Her head was lowered onto his sister’s shoulder—a longing smile stretched across her face. That look of pure joy just about killed him. But at the same time, it filled him with an equal amount of happiness as well. His mom was beyond excited at the prospect of being a grandma, even though he was only nineteen. He had a difficult time accepting it though. Not the whole having a kid thing—although that reality was only just becoming familiar. It was more the fear he held inside over the future in general. Most of the time he forbade himself from thinking beyond tomorrow, because the truth of the matter was, he had no idea if his mom would even be there. And nothing scared him more than the fear of losing her.
But like always, something else hit him, another anguished thought that he didn’t want anything to do with, but knew in the end was unavoidable. He shut his eyes, and his stomach churned at the truth. It was a bitter thought—an uncomfortable idea—one that created a burning, acidic sensation in his throat the longer he stood there. He knew what it was. Knew exactly why his sister was there. Fuck…
His mom was going to tell them about her cancer.
Abigail went up on her tiptoes, pulling David into her so she could kiss him on the cheek. The move was distracting, but not enough to push the dread away. He wanted to hold her lips there, use them as his strength, his superpower. “You can let go of me now. I’m not the one about to fall here…” Staring down at her, he winced, loosening his hands, only so they could wrap them around his little sister who was moving in.
“Harley…” He choked out, struggling to hide the emotion from his voice.
“Hey David, I missed ya, big daddy.”
Gritting his teeth at her statement, he stared over her shoulder at his mom once more. She nodded; her sad smile was still in place. Dammit. His mom’s look said it all…
“Let’s sit in the living room everyone, shall we? Your sister and Mason said they wanted to talk about something.” Harley stiffened in his hold briefly, before pulling away. Unfortunately though, as he watched her move towards the couch, with her shoulders slumped, her hands balling at her side, David knew the supposed news she had to share wasn’t of the good kind.
“Can we wait for Dad, please? I think we need to discuss everything together.”
“Little Beast, are you sure you want to do this now?” Mason’s voice was low—angry. Not the normal chill tendencies he’d always associated him with.
What the hell was going on here? He felt his brotherly instincts kick in and he gritted his teeth together even harder. Mason moved in next to Harley, his hand slipping into hers, but shockingly, she pulled it away and settled it on her lap instead. Abigail must have seen the move, because her hand instantly slipped into the crook of David’s arm, and squeezed. Shrugging himself, he stared down at her, questioning her with his eyes, seeing if she had a clue as to what the malfunction was. But her answering shrug left him in the dark even more. If his sister hadn’t told Abigail what was up, then it definitely wasn’t going to be good news.
“No, there is no better time than now to discuss this, Mason.”
“But Harley—”
“Stop, please. This is why I didn’t want you to come in the first place.” As if burned from her words, Mason backed away, shoving his hands out in front of his body. He shook his head, his jaw twitched, a vein David had never seen on the guy, bulged from his temple. The boy looked broken as he ran his hand through his hair, over and over again like he was trying to come back from someplace he didn’t want to go. And for the briefest of seconds, David felt sorry for him.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” Their mom inched her way towards the couch, sitting down on the armrest next to Harley. She pressed a hand against her daughter’s face, and that’s when David saw them—the tears he hated so fucking much—falling from her big brown eyes. His damn sister was hurting, once again.
“I’m leaving. I can’t be here, not when I’m against what you’re doing. I’m sorry, Harley, I love you, with everything I have inside of me…but—”
“Go Mason. I’ll just…call you tomorrow or something.”
David squeezed Abigail’s hand staring back and forth between the pair. Damn, there was some serious shit going down.
The door slammed shut, and David flinched, trying not to look at the tears falling from his sister’s eyes. Everyone was quiet, the room was practically frozen. But like the awesome superstar girlfriend–best friend she was, Abigail released his hand and headed straight for his sister. She pulled her into an instant, sob fest of a hug.
No…no dammit, not the two of them both crying! Not the fucking tears! Knowing exactly what he had to do, he stood, reached for his crutch, and darted for the door. There was no way Mason was going to leave like this anyways. He’d regret it. Besides that, David needed to hear both sides of this story. And from the look of things, he needed to hear Mason’s side first. The crying thing…it was just too much to deal with for him now, so this was the perfect out.
“Dude, just…go away. I’m not in the mood to talk.”
“Well, Mason my man, you don’t have a choice.”
Scoffing, Mason stared back at him from the stoop where he’d planted
himself. “Listen, you need to be in there—for Harley. She needs you more than I do.”
“I call your bullshit here, dude. I need to know what the hell is going on, because from the look and sound of things, she is in the wrong here. Besides that, I can’t handle the—”
“Crying? Yeah, I know…I can’t either. Kills me,” he pounded against his chest, eyes wide as David settled in next to him on the top of the step, “right here…”
“Yeah, I get it.”
Silence surrounded them, and it would have bothered him normally, but not tonight. Tonight, the quietness was needed so he could clear his thoughts—have an open mind for whatever the hell happened.
“She’s leaving me…”
And that wasn’t what he expected to hear come out of pretty boy’s mouth. “Um, what do you mean leaving you? As in breaking up with you? Or moving someplace else? What’s up here, Mason, I can’t take this open–ended shit.”
“I mean…she’s moving. She got some sort of internship offer in Chicago working for some big architect firm. They take one student a year, fly them out, and let them work for six months. If the intern fits in, they take them on full–time, pay for the rest of their schooling, pay for their bills, their apartment—everything. And then they hire them on as an employee when the schooling is over. The opportunity is freaking amazing, and she deserves it so much.” His voice was bitter, but not really angry bitter—more hurt than anything. David knew how that was.
“Why can’t you just go with her then?”
Sighing, Mason ran his hand through his hair before dropping his chin against his chest. “Because…your sister doesn’t want me to go. She says I need to stay behind, work on getting my shop up and running. She doesn’t want me to forgo my dreams, for hers.”
“And what are your dreams, Mason?”
Shit, what was he, Dr. fucking Phil? He needed to just shut up, let the guy talk, and get back in there with his sister—his family. They mattered, not this guy.
But somehow, somewhere along the way this past year, Mason Daniel had instilled his skinny little surfer body into his heart too, just like he did with Harley and the rest of his family—into his family’s lives. And as much as he claimed to not like the guy, he knew, deep down that he kind of did.
“Harley is my dream. I just want to be where she is, be by her side. I know it sounds pathetic and all, but I can’t help it. I love her…”
Yet another thought hit David as he sat there, taking in the news, taking in the Mason confessional like he was a priest himself. Dammit! When Harley found out about their mom, she wouldn’t fucking leave Hillsdale for anything! She’d come home, stay there until the…the…end.
Fuck. The end? Dammit, what was he thinking? He slammed a fist into the wood on the porch floor, his hand immediately swelling at the move.
“Wow, I didn’t know you cared so much about my feelings, dude,” Mason chuckled, nudging David’s side with his fist. “I feel indebted to you now that you broke your hand and all.”
“Shut up. I didn’t break my hand.”
“Uh, you sure?” he nodded towards his fist. David looked down, cringing as blood pooled over his knuckles.
Growling under his breath, he turned to a grinning Mason and shook his hand out, but stopped the words from coming when a dark car pulled into the drive.
“My sister…” Mason smiled sadly and stood. “I’ve missed that kid.”
Nodding in agreement, David stared over at Mason, seeing so much sadness in the guy’s eyes, that it wasn’t even funny. If this was what love did to a person, then David needed to build up some sort of wall that kept him and Abigail locked away from the world—from all outside sources that threatened to tear their happiness down. If he was determined to do one thing, it was keep the two of them together, no matter what they faced.
“See ya later, David,” Mason stood, turning to face him over his shoulder as he stepped forward and onto the sidewalk. “I’ll just get my suitcase tomorrow.”
David’s mouth—completely unfiltered for once—opened up, letting out the confession that wasn’t his to make. “Our mom’s dying, Mason.” Stiffening, other than his flexing hands at his sides, Mason stayed in place as David continued on. “She’s got terminal cancer. It’s all over her body. That’s why my parents flew you two home. They wanted to tell you guys, together. So don’t give up on my sister, because the last thing on her mind after she finds out the truth will be heading to Chicago.”
“Fuck me…I’ll never give up on her, David. Never.”
Yeah, those were David’s sentiments exactly. But he couldn’t speak. It was like his voice was punishing him for saying the words aloud, his throat tightening up to the point of near suffocation. Without waiting for another response, David turned around and headed back into the house, wanting nothing more than to return to the blissful state of contentedness he and Abigail had been in only an hour beforehand.
* * *
Harley’s shoulders shook from sobbing, and Abigail did the only thing she knew how to do in that moment—she hugged her close and cried right along with her. Mrs. A was on the other side, equally as tearful as she stroked her daughter’s head. Why in the hell did all the good things have to come with such crappy side–effects anymore?
For one thing, she was pregnant, but she was also young and clueless about how to be a mother. And another? She and David… Dammit, they were finally together, after so many years of being just friends. But now their relationship was taking a beating by her pregnancy and his mother’s cancer. And now, here sat Harley, getting the job opportunity of a lifetime, but the poor thing couldn’t revel in her happiness due to the fact that she’d be leaving the one person who completed her. Abigail understood her best friend’s fear—the regret of letting Mason come with her, only for him to say down the road possibly, that he regretted not following through with his own dreams. She felt that way with David in a way, with the whole preggo thing. But life was about chances, and taking them was the only way to find that happily ever after.
A throat cleared, and her gaze immediately found David’s in the threshold of the living room. Surprisingly he’d gone after Mason before coming to his sister’s side, but she knew why that was. Mason and David were a lot alike in the sense that the two of them had no idea how to deal with emotional women. Really though, what guy did? She grinned at the thought, wiping her tears with her palms just as Harley settled into her mom’s arms.
Mr. A sat in his chair next to the couch. His elbows were on his knees—his mouth and chin were lowered into his palms. She had no idea what went on in that man’s head. He was always so quiet, never said much of anything unless he was asked. But tonight, she could clearly see the strain in his body as he sat across from her—it was identical to the look David got whenever he was worried or upset about something.
“So I want to go, you guys, so badly. But I can’t expect Mason to drop his own life to be with me. I just can’t—”
“Be responsible for the loss of someone else’s dreams? I can relate.” David’s sad gaze found Abigail’s and she froze. Damn him. She hated that he still felt that way, even after she declared that he was it for her—everything she ever wanted and needed in life. Life without David would always be pointless, and hopefully someday he’d quit with the guilty feeling.
“You know, Harley, when your dad and I met, he was working over two hours away, living in a different town from where I lived. We made the distance thing work for a while, until we were ready to make it official, until we both decided what we really and truly wanted. So maybe a little time apart would just solidify how the two of you feel about each other. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, you know…”
Blinking away the sad tears that threatened her once more, Abigail smiled down at Mrs. A as she continued on with her story. Hearing about their romance was so comforting, so exactly what she needed to hear. The two of them were eighteen when they met, and then they wound up having David and Abigail o
nly two years after that. They were the epitome of a perfect couple—the one thing that made her believe in that true love kind of stuff.
“I didn’t want your mom to move away from her family and her life to move here to Hillsdale with a guy who worked as a mechanic, fixing up old bikes. I wasn’t good enough for the pretty, city girl.”
“But you were, honey…” Mrs. A smiled, releasing Harley to stand up and move into her husband’s lap. “You were always meant for me—grease under the fingernails and across the face only made me want you that much more.”
Electricity burned between the pair, like they were still so young and freshly in love. Then David was there, sitting next to her, pulling her back into his arms, kissing her temple. She smiled up at him, before staring back over at Harley. Her best friend’s eyes were red and swollen, but she was smiling at least. That was a start.
“You were meant to be mine and I was meant to be yours.”
Groaning, obviously annoyed by his mother’s romanticized words, David pulled Abigail tighter to him, whispering into her ear, “Ignore their mush. It sort of grosses me out.”
Closing her eyes, she settled deeper into his arms, loving the way his warm breath sifted over her skin as he spoke. She tilted her chin up and found his gaze, smiling at him. “I find it rather sweet. It makes the possibility of success in a marriage actually real to me. I obviously haven’t had my fair share of romantic role models, you know…”
“Harley, honey, I know how much you love Mason and want the best for him. But you also need to trust the boy to make the right decisions for himself. If he feels the best thing to do is to come with you to Chicago, then you need to let him.” David’s arm sat locked and unmoving around Abigail’s shoulders, his body stiffening; his breath almost impossible to make out against her ear. Abigail had never known Mr. Anderson to give advice, but tonight, that’s exactly what he did. But for him to sit there and dish out love advice to his nineteen–year–old daughter? Well that went way beyond any kind of norm for the man.
A Long Time Coming Page 24
