Wrapping Up (Novella) Mitchell Family 4.5 (Wrapping Up Novella 4.5)

by Jennifer Foor

  Ty and I had already wrapped everyone’s presents and had them all hidden in different places around the house. Van had told me that Colt ordered the twins rival jerseys, so she and I thought it would be funny to surprise the guys with their size jerseys too. I was sure she wanted to do it for the Kodak moment, but it seemed priceless and we knew the guys would get a kick out of it.

  We let the family vote on what we were going to make for Christmas Dinner. Since they decided on stuffed shells, Ty took it upon himself to enlist his mother’s special recipe. She usually made them a few days before and let them sit in the refrigerator before baking them. With the big kids wanting nothing to do with Ty and the twins sleeping, we sat in the kitchen and started getting everything together. A major part of making them was keeping the large shells from breaking apart as they cooked. A lot of olive oil and stirring was involved.

  Ty had me watching the noodles as he added all of the other ingredients to a giant mixing bowl. Once he got the cheese mixture finished, he separated half and added a combination of ground beef, seasoned ground pork and even ground veal in one of the bowls. Some of us preferred no meat in our shells, while others loved them with the works.

  Ty made perverted faces as he mixed in the meat with his hands. “This feels so good.”

  I shook my head and kept stirring the pasta. “It amazes me how you amuse yourself.”

  “Don’t pretend that having a handful of meat isn’t hot.” He winked and kept working the mixture.

  Conner came in the kitchen before I could think of something witty to say back to him. He stuck his finger in the bowl and tasted it. Ty slapped his arm. “Dude, keep your hands off of my meat.”

  Conner sat down next to him and looked back at me. I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to say about it. “Well, just so you know, your meat needs more seasoning. When your mother prepares these, the meat tastes the best.”

  I set down the spoon and crossed my arms, while leaning on the countertop. “Hearing you two discuss meat and Ty’s mother just ain’t right. Did you check on the boys when you walked by their room?” It wasn’t like he had to do it, but if they were awake I would have assumed he would have told me.

  “It was quiet. I reckon their still asleep.” He grabbed a napkin and started folding it. “So, I guess Colt dropped off the kid and went to Van’s parents?”

  Ty finally stood up and started washing his hands. “Yeah, it got nasty out there fast. Everything is a sheet of ice, dude. We’re going to have to go out there when it stops and treat the damn lane so they don’t get stuck. Four wheel drive is great, but it doesn’t help with the ice. What’s going to suck worse is if it snows on top of the ice tonight. The roads will be deadly.”

  Conner agreed, “Yeah and you know some idiots will try to drive in it.”

  “You could probably make a pretty penny pulling people out of the ditches tomorrow morning though, well, if they haven’t already froze to death.” My comment was not very Christmas spirited.

  Ty drained the noodles and started sitting them out to dry and cool. He grabbed three spoons and the baking sheets and handed us each our own. “Let’s get this done so we can get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to suck ass.” We all sat there stuffing the shells until they were all done.

  He was right too, all except for the part about it being tomorrow. We climbed in bed and had just fallen asleep when this faint honking woke us up. We sat up in bed at the same time and looked at each other, first wondering if it was something going off in our own house. Ty climbed out of bed before me and after we both put on some pants, we found Conner on the other side of our door. When Ty got out of our bedroom I saw him whispering to Ty so I couldn’t hear.

  “What is it? Is something wrong?”

  Ty held up his hand for me to stop talking. “We think it’s just a disabled car. I knew someone would drive off the road, I just thought it would be tomorrow morning. Who would want to be out in this shit tonight?” He leaned down and kissed my head. “Why don’t you just go lay back down. Everything will be fine. We just really need to get out there before everyone in the house wakes up from the sound of that horn.”

  I could have huffed and puffed over it, but they would still have gone out into the icy conditions to stop the horn from sounding. I looked across the yard and noticed that the light was now on in Ty’s parent’s house. It was only a matter of time before my house was filled with screaming children.

  Instead of waiting for them back in my bedroom, I stared out the window, watching as two four wheelers went driving down the lane. I could see their headlights approaching the car and then they stopped. For the longest time I just stood there, as if I would be able to see something in the dark that was nearly a quarter mile away.

  I no sooner sat down on the couch when I heard the four wheelers driving back up in the direction of the house. If they needed the tractor to pull someone out of the ditch they were headed in the wrong direction. Their headlights blinded me and I walked to the door to let them in as they approached. Ty came walking in first and when he glanced at me, he just shook his head. Before I could ask him why he had given me that kind of reaction, my brother came through the door. His coat was wrapped around someone that he was carrying. It was clear that it was a woman. She had her face buried into his chest as she cried and he wasn’t holding her like he was rescuing a stranger from a bad storm.

  It took me a second to recognize the red hair, but when I did, I couldn’t hold back my interest in the situation. I approached my brother, but he kept walking in the direction of his room. I grabbed the back of his t-shirt and noticed the goose bumps from him giving his coat to Amy. “Conner, what is going on?”

  “Not tonight, sis. Just let it go for tonight.” He kept walking until he reached his room and closed the door behind them. I couldn’t understand why she was out in this weather and why she would have been crying. Obviously something major was going on. If Rick hurt her again, why hadn’t she called the police or gone to a hospital?

  I stormed in my bedroom as Ty was climbing into bed. I pointed at him while I climbed in next to him. He wrapped his arms around me. “Is this how you stay out of things?” I was being rude, but he knew what was going on and wasn’t talking. It was pissing me off. Amy was supposed to be my best friend and for months she had been carrying on a secret friendship with my brother.

  “I have nothing to do with your brother’s decision, Baby. You know that. Just get some sleep and we can talk about this tomorrow. Amy is safe and I am sure your brother will get her to calm down. She knows where to find you if she needs you.” He was moving the hair out of my face to kiss me, but I was still angry. Maybe I was hurt that they all had a secret.

  I sat up and looked him right in the eyes. “Tell me right now what happened. Why was she out driving in this mess?”

  He held his hands up like he gave up. “Fine, if you will shut up about it, I will tell you what I know.” He sat up next to me and played with my hand while he talked. “I don’t know what’s going on between them, as in, what they are to each other. I know that Conner talks to her a lot. When he sneaks out, I think it’s to see her….”

  I cut him off. “She is married.”

  “Would you just chill? They could be friends. You don’t know.”

  “Seriously Ty, do you know my brother at all? He has never been friends with a girl, unless they are related. It has to be more.” Conner was the last guy any woman needed to be friends with. His black book was a damn encyclopedia.

  “Look, all I know is that we went down the lane and she was in her car, honking the horn with a bloody nose. I heard her tell him that she ran out of the house after Rick threw her cell phone against the wall. She probably didn’t know where else to go. Just let her be. Conner isn’t going to take advantage of the poor woman when she is all messed up. He’s more decent than that. Amy came here because she knew we would protect her. Now will you please go back to sleep?” He didn’t wait for my ans
wer. Ty slid down on his pillow and rested one arm over my waist as he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

  I was being hardheaded, but I sat up for a while still wanting to know every detail. The longer I waited, the more curious I became and I soon found myself in the hallway, standing outside my brother’s door, listening. When I couldn’t hear anything, I slowly opened the door to peek my head in. Conner had Amy wrapped tightly in his arms. He’d given her some dry clothes to wear and they were both covered up to their waists. As I looked closer, I could see their fingers were intertwined together as they slept. In all of my life, I had never seen my brother care for a woman that wasn’t our family. He’d had girlfriends, but had distanced himself from having any kind of feelings. This was a whole new side to my brother.

  A tug caught me off guard and made me jump. I turned around to see Bella standing behind me. “Mommy, what are you doing?”

  I put my finger to my lips and closed my brother’s door. I grabbed Bella by the hand and pulled her away from his bedroom. “I was just checking on everyone. What are you doing up?” Okay, it was a total lie, but she would have told him I was spying on him. I knew my daughter.

  “I had to go to the bathroom and saw you standing there. Will you tuck me back in?” I led her into her room and got her back to bed, before heading to my own.

  Spying on my brother had left me with more questions than I had before. He was going to have to start explaining, if Amy was going to be sleeping in his bed.

  Chapter 8

  Ty

  When the boys got up around four in the morning, I hurried in their room and calmed them before they could wake up Miranda. She’d been so damn adamant about getting into her brothers business that I didn’t want to discuss it anymore.

  I passed Conner walking to the bathroom and he apologized for upsetting his sister. Since he was in his underwear, I opted not to take our conversation to another level. There was nothing like standing around with another man, when we were both in our boxer shorts.

  I figured when Miranda got up, the first thing she would do was head toward Conner’s room, but I was wrong. She steered clear of her brother and he did the same to her. In fact, Conner only came out of his room to grab a couple sandwiches and sodas and when he did, Miranda was in our room with the boys. When it got to be about three in the afternoon, I couldn’t take the three of them tiptoeing around each other. We were family and it was Christmas time. I walked into my room to find my wife folding clothes on our bed. The boys were in the playpen sucking on pacifiers and playing with these plastic rings. Miranda smiled but kept on folding. I reached my arms around her waist and tucked my head into her neck, as I kissed it.

  She moved away when it began to tickle her. “I thought you were watchin’ a movie.”

  “Boring!” I turned her around and kissed her softly on the lips. She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me into a deeper kind of kiss than I had expected. I looked down at the boys who were both looking at us. Jax was holding up one of the rings for us to take from him. I leaned over and grabbed the ring. “Thanks Buddy!” I handed him back the ring and patted him on the head. He started shaking it and forgetting all about me being there. I loved how they played together. They couldn’t talk, but they had this way of communicating with each other that boggled my mind. I turned back to my wife. “Where were we?”

  “You said you got bored.” I kissed her again and then slowly worked my lips down to her chin.

  She leaned her head back giving me a better angle to kiss her neck. “I can think of something else we can do on an icy day like today.”

  “Lock the bedroom door.” It wasn’t a request from Miranda, it was a demand.

  I made my way across the bedroom, noticing the twins were too busy with each other to even remotely know what was about to happen. I didn’t have time to think about them watching us, because as I got to the bedroom door, someone was knocking on the front door of our house. Being that it was still sleeting and snowing, I couldn’t imagine it being anyone other than our family that was staying at my parent’s house.

  I looked back at Miranda and held up my hands. “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another. Hold that thought, Baby. In fact, why don’t you get that little red Mrs. Claus outfit on for Mr. Claus to take off.” I threw her a wink and walked out of the room.

  When I got to the door I didn’t know what to do. Rick, Amy’s abusive and drunk husband was standing there, blowing his heated breath into his hands. Since the door was glass, he’d already seen me approaching it. I opened the door, but didn’t offer for him to come in.

  “Rick, I don’t want any trouble. My family is here visiting and it’s Christmas.”

  He held his hands up like he was surrendering. “I just came for Amy. I know she’s here. I saw her car out by the road.”

  To everyone in town, Rick was just a drunk. He’d never been a violent person at all. I didn’t believe he was going to get physical with anyone, well, not unless he knew where Amy was, at that very moment. It occurred to me that I needed to make sure Rick went nowhere near Conner; in fact he didn’t even need to know Conner even existed.

  “She’s in the back bedroom resting. Wait here and I will get her.” I left him standing outside while I walked back to tell Miranda what was going on first. The man didn’t smell of alcohol and he seemed calm enough to not put up a fuss, but who really knew.

  When I got to my bedroom and found my wife, laying across our bed, in nothing but a skimpy Mrs. Claus outfit, I almost forgot all about Rick. She looked so smoking hot; I wanted to pounce right on that shit. “Oh, Baby.” I licked my lips. “You don’t know how hard this is for me. God, I feel like I am going to kick myself in the face for this. Look, don’t be alarmed, Rick is here for Amy.”

  She stood up before I could say anymore and started walking toward the bedroom door. “MIRANDA!”

  She froze and looked down at her body. I threw her a t-shirt and a pair of my sweats off the bed. “Put this on.” While she pulled the clothes over top of her cute little number, I explained. “I don’t think Amy ever told him about Conner.”

  She shook her head. “He doesn’t know. When he first moved in she said he was very jealous and if she told him that my single brother was living with us she would never be allowed over again.”

  “Here’s the plan then. You go in Conner’s room and get Amy. I don’t care what you have to do, but do not let your brother come out of that room.”

  We started walking out of the room. “He’s going to want to kill Rick, you know that.”

  I patted her on the ass. “Then you should take him down like you did when we were kids.”

  She was already walking away from me. “He’s a little bigger than when we were kids.”

  “Do your best, Baby.”

  I walked toward the front door again, not wanting Rick to hear Conner when he got wind of who was at the door. I could hear commotion coming from the bedroom and I held my finger up to Rick to let him know it would be another minute and I walked back toward Conner’s room. Sure enough, he was fighting Miranda tooth and nail to get to Rick. Amy had him by one arm, while Miranda was blocking the door with her body.

  “He needs to know what it’s like to have a fist thrown at his face.” Conner’s face was scrunched up and his eyebrows were creased.

  I pushed my way past Miranda and stood in front of Conner. “Amy, I don’t care if you stay here for Christmas, hell, I don’t even care if there is something really happening between you and Conner, but right now your husband is at our door and he ain’t going to leave until you talk to him. Now, I will stand beside you the whole time if that’s what you want, but if you want to remain friends with Conner, or whatever else you are to each other, then I suggest he stays put in this room and keeps his mouth shut.” I looked Conner right in the eye when I said that last part.

  I turned around to look at my wife’s reaction. She gave me a smile and grabbed my hand, like she somehow, at that very moment,
had come to terms with the Conner/Amy situation. “I’ll stay back here with my brother. You two go do what you need to do. Amy, if you want to stay, you know you’re welcome. You don’t have to go back with him.”

  Amy put her head down and started to cry. “I wish it were that easy.” She looked back at Conner and I saw the disappointment in his eyes. “Conner, you know I can’t stay. You know why I have to go.”

  “You’d pick that over your own safety?” This conversation was deeper than Miranda and I knew.

  “I have to. I’m so sorry you guys. I have to go with him.” She started putting on her jacket and walking out of the room. Conner looked pissed and he started following her out of the room, but him walking up to Rick in a pair of sweats with no shirt, wouldn’t go over good at all, and could put Amy in a worse situation.

  I took my hands and pushed Conner back in his room slowly. “Ty, you don’t understand. She doesn’t want to go with him.”

  I finally got him pushed down on his bed. Miranda had gone with Amy and I was ready to use force if I had to, in order to keep him from being discovered. We both heard the front door opening and we could hear voices, which meant they would be able to hear us. Conner shook his head, but began talking in a whisper. “She ain’t goin’ to leave him. He has somethin’ on her and she can’t afford to leave. I told her she has friends that would help her, but she’s adamant, man. I can’t just sit back here and know that he’s goin’ to be layin’ his hands on her, forcin’ himself on her again.”

  I stood in front of Conner and looked down at him. He had his hands on his knees, but I knew firsthand that at any second he could take me down and run out into the living room. “You have to let her make the choice. Look, dude, I know she’s your friend and I know you care about her, but she’s a grown woman. If she wants to leave with him, you have to let her.”