Heartbroken (Gritt Family Book 1)

by Gabrielle G.

  “Oh my God!” Alane says mortified.

  “I’m so sorry,” I tell her at the same time. “He was breastfed for a long time, and he…” I stop in my tracks when I realize I’m about to share my mother’s breastfeeding story, and as disturbing as that is for a son, it might be even worse for a stranger.

  “I’m, well, maybe we can discuss the play another time?” She blushes and averts her eyes. Crouching down to the little asshole, I repeat what my mother has told him millions of times.

  “Barn, you can’t speak about ladies’ boobies that way,” I scold him.

  “Are you Aaron’s girlfriend?” Salomé asks. Alane shakes her head.

  “Luke?” Alane shakes her head again.

  “Mine?” Barnabas asks with love in his eyes.

  “I could be your girlfriend, little man, but I don’t know your name.” She ruffles her hands through his hair.

  “Little man,” he answers totally enamored. She drops to his height and gives him a hug, and for the first time in four years, Barnabas is quiet. No laughter, no clownish behavior, no tantrum, no shenanigans, he wraps his arms around her neck and quiets down.

  “One day, I will marry you,” he whispers softly. Alane blushes again and lets the little bugger go.

  “Well, you won’t be able to marry her if Aaron does,” Salomé says with all her sass.

  “I’ll share with Aar. I don’t want to share with you!” He runs off again with the broken doll in his hand. Before running up the stairs, he turns back and sends Alane a kiss with the biggest theatrics I have ever seen. Alane giggles, her tits bouncing again, and I see Barnabas' eyes widen and his mouth opens to say something rude once more. Before he says anything, I intervene to save the situation, releasing Salomé from my arms.

  “If you two go play nicely, I’ll read you your princess book tonight, Sal, and the dragon story for you, Barn. If you don’t, I’ll tell Luke to get the tickle monster out.” They both grin at me and run off to their shared bedroom, the same bedroom Luke and I used to share until Sal arrived. Dad decided to build an extension over the garage for Luke and I, to each have our own space and have more privacy.

  “Do you want me to drive you home?” She nods and sends me a shy smile that seals the deal of melting away my heart and hardening my cock.

  “Okay, let me tell Luke quickly, so he can take care of the two little people in the house, and I’ll drive you.” After finding Luke behind the barn doing nothing, I drive Alane home. The cab of my old truck smells like the rink with a hint of strawberry coming from her, and all I can think about is kissing Alane Smith. Silence falls between us, and it’s the first time I’m uncomfortable saying nothing. I generally am the king of mute, but with her being in my truck, I don’t want to miss a thing.

  “I’m really sorry for Barn’s comment. He’s only four, and I think Luke and I are maybe a bad influence on him.” I know it’s undoubtedly not Luke. If Barn was commenting on dicks, it could be Luke’s fault, but breasts, yeah, not Luke’s doing, neither is it totally the breastfeeding.

  “Um… It’s okay. Let’s forget about it,” she says softly.

  “Sure. It was pretty funny though. I think Barn is in love with you,” I babble awkwardly because I can’t shut up now that I started.

  “Well he does want to marry me,” she jokes.

  “He doesn’t have that much experience with girls.”

  “Because you do?” She cocks an eyebrow. It’s my turn to blush and be embarrassed. “Oh my God, I’m sorry Aaron, it was supposed to be a joke, I didn’t realize. Shit. I’m sorry.” I nod, embarrassed by my blushing. The silence falls again.

  “Well, Alane, I’m not sure where I’m going,” I tell her after five minutes driving around town.

  “Oh sorry, of course, you don’t know where I live, you’re not a creeper like your brother. It’s not far, just behind the church.” I laugh because Luke is a creeper with her. I’m not sure what his deal is, but he knows everything about her and keeps sharing pieces of information.

  “You know, I think he forgot his workbook on purpose today, or because he wanted to have an excuse to talk to you tomorrow, maybe he even wanted you to come to our place. We weren’t even talking about hockey before you got there. I have no idea why he’s so obsessed with you.” I tell her earnestly. Talking to her is easy. I like it a lot.

  “My friend Patricia thinks he likes her, and he’s trying to get to her through me.”

  “Doubtful.” We arrive in front of the church and Alane tells me to stop there, not to come too close to her house.

  “Ashamed of me already?” It’s a joke but the way she pinches her eyebrows and bites her lip, I might be closer to the truth than I thought.

  “Well, if my father sees a boy driving me home, I might not be able to get to practice for a while.”

  “Really, who are you? The pastor’s daughter or something?”

  “Indeed, Aaron, that’s who I am,” she whispers while opening the door. She jogs the rest of the way, her ponytail bouncing right and left while I imagine her breasts jumping up and down. I might have to fight my youngest brother, but I’m pretty sure, I want to marry that girl, too

  4

  Now – Aaron

  “I’m not sure what I want to do with the farm,” Barnabas says, drinking his beer.

  We’re on my parents' porch, talking about life and what the future holds. Well, I’m not speaking, Barnabas and Salomé are. I’m listening, and missing Luke, who left a few days ago with his boyfriend. I like the new boyfriend. Dex is a silent type. We had one short meaningful conversation, and I could see the guy wasn’t a bullshitter. I would have never imagined my brother with a three-piece suit lawyer, but he’s as quiet as I used to be, or still am.

  “Look, Barn, if you want us to sell the farm, we sell the farm. It would be hard for my business as a wedding coordinator, but I’ll survive. Or maybe we could turn it into a Bed and Breakfast or something? We are close enough to the mountains and the lake; we could do well in tourism. The bridal couples and families always ask if they could sleep here. Aar, what do you need from the farm?”

  “The veggies mainly, but if that’s not what Barn wants to do, I’ll find another supplier.” It will suck balls not to get my parents’ veggies, but I’m not going to force my brother down a path he doesn’t want. God knows, I didn’t follow the way my father thought I would. Luke didn’t either.

  “I feel kind of obligated,” he says, finishing his second beer.

  “Barn, you’re thirty-three and still live in the house you grew up in with our parents. “

  “You do too, Sal,” Barn shouts back defensively. Sal moved back a couple of years ago when her business in New York went up in smoke because her then-fiancé fucked her over with her partner and literally fucked the partner too, or something in that vein. Salomé never told us the whole story. Nevertheless, I thought Luke, Barn, Dad and I were going to kill the guy, but Sal and Mom implored us to behave.

  Salomé’s eyes fill with tears, and I’m sent back twenty years ago when I used to separate those two, who loved each other more than anything but would fight to death.

  “Low blow, Barn!” I reproach him.

  “Sorry, Sal!” She nods her forgiveness.

  I sometimes wonder when my sister will get back on her feet. She withdrew a lot since this happened, it left her heart broken with some trust issues.

  My wife of twenty years and I decided to divorce, and I’m not even heartbroken about it. I knew it wasn’t working for years.

  She had a job two hours away and never came home because she supposedly had no time. However, every opportunity she had, she left on vacations with friends and colleagues, yet I didn’t.

  I’m not dumb to think she was faithful.

  We haven’t had sex in almost two years, and the last time we were in the same bed, I was drunk. Jessica is way too beautiful not to have men running after her.

  We met in Seattle the summer before I started culinary sc
hool. She had just gotten hurt as a young pro-athlete. I went out with the son of the people I was staying with, and she was one of his friends. We drank too much—me to forget the life I left behind, her I don’t know why. Jess made her move. We rented a hotel room, and I lost my virginity to someone I thought was a one-night-stand. She looked for me the next night, and we ended up in the same bed again, and the night after, and the night after that.

  When I went back home four years later, we were engaged.

  Jessica wanted a family, but first, she wanted to travel the world. She did while I worked in different restaurants around town.

  I didn’t want to travel the world.

  I wanted to be home in case Luke came back. He had left just after Alane, and I was missing him.

  I was missing her too, but after having broken her heart, I wasn’t allowed to want her to come home.

  I didn’t let myself think of her too much.

  I didn’t try to find her or reach out to her.

  I was certain she was happy.

  My mother had asked hers, and it seemed she had met someone and had a baby. Who was I to miss her? I was getting married to a beautiful, tall, doppelgänger of Naomi Campbell, and I wanted her more than my teenage-self had wanted Alane. I wasn’t a kid anymore, and the love I had for Jess was maybe a little less romantic, but it was tangible. Jess and I were strong.

  When she came back, we made the decision that we would live close to my parents, I would open my own restaurant, and she would work as a sports reporter in the state. Again, we made it work, even if we were sometimes hours away. We had two kids, Hailey and Lawson, and despite her schedule and my crazy hours, we managed.

  But after years of being apart, we were raising children but barely had a life together. She started to stay more and more in the city, which was an inconvenience for me. I couldn’t stay at the restaurant as much as I needed and leave the kids home alone. So I compensated when she was home.

  Step by step, we grew apart until we became just friends.

  She left for Las Vegas last month, we are divorcing amicably, and even our kids don’t seem to be missing her. So, Sal being hurt three years after the breakup is not something I can comprehend, but I know she still doesn’t deserve Barn being an ass about it.

  “Have you seen her?” Barnabas asks me with a glint in his eyes. I know whom he’s asking about. How could I not know, when that’s all my family is talking about these days. Forget the family, anybody who knew me in high school asks me. Even my friend Chris, who is now living in Miami, questioned me.

  “I didn’t, but Luke did before leaving,” I tell my brother.

  “I know that! He said she was even more beautiful than before but a little sadder, too.” Barnabas feeds me information I don’t want.

  I didn't want to talk to Luke after he met with Alane, and I let him go back to LA without asking anything.

  I don't want to know.

  I don't want to see her.

  I don't want to talk to her.

  I did tell Dex, Luke's boyfriend, I would try to get a shot at my happiness if I could, but that was more of a fantasy than a reality.

  I mistreated her, I lied to her, and I broke her heart. Why would she want to give me another shot at something I destroyed?

  “Baaarn!” Salomé interjects.

  “Don’t be jealous, Sis,” he says mockingly.

  “I’m not.”

  “But you used to be,” I tell her, reminiscing how she couldn’t stand the time I spent with Alane. Salomé shrugs.

  “Well, my three brothers were enamored with the same girl, and it wasn’t me. Bite me for not liking not being the center of your attention when I was six.”

  “But you were never like that with Jess,” I tell her.

  “I had lost you by then. You left. Luke left. I only had Barn. Who you brought home did not matter anymore,” Sal says with the same voice she had when she was younger. When she complains I still see her as a kid, the little sister I spoiled so much even at thirty-five.

  “Dad!” Lawson, my fifteen-year-old son, comes in running, his sister on his heels.

  “Hailey is in trouble!”

  “I’m not. You’re such a piece of shit, Law!”

  “Language!” I say for the umpteenth time.

  “It’s true, Dad. The perfect student finally found a teacher who doesn’t have their nose up her ass because she’s the best athlete in the school!”

  “You’re jealous because you’re a stupid dumbass!”

  “Language!” I raise my voice, standing up to separate what I see will become a fight in the next few seconds.

  “Sorry, you’re not a stupid dumbass, Law, you’re intellectually challenged.” Barn laughs behind Hailey. I would laugh too if they weren’t my kids.

  I turn to Hailey. “What is he talking about?”

  “Nothing, this new teacher just doesn’t know shit. She said if I failed another assignment she would talk to Principal Hardcore and reduce my practice time. She went on and on about having another plan and not gambling my whole life with something I love in high school. She sounded like Grandpa. She’s so fucking annoying!”

  “Language, Hailey, that’s the last time, and it’s not Principal Hardcore, it’s Harbor, you know it. So, what I heard is that you failed, and you don’t care?”

  “Whatever, science sucks, I don’t need it to play basketball!”

  Hailey is a very competitive young athlete who loves her sport. Dad and I tried to get her into hockey, but she was all about the ball.

  She’s tall, with latte colored skin, brown eyes and curly light brown hair. She is beautiful and has no time for boyfriends, which is a salvation. I don’t need a punk to try to get in her pants.

  She is the polar opposite of her brother. Not physically, they look alike, except Lawson’s skin is paler, and his hair darker, but their full lips, thin nose, and features are the same, yet that’s where it stops.

  He’s an artist. Always with a notebook in his hand, doodling, creating, or drawing. He loathes sports but breathes art and technology. He’s quiet and shy, while she’s explosive and charming. She also likes to test me and push my boundaries; Law just follows my rules.

  “So, what are you going to do?” I ask her.

  “Well, you need to talk to the teacher and help me. That’s what Mom would do.”

  “Oh boy,” I hear Salomé say. I forgot we had an audience.

  “Hailey, you know Mom wouldn’t have done shit! Seriously, don’t manipulate Dad because you can’t get your way for once,” Lawson says. I agree with him, Jess wouldn’t have done shit, and when she did, she would have done everything to be the cool mom and get Hailey a pass, so she can be forgiven for not being around. I’m the bad cop. It’s okay, I’m used to it.

  “Dad, language!” Hailey says pointing at her brother.

  “Hailey, that’s enough,” I tell her sternly. “If I meet with that teacher, what’s his name?”

  “Her name is Mrs. Smith,” Lawson informs me.

  “So, If I speak to Mrs. Smith, you realize it can go worse for you, right?

  “Especially because she’s her homeroom teacher as well,” Lawson says proudly.

  “Son,” I say turning to him, “with all due respect, shut up. In fact, you three, let me speak with Hal alone. She doesn’t need an audience to deal with her shit.” Barnabas, Salomé, and Lawson go inside, while I stay on the porch with Hal.

  “Hal.” I motion for her to sit down. “Is everything okay?” She shrugs, pouting. “Honey, look at me. You’re normally a straight A student. What’s the deal?” She keeps her eyes on the floor avoiding my eyes. “Talk to me, baby girl. I’m not a mind reader. Is it because your mom left?” She stays silent, tears falling along her nose. “Boy trouble?” Please no, please no, please no. She shrugs. “Friend problems?” She shrugs again. “Do you need to talk to Aunt Sal about it?”

  I remember the first time Hal got her period, and of course, Jess was traveling. In
the beginning, she refused to talk to me, and I had to call Sal for Hailey to articulate what the problem was and how I could help. I can’t believe that was already three years ago.

  “No, it’s just… It’s stupid, and you’re going to tell me it’s in my head like everybody else told me.”

  “So, you told everybody before me?” She shrugs again. “Hailey, tell me,” I insist. She sobs a little before taking a deep breath in.

  “I think Mrs. Smith hates me. She’s always on my case, always saying sports aren't enough, that it’s not because I’m the captain of the basketball team that I don’t have to work. The others all think like Lawson. They are saying that the other teachers were just giving me good grades I didn’t deserve for years. I compared my copy to Madison’s, and Mrs. Smith asked so much more from me than from Maddie. It’s just not fair. I don’t even know what I did to piss her off.”

  “Okay, do you need me to meet with her and discuss the issue then?”

  “Well, if I continue getting bad grades in science, my GPA is going to tank, and I might not get scouted. I need it, Dad, I promise I’m working hard; I’m just…” She sighs. “Between Mom finally showing me I don’t matter and the new teacher, it’s a lot. And there is that new boy Maddie and I both like on the hockey team, but I don’t want to lose my friend over a boy, and I told her so. Maddie doesn’t really care about me, she said if she had the chance she would kiss him.” That’s the thing with teenage girls, there is always a lot to decipher, and it might take quite a lot of time to come to the root of the problem. I believe the boy drama is what is bothering my girl, but there is nothing I can do about that.

  “So, we have a boy problem, a bestie problem, a school problem, and a parent problem. That’s a lot of problems for one girl,” I tell her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

  “Yes,” her voice trembles under the emotion.

  “What would you say if I cooked your favorite meal tonight at the restaurant? You and I, for a date. We’ll abandon Lawson here with Grandma and Grandpa.”