All Of Us (All Series Book 7)

by Natalie Ann

  “Are you ready for this?” Kristen asked him.

  “Yeah. I’m pretty excited to see her face when she opens everything up. You don’t think I went a little crazy?”

  “I think you did, but if any time called for it, it’s now. It looks like a lot of boxes, but not as much as I thought. She really needed more clothes anyway, so it worked that you were able to get her that along with toys.”

  He pulled on some sweatpants and made his way down the hall to the bathroom. By the time he came out, Kristen was standing there in sweats and one of his shirts. “I’ll go start the coffee and we’ll wait for you to come down,” he said.

  “I’ll be fast. No reason to make her wait. Maybe let her start with her stocking. That is always fun.”

  “Good idea,” he said.

  He got to the living room and saw Chloe sitting there on her knees just staring at the tree, turning left and right at all the gifts under it, her jaw open, her eyes wide, and bouncing up and down.

  “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “I’ve never seen so many gifts before.”

  “They aren’t all for you, but most are.”

  “I can see that. I don’t know what to start with first,” she said.

  “It looks like Santa left you a few things that aren’t wrapped.”

  He caught the huge grin on her face as she eyed the stroller with two dolls in it and a tag that said “from Santa” on it. He’d felt like a clumsy fool carrying that in the store, but he knew Chloe still played with dolls a lot. He’d seen her often in her room playing house.

  She rushed forward and grabbed the stroller and pushed it out and took the dolls out of it. “How did Santa know I wanted twin dolls?”

  “Didn’t you put that on your list?” he asked.

  “I did. But I’ve never gotten anything on my list before,” she said.

  Yeah, his heart broke a little over that, but he pushed it aside and let her attack her gifts like a normal nine-year-old should while he sat back with Kristen by his side and enjoyed her laughter.

  Once the living room looked like a cyclone of red and green with Ace running through it all and chasing his balls and stuffed mice, Chloe handed him over his gift.

  “What could this be?” he asked.

  “It’s from me,” Chloe said proudly. “I picked it out myself.”

  “Why don’t you give Kristen her gift from you too. We can open them together.”

  He waited for Kristen to get Chloe’s gift and then the two of them opened them up. Kristen loved her purple shirt—no, “blouse” per Chloe— and was oohing and ahhing over it. He was thrilled to see a New York Giants sweatshirt. “This is great,” he said to Chloe, holding it up.

  “I know you like the Giants a lot.”

  “I do. A great idea.” He winked at Kristen.

  “It was all her idea,” Kristen said. “I just took her to buy it.”

  “You need to give Kristen her gift now,” Chloe said.

  “I guess I do. Why don’t you hand it over to her?”

  Chloe grabbed the box and a few bags and gave them to Kristen. He’d struggled to figure out the right gift. Jewelry was too serious in his mind.

  He was conflicted. Things were serious to a point, but maybe not jewelry serious. He wasn’t sure what they had or where they were going. Not to mention, he wasn’t going to pick out jewelry for her when she worked at Hartman’s. That was a little out of his league for this early on.

  “This is beautiful,” she said, pulling out a light blue cashmere sweater. “So soft. I don’t have a cashmere anything.”

  “Really?” he asked, surprised. She was always so put together and classy. He didn’t see her dressed up daily, so he’d had no clue of her entire wardrobe...other than it was pretty extensive from what he’d seen in her apartment.

  She pulled it up to her face and rubbed it side to side. “I might never want to take it off.”

  He laughed. “There is more,” he said.

  She opened up one of the little bags, which had a gray and white silk scarf, and almost squealed like Chloe had. Who would have thought women could get so excited over something like a scarf?

  The last bag had a gift certificate for a full spa day in it. And there went his ears, forcing him to raise his hands and cover them.

  “Oh my God, I’m so overdue for the spa. Thank you,” she said, jumping up and giving him a hug and kiss, then doing the same to Chloe. “I’m wearing my new blouse to work tomorrow and showing it off to everyone. Thank you, sweetie, I love it!”

  ***

  Kristen couldn’t believe how sweet Landon had been. Not just buying her such a lovely sweater and scarf, but doing such a good job with it.

  He’d always commented on how classy she was and looked and he got her things that fit that. She would have loved anything he got her, but she had to say he made a wonderful choice.

  When was the last time any guy she dated knew her that well? Never, she was thinking.

  “I think you deserve a spa day for all you’ve done in the past few months for me,” he said.

  “There is nothing better than being pampered,” she said.

  Spa days were few and far between for her. She’d always wanted them, but just couldn’t afford enough of them. The funny part was, she’d never once brought up the spa to Landon, so that he figured that out on his own was even better.

  “So you like everything?” he asked, but the grin he was sending her said he knew the answer.

  “Of course I do. You went overboard with me like you did with Chloe though,” she said, looking over at Chloe as she opened up one of her bracelet-making kits. The little girl was in heaven, if not a little bit overwhelmed. “Here, you can open up your stuff now.”

  He reached for the box and bag she handed over to him. She’d taken a risk on part of his gift.

  He unwrapped the box and pulled out a thick flannel shirt that could double as a fall jacket. His had been ruined by the claws of a kitten a month ago. “This is a lot nicer than the one I had.”

  “That was the point,” she said, laughing.

  “It’s perfect.” He stood up and pulled it on. It fit his wide shoulders well when he always had trouble finding jackets and shirts, as he’d complained to her so often.

  “I took a risk with the next gift.”

  He opened the bag and pulled out the tissue-wrapped gift. Once he got the tissue off, he said, “Holy shit. Did Olivia make this?”

  It was a money clip. “She did. It’s sterling silver with your initials on it. I wanted a stone in it, but figured that wasn’t your style. You’re more into simple and this just seemed to fit you.”

  “I love it,” he said. “When did she have time? I thought she was done working for the moment.”

  Olivia was due any day now. “She made it last month for me. I know you like having the money clip rather than your wallet most times. I just thought you’d appreciate having a nicer one.”

  “It’s wonderful. Thank you,” he said, standing up and pulling her into his arms for a kiss and a hug.

  Best Christmas ever in her mind, as she looked around at Chloe playing, felt Landon’s arms around her, and wondered when she could work up the courage to tell him she loved him.

  Losing His Patience

  Two days after Christmas and Landon was ready to pull his hair out.

  He’d taken the week off to spend it with Chloe rather than sending her to the sitters, hoping that maybe it’d be the right thing to do.

  It wasn’t as if he had anything else to spend his vacation time actively doing and he didn’t want to give it back to the city either.

  But he was bored silly. He’d killed time at the studio with Chloe. He worked with her on some moves and they had fun with it, but there was only so much time they could do it.

  He even was working on repairs in the house that he’d neglected the past few months.

  It would have been nice if Kristen had some time off, but with Olivia out
of work for a few months and just stopping in and now and again after the baby is born, she wasn’t going to be able to get much of a break as the manager of Hartman’s.

  When his phone rang, he reached for it to see it was his mother calling. Great, just another thing he was hoping to avoid.

  She’d made a comment months ago about coming for the holidays and he hadn’t heard from her since and figured he was in the clear. Hoped he was actually. She hadn’t even called Christmas day, not that she ever had in the past.

  “Yes,” he said, answering.

  “Landon. It’s your mother.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I know.”

  “I’m going to be in town this weekend and would like to stop in and visit and meet my granddaughter.”

  His mother lived a few hours away and never had a reason to come to town. Thankfully.

  “Why are you going to be in town?” he asked.

  “I want to meet my granddaughter,” she repeated.

  “Chloe,” he reminded her. “Her name is Chloe.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “Then say her name,” he said, already losing his patience. It just reminded him now that his mother had rarely addressed him and Jennifer by their names. That when they were younger they were “her kids.” Like a possession.

  Funny how he didn’t think of that until now.

  “I’ve got classes at the studio Saturday morning. It’s going to have to be that afternoon or on Sunday,” he said.

  “I can meet her without you around,” she said firmly.

  “No,” he said.

  Absolutely not. First off, what Chloe knew of his mother wasn’t anything positive. There was no way he was leaving them alone. Second of all, they were complete strangers.

  “Why?” his mother said. “I’m family. Don’t you trust me?”

  He didn’t trust her to not be a complete bitch or trash her only daughter, but kept those words to himself.

  “She doesn’t know you. You are nothing more than a stranger to her. If you really wanted to get to know her so badly you wouldn’t have waited almost six months. On top of that, we just had Christmas, and you didn’t acknowledge her at all. She’s a kid.”

  “So it’s all about buying her stuff. Just like her selfish mother.”

  He was ready to put his fist through the wall, but then he’d have to repair the damage. “That isn’t what I meant. I just said she is a kid. They look at the world differently. You didn’t acknowledge a big holiday. You didn’t acknowledge that Jennifer had a birthday last month. You’ve made no attempt to meet her before now. All I’m saying is you aren’t going to do it without me.”

  “Whatever,” she said. “You think because you’ve been taking care of her for a few months you know everything there is to know about a little girl. You don’t have a clue.”

  “If you are going to come here with that attitude, don’t bother. Chloe doesn’t need that in her life and I sure the hell don’t either.”

  “That is no way to talk to your mother,” she said.

  “It is when it’s my life and I’ve got custody of Chloe. If you want to meet your granddaughter, I won’t stop you, but it’s damn well going to be on my terms.”

  “Fine. I’ll be in town on Saturday and can come over around three. Does that work for you?”

  “It works,” he said and hung up the phone.

  When he turned, Chloe was standing there looking at him. “Who was that?”

  “That was my mother,” he told her, figuring he better prepare her for this. “She wants to meet you.”

  “Why now?” Chloe asked. “Why wait all this time?”

  “I don’t know. She can be difficult to understand at times.”

  “I don’t think I’m going to like her,” Chloe said, crossing her arms. He saw some of his sister in that move and it brought a twitch to his lips. A good memory actually.

  Chloe probably wouldn’t like his mother, he thought, but he’d have to at least let them try at this point.

  “Can you just meet her for me? I’ll be right here the entire time. I know you’ve never heard anything good about her and I’m kind of struggling myself too, but she is family and she wants to meet you.”

  “I guess I should. It’s the right thing to do?” she asked.

  “It is. Even if you don’t get along with her, she is your grandmother and you should know about her. She should know about you. Maybe you could ask her some questions about your mother. Or maybe you can tell her a little bit about your mother.”

  He hoped that wouldn’t be an issue. That maybe his mother could put her negative attitude aside for the time being.

  Guess only time would tell.

  And two days later when his mother knocked on his door he was sure it wasn’t going to go well when the first words out of her mouth were, “You’re too thin. I hope you’re feeding her properly.”

  “I’m far from thin,” he said, holding the door open for her. No one had called him thin a day in his life. She was just used to men that were more on the soft side. Ones she could push around.

  “So where is she?”

  “Chloe,” he repeated. “Can you please use her name? And she’s in the living room.”

  He walked forward after he’d taken his mother’s jacket. She hadn’t changed a bit other than aging since he’d seen her last. He didn’t even know when that was, which was pretty pathetic.

  Even sadder—but not surprising—that she didn’t greet him with a hug. A kiss. A nice word. Nothing. Of course it wasn’t any different than anything else he’d ever experienced from her in his life.

  “Chloe,” he said. “This is your grandmother.”

  “Hi,” Chloe said, dropping her head down.

  “Come here and let me look at you,” his mother said, her voice firm.

  Chloe stood up and walked forward. “What do I call you?”

  “Grandma is fine,” his mother said. “She’s too thin too. Don’t you feed her, Landon? I can’t believe anyone let you have custody of this child. This house is no place for her.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” he snapped. So much for having any patience.

  “This is a bachelor’s house. There isn’t anything here for a kid.”

  He looked around his house and couldn’t figure out what she was talking about. The Christmas tree was still up. Decorations were in the living room, not to mention Chloe’s toys that hadn’t found their way to her room yet.

  Nothing in this room screamed bachelor to him anymore. “You’re delusional. Can I have a word with you in the kitchen?”

  He moved past her, assuming she was following. “What did you want to say?” his mother asked, her back straightening while she frowned.

  “Try not to make this any harder than it is. Whatever your feelings are or were toward Jennifer, can’t you just push them aside?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do. You had problems with her. I don’t know what they all were and I don’t care. Your daughter is gone and I have no idea if you’re even upset over that.”

  “You know nothing about it,” she snapped at him.

  “No, I don’t. You wanted to meet Chloe and you’re here. I thought you’d be able to talk to her about Jennifer. Or she could tell you about her mother. Something for you two to have in common. But you have to come in here and start being nasty and negative like you always were. For one day, or one hour, can you just put the past aside?”

  “I shouldn’t have to put my feelings aside,” she argued.

  “This was a mistake. I don’t know why I even agreed to this,” he said, running his hand over his face.

  “You have no say if I want to get to know my granddaughter.”

  “The hell I don’t,” he shouted back at her. She always brought the worst out of him. “Chloe is my responsibility. Not yours.”

  “You don’t know the first thing about raising a little girl,” she shouted back.

>   “And you think you do?” he said. “Jennifer couldn’t get away from you fast enough.”

  “That’s because she was an ungrateful bitch. All she did was steal from me. Yell at me. It didn’t matter how many times I tried to put her in her place, but she never listened to me.”

  “Did you hit her?” Landon asked quietly. “Did you abuse Jennifer?”

  “A parent has the right to punish their kid. I never beat her, but solitude was good for her. It should have given her time to think about her choices in life.”

  He was going to be sick. He should have known this. He should have asked more questions back then, but had wanted to escape it all himself.

  Didn’t he start taking karate so that he could fight back? So that he could stand up for himself? Why hadn’t he ever thought that Jennifer might have needed it too?

  Maybe because he never saw anything more than yelling and screaming back then. Nothing violent or physical, even though he’d known his mother could be that way with his father.

  “What did you do? Did you lock her in her room back then?”

  “It doesn’t matter. None of it made a difference,” his mother said.

  “You were mean to my mother,” Chloe yelled.

  He turned. Chloe had never raised her voice before. She’d never had a red face like this. Never looked like she wanted to charge someone.

  “Chloe, why don’t you go to your room,” he said.

  “No,” she shouted at him. “My mother told me she used to get locked in a room for hours because she was different. That she was hit and that she never got anything. That she was told it would make her a better person.”

  He ran his hand over his face. “Is this true, Mom?” he asked.

  “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” his mother argued.

  “You just admitted you had to put her in her place. I can only imagine what that meant.”

  “None of your business. A parent has the right to discipline their child. You know that.”

  “What I know is what Chloe is saying is abuse. In this day and age, you could be arrested for those things. For beating your kid. For locking them up. For whatever else you did. Why did you do it?”