by Brooks, Abby
Juliet
“Are you sure I look okay?” Juliet stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, fussing with her dress and picking at her hair.
“You could look okay in a burlap sack.” Ian looked amazing, as usual, leaned back on her bed, his jeans hugging all the right spots in all the right ways, his cowboy boots kept respectfully off the duvet.
She leaned in to check her makeup. “I just want to make a really good impression, that’s all.”
He stood and crossed the room, wrapping his arms around her as he met her eyes through the mirror. “They’re gonna love you. You’ve already met my brothers, and they’ve both been going on and on about you ever since. If I was the jealous type, well, I’d be jealous.” Ian kissed her behind her ear. “Besides, you’ve been so busy making me happy that my parents are halfway charmed by you already. That only leaves Lilah and she doesn’t like anyone. Until they compliment her.”
Juliet met his eyes through the mirror. She really wanted his family to like her and had barely slept a wink, out of fear they wouldn’t.
Ian shrugged. “Now you’ve got a secret weapon. Tell my sister you like her shoes and you’re in.”
It’s only lunch, she kept reminding herself on the drive to the Moore family home. You’ve done lunch plenty of times with high-powered people at Tech Lord.
Since her conversation with Ian at Good Beginnings, that name didn’t send her nerves skittering out of control anymore. Ian’s lawyers were busy talking to Peter’s lawyers and, according to Ian, things were going well. Just knowing that she had so many people between her and Peter felt good.
Knowing one of those people was Ian?
That made her feel damn near invincible.
Near invincible, she repeated in her head as he pulled into his parents’ driveway.
“This is not the quaint little beachside home you described. This is a huge-ass beachside mansion.”
“I never said it was little.”
“But you did use the word quaint.”
“Yes, I did. That’s very true. This isn’t some cold, modern, billionaire’s hideaway. This is warm and inviting, the home I grew up in.” Ian put the car in park and killed the engine but didn’t get out.
“Those things may be true, but you have to know that when you use the word quaint it automatically means small.”
“It really doesn’t. It means picturesque and charming. Not small.”
Juliet stared and sighed. She didn’t mean to be difficult. She was just so nervous. Not only did she want the Moores to love her, but this lunch was pretty much everything she’d ever wanted as a child. Hell, as an adult, too, for that matter.
A family meal where everyone came together, laughing and joking?
At the home children had grown up in, nonetheless?
She’d have been lucky to receive a sullen meal in the same room with her mom and stepdad. And her biological father? Yeah, right. “I’m sorry,” she said at last. “I’m just—”
“Nervous,” he finished for her. With an understanding smile, he took her hands, then deposited kisses on each finger. “You’re gonna be fine. Now, we’ve officially used up my calm and patient demeanor and it’s time for you to buck the hell up, Seaman Lane.”
Juliet stifled a giggle. “Yes, sir!” she said with a curt nod, trying to lose her nerves by playing.
“Ah, ah, ahhh.” Ian dropped her hands and waggled a finger at her. “What did I say about that word? We’re equals, remember?”
They got out of the car and Ian led her up the steps to the front door, his hand grazing the small of her back. Without knocking, he opened the door and extended his arm in front of Juliet, offering to let her go first. She froze. Multiple threads of conversation mingled with what sounded like a sporting event blasting over the TV and burbled out toward her, twined with the scent of something delicious. All of it equal parts warm and welcoming and utterly, completely, terrifying. She hung back and Ian gave her an odd look but went in first anyway.
“Your favorite first born is here with a very important guest!” Ian took Juliet’s hand and led her through the entryway into an open first floor where his family gathered in the living area, ignoring the TV and focusing on a very sullen James.
A tiny woman, her gray-streaked dark hair still long and thick and pulled back into a low ponytail, bounded up to them and wrapped her arms around Ian. “So good to see you. I miss you every day, you know. You need to come around more.”
Ian dwarfed his mother. “I was here just the other day.”
“Were you here yesterday?”
“No.”
“The day before?”
“No. But I was here the day before that.”
“Well, that just proves my point. You need to be here more.” Ian’s mother disengaged from her son and took both Juliet’s hands in her own. “And this must be the angel who’s made you so happy lately.”
Ian put a hand on Juliet’s shoulders. “The very one. Mom, this is Juliet Lane. Juliet, meet the woman who gave me life.”
Juliet smiled and dipped her head. “Mrs. Moore.”
“Can we just drop that nonsense before you even start? Call me Diane. I’d tell you to call me Mom, everyone always does, but I’m afraid Ian would think I was trying to be prophetic or something.” Diane dropped an eyelid in the very same conspiratorial wink as her son. The one that Juliet loved so much. And she couldn’t help but smile when Ian blustered out some kind of shocked response to his mother’s statement. Was he actually blushing? She’d never seen Ian look out of sorts. Not ever. It was kind of adorable.
An elegant older man ambled over, his salt and pepper hair thick and long enough to curl at his ears and neckline. “So this is the one, is it?” he asked, extending a hand. “Juliet? Did I hear that correctly?”
The man oozed power and confidence. He had Juliet’s eyes dropping to the floor and a flush running up her cheeks. “Yes, sir. Juliet Lane.”
Mr. Moore shook his head and laughed. “What did my wife just say, young lady? We can drop all that formality nonsense. You call me Frank and I’ll make up a funny nickname for you and we’ll just call it a normal Sunday, understand?” Frank’s eyes crinkled merrily, and Juliet relaxed significantly. Even if she had used the dreaded ‘sir’ word.
“Well, come in, come in, meet the rest of us.” Diane paused and looked thoughtful. “And I guess by that, I only mean Lilah because from what I hear, you’ve already met the boys.” The three Moores led Juliet to the living room. Harry sprang off the sofa and gave her a quick, though awkward, hug. James just waved, barely taking his eyes off the TV, which just left Lilah—a striking blonde who scanned Juliet as if she had something nasty in her hair.
“So this is the girl everyone won’t stop talking about, huh?” Lilah regarded Juliet from her place on the sofa without making a move to get up or extend a hand.
“Juliet, this is my very rude little sister, Lilah.” Ian gave Lilah a look while Diane chastised her daughter for not being polite.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Juliet ignored the caustic attitude and took a seat when it was offered. Later, when it felt appropriate, she took a chance and complimented Lilah on her entire outfit. It wasn’t a fake compliment, either. She truly looked stunning. Lilah preened, obviously aware she looked amazing and eager for more praise.
It wasn’t long before everyone was talking and laughing and telling stories about Ian’s childhood. Well, everyone except for James, who kept his attention glued to the TV, though it didn’t look like he had any idea what he was watching. His eyes were glazed. A million miles away.
Lunch was delicious, a collaborative effort of both Harry and Diane.
“Harrison didn’t just spring forth into this world knowing how to work magic in the kitchen,” Frank volunteered when Juliet complimented him on the meal. “Diane passed her gift on to him.
“And I got the looks,” chimed in Lilah, smiling broadly. “And Ian got the smarts, and poor James got the lefto
vers.” The family all snickered and joined in, poking fun at James in what sounded like a long-standing family joke.
When he only grew more sullen, Ian held up a hand. “Look, man,” he said as everyone quieted, “you’ve been off all day. What’s up?”
James sighed and took a drink of coffee; a stalling technique Juliet recognized all too well. The entire family tensed, and Juliet wished she could ball herself up and disappear. Whatever was going on with him was none of her business and the flicker of his eyes to hers only confirmed that.
James sighed and rubbed a hand over his chin. “Erin and I called off the wedding.” The look in his eyes revealed a heart splintering into a thousand pieces and then a thousand more. “I almost didn’t come today,” he said, pushing his chair back from the table to stand. “But I didn’t want to be rude by not showing up and I thought I could pull off a good mood. I’m sorry to ruin your day,” he said to Juliet as he stood and walked out.
The room exploded in sound and movement as the family rushed to console James. Ian muttered an apology and promised to be right back and suddenly, Juliet found herself sitting alone at a very fancy table, in a very fancy dining room.
She sucked in her lips and stared around the empty room, trying to decide what to do with herself. When she came in, she’d noticed pictures adorning the wall in the hallway near the entrance. She considered amusing herself by looking at them, but wondered if it would come across as snooping. While she didn’t think it would, there was no way of knowing how private people might be. All she knew was that she felt pretty damn awkward, like the odd man out.
She considered leaving, just making a quiet exit so the family could console James, but she’d come with Ian and the Moores lived far enough away that a walk home was out of the question. After taking a couple nervous sips of her coffee, she decided to clear the table. She couldn’t just sit there alone anymore with nothing to do. Careful to leave any plates that looked like someone hadn’t finished, Juliet carried everything into the kitchen. Deciding that actually doing the dishes might be going too far, she fell back on plan A and wandered into the hallway to amuse herself with the pictures on the wall chronicling each Moore child’s life.
She saw Ian, tall and gangly and missing a few teeth, with his arm around a very dirty James. That had to be Harry, there, his hair streaked with blonde and curly with sweat and Lilah sitting daintily in her diaper, bows in her nearly non-existent hair. She found school pictures, and bad hair days, goofy outfits and camping trips. Juliet smiled and traced a finger along some of the best ones, getting a feel for the happy family Ian grew up in.
In almost every picture, Ian had his arm around at least one of his brothers, but more often than not, he had both of them under an arm, and sometimes, he managed to squeeze Lilah in as well. Watching them all get progressively taller and stronger and better looking, it became more and more clear that Ian was the rock for his siblings.
That he took care of them.
Protected them.
A hero and guardian from day one.
As the pictures progressed into the high school years, James often had his arm around a girl, a pretty blonde thing with a wide smile. The pictures of her started off with that smile showing crooked teeth, then braces, then, in one of the last few, the girl—who was a woman in those—proudly showed off a diamond on her left hand.
Damn.
Judging by the pictures, James just dumped the girl he grew up with. Called off a wedding after at least ten years of dating what looked like his first love.
Juliet’s heart broke for him again. She remembered the loss of her first love, and they’d only dated a year or two. It’d been harsh and bitter and hard enough to make her retreat into herself for a long time, afraid to put her heart into anyone else’s hands. She couldn’t begin to imagine what James was going through.
She wandered back down the hallway, looking for pictures of Ian she’d skipped while following James’ progression with Erin. She found a few of him in his dress whites and stopped. He looked so handsome! So proud. So strong and straight and trustworthy. She found a few of him, standing in front of an airplane, beaming. The guy beside him was the same in each picture. A vibrant man with a joking smile.
“That’s Bradley.” Diane’s voice came from behind, so soft it was nearly a whisper. “Ian’s co-pilot.”
Juliet spun and pulled her hand back from the frame. “I didn’t mean to pry…I’m sorry….”
“Don’t be. There are no secrets in this house. Thank you for clearing the table, by the way. You didn’t have to.”
Juliet shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
Diane moved in beside her, ran a finger along the picture Juliet had been studying. “We were so proud of Ian when he decided to join the Navy. Scared, too. Very scared. And maybe not supportive enough because of that fear. But not surprised. He told us he was going to fly planes when he was barely able to speak and didn’t change his story for the rest of his childhood.”
“That sounds like the Ian I know. Gets his mind on something and just goes for it.”
“I’d say that about sums him up.” Diane met Juliet’s eyes and she felt like she’d known the woman for far more than just the afternoon. Like she herself had been in those pictures on the wall. A lifelong friend, practically a member of the family rather than a stranger. “When we got word that his plane had gone down…” Diane shook her head and put a hand to her stomach. “There aren’t words to express the hole that appeared in my belly that day. Even knowing he was going to live didn’t completely fill it back up again. A fear like that—the fear a mother feels when her child is in danger—it stays with her.”
“How badly was he hurt?”
“He was pretty bad off for a while. But I think it was losing Bradley that did the most damage. Ian makes it his job to protect the people he cares about.”
Juliet nodded and gestured toward the wall of pictures. “I’m figuring that out.” She gave a little shrug. “And I’m feeling it myself. He makes me feel so safe.”
Diane touched Juliet’s arm. “Oh, you are. If you’ve got my Ian in your corner, you couldn’t be safer.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ian
Ian knew his mom would take care of Juliet while he took care of James. He could hear them in the kitchen, talking and working on the dishes. Listening to the two of them together made him smile. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could tell they were enjoying each other. Leave it to Mom, he thought.
After the entire family followed James outside, Ian stood back and watched while his brother fended off their mother’s attempts to pull him in for a hug. And as James bristled when their father tried to give him some bullshit piece of advice on the power of positivity. For her part, Lilah stuck her foot in her mouth and rushed off in a huff and Harry had nothing more for James than a quick thump on the back and an apologetic smile. They had all since filtered back inside, leaving Ian leaning against the house while James sank down to sit on one of the porch steps.
“It was inevitable, you know,” James said after a long silence.
“Was it?” Ian didn’t move, careful to give James the space he needed.
“Yup.” James nodded, staring into the distance.
The cicadas sang in the hot summer sun and a bead of sweat worked its way down Ian’s back. Another eternity of silence passed between the brothers before James continued.
“She was cheating on me,” he finally whispered, as if the admission proved some fault of his own.
“How’d you find out?”
“Things weren’t good between us. They hadn’t been for a long time. We fought more than anything else.” James turned and met Ian’s eye, inviting him to sit next to him with a nod of his head. “I suspected for a while and finally confronted her last night.”
Ian took a seat next to his brother and stared into the distance with him. “What’d she say?”
“She was honest. Finally.
Told me it wasn’t the first time.” James’ voice cracked but Ian ignored it, giving him the time he needed to compose himself. “Said she wasn’t in love with me anymore. Said she hadn’t been for a while.”
Anger surged through Ian. If Erin hadn’t been in love with James, if she’d been unhappy enough to cheat, then why in hell had she agreed to get married? Why did she let things get so far? If she’d been cheating on him, more than once, why in the world would she let him think everything was okay?
He didn’t say any of those things though, because James didn’t need to hear them. What James needed was time and space. Ian had enough patience to give his brother as much of both as he needed.
“I was foolish to think we’d make it. Foolish to think I could marry my childhood girlfriend.” James turned a sad face to Ian and rolled his eyes. “We were thirteen when we got together. What kind of fool would believe we’d actually make it? That with all the ways we changed throughout the years, we’d just keep changing together?”
“You’re not a fool. You fell in love and wanted to stay there. There’s nothing wrong in that.”
“There’s plenty wrong in that since I was busy ignoring the signs that we weren’t actually in love anymore. That we hadn’t been in a long time.” James sighed. “I avoided her. I didn’t want to be with her. Got excited when she said she was planning a girl’s night. We didn’t like to do the same things. We didn’t like to watch the same shows. We didn’t even laugh at the same jokes. And, really, looking back, we never did. At least not after we hit puberty. We stayed together out of habit. Not because we wanted to be together.” James shrugged. “Hey, look man. I’m ruining this whole day, being a selfish asshole.”
“You’re not ruining anything. I’m here for you. We all are.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the first girl you’ve ever brought home to meet Mom and Dad. Don’t think I didn’t notice. And don’t think they didn’t either. I’m an asshole for bringing this up today.” James stood and shoved his hands into his back pockets. “I’m gonna go. Give everyone my love.”