Could she be his? Was he her father?
†
The cake is cut and everyone has a piece, except for Gabriel. He stands by the bouncy castle helping the kids exit without landing on their heads. The sight makes Aislin’s heart clench a little. He heads over to the porch after the kids and takes a cake plate and fork. His eyes meet hers and there is a definite question there. Aislin knows he now realizes Gabby is hers. Does he know she’s his, too? After Gabe, Aislin had never so much as even gone out on a date. She’d dived head long into depression for a month or so, before learning that their perfect night together, the one that had led him to leave her, had resulted in a pregnancy. That little girl had been the biggest blessing of her life. She’d grown up. She’d become who Gabby needed her to be; who she wanted to be.
She’d become responsible and had bathed her baby girl in the love she’d never had as a child. Aislin hadn’t spoiled her with toys and extravagance. She’d played with her. Spent time with her. Had fun with her. She’d built blanket forts and built block towers, played dolls and let Gabby style her hair. The two had become each other’s worlds and for this love, Aislin was thankful. Aislin was home. She was with Gabby.
Though occasionally she’d wished things had ended differently with Gabe, she was happy and her baby was healthy. Once in a while her thoughts wandered to Gabe, to what he was doing, or where he was, but she never let those thoughts linger. Her baby needed her. Needed to be loved by someone who wanted to be around. Wanted to be in the picture. And, unfortunately, that wasn’t Gabe. He’d wanted to leave and had left.
His presence at Gabby’s party is somewhat unsettling to Aislin. She doesn’t want to lie to him about Gabby. She doesn’t want to cross that bridge at all. Please don’t let him figure it out. If Gabriel were to feel any sort of moral obligation toward Gabby, Aislin wouldn’t be able to stand it. She’d raised Gabby so far by herself and the two were doing just fine. More than fine actually, they were wonderful.
After the gifts are opened, Aislin slips a bandana over Gabby’s eyes and ties a loose knot overtop her auburn hair. She smiles and nods to Jude. She motions for the guests to join them and they walk to a large tree further into their back yard. Wooden stairs lead to a platform made up of fresh 2x4’s. Nestled there between two trees is an intricate, small wooden tree house. It was six feet long and the ceilings were four feet on the sides, five in the center of the slanted ceiling. Small windows, with boxes that hang underneath adorn each side. A small wooden door, complete with a peep hole, holds a sign that says “Gabby’s House.” Small potted plants wait to be planted below with bags of potting soil alongside. Aislin thought Gabby would enjoy positioning and planting her own flower boxes and baskets. As Aislin slips off the bandana, she winks at Jude and then watches Gabby’s chubby cheeks lift with her sweet, sweet smile. “Mama? Dat my house?”
“Yes, baby. That’s your house. Mr. Jude built it for you. Can you thank him, please?”
“Tanks, Misser Dude!”
Jude crouches down and hugs Gabby and says, “You’re welcome, sweetie. But you need to thank your mama. I built it, but she bought all the wood and glass and nails. Everything I needed to build it.”
“Tanks, Mama! I wuf it! Can I go in?”
“Sure. Go on in. Take Maddy and Donovan with you.”
“Comma my house, duys!” she yells, running toward the few steps leading to the small front porch and door. Jude had even hung twinkle lights for her, around and through the tree branches and outlining the structure itself. The sight brought tears to her eyes. Her baby is happy and very loved.
Jude puts his arm around Aislin and pulls her close, placing a soft warm kiss on her forehead. The action itself isn’t unusual, but she feels kind of strange accepting affection from Jude while Gabe is present. Though she’s not sure why. Truthfully, she hates that he still holds any sort of influence on her feelings at all. She pushes the thought out of her mind.
With the party events over, Aislin relaxes. She and her guests make their way back to the porch and watch the kids enjoy the small house. Grabbing a trash bag, she begins to clean up the remnants of the party, only to be shooed away by Amy.
“Sit. Now.” Amy points at Aislin’s favorite chair, which is vacant, and strangely seems to be calling her name.
Aislin smiles and hands over the garbage bag, and plops into the seat as instructed. It isn’t long before someone settles into the seat next to her.
†
“Hey.” Jude puts his arm around her shoulders. “Tired yet?”
Relaxing into his arms, she replies, “Worn out. I haven’t been sleeping well.”
Jude nods in acknowledgement. Aislin hasn’t slept well since he met her. Of course, she was newly pregnant then and up peeing every hour on the hour. Then when Gabby had been born, her newborn sleep pattern was chaotic. As a toddler, Gabby never slept well at night unless Aislin was beside her and so, the two had always slept together. Recently, though, Aislin had told him, Gabby had shown an interest in sleeping in her own room like a ‘big girl.’ She’d told her mama that Maddy slept in her own room and she wanted to sleep in hers as well. Aislin had even moved her things to the spare bedroom so that she could be closer to her daughter. A staircase was too much separation. Aislin had told Jude that Gabby and Maddy had been having sleep-overs this summer at one another’s houses.
Companionable silence fills the space between the friends. Although everything in his brain tells him that he should love Aislin, he only sees her as a friend. A very good friend, but a very platonic friend. So, he is aware that he’s acted more possessive tonight than he perhaps should have.
“Sorry about all the testosterone tonight.” He dips his head before his lips raise in a half smile and he looks over at Aislin.
“It’s okay. Amy is convinced that you are madly in love with me now, though.” Aislin laughs and Jude shakes his head. The pair are good enough friends to know that will never happen.
“I’m just worried about you. You know, now that he’s back.” Jude nods toward Gabriel, who is staring at them both when not looking at Easton, who is trying desperately to converse with him, distract him.
“He’s not back.” Aislin takes a drink from her can of Pepsi.
“Yes, Ais. He is. Trust me on this one. If looks could kill, I’d already be dead ten different ways,” he chuckles.
“Well, he can look all he wants, but that doesn’t mean much. Actions speak louder than words—or evil stares.” The children giggle, running in and out the door. The girls pretend to be fairies and Donovan just seems to marvel at how ‘cool’ the ‘tree fort’ is. If the girls were asked to describe the place, ‘fort’ would not be in their vocabulary. Jude watches Aislin smile at her little girl’s happiness.
“Look, I’m gonna take off. My brother and I will come get the bouncy house tomorrow. It’s due back at noon, right?”
“Yep. And, thank you so much for all you’ve done. Not just the bouncy, but building the play house. It’s really amazing. A work of art.” The two stand and Aislin walks over toward the old pickup truck with the brothers. She hugs mini-Jude, “Thank you for your help. It was so good to meet you!” Aislin hugs his neck and then moves over to hug Jude.
He can see Gabriel staring daggers at the trio, so he leans in and whispers in Aislin’s ear. “Consider me an asshole.”
When she pulls back, brows knitted in confusion, Jude kisses her lips. It’s not a peck like after their shows, but a lingering, soft kiss one might expect from a lover. He looks up at a surprised Aislin who smacks his arm, and into the eyes of one very pissed off Gabriel Church. Mission accomplished.
†
Aislin walks the brothers to their rusty, Ford pickup. She’s just being polite. She hugs the youngest and talks for a minute. Then, Jude leans down and whispers in her ear before kissing her. Nothing platonic about that shit! It is a long, lingering, teeth hanging onto her full bottom lip, kind of kiss. Gabe feels hot. He feels like kicking the shit
out of something…or someone.
Then, the asshole has the nerve to smile in Gabe’s direction. He’s rubbing salt in the wound. Gabriel finishes his third and final beer and chucks the bottle into the garbage bag that Amy left out. The pickup rumbles to life and Aislin backs up a bit, and waves as they pull away. It’s dark and she glows red from the taillights. There are citronella torches lit near the back porch, but other than that, the only light is provided by those stupid Christmas lights that Jude had strung for the little house he’d built. Mr. Hero Carpenter.
Aislin walks over toward the small house and the kids file out, complaints ringing out into the night. Mac leans down. “Hey, the house will be there tomorrow. It’s not going anywhere. You can all come and play any time you want, okay?” The three stop grumbling and murmur their okay. Gabby yawns deeply and rubs her little eyes. Aislin picks her up and carries her over to the porch. Easton and Melissa wish her ‘happy birthday’ again and lead Donovan toward their car. Before long, they are gone.
Parker nods toward the car. Gabriel shakes his head. Hell, no. He needs to talk to Mac. Parker’s eyes open wider and he nods toward the car again. Gabe shakes his head. No. No way. Not going to happen.
Amy must have seen the exchange. She stomps toward him and as she is so short, pulls his ear down, dragging his head with her. “She has to get Gabby to sleep and clean up. Now is not the time to catch up on old times. Catch my drift, big boy?” Dang, but that woman was scary sometimes. Little, but scary.
“Fine,” he grinds out. “But, I’m at least saying goodbye.”
“Well, there’s a shocker.” Bites Amy, rolling her eyes dramatically as she walks back to get Maddy.
†
Holding her very tired little girl in her arms, Aislin sways back and forth. A little while longer, and she’ll fall asleep. Her head lays limp, her breath tickling the curve of Aislin’s neck. Amy pats Gabby’s back and tells her that she’ll see her tomorrow. Gabby nods in acknowledgement, but doesn’t speak. She is so worn out.
Parker waves as the three start toward their cars. Wait! Take Gabe with you! No such luck. Gabe walks over, his hair is a bit longer than the last time she’d seen him. He’s been in the sun. He looks thicker, more muscular. Where has he been? What has he been doing?
“Mac?”
“Make it quick, Gabe. I need to get her to bed.”
“We need to talk.”
“Well, as you can see, now is not a very good time. I need to get her to bed and get ready for bed myself.” She looks toward her house as if she’s trying to escape from him.
“When can I see you?” Gabe stands, his eyes pleading for her to… what? Listen? Talk to him?
“We can talk tomorrow. Gabby is going with Maddy to church in the morning. I usually go, but I’m sure Amy will take her so that we can have time to speak without the presence of little ears.” She smiles at him and he sort of half-smiles back at her and nods.
“Tomorrow.” He promises. Then, turns and walks away. He’s really good at that.
†
Sunday morning emerges altogether too fast. Aislin slaps at her alarm clock, trying to silence it and knocks it into the floor. Through the baby monitor, she hears Gabby shuffling around in her room. She walks downstairs to Gabby’s room. Cracking open the door, she peeks in. Gabby sits in the middle of the large bed, surrounded by pillows and bed rails, rubbing her eyes. “Morning, baby.”
In her tiny voice, filled with lingering sleep, she answers, “Mawnin’ Mama.”
“Let’s get you ready for church. Mama’s got a few things to do this morning, so you’re going to go with Parker, Amy and Maddy, okay?”
“Okay.” She crawls out of her covers and off the edge of the bed, her bare feet smacking the hardwood below. Aislin pulls out two dresses and lets her pick which one she’ll wear. Life, she teaches, is all about choices. She dresses Gabby, leads her to the kitchen where she quickly prepares some scrambled eggs and toast with butter. The two giggle about the party until a knock sounds at the door. Amy is there, dressed in a beautiful dark blue pencil skirt, white blouse, and red belt and heels. She waves Amy inside.
“Hey, do you mind if I stay here? I have a few errands to run.”
Amy’s face lights up like the Cheshire cat. “Sure,” she drawls loudly, grabbing Gabby’s hand. To Aislin, she whispers, “Is Jude coming over?” Aislin shakes her head. “Gabe?” Amy’s brows raise in expectation.
“No. I need to visit Dec.”
Amy’s lips form an “o” and she nods her head. “Gotcha. Go. We’re fine. I’ll probably take them out to lunch after church. I’ll call when we’re on our way back.”
And, out the door they go. Aislin watches them pull away from her front porch swing. She waves at Gabby and Maddy and then goes back inside. She brushes her teeth, pulls her hair into a high pony tail and pulls on her running shorts, a t-shirt and shoes. She selects a playlist from her iPhone and straps it onto her arm as “Radioactive” from the Imagine Dragons fills her ears. She sets the alarm system, locks the house and runs.
Aislin had discovered the trail system that winds through the woods behind her property and the Harrison’s even before the incident with Stone. She runs. Hard. She runs in the unseasonably cool morning air and through the fog that settles around her. There is strangeness in the atmosphere. Cooling down, she walks quickly toward the cemetery. She’d discovered it, as well, about two years ago. It was old. Initially, it was the size and shapes of the tombstones that had attracted her. They looked old. Turn of the century old, or older. The intricate stones and the plain slabs called to her.
The cemetery sat back in the woods, along a path situated directly behind Aislin’s house. There were stones that were at least ten feet tall and simple flat markers whose words had been blurred by the erosion of time and the elements. A few graves were dated back into the 1800s. But, one was different. It was older. And, it was special to her. The tall slab of once-white stone was strong. It had held up through the storms and overgrowth that tried to smother it. An intricate Celtic cross adorned the center top. She knew it wasn’t her brother who lay beneath. He had been laid to rest in Arlington among brethren. But the stone read “Declan,” nonetheless. And, Aislin cannot help but feel close to her brother while here.
Declan MacGregor
Beloved Brother and Son
Born Jan 1760
Died Sept 1777
Eternal Peace be Upon Him
Aislin sits at the base of a large oak tree facing the stone. Since she discovered it, she’d come here to talk to her Declan. She’d had no more visions or dreams of her brother since he’d told her she would need to escape and would never be alone. That he was with her. She believed him. She still does. So, when she needs to clear her thoughts, she visits him here. Feels his presence here with her.
Before long, the sky turns very gray. A little longer, it begins to sprinkle. The sprinkles turn into drops and the drops into torrents. Aislin huddles under the tree. Splashes of fat, heavy rain drops bounce up onto her after colliding with the earth below, but for the most part, the tree provides her shelter from the rainstorm. Through the deluge, she doesn’t hear the footsteps approaching, crunching in the undergrowth and crisp blanket of leaves laid last fall.
She doesn’t hear him, but catching sight of the nearly see-through fabric of his t-shirt, she sees him. His clothes are plastered to his body. Rivulets of rain run through his hair, down his face and arms. He looks fierce. Pissed. Like an angry avenging angel. Only, what has he to avenge? She hadn’t done anything to earn his anger.
Gabriel approaches her. She stands up tall, meeting him toe to toe. If her height wouldn’t prevent it, she would meet him eye to eye. “Parker said I’d find you here.”
“Well, how nice of Parker.” He narrows his eyes.
She nods toward the headstone. As Gabe reads it, realization floods his features, softening them. “I come out here to be alone. To talk to him.”
He nods in understandi
ng then cocks his head back in the direction from which he came. “I can go. I don’t want to interrupt if you need time to—” Why is he here? What does he need to talk to me about that’s so important? Better get it over with now. Then he can leave. Again. Loser.
“No. It’s fine. You wanted to talk?”
“Yeah. I think we should. I need to tell you. Shit! I need to explain myself, why I left.”
“Okay. Go for it.” She crosses her arms over her chest and waits in silence as he gathers his thoughts. Oh, this should be rich.
“Well, I guess I left for several reasons. I was pretty sure you’d wake up and hate me for taking advantage of you. For making you break your promise to Dec. I hated myself for the same reason. I wanted to give you space. I drove. From your house, I drove and drove. I found work in Texas at a ranch.” Aislin’s brows pop up in surprise. “Yep. I worked as a ranch hand. I just left the ranch about a month ago and spent some time at home and then came down here to visit Park and Amy. I wasn’t sure if any of you would even speak to me. When I left, I cut off contact to everyone. Not just you. I didn’t even let my parents know where I was, or if I was alive.”
Aislin starts to say something, but Gabe puts his hands up to stop her. “I know. I was wrong. I should have let you all know. I should never have left in the first place. I was scared shitless, Mac.”
The storm above begins to rage, mirroring the anger bubbling up from deep within Aislin’s heart. She thought she’d squashed all of these feelings down long ago. Left them under lock and key along with her heart. Thunder rumbles angrily through the sky above them. The rain splats heavily onto the leaves on the trees surrounding them, echoing loudly through the forest. “What were you so afraid of?” The man was simply exasperating. She turns away and looks at the stone again.
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