Freeing Destiny (Fate #2) Page 12

  “I don’t know why we didn’t just push off the honeymoon until after we moved.” Mom was stuck in a web of tangled emotions and half-filled moving boxes.

  “Are you saying you didn’t enjoy yourself?” Caleb was quick to interrupt my mother’s frantic state with a hand at her shoulder, a kiss on her forehead.

  “No, you know that’s not what I mean. I’m just so—This is just overwhelming. We’re leaving in five days and there’s still so much to do!”

  Five days. To think, if I hadn’t changed my mind I’d only have one hundred and twenty hours left with Jack. A measly seventy two hundred minutes to feel his warm touch. An insufficient four hundred thirty two thousand seconds to kiss his lips.

  “Hey, daydreamer, wanna help get this thing full?” Caleb nudged my shoulder as I drifted off and wrapped a coffee mug in newspaper.

  “Sure.” I snapped to. “This one’s almost done.”

  Mom sealed another box with a loud yank of mailing tape. “You have much more to go, Stells? Nina said she was almost done.”

  That was my cue. A dangerous mix of impulsiveness and apprehension flooded me. I gulped back my fears and came out with it. “Yeah, about that.”

  Mom shook her head and practically growled, “Oh, come on, Stella. We don’t have time for you to slack on this. We’ve got to be out of here—”

  “In five days. I know.” I interrupted her with a roll of my eyes. “But . . . there’s . . . I’ve . . .” I couldn’t find the right words.

  Caleb stole the over-wrapped mug from my hands. “I think this one’s nice and safe. Now, what were you saying?” His smirk gave him away. He knew. I was going to kill Jack for confiding in my stepfather before I had the chance to tell my own mother.

  I scowled his way and balled my fists, mouthing, “Your friend is dead.”

  Caleb simply chuckled under his breath and placed the mug in a box. “I’m gonna check on the meatloaf in the oven. I’ll be right back.” He kissed my mother, stuck his tongue out at me, and left the room.

  Real mature. Did my mother know she married a ball buster?

  Mom hadn’t sensed a thing. She was oblivious. Even as I fumbled with clumsy hands and stuttered as I tried to get my confession out, her focus was on one thing. Packing for the move. How had my own mother, the woman who made her whole life about me and my sister, become so blind to what I was dealing with?

  “Mom, I need to tell you something.” I uttered the words as if I was about to tell her I’d gotten a manicure without her. No big deal. Nothing serious. Just decided I’m staying behind, leaving my entire family to chill with a man I just met and might be falling in love with. You know, just a regular ol’ day. I was so nervous she wouldn’t approve of my decision. I was afraid she’d be disappointed. My mind was made up no matter what, but I wanted the best of both worlds. Everyone had to agree with what I was doing without judgment. Was that too much to ask?

  “What’s up?” she asked without looking up from the cardboard box.

  “Mom! Can you look at me for one second? This is serious!” My voice cracked when I shouted. That got her attention.

  “What’s the matter? Is everything all right?” My doting mother was back, her arms around my shoulders. Her fingers patted my hair.

  “I’m fine,” I huffed, and wriggling out of her hold. “But before I say anything, can you promise me you won’t freak out?”

  “Yeah, sure. There’s not one mother in the world who’s not going to freak out when her daughter asks her not to. What’s going on, Stella? You’re making me nervous.”

  “Not as nervous as me,” I admitted.

  “Baby, whatever it is, you know you can tell me. I’ve lived a very unconventional life—I’m no saint. There’s nothing you can say or do that will make me love you any less.” I hoped that was the truth. I mean, I knew it was. Gabriella Edwards had lost her parents at sixteen, was pregnant with twins at eighteen, married at nineteen, and widowed before she was thirty. She’d seen hardships, went on benders, broke so many rules, and lived to tell about it. Happily. Gabriella Edwards—now Gabriella Waters, my mother—couldn’t hate me for what I was about to do, even if she didn’t approve.

  Instead of pulling her to the side and sitting down in the family room as I’d imagined, I opted for keeping myself preoccupied with packing. There was no need for undivided attention—I hoped I could get this out and then sneak away. Bye, Mom. See ya at Thanksgiving. But even the most optimistic idealist couldn’t see it going down that easy.

  “Okay, so . . .” I started, taking a deep breath. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Jack.”

  At those words, I took note of Mom’s expression. Her eyes popped wide and a smile broadened across her entire sun-kissed face. “Oh?”

  “Yes, he’s wonderful.” Giddiness oozed out of me like glob of jelly from a doughnut. Even a blind man could recognize my excitement from my tone alone. An octave higher, squeakier, and sing-song like.

  Mom urged me to continue. “He and Caleb are like brothers, I can’t imagine him not being a wonderful man. So . . . tell me more. I want to hear all about it.”

  Did she really? Did she want to know that her level-headed daughter had become the complete opposite after ten days in Jack Davis’s presence?

  I went on to describe how we’d spent our time together. The dates, the nicknames, the firsts, my blunders. She cooed and smiled along with me, as any mother who witnessed her daughter’s happiness would. When I thought it was safe to drop the bomb, I cleared my throat and turned my head to place another packed item into a box. “I’ve decided to push back my move a bit. I’m going to stay with Jack for a while. We need more time together.”

  I expected a lot of things. Shouting Italian curse words, for one. Tears and gasps of horror, for another. But silence—that wasn’t one of them.

  “Mom! Say something!” If I had the guts, I’d pummel her and shake the reaction out of her. But I was still trembling from my admission, still nerve-wracked and uneasy. I needed her to say something. “Mom!” I shouted again, when another painful thirty seconds passed in silence.

  Closing her eyes, Mom took a step closer to me and clasped her hands together. “When your sister brought Ryan home, my heart sank. I felt an ache that I hadn’t felt as strongly as I had in years. I missed him—your dad. I missed him so much. I wanted him there with me to share in her joy. When I married Caleb, I felt it again. That time, a pang of guilt. I’d moved on, allowed myself to love again, replaced one man with another. But I knew it was okay. I knew he was with me. All those milestones, all those high points and low dips in life—he was right there with me.” Tears rimmed my mother’s cocoa brown eyes. Her lips quivered and her body trembled slightly.

  “Mom? Are you okay?” I draped my arm around her, completely overwhelmed by her sadness. Was this sadness? Or was it another moment in her life that she had to learn to feel my dad’s presence rather than rely on the actuality of him being there?

  “I’m fine, Stella. Really, I am. I just miss him in moments like this. These flashes of life when my babies—our babies—are all grown up and making decisions on their own.”

  It would’ve been easy to exploit her weakness, but I couldn’t ignore the reason for this conversation in the first place. “Are you disappointed in me?” My voice was a mere whisper. I feared her answer. Disappointment wasn’t part of my makeup. I was a born gratifier. If my mother’s tears had anything to do with me, I’d be devastated.

  “Disappointed?” she asked. She swiped at her tears. “How could you ever think you could disappoint me?” Her hands clasped my cheeks now. Her eyes searched mine and dug deep. They touched my soul, the way they always did. Nina was my twin, but my mom was my person. “You have made me proud every single day of your life, Stella. You’ve never given me one ounce of grief. If anything, it was me who disappointed you. I bottomed out when I should’ve been strong for my children. Shut everyone out when I should’ve embraced your love. And when the truth came
out about Caleb, you were the first person to see my side of things and not cast judgment. Baby girl, I could never be disappointed in you.”

  Sniffles turned to full on waterworks. I didn’t expect this. I really didn’t. Deep down, I knew she wouldn’t hate me for my decision, but I anticipated some form of opposition on her part. Hearing these words, knowing I’d done my mother proud and had her approval even though I was following my heart instead of my head this time—it was a dream come true.

  “Oh my God, Mom. You don’t know how scared I was to tell you. This is such a relief.” I smiled against the crook of her neck, hugging her so tight it was hard to breath.

  “Since when have you or your sister been scared of me or my opinions?” she joked, clearing her throat and trying to make light of the moment.

  I shook my head and giggled. “I can’t speak for Nina, but for me . . . um, always! Your approval means the world to me. On all things. No matter how old I am or how far apart we are, I’ve always come to you first. But this time, I was terrified you’d tell me I was making a mistake. I feared that most, because I couldn’t bear to have you think Jack wasn’t special enough for me to do this for.” In that moment, it hit me. That was it! That’s what had me so nervous all this time. It wasn’t the anxiety over staying behind and disappointing my mom. It was not knowing if she believed Jack was worthy. This was a big decision made hastily and anyone from the outside looking in would think I’d lost my last marble. I was abandoning plans that had taken me years to perfect for a guy I’d only known ten days. It sounded crazy, but if I knew one thing after all this, it was that the heart was certifiably insane. It should’ve scared the crap out of me. But it didn’t. This feeling of letting go invigorated me in a way I’d never been before.

  After we hugged for what seemed like eternity, she smacked the back of my head and warned me to never keep secrets from her again. Caleb joined us after “checking on the meatloaf” and I filled him in on what he already knew.

  I was staying, they were leaving. We’d be together again in a few short months and I had no idea what those seventy some odd days would bring, but after today’s pow wow with Mom, I was one step closer to being the happiest woman alive.

  Poor Jack would just have to survive one more family dinner before we could be left alone to figure out our future and make more memories.

  Jack

  I almost expected it to be like some freak show. Outlandish weirdos, unacceptable behavior, unpleasant banter—anything but normal and comfortable. But I should have known Stella’s family, although a dash on the unconventional side, would be the age-old picture of domestic perfection.

  Since their house was in an upheaval due to the move, Gabriella opted for a casual restaurant she and Caleb were fond of. She’d called ahead of time to set up a private table so our party of six could mingle without the interruption or distraction of other patrons. It was nice that she went to the trouble; I had little time to impress my girl’s mother and set her mind at ease. In a few days Stella would be without her security blanket—Nina and Gabriella—and in the sole care and protection of me.

  I loved envisioning it that way. Manning a new role. No way around it; it was a turn on. Stella was mine, in every sense of the word—well, almost. Either way, I was fucking thrilled with the way things were working themselves out.

  Those things were moving fast, there was no denying that. But the pace of our relationship didn’t scare me in the least. It felt right. Every single part of it. Stella staying, moving in with me—even if I could only get her to agree to the guest bedroom for now—meeting her family, and making plans for a future. There was not one ounce of this that didn’t seem normal. Just the natural order of things, the way fate had intended. And tonight was your typical meet-the-family scenario.

  Except, of course, that this was the first time Caleb and I had ever double dated. And who the fuck would’ve ever guessed it would be a mother/daughter team? Certainly not me.

  Conversation among the individual couples was lively yet subdued as the waitress came around to take our drink orders.

  Once she left, Caleb was first to clear his throat and speak in a deep, exaggerated voice. “I’d like to know your intentions with my stepdaughter, young man.”

  The rest of the table broke out in laughter. I, on the other hand, wanted to punch my smug best friend in the nuts. “Douche,” I whispered as I shook my head. “You’re taking this stepdaddy thing a bit too far, don’t ya think?”

  “Hey, if the shoe fits . . .”

  “Stick it in your mouth,” Stella finished. “Stop making this weird. It doesn’t have to be. This should be a cool thing for you, Caleb. You and Ryan got your little bromance going on and now that I’m dating your best friend, the three of you can be one big happy—”

  “If you say anything but trio, I’m gonna puke.” Nina looked up from buttering her bread, cocking a brow. “I’ve already lost Ryan every other Sunday to golf with his new bestie. Tell me, Mr. Davis, if you lived on the East Coast, how would you plan on monopolizing my man’s time?”

  Nina eyed me, waiting for a response. My comeback came quick. “Russian bath house. Two times a month. No happy endings, I promise.”

  “Oh my God. And this is why I’m thrilled I never had boys!” Gabriella feigned exasperation, but she wasn’t fooling any of us. That grin on her red-stained lips and the glow on her dewy cheeks told me she was as happy as a goddamn clam. I hadn’t known her long, but I didn’t need to in order to tell that this was what she’d always envisioned: dinner with her husband, her children, and their significant others. I had heaps of pride for my best friend’s wife in that moment. I knew of her hardships and had to commend her for turning out so . . . normal.

  “Can I say something without sounding like a dweeb?” I blurted. I felt the need to share my own sentiments about this happy occasion.

  Stella squeezed my hand under the table. “What are you up to?”

  “Don’t worry,” I whispered, and leaned over to kiss her flushed cheek. “I won’t embarrass you . . . too much.”

  Her grip on my hand became tighter, but before she could stop me the words were flying out of my mouth. “I come from a really fu—I mean, messed up family.”

  The table fell silent, everyone’s eyes on me. I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination or if I heard someone cough Aubrey’s name as if to mock my confession. Maybe I was on high alert or maybe they were right. No. I knew they were right. My sister Aubrey was the main reason my family was as fucked up as they were, but that was neither here nor there. This was about the Edwards clan, not the Davises.

  “As I was saying . . .” I cleared my throat. “It’s not often that I’m impressed. My buddy Caleb, here, can vouch for that.”

  Caleb nodded, offering up his agreement.

  “But this family—Gabriella, you’ve done an incredible job of instilling some kick ass family values in your daughters. I know this sounds ridiculous coming from someone who hasn’t been in the picture that long, but—it just radiates off the three of you when you’re together.”

  I focused my attention on Gabriella—her smile broad, making her cheeks round with delight. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears—happy ones, I hoped—and her hands clasped together in a silent prayer. “Oh, Jack.” She tilted her head and said no more. She didn’t have to. I was acing the new boyfriend test. Hells fucking yeah.

  “Shit, you left her speechless. That’s not easy to do. You’re such a kiss ass, dude.”

  “I’m not kissing ass,” I scoffed. “I’m serious. I’m so damn happy Stella’s staying behind, but I really do wish I could spend more time with all of you. I can see why my girl loves each of you so much. Even you, you pain in the ass. She loves you too.”

  Caleb fist bumped me and winked at Stella.

  “And it’s clear to see why she’s staying behind.” Gabriella’s sweet voice penetrated the intimate space, giving me another reason to . . . well, to ass kiss.

  “Why, G
abriella, that means a lot coming from you. It was hard enough getting Nina’s approval.” I smiled at Nina only to be rewarded with an over exaggerated pout. “But Stella was pretty nervous about how you would react. She thinks the world of you, you know?”

  Stella and Gabriella shared a private, knowing glance. Silent words of the heart were sometimes the loudest. “I told her she was crazy to think I could be disappointed in her, for anything. She’s always been wise when making important decisions, and this is no different. I won’t lie, the timing of everything could’ve been better, but you know what, who’s to say we have to live by the clock? Monotony sucks the life out of anything. Bending rules and taking chances—that’s a whole lot more fun. Don’t you agree, babe?” Gabriella nuzzled into Caleb’s shoulder and clasped her hand over his.

  “Okay, so can we cut the mushy, brownnosing shit and get on with the real stuff? What are you going to do when your batshit crazy sister finds out about the two of you?”

  “Nina!” Everyone but me shouted unanimously. I would’ve chosen a different, more colorful name to call her, but I was still in kiss-up mode. It would have to wait until I was off woo-parole.

  “Neen, why are you so fixated on what she thinks? Who cares? Nobody even knows where the hell she is. It’s no sweat off my back and shouldn’t be any of your concern.” Stella took the level-headed approach when I would’ve demanded she fuck off and mind her own goddamn business.

  “Seriously. I don’t think they have anything to worry about. Jack’s a grown man who can date whomever he pleases. Besides. She’s not after him. You’re safe from her blackmail and stalking.” I couldn’t ignore the ice in Gabriella’s eyes when she spoke of my sister. It was a sore subject that I really wished Nina hadn’t mentioned.

  Time to get this out of the way and move the fuck on.

  “Listen, if it makes you all feel any better, I’m not that close with Aubrey to begin with. Yes, she’s my sister and of course I love her, in the only way anyone can love Aubrey—at a distance. I haven’t spoken to her since she fled. My parents believe she’s shacking up with an old friend who has a family home in Spain. She’s a world away and I don’t think she has any intention of showing her face around here for a while. If and when she does come back, it’ll probably be once Stella’s already made some roots in New York. What she doesn’t know or can’t see won’t hurt her, so Aubrey is not an issue for me and shouldn’t be for any of you. Sound like a deal?” I hated having to put people in their place when it wasn’t exactly my position to do so, but I didn’t want this family gathering to be tainted by painful memories or sour circumstances. Aubrey was out of the picture. She was a nonissue.