Circle of Friends, Part 5

by Susan Mallery

  He grinned. “Deep breaths.”

  “Not going to help.”

  She collected her purse and stood. He rose as well and tossed five dollars on the table to cover the coffee and tip.

  “I’ll be there,” she said. “At three. Maybe ten after. Give other people time to arrive.”

  He pulled a business card out of his wallet, then wrote on the back. “My cell number,” he said. “Call me when you’re five minutes away and I’ll meet you out front. You won’t have to go in by yourself.”

  Her eyes brightened with gratitude. “That would be great. Plus, if the nerves get to be too much and I start vomiting uncontrollably, you can probably prescribe something, right?”

  He laughed. “If necessary.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Josh. You’ve been great.”

  They stared at each other for a second, then she turned and walked away. He stayed where he was, watching her move through the diner, appreciating the sway of her hips and the swinging movement of her sleek hair.

  Being alive suddenly didn’t feel so bad.

  * * *

  “DID YOU LIKE HER?” Abbey asked the second Josh walked into the house. “I’ve always liked her. I think she’s great, but what did you think?”

  Josh bent down and kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek. “I liked her.”

  “Really?”

  “I swear.”

  “Good.” Abbey beamed at Pete. “He liked her.”

  “I heard.”

  Abbey had loosely pinned up her long, blond hair. The free ends bounced as she spun and hurried into the kitchen, waving for him to follow her.

  “A couple of my friends are being protective about Crissy wanting to meet Brandon. They’re afraid she’s going to make trouble.” Abbey opened the oven, then pulled out two freshly baked loaves of bread.

  His mouth watered. Abbey had a lot of great qualities, and he’d always put her baking near the top of the list.

  “She’s looking for a connection,” he said.

  “That’s what I said. All these years we’ve invited her to be a part of the family, but she’s always held back.” Abbey set the pans on cooling racks, then turned to him. “She has family, but they don’t live around here. I’ve always wondered if she’s lonely.”

  Pete sighed, then put his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Stop rescuing the world. Crissy is a very successful businesswoman. She doesn’t need you messing in her life.”

  “I’m not messing. I don’t mess. I’m just saying, she needs us.”

  Pete looked at Josh, then rolled his eyes. “Let it go,” he said, with exaggerated patience. “Crissy’s fine.”

  “Maybe we could fix her up with someone.”

  “She can get her own guy. Don’t you have enough to worry about?”

  Josh walked over to the cookie jar on the counter and reached inside. Abbey had made chocolate chip cookies the previous day and the four he’d eaten then hadn’t been close to enough. Now as his brother and sister-in-law continued on with a very familiar argument, he munched on two more.

  Pete and Abbey were the kind of couple who had been born for each other. From the first moment they’d met, they’d both known they would be together forever. There hadn’t been any games or questions or even a discussion. They’d started dating their sophomore year of high school and from that first night, had known what their future would be.

  “So she’s coming to the party?” Abbey asked anxiously.

  “That’s what she said,” Josh told her. “She wants to meet Brandon.”

  Abbey smiled. “That’s good. We’re all going to be one big family. She’ll get to know him and relax and then he can know his birth mother.” She turned to Pete. “What about Zeke? He’s single.”

  Pete groaned, then glanced at his brother. “Escape while you still can. When she gets like this, she’s impossible to stop.”

  * * *

  CRISSY WAS GENERALLY a fan of the whole weekend concept, but this time, Saturday had come along way too quickly. She’d spent the morning trying to figure out the right thing to wear to a “Hey, we’re adopting” party. She wanted to make a good impression, but not stand out. Casual, but not too casual. Pretty, but not sexy.

  She tried telling herself that Brandon was a twelve-year-old boy. He wouldn’t even notice her. But still, every time she thought about meeting him there were jumping frogs where her stomach should have been.

  She finally settled on a pair of tailored jeans, a lightweight fitted sweater and a leather jacket. Boots gave her some height. She fussed with her hair, did her makeup twice and generally spent more time sweating her appearance than she had on any first date in recent memory.

  Not that she went on many first dates anymore. She hated them. Dating was miserable enough without dealing with the whole “get to know” first date.

  After changing her earrings again, she walked out to the living room where her cat, King Edward, lay in a patch of sun.

  “How do I look?” she asked as she turned in a slow circle. “If you were a twelve-year-old boy, would I embarrass you or not?”

  King Edward raised his head, blinked twice, then yawned.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” she muttered, grabbed her keys and headed out.

  In less time than it should have taken, she pulled up in front of a sprawling ranch-style house in a comfy suburban section of Riverside. It was the kind of street where kids rode bikes and neighbors took in packages for each other.

  Crissy had to park a nearly half a block away, due to the number of cars. Josh hadn’t been kidding when he’d said it was a big party. All the easier for her to get lost in the crowd, she thought as she climbed out.

  She’d taken him up on his offer and phoned when she’d been on her way. As she approached, she saw him step out onto the small porch and head toward her.

  He was taller than she remembered and oddly enough, better looking. She liked the way he smiled at her and tried to focus on him rather than her reason for being there.

  “Nervous?” he asked as she approached.

  “Paralyzed. I may start drooling.”

  “That will make an impression.”

  They stared at each other. He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and smiled.

  “It’s okay. Take a breath. You’ll do fine.”

  “Something you don’t actually know,” she muttered. “I have a fabulous imagination and I can come up with about three hundred disaster scenarios in less than a minute.”

  “Impressive.”

  He looked far too amused for her taste. “You could be more sympathetic here. It’s my life on the line.”

  “It’s not your life. It’s nothing more than—”

  But before he could attempt to convince her of the impossible, the front door banged open and a twelve-year-old boy burst onto the porch.

  “Uncle Josh, come on! We’re going to play football and I want you on my team.”

  Crissy’s breath caught in her throat. The world seemed to jog slightly to the left. She stared into a face she’d only ever seen in pictures. But this flesh and blood version couldn’t begin to compare to those two-dimensional photos.

  She’d seen him in person once before. Nearly thirteen years ago, on a Thursday morning when the nurse had offered her the tiny, wrapped baby to hold.

  Crissy remembered she’d refused. She’d pointed to a tearful but elated Abbey.

  “That’s his mom,” she’d said, and meant it.

  But did she still?

  CHAPTER TWO

  CRISSY TRIED NOT to stare at Brandon. This was their first meeting and she didn’t want to come off as scary or creepy. But it was hard to act normal when her heart pounded so hard in her chest she was sure even the neighbors coul
d hear it. Fortunately Brandon was far more interested in his game than an adult visitor he didn’t know.

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Josh said. “Go ahead and start without me.”

  “Not if I want my team to win,” Brandon said.

  “Winning isn’t everything.”

  “You always say that, but when we play you get mad if we lose.”

  Josh chuckled. “It’s a character flaw. I want better for you.”

  Brandon rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. “Uncle Josh, you know you want to play. I’ll let you be quarterback.”

  “Bribery, huh?”

  Crissy stood silent through their conversation. She tried to focus on Josh, but her gaze kept slipping to the tall, skinny boy pleading for victory. Looking at him was surreal—she could see parts of herself and her family in him. A familiar tilt of the head, a similar smile. She’d never thought about finding bits of herself in Brandon.

  She was both delighted by the fact and a little disconcerted. The need to run was just as strong as her desire to know more about him. Talk about a series of complications.

  Josh stepped close and put his arm around her. As the steady weight settled on her shoulders, she realized she’d been shaking.

  “This is Crissy,” he said. “She’s a friend of mine. Crissy, this is Brandon Daniels.”

  “Hi,” she said, doing her best to smile normally. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You, too,” Brandon said automatically as his gaze shot back to his uncle. “You brought a girl?”

  “It happens.”

  “It hasn’t ever.” Brandon was obviously intrigued by the idea. “So she’s like your girlfriend?”

  Josh didn’t bring women around? Crissy knew he was close to his family, so did the lack of women mean he didn’t date? He was single—she was sure Abbey had told her that. So why the lack of female companionship? On the surface he was practically perfect—good-looking, funny, charming and hey, a doctor. What was there not to like?

  “She’s female and a friend,” Josh said easily. “Deal with it.”

  Brandon eyed Crissy, then grinned. “Okay.” He moved close and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  Crissy shook hands with her son. A thousand emotions flooded her as their skin touched. This boy had been conceived inside of her, had grown in her body. She’d given birth to him and then walked away. They were strangers and yet as intimately connected as two people could be.

  Too much, too soon, she thought as her head began to spin.

  She turned to Josh. “You should go play. I’ll be fine.”

  “All right!” Brandon rushed to the front door. “You heard her. Come on!”

  “You sure?” Josh asked as he stepped back. “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

  “She’s fine,” Brandon said. “She can find her way to the kitchen where my mom is.” He backed into the house yelling, “It’s the first door on the left.” There was the sound of running feet followed by a faint, “I got Uncle Josh on my team.”

  Josh ushered Crissy into the house. They stepped into a messy but comfortable-looking living room.

  “If you’re sure,” he began.

  “Go.” She pushed him toward the hallway. “Like Brandon said, I can find my way to the kitchen.”

  “Okay. But I’ll be back soon.”

  He headed down the hallway. Before following and finding the kitchen, Crissy looked at the pictures on the living room walls. There were dozens, all family photos. Baby pictures of Brandon gave way to snapshots of him at four or five with another baby. The infant grew to a pretty little girl. Then a third child joined the mix.

  There were formal portraits and candid shots. Some with Abbey and Pete, some without. But wherever Crissy looked, she saw a connection. Did she have a right to step in the middle of this? Despite Abbey’s constant urgings to get to know Brandon, Crissy felt like an outsider who had the ability to destroy this happy family.

  “Something I won’t do,” she whispered to herself, making a vow rather than a statement. She was here to get to know her son, but not at the cost of hurting something wonderful. If anything bad started to happen, she would disappear and never be heard from again.

  She walked down the hall and found her way into a large, bright kitchen. There were half a dozen women standing around, talking and laughing.

  They looked like the clients who came to her gyms. Suburban moms. Normal women with busy lives. Once again Crissy had the sense of them being a part of something and not being sure if she would ever belong. Then Abbey looked up from the cutting board where she’d been slicing strawberries and saw her.

  “You made it,” she said, her voice bright with pleasure. “Everyone, this is Crissy. She’s a friend of Josh’s. Crissy, these are my friends. I’m going to go around the room and tell you everyone’s name, but we don’t expect you to remember them the first time out.”

  “Oh, yes, we do,” a pretty redhead said with a laugh. “We’ll quiz you later. Failing will mean dire consequences.”

  “Don’t frighten her the first day,” a blonde said. “Save that for her second visit. It builds anticipation.”

  “Ignore them,” Abbey told her. “They’re actually very nice.”

  Crissy sensed that. She tried to put names with faces, but got hopelessly lost. Part of the problem were the comments about her and Josh.

  “I always knew that man was too fabulous to stay single long,” one of the women murmured, almost regretfully. “Someone had to catch him eventually.”

  A by-product of the cover story, Crissy thought. By being Josh’s friend, people assumed they were dating. Not that she would mind going out with him sometime. Just not now—when there was so much other stuff going on. Still, she accepted the teasing and continued meeting Abbey’s friends.

  When everyone had been introduced, Crissy was offered a choice of beverages, including white wine. She chose iced tea.

  “Is the game starting?” Abbey asked, looking out the large bay window with a built-in cushioned bench. “Oh, my. Maybe some supervision is in order.”

  Several of the women nodded. “Remember last time when Aaron sprained his ankle?” one of them asked. “I swear, the man still thinks he’s seventeen.”

  Abbey’s friends drifted toward the back door, then out into the yard. When it was just the two of them, Abbey smiled at her. “I sort of asked everyone to leave us alone for a little while. So you could get comfortable. I hope that’s okay.”

  “It’s fine. This is a lot to take in.” Crissy drew in a breath and tried to focus. “You’re being really nice about all this. You could have refused to let me see Brandon.”

  “Why?” Abbey asked, looking genuinely confused. “The more family, the better. It’s important for Brandon to know about his biological family. I’m thrilled you want to be here.”

  If their situations were reversed, Crissy wasn’t so sure she would be as welcoming. “You’re an amazing woman.”

  “Oh, please. I just want what’s best for Brandon. I think your plan to take it slow is a good one for everyone.” She continued slicing strawberries and then dumped them in a bowl. “I got in touch with Marty.”

  It took Crissy a second to connect the name with the football player she’d dated in high school. The one who had been her first time and Brandon’s biological father.

  “What did he say?” she asked, wondering if he was interested in Brandon as well. That would be fifteen kinds of weird.

  “He’s a lawyer in Boston. He was very polite, but told me that part of his life was finished. He’d signed away all rights to his child so if I thought I could get money out of him, I was sorely mistaken.”

  Crissy winced. “That can’t have been fun.”

  Abbey shrugged. “Some people are like that—
thinking everything is about money. He’s moved on. I’m okay with that.”

  “He didn’t have such a big stick up his butt when we were dating in high school,” Crissy said. “At least I don’t remember seeing it.”

  Abbey grinned. “I’m sure you would have noticed.”

  Just then a pretty girl Crissy recognized from the pictures in the living room raced into the kitchen. “Hi, Mom. Can I have juice?”

  “Sure.” Abbey crossed to the refrigerator. “Emma, this is Crissy. She’s a friend of Uncle Josh’s.”

  The girl was about eight or nine, tall and skinny, with cartoon princesses on her athletic shoes.

  “Hi,” Emma said shyly. “Uncle Josh is really nice.”

  “Yes, he is,” Crissy said, appreciating how easy he’d made things for her.

  Abbey handed her a juice drink and the girl skipped toward the back door.

  “You have your hands full,” Crissy said. “I can’t imagine raising three kids.”

  “I started with one, so that helped.” She began pulling bowls of salads out of the refrigerator. “We’ve been lucky. All the kids have been great. Hope, the little one, just turned two, but she’s still a sweetie. Right now she’s down for a nap, but when she gets up you’ll see what I mean. She’s a real people person. Brandon is more athletic. A typical boy. Emma is the quiet one. Her idea of a good time is an afternoon spent reading. I love how different they all are, how their personalities grow with them.”

  The counter filled up quickly, so Crissy stepped in and took two large bowls from Abbey. She glanced at the contents.

  “Did you make all this?”

  Abbey shrugged. “Yes. I’m a bit obsessive about what my family eats. I go for organic and healthy whenever I can, which means I do a lot of cooking. We have a big garden on the side of the house. Brandon and Emma both help me with it. I make our bread and things like cookies and cakes. I’m a real homebody.” She glanced at Crissy. “That probably sounds really boring to a successful businesswoman like you.”

  “Not at all,” Crissy told her, trying to remember if she’d ever turned on the oven in her kitchen. “I’m not the least bit domestic. I wouldn’t know where to begin. I’ve never baked anything. I can’t even knit and I’ve been taking classes for months.”