“My mom works as a secretary for an accountant. We’re really close, but she can be a bit of a nuisance.” Seeing his questioning face, she explained. “Mom loves me being a vet and is proud of me, but I know she’d like to see me in a relationship. She feels like I’m missing out when my evenings are spent with my cats.”
Smiling, Shane said, “Well, I’ve already told you that my mom will start wedding plannin’ when she meets you.” Then he quickly added, “Don’t let that throw you. I’ll keep her in check.”
“It’s okay. It sounds like she’s a lot like my mom.”
“So who else? Any siblings?”
“I have one sister, still in college. I am about eight years older so we weren’t very close growing up, but now we are.”
They drove into a neighborhood of unique, older but quaint homes, unlike the modern neighborhoods where all of the houses are cookie-cutter copies of each other. They pulled into a driveway of a white, two-story home framed by a huge front porch. Shane had just gotten out of the driver’s side when a scream pierced the air.
Annie looked up, seeing a woman running across the yard, her arms opened wide. The look on the woman’s face as she threw her arms around Shane burned itself on Annie’s mind. A mother who hasn’t seen her son in over two years. A mother who didn’t know if he was coming home.
As she watched the reunion of mother and son, she felt the raw emotion pouring out of Shane’s mother. Tears slid down her cheeks witnessing the affection war with grief over two years lost on his mother’s face. Pressing her fingers to her lips, she tried to choke down a sob. Shane’s eyes were closed, but she could see the elation on his face. Pure, unadulterated joy. It was one thing to talk about his mother not seeing him for over two years, but to see the agony mixed with joy in person was overwhelming.
Noticing movement on the porch, her eyes swung over to see a young woman and man run down the steps following their mother into the family embrace. Another man, holding a small child with a pre-schooler by his side, stayed on the porch watching the scene in front of them evolve. Not wanting to disturb the reunion, she decided to stay in the truck, still trying to choke back the tears.
Finally, Shane lowered his mother back to the ground as she continued to hold his face in her hands. He wiped his mother’s tears, leaning down to speak softly to her. Pulling her in again, he smiled at his brother and sister over their mother’s head.
Glancing around, he realized that Annie was not there. Twisting his head, he saw her still seated in the truck, tears shining in her eyes. He knew she was giving them their moment. Smiling, he caught her eyes and watched her smile back at him. Sunshine.
“Mom, you’ve got to let go for a moment. I’ve got to get Annie.”
At those word, Shane’s mother jumped back looking into the truck. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed as she let go of Shane.
He assisted Annie from the truck, then he tucked her tightly into his side as they walked over to the group in the yard. Shane’s mother rushed up to hug Annie just as tightly as she was hugging her son.
“Oh my dear, you must think me to be an emotional fool!”
“Not at all, Mrs. Douglas,” Annie quickly assured her. “I can’t imagine what you have gone through. I just hope it’s all right for me to be here.”
“Please call me Mona and you are more than welcome here. My son has spoken of you on the phone and I know how important you are to him.”
Shane pulled Annie back into his embrace and began the introductions. She assumed correctly that the younger woman and man were his sister, Megan, and brother, Rick. As they made their way onto the porch, she also met Megan’s husband, David. Megan took the smaller child from her husband’s arms so that David could pick up the shy four year old trying to hide.
“Megan, you just had this one when I left,” Shane said in awe as he looked at his nephew in her arms.
“And you, little man. You must be Kenny,” he said to the child peering back at him with big eyes.
Mona ushered them into the house, all settling into the family room. Annie couldn’t help but notice the similarity between the home she grew up in and Shane’s. Warm rooms comfortably furnished and decorated in what her mother called ‘early family’, meaning family pictures covered the walls.
Allowing Shane and his family to have more time to catch up, she looked at the family photos displayed. One in particular caught her eye. An older version of Shane stood with one arm holding a little girl and his other hand resting on the shoulder of a young boy, while smiling at Mona, who was holding a baby. The father was big, muscular, and very handsome. And Shane looked just like him. Her eyes went down to little Shane, seeing the blue of his eyes just as intent that that age.
“Annie,” she heard Shane say. Turning around, she noticed him sitting on the sofa, an empty space next to him. “Come here, baby.”
Smiling as she walked over, she glanced at Mona, who was beaming. “I love your pictures, Mona. My parents have family pictures all over their house too.” Laughing, she admitted, “Even though I only have a small apartment, I decorate in ‘family’ also.”
“No fancy painting adorning any wall is as meaningful as the family pictures in a home,” Mona declared.
“Oh my goodness, Mona, you’ll have to meet my mom. She says the exact same thing.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Annie blushed. “I mean…if you ever…I just meant…”
Shane pulled her into his embrace, kissing the top of her head while smiling at his family. “It’s okay, baby. They know we’re serious, so it makes perfect sense for the families to meet sometime.”
The Douglas’ had planned a cookout so the assembly moved to the back yard. Shane and his brother fired up the grill while Megan and Mona got things ready in the kitchen. Turning down Annie’s offer to help, she sat in the yard with David watching the children play.
After making small talk, David turned to her saying, “I gotta tell you that I was worried about Shane coming back. Mona has had a rough couple of years with him gone.”
Annie turned her attention to him, listening attentively.
“She hated for Shane to go into police work after their father was killed. I had only met him a couple of times, but he seemed to be a great husband and dad. Megan and I had just gotten together. I think Mona knew all along that Shane was too much like his dad to not follow in his footsteps. But going undercover? That nearly killed her, wondering if he would come home and if so, in what shape.”
Annie continued to listen, realizing that David had stepped in to fulfill the older son and brother roll when Shane left.
“We made the mistake one night of watching a documentary on some policemen who went undercover in a motorcycle gang.” He shook his head. “Big mistake. It was rough – the life they lived and what they had to do to fit in, and how messed up they were when they came back out.” He picked up the ball that had rolled over to them and tossed it back to his son. “Mona is tough, having been a policeman’s wife, but she jumped up and turned off the TV running out of the room. Megan went and talked to her, but she just kept saying that she was afraid of what was going to come back from that.”
“He was a little…hard, when I first met him,” Annie admitted.
“I have a feeling that being with you has tamed a lot of the wild that had grown in him,” David said, smiling at her as he looked over to where Shane and Rick were laughing with Mona and Megan.
On cue, Shane’s eyes searched for hers, his face smiling widely when they met. Annie smiled back, feeling his happiness from across the yard.
“Yeah,” David agreed. “I’d say you have a lot to do with that taming. Now, just get ready as Mona starts her wedding planning!”
Shane looked over at Annie laughing with David as the children played all around her. His attention was so focused on how her copper hair glistened in the sunlight as her head was thrown back in laughter that he completely missed the look that passed bet
ween his mother and siblings.
Mona walked to him, encircling his waist with her arms as she lay her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “She seems wonderful, son. I really like her.” Leaning her head back so that she could look into the eyes that seemed so much like his father’s, she asked, “So how serious is this relationship?”
“It’s serious, mom. It’s new so we’re still learning about each other, but meetin’ her was what made me decide that it was time to stop screwin’ around and bring the cover and the case to a close. It had already gone on too long, but she was the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel.”
Mona smiled into her son’s face as another tear slid from her eye. “Then that’s all I need to know. Any woman who brought my wild son back to me will have my eternal gratitude.”
The rest of the day passed with pleasant conversation, including lots of stories of Shane as a boy, good food, good company, and even games of hide and seek with the nephews. As the evening drew to a close, Shane was saying goodbye to his siblings so Mona took the opportunity to slide over to Annie.
Annie smiled at Mona knowing that the day had been an emotional one. “Thank you so much for allowing me to crash your reunion with your son.”
“Oh my dear, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate all that you have done for him. I don’t know what shape my son would have returned to me in if he hadn’t met you.”
Hugging Mona tightly feeling the familiar sting of tears in her eyes, Annie just said, “I’m glad we found each other.”
Shane walked over then and Annie stepped back to allow them some privacy to say goodbye. As they walked to the truck Shane pulled her in for a kiss before helping her up. The kiss was simple, almost chaste, knowing his family was on the porch watching, but for Shane it meant everything. The continuation of family. Dad, you woulda loved her.
To Annie it meant nearly the same thing. Future. I want to spend the rest of my life with this man.
Arriving back home, they retired for the evening, making love long into the night, each filled with dreams of forever, feeling as though the roller coaster was finally coming to a halt.
Chapter 19
On Sunday, they spent the day getting Shane and Sarge moved in. Sarge had been staying with Matt for the past two weeks and as Annie was sorting out the closet space, Matt and Shane moved a few boxes in.
“Doesn’t look like you have much here,” Matt observed.
“I’ve got more stuff in storage, but I don’t want to overfill Annie’s place.”
Matt looked around at the quaint, but tiny, apartment. “Yeah, it doesn’t look like it can hold much more.”
Shane offered him a seat as he flopped down on the sofa. “It’s small but it came with the clinic, so she doesn’t have to pay rent. I’m gonna start looking for a place, but now…well, I kind of have different needs now.”
Matt looked over at his friend, raising his eyebrow in question.
“Before Annie, I would have just found a one bedroom apartment big enough for me and Sarge. Now, I’d like to find something nice with a couple of bedrooms.”
“Things movin’ along that well?”
Shane just nodded toward the bedroom where Annie was still sorting their clothes and said, “That woman in there changed me, Matt. Gave me her trust and had that sunshine beamin’ down on me. Not gonna let that go. Gonna hang onto it and take care of it.”
Just then Annie walked into the room, seeing the two friends talking. Smiling at them both, she walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a couple of beers. Moving to the living area she handed one to Matt then sat next to Shane while handing him his. “What are you going to take care of?” she asked, indicating that she had overheard the last of their conversation.
Throwing his arm around her and pulling her in tight, Shane answered, “You, sunshine.”
Matt laughed as he announced, “And that is my cue to leave.”
Annie protested as she walked him to the door. Matt leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “Thanks, Annie, for taking care of him.”
After Matt left, Shane moved off the couch and said, “Babe, you’ve worked all day. I’ll order some pizza and we’ll have a night in. How does that sound?”
“Sounds amazing,” she said with a thoughtful look on her face.
Shane wrapped his arms around her as he asked, “What are you thinking about, sunshine?”
“Matt.”
“Should I be jealous or maybe go pound that sorry-ass friend for makin’ my woman spend her time thinkin’ about him?”
Swatting him on the chest, she replied, “No. I was just wondering what his story is. I mean, he’s nice looking and seems really loyal and a good friend, but…I don’t know. I guess I just think everyone should have someone they love.”
“Don’t start matchmaking with my friends,” Shane warned jokingly.
“Honey, before I can matchmake anyone I would have to have friends! Other than Leon and Suzanne, if it doesn’t have four legs, I don’t know them!”
Shane ordered the pizza and they sat on the floor using the coffee table as their dining table. Annie’s question about Matt had Shane thinking about his friend. Before he went undercover, he and Matt had spent weekend days enjoying sporting events and their nights would often find them enjoying some of the nightlife around Richland. Neither one of them were looking for love, but lust was another matter.
“Now what are you thinking about so hard,” Annie’s voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Hell, woman, now you have me thinkin’ about Matt.”
“So, what’s his story?”
“Don’t know, baby. Before I went under he was a player, enjoying the nightlife and never with the same woman more than a time or two at the most.” Sheepishly Shane admitted, “Since I’ve been back the last couple of weeks, I haven’t really thought much about him other than that we get to be partners again. But you’re right. He doesn’t quite seem the same.”
“Well, talk to him about it,” came the logical reply from Annie as she wiped the pizza sauce from her lips with a quick flit of her tongue.
For a moment, he forgot what they were talking about as he watched her tongue slide across her lips. We gotta finish the pizza so those lips can slide around my …
“Shane, where’d you go?”
Startled away from his thoughts about her luscious lips, he looked backed into her eyes.
“Sorry, baby. What did you say?”
Rolling her eyes, she repeated, “Talk to Matt. Find out what has been going on with him over the past couple of years.”
“Babe. I’ve got a dick.”
Looking at him with a confused expression, she cocked her head to the side. “What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t go asking my partner about what is making him sad.”
“Oh Jesus, Shane. You don’t have to lose your man-card just to ask a friend what all has been happening in his life!”
Tired of talking about Matt when he really wanted to be buried in her, he moved to her side of the coffee table, crawling over her body as she lay back on the floor. “Want to know more about my man-card?” he asked, effectively pinning her underneath him.
Giggling, she admitted, “Oh yeah. You can show me your man-card anytime you want.”
* * *
The next morning Shane was gone when Annie awoke, but by the time she was out of the shower he was back in the kitchen with pastries from Mrs. Greenwald. And he brought plenty for Leon and Suzanne as well.
Kissing him goodbye, she watched as he headed out of the door to work as she walked down to the clinic. Smiling to herself, she could not help but think how right this felt. It’s as though he belongs here. With me. In my life.
As soon as she walked through the door of the clinic she was immediately surrounded. Leon took the pastries out of her hand while Suzanne grabbed her other hand and pulled her into the room.
“So spil
l, chickie. How was meeting the family?” Leon asked while shoving a bear claw into his mouth.
Annie laughed, “Well, it was interesting. They hadn’t seen him in a long time, so it was pretty emotional. But other than that, they were really nice.” She noticed Suzanne’s sharp eyes focused on her intently. “Honestly, Suzanne. It was good. His family is very much like mine. Speaking of mine, I need to call my mom.”
“Of Lordy, I can hear the wedding bells already once Momma Donavan gets hold of this information,” Leon joked.
“That’s why I have been putting it off. But when she finds out that I’ve met his family, she’ll have a fit!”
The front door chimed signaling the start of another day as the three hustled to get ready.
* * *
Shane looked over at Matt where he was talking on the phone and taking notes in one of the many files they had strewn across their desks. As he hung up the phone, Shane said, “Let’s get out of here man and have some lunch.”
Once in the diner down the road, Matt looked over at Shane and said, “Okay, go for it.”
Surprised, Shane asked, “What do you mean?”
“You’ve been lookin’ at me like you’ve wanted to ask me somethin’ all morning. Stop screwing around and just ask.”
Chuckling as he shook his head, he admitted, “You’ve always known me. Guess that’s what made us good partners.” Pausing for a moment to think about what he wanted to ask, he finally just went for honesty.
“Look, last night Annie wondered about you and I had to admit that we haven’t really had a chance to catch up. I realized that while I was dealing with my own shit, you were back here with a life that I don’t know about. And…you seem quieter. You were always up for a good time and now …I don’t know…like you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
Matt sat for a few minutes and Shane let the comfortable silence flow between them. Their food was delivered and they began to eat. As their lunch was almost finished, Matt began to talk.
Love's Taming (The Love's Series) Page 16