The Bloom Girls

by Amy Pine

  She gave her daughter a soft smile and reached for Gabi’s hand with the one that wasn’t holding on to her crutch.

  “You’re right,” she admitted. “I should have said something. I thought I was doing you a favor by not pulling you away from work or from Ethan. But I should have told you.”

  “You’d have lost your shit if I got hurt and didn’t tell you.”

  Alissa’s stomach tied itself into knot after knot again. “Have you been taking lessons on wielding the powers of guilt from Grandma Ev?”

  Gabi let out a soft laugh. “I only learn from the best. But seriously, Mom. How are you getting to the bakery? You can’t drive like that.”

  She sighed. “Your dad—since he’s living at your grandparents’ place right now—is so close by. We worked out a schedule. He’s taking me to the bakery before he goes to work in the morning, and Sadie is driving me home. And for now, to make it easier—he’s staying here.” She mumbled the last bit, but Gabi’s reaction assured Alissa she caught it.

  Her daughter cleared her throat. “He’s staying here? You two aren’t like—I mean, I think it’s great you and Dad are getting along, but it would be super weird if…Like, this is jus—”

  “A friend helping out a friend,” Alissa interrupted.

  Gabi exhaled a relieved-sounding breath. “Okay. Thank goodness. Because…” She stepped closer to her mom and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I love Dad. So much. But I don’t think I could handle you two—you know. I just don’t want to see history repeat itself.” She pressed her lips together.

  Alissa nodded, her heart in her throat. All the years she thought she’d hidden her feelings for Matthew…All the times she worried that his comings and goings would hurt Gabi, she never imagined that Gabi had been worrying about her. This certainly complicated the baby issue even more. Would Gabi be angry at them? Disappointed in them? How much bigger would the distance between them grow?

  Gabi squeezed Alissa’s hand. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around much since I got home. This has all been such a whirlwind. I can start staying here more. Dad doesn’t have to—”

  Alissa shook her head. “We’ve got it under control. I promise. That’s not to say you aren’t welcome home anytime you want, but I also get it. The honeymoon stage of being in love and wanting to spend every second together. Enjoy this time. Be there for each other through the craziness of wedding planning. But my door is always open, okay? Especially for a romcom movie marathon.”

  Gabi nodded, then swiped a finger under her eye where her eyelashes were now damp.

  “Hey,” Alissa said hobbling closer to her daughter so she could wrap her free arm over Gabi’s shoulder, pulling her into the best mama-bear hug she could manage. “What is it?” What had she missed being so focused on herself and Matt and the baby?

  Gabi let out a shuddering breath, then squeezed her mother tight before taking a step back to meet her gaze. “It’s just been a lot, you know? Coming home with a fiancé and trying to get my career going, watching everyone’s lives fall into place—Ethan’s included—and feeling like the world is spinning out of control while I’m still in the same place I’ve always been. I came by the bakery Saturday, but you were on your date, which is great by the way. But I wanted to tell you that I—I think I made a mistake.”

  Alissa’s brow furrowed. “About Ethan?”

  Gabi shook her head. “He’s the one thing I’m sure about. I mean everything else. My career. My careful plan to make sure I never get disappointed or get my heart broken. You know, simple stuff like that.” She laughed, but Alissa could tell by the worry in her daughter’s eyes that it was far from genuine.

  Alissa’s mouth fell open. Her daughter had needed her the other night, and Alissa hadn’t been there. She’d been on a date with a perfectly nice guy for the perfectly wrong reason—to spite Matthew.

  “I’m okay, Mom. At least I think I am.” Gabi let out a nervous laugh. “I’m an adult, now, right? I can’t expect my mom to fix everything like she did when I was a kid. I’ll figure this out. I guess I’m just at the limit of what I can take.”

  So tossing in “By the way, your dad and I are having another baby” might put you over the edge?

  “Also, Mom…what is with your boobs? They are, like, spilling out of your tank top.”

  Alissa let loose a scoff, wishing the second she did that she could swallow it back up. But Gabi, it seemed, wasn’t keen to her tell—because Alissa didn’t lie to her daughter, and Gabi didn’t lie to her. But what would the truth do now? Show Gabi that just when you thought life finally was on course, it knocked you on your ass again?

  “Is it safe to come back in there?” Miriam called from the other side of the kitchen doors. “Or should we keep trying to eavesdrop from here?”

  Gabi laughed. “It’s all good.” But then she leaned close and whispered to her mom. “But seriously. The boobs. Just tell me mine will look like that when I’m almost forty, please.”

  Alissa forced a laugh as Miriam and Matthew pushed through the swinging doors and back into the dining room.

  “Your parents went all-out with the bubbly, Bloom. So we might be spending the night,” Miriam said, a bottle in each hand and her dad next to her with the same. “Oh wait…we didn’t drive! So we’ll just be the drunk girls on the train!” She ran back into the kitchen and returned with champagne flutes.

  “Cooper’s Hawk?” Gabi said, eyes wide. “Oh my God, you got my favorite! The sparkling raspberry!”

  All it took was that genuine, beaming smile on her daughter’s face, and Alissa allowed herself to switch from worried-mother mode to proud pastry chef for the time being.

  She nodded. “I want to see how it pairs with the lemon curd cake.”

  Miriam grabbed a fork from the table. “Point me toward this lemon curd you speak of. Immediately.”

  Once the bottles were opened and the bubbly was poured, Alissa launched into a lengthy explanation about flavor combinations, everything from lemon curd and meringue to the tried-and-true red velvet to a new experiment in flavors—pink champagne with buttercream frosting and rock candy painted an edible gold to look like crystals.

  She was so busy playing the part of chef that no one seemed to notice her abstaining from the champagne. It was only when two of the four bottles were empty and there was nothing but crumbs on most of the plates that Alissa finally realized what no one had yet acknowledged.

  “Hey…Gabs?” she said as her daughter emptied what was left of the contents of her champagne flute. “I thought you said Ethan was just running late?”

  It was a statement, but she tried to make it sound more like a question, that she wasn’t insinuating trouble in paradise after Gabi had assured her that Ethan was the one steady thing in her life.

  Gabi’s cheeks flushed pink, but it was probably just the champagne.

  “Oh,” she said, setting the glass down on the table. “Right. He was supposed to be on the next train out of the city.” She glanced at her phone, which was facedown on the table. “I forgot to take it off DO NOT DISTURB.”

  She worried her bottom lip between her teeth as all three of them watched her, the revelry so quickly turning to total silence. Gabi finally let out a breath. “He’s okay,” she said, but when she looked up her eyes had a sheen that wasn’t there seconds before. “But he’s not coming. Something came up with work, I guess? But he—um—also passed on a message from his mom, that his aunt and her husband are both gluten-free and do we want her to get a cake specially made for anyone with dietary restrictions.” She swallowed. “Mom, you don’t have to—”

  “I’ve got it,” Alissa said. “Whatever cake you and Ethan decide on, I can make a smaller, gluten-free version for anyone who has a wheat allergy. It’s a little more work but certainly not a problem.” Then she felt a flutter in her belly and gasped, grabbing Matthew’s hand under the table before realizing her error and immediately letting go.

  “What is it?” Gabi asked. “Are yo
u okay?”

  “I’m fine!” Alissa said. The baby was definitely moving. There was no doubt about it. She barely had time to couch her expression when it happened again—and she gasped even louder.

  “Seriously,” Gabi said. “What is going on? You’re freaking me out. Is there something more than the ankle thing going on? Are you—sick?”

  “No! It’s nothing,” Alissa insisted. “I’m just—worried that Ethan didn’t show. And—and that his mother couldn’t call me directly about the gluten-free cake recommendation.” She was grasping at anything to divert the attention from her own strange behavior. “They’re not still upset about the champagne cork incident, right? Or maybe they just don’t like us. Maybe they don’t like that their son is marrying into our weirdo family. Ethan works for his dad, right? What if the whole working-late thing was a ruse and they just didn’t want him here and the gluten-free cake thing is—is just to add more fuel to the fire?”

  “Mom,” Gabi said, just as Matthew said “Liss” with the same tone, a hint of warning.

  “What?” she asked, throwing her hands in the air. “I’m not saying I’m right. I’m just saying What if?”

  What if the floor just opened and swallowed her whole right this very second? That would probably be best for all involved.

  “Alissa,” Matthew said again, this time louder.

  Gabi’s jaw tightened.

  “Do you really think they don’t want him to marry me?” she asked, and Alissa couldn’t tell if the tremble in her daughter’s voice was anger at what Alissa had said or fear that somewhere in Alissa’s bullshit word vomit might be a nugget of truth. Alissa hadn’t meant any of what she’d just said, but had she planted the seed of doubt in her daughter’s head?

  “Gabi…I didn’t mean—”

  Her daughter didn’t let her finish. “Do you think that just because he’s running late after starting a new job, it’s suddenly a sign that what Ethan and I have is as much of a mess as—as the games you and Dad have been playing for years?”

  “Gabi—” Matthew started, but their daughter shook her head.

  “Do you both know why I swore off dating before I was even old enough for my first crush?” She stared pointedly at her parents across the table, and neither of them said a word. “I spent my formative years watching the two of you break each other’s hearts again and again, and I wanted to avoid that by any means necessary. And then Ethan almost killed himself and me on that stupid moped, and everything changed.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I know you both love me. And you’ve never once made me feel like I wasn’t wanted, but it’s no secret that my existence threw everything out of whack for the two of you. But hell if I’m going to let you make me believe that’s exactly what Ethan’s family believes.”

  Gabi stood from the table, and Miriam stood as well.

  “Come stay at my place,” Miriam said, and Gabi nodded.

  “Thanks for the cake and stuff, Mom,” Gabi said. “I really do appreciate everything you did, especially in your current condition.”

  But the hurt in her daughter’s eyes—the hurt Alissa had put there—stunned her to silence.

  “I’ll call you later in the week after Ethan and I talk about venues. Love you both.”

  “Thanks, Alissa. Matthew,” Miriam added before the two of them strode to the door.

  Alissa sprang up from her chair, wincing as she was reminded of her injury. “Wait!” she called after them. “Don’t you even want a ride to the train?”

  Gabi turned back, her lips pressed together as she shook her head. “It’s beautiful outside. I think we’d rather walk.”

  And with that they were out the door, Gabi making sure to slam it shut behind them.

  Alissa collapsed back into her chair, grabbing Matthew’s practically empty champagne flute and letting the final drops slide onto her tongue. Then she sighed, shoulders slumping.

  “What the hell was that?” Matthew asked.

  Alissa groaned. “The baby moved, and I panicked. How badly did I just mess up?”

  He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Well, she still doesn’t know about the baby, and now she thinks she’s the reason we broke up and that Ethan’s family doesn’t want her. You know, when Gabi and I hung out Saturday night, I thought we had a breakthrough. She even admitted to being more like me than she’d imagined and didn’t seem to think that was a bad thing. But you undid all of that with your panic-turned-horror-show, so—thanks for that.”

  Alissa opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. Gabi had gone looking for Alissa on Saturday and had ended up with Matt. They’d connected while she and Alissa kept moving farther apart.

  “I should probably sleep on the couch tonight,” Matthew said.

  “You’re not going to tell me how to fix this?” she asked. “We agreed not to tell her about the pregnancy until we figured us out, but with that still in limbo, how do I explain my temporary insanity?”

  Matthew stood and blew out a long breath, his shoulders sagging. “You want to figure us out, Alissa? Here it is—I’m not leaving. Believe me or don’t. That’s your choice. But I’m in this for real. Are you? Or are you going to push me out the door again?”

  He stacked the plates and forks and rose, not waiting for her response before heading through the swinging doors and into the kitchen.

  * * *

  “Hi, Peanut. It’s me. Again…Since I’m sure you can see all of the other missed calls. I think your phone is still on DO NOT DISTURB. Or…you’re just not answering. Can’t say I blame you if that’s the case. I know it’s probably too little too late, but I didn’t mean any of those things I said about Ethan’s family. I just—you know how you said you’re dealing with some of the crap life throws your way? Well, I am too. I just don’t handle it as well as my amazing daughter does.” She sighed. “I’m really sorry, Gabs. Like really, really sorry. The let’s-watch-Roman-Holiday-on-repeat-for-an-entire-weekend kind of sorry. Ethan’s parents are probably jumping for joy because of how lucky they are that their son gets to marry you. I know this because I’m the luckiest mom in the world to have you as my daughter—as my favorite person in this entire world. I would not change the direction my life went for one single second because every path I took led me to the best part of my life—being your mom. And I’m sorry if you ever felt that your dad and I felt any differently. Anyway, when you’re done hating me for saying a bunch of stupid shit I didn’t mean, call me, okay? I love you.”

  After that, Alissa washed up, brushed her teeth, and hobbled into the living room with a couple of pillows and a folded blanket to find Matthew sitting on the couch, elbows on his knees and hands clasped behind his neck.

  “Look,” she said softly. “No crutches, and it barely even hurts.” At least, the ankle didn’t.

  Matt glanced up at her with weary eyes and a half smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Did we ruin it for her?” he asked. “A chance to really be happy?”

  Alissa blew out a breath and sat down next to him, the blanket and pillows half on her knees and half on his.

  “I hope not,” she said. “I tried calling her, but she’s not picking up. Left one doozy of an apology on her voicemail, though.”

  Matthew sighed. “We really can’t tell Gabi yet, can we? About the baby.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  She shook her head and slid the bedding fully to his lap, then pushed herself up from the couch, but Matthew grabbed her hand before she could walk away.

  She felt a flutter in her belly, but not like the one when Gabi was there. This one made her heart race and her throat dry. Maybe this was it, their moment. Whatever he said next would be what she needed to take the next step toward a different kind of future—with him in it.

  “We should maybe take some space, huh?” he said. “It’s obvious you’re not ready to trust me. And it’s probably best to just focus on Gabi right now.”

  Her heart sank. She pressed her lips together and
nodded. “Okay.”

  He didn’t say anything else but instead let her hand go and took to making up the couch as his bed.

  She limped back into her room just as her phone buzzed on her nightstand.

  Gabi: Love you too. Just need some space and to maybe not talk about wedding stuff with you for a bit. Thanks for the cakes. They were fantastic as always.

  Alissa swallowed and sniffed back the tears.

  She was on a roll with people needing space from her tonight.

  Maybe Matt was right about her pushing him out the door every time he blew back into town, but that was because it was what he truly wanted…Wasn’t it? Alissa had made herself believe for so long that she was giving him his dream rather than holding him back from it. But what if his dream all along had been Gabi—and her?

  That would mean years of having loved him while keeping him at arm’s length. It would mean having missed out on a life she never thought was possible. It would mean that Gabi could have had her dad in her life instead of just passing through.

  If Alissa truly was wrong, they’d all missed so much, and she wasn’t sure how to make up for it now when so much time had passed.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It was Halloween in Illinois, which meant it could be any of the following: sunny, rainy, snowy, balmy, or all of the above, at some point in the day.

  At this particular moment, when Alissa was running from her car into Becca’s office, the rain had turned to sleet on its way to becoming snow.

  Snow. One hour before schools got out and trick-or-treaters would converge on the neighborhood, jackets be damned!

  She’d scrambled through her back seat and practically climbed into her trunk looking for an umbrella, but it was nowhere to be found. By the time she left her appointment, she’d likely need a snow brush, which of course was still in her garage back at home.