by Ginna Gray
A few of the people milling through the house Leah had already met—Mike’s father and Tess; his brother, Ethan and youngest sister, Katy; and, of course, Molly. Reilly and Amanda were there, as well, along with their two offspring, but they made up only a small part of the crowd.
Mike stayed by Leah’s side, but his grandmother took charge of the introductions. As she led them around from one group to another, Maggie laughed and exchanged quips with her kin, her eyes sparkling all the while. Though in her seventies, Mike’s grandmother had a lively personality, a sharp mind and the Irish gift of gab. It was easy to see where Mike and his uncle Reilly got their devilish natures.
First, she introduced Leah and Quinton to her identical twin sister, Dorothy, and her brother-in-law, Joseph Blaine. Then she led them to the Blaines’ offspring, their son, David; his wife, Abbey; and their twin daughters, Erin Delany and Elise Lawford, and their husbands, Max and Sam. Maggie’s youngest son, Travis, was a charmer and a flirt like his elder brother, Reilly, but it was clear that he adored his wife, Rebecca.
When Maggie introduced her youngest child and only daughter, Meghan, and her famous husband, Leah was so bowled over she could barely talk. Rhys Morgan was edging toward fifty, but age had only intensified his stunning good looks, and his talent as one of the world’s greatest singers was undisputable. Meeting him here, in such a homey setting, seemed almost surreal.
When, at last, they had been introduced to everyone the other teenagers swept Quinton away, and Maggie excused herself and disappeared into the kitchen.
“See. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Mike teased, giving Leah’s waist a squeeze.
She darted him an ironic look. “No, not really. Except I feel as though I’ve been through a tornado. My mind is swirling. I’ll never be able to keep all their names straight or remember which children belong to which set of parents.”
A red-haired woman standing nearby heard the remark and laughed. “Some big family, huh? But don’t worry about it. You’ll sort us all out eventually.” With a wry glance for Mike, she added, “From what I’ve heard, I expect you’ll be around a good while.”
Not in the least shy, the woman boldly looked her over from head to toe. In spite of her frazzled nerves, a smile twitched Leah’s mouth. This was one of Mike’s relatives she knew she would never confuse with anyone else. She could be none other than the irrepressible Erin Delany about whom Leah had heard so much.
As though satisfied with what she saw, Erin nodded. “Yes. I think you’ll do just fine.”
“Gee, what a relief to know she meets with your approval,” Mike drawled.
Unfazed by his sarcasm, Erin smiled and patted his cheek. “The little ones have been waiting all morning for you to arrive and tell them those silly jokes of yours. Why don’t you be a good boy and run along and entertain them while Leah and I get acquainted.”
“At least someone appreciates me.” He winked at Leah and started backing away. “See you later, sweetheart.”
Leah shot him a frantic glance, but he merely grinned and mouthed, “Sorry, you’re on your own,” as he disappeared through the arched doorway.
“So tell me, how are your cooking skills?” Erin asked, taking Leah’s arm and nudging her toward the back of the house.
Leah shot her a panicked look. “Uh, horrible. I’m afraid I can’t cook at all.”
To her surprise, Erin laughed. “Ah, another soul mate. I knew I was going to like you. With the exception of me and Amanda, the women in this family are so damned domestic it’s disgusting.” She gave Leah’s arm a pat. “We’re going to get along just fine. But I warn you, Mom and Aunt Maggie insist that everyone, guests included, pitch in on holidays. The men haul in the tables and chairs and look after the kids while the women do the cooking.”
She laughed again at Leah’s look of horror. “Don’t worry, Doc. They’ll assign something foolproof like stuffing celery to us domestically challenged types.”
To Leah’s surprise, despite her nerves and misgivings about being there at all, the day turned out to be the most deeply satisfying of her life.
The women worked together with an easiness that spoke of long practice, and Leah found the affection and camaraderie between them delightful. They treated her as though she were one of them, and soon she found herself joining in their banter and actually enjoying herself.
Leah filled relish trays with olives, pickles, deviled eggs and the celery that Erin stuffed. She chopped onions, peppers and pecans and took her turn at the sink, washing the seemingly endless supply of pots and pans and mixing bowls the other women used.
Between them, she, Erin and Amanda set the staggeringly long table. Travis and Rebecca also lived in Crockett, and Meghan and Rhys had built a huge house there, which they used when he wasn’t on the road. The long dining tables from their homes, and from Dorothy Blaine’s, plus another from her kitchen, were butted up against Maggie’s, creating a table that stretched from one end of her enormous dining room, through the double sliding doors, all the way to the far end of the parlor. The five tablecloths it took to cover them didn’t match, nor did the napkins or the china, silver or glassware—a circumstance that would have horrified Julia. No one in Mike’s family cared one whit. There was a place for everyone at the table, and that was all that mattered.
In the Blaine-McCall clan the children were not relegated to a separate table in the kitchen but took their places with the adults. In all, there were forty-one place settings around the long, makeshift dining table, which groaned under the weight of the feast.
The meal was a noisy, confusing, joyous occasion. Everyone talked at once; bowls and platters were passed up and down the length of the table; glasses pinged and silverware clinked against china. Halfway through the meal, Meghan and Rhys’s one-year-old twins started crying, which set off Travis and Rebecca’s two-year-old toddler. The younger children giggled and tormented one another when their parents and grandparents weren’t looking. The teenagers were full of boisterous energy and their own brand of silliness, though disdainful of their younger cousins’ antics. All up and down the long table, the adults carried on shouted conversations while they feasted on the delicious meal.
It was chaos—and Leah loved it.
From the look on Quinton’s face, she knew that he felt the same. He was having a ball hanging out with Mike’s young cousins and experiencing a true family Thanksgiving for the first time in his life.
After the meal was eaten and the dishes were done and everyone was feeling pleasantly stuffed and lethargic the tumult finally subsided. The teenagers disappeared upstairs to their lair and the adults settled down in the parlor to watch football games. The younger children sprawled on the floor at their feet, some playing games, others drifting off to sleep.
Taking advantage of the lull, Mike snagged Leah’s wrist before she could join the others and hauled her into the kitchen. The instant the door swung shut behind them he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in the cloud of hair that billowed about her shoulders and down her back. “Ahhh, alone at last.”
“Mmm.” Circling his waist with her arms, Leah nestled her cheek against his chest and closed her eyes, contented and happy and pleasantly tired. She couldn’t remember ever enjoying a day as much.
Mike rested his chin against the top of her head and swayed slowly with her. Leah sighed and snuggled closer.
“Did you have a good time today?”
“Mmm. I had a wonderful time.”
“So, does that mean you like my family?”
“Mmm. I love them. They’re great.”
“Good. I was hoping you’d say that. Because I’d like for you to become one of them—one of us.”
In her drowsy state, it took a moment for his meaning to sink in, and even then she wasn’t sure she’d heard him right. Pulling back within his embrace, Leah stared up at him, wide-eyed. “Wh-what?”
“Will you marry me, Leah?”
Her heart missed a beat, then took
off again with a sickening lurch. She gaped at him, speechless.
“M-marry you?” she finally managed.
A frown creased between his eyebrows. “Surely that can’t come as a surprise. You know that I love you. And you love me. Those kind of feelings usually lead to marriage.”
“I know, but...”
“Is there a problem? You do want to marry me, don’t you, Leah?”
The hurt in his voice stabbed at her heart, and momentarily, she forgot the awesome problem that lay between them. All that mattered was erasing that look from his face. “Oh, my darling, of course I do. I want that more than anything in the world.”
Instantly, his eyes went from wary to heated. His slow smile beamed happiness. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Oh, but—”
Cutting off her protest with his mouth, he pulled her close and kissed her with all the passion and love that she had longed for most of her life.
It was a kiss of celebration, of triumph, of blatant possession. He was a man staking his claim, and Leah was powerless to resist him.
Neither heard the door swing open, nor the footsteps cross to the sink, the water gush from the faucet. “You two ought to get a room.”
The sardonic remark hit Leah like a bucket of cold water, but when she would have sprung away Mike tightened his hold and grinned at the intruder over the top of her head. “Get lost, David.”
His cousin shrugged. “Okay, suit yourself. But if Mom or Aunt Maggie finds you making out in the kitchen you’ll catch hell.” As calm as a judge, he retraced his steps and sauntered out.
“C’mon, let’s go.” Mike bent and gave Leah a quick kiss, then snagged her wrist again and tugged her after him, heading for the door.
“W-wait! Mike there’s something I have to tell you.”
“It can hold. Right now I want to tell the family our news.”
“But it’s important. No! Wait, Mike, you don’t understand!” She tried to dig in her heels, and at the same time plucked at the fingers encircling her wrist, but neither worked.
“Hey, everybody, Leah and I have an announcement to make.”
“Now, I wonder what that could be.” Sam’s dry comment brought chuckles from the others and they looked at Leah and Mike with knowing expressions.
“I’ve just asked Leah to marry me.”
“Surprise, surprise.”
“And not a minute too soon,” David drawled. “I thought I was going to have to throw cold water on them a minute ago.”
Leah felt her color deepen, but before either she or Mike could respond, the front doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!” ten-year-old Bridget Morgan yelled, jumping to her feet and racing toward the door.
“Who in the world could that be?” Curious, Maggie went to the window and looked out. “Oh, my goodness. There’s a big black limo in the driveway.”
“What!” Her sister hurried over to get a look, too, just as Bridget returned with a small blond woman.
The instant Mike’s father saw her, he shot to his feet. “Julia! What the hell are you doing here?”
Leah felt the blood drain from her face.
“Ryan! Where are your manners!” Tess gasped, but he paid no attention.
The older members of his family watched the woman with wary dislike and uncharacteristic coldness, and for the first time that day, complete silence descended over the room. The only sounds were the distant throbbing of rock music and the chatter of young voices floating down from the attic.
Lifting her chin, Julia ignored the others and met her ex-husband’s rage with defiance. “I’ve come for my son.”
Ryan bristled like a junkyard dog. His eyes narrowed and his voice lowered and roughened to something near a growl. “Over my dead body. You’ve got one helluva nerve. He’s not going anywhere with you.”
Shock dropped Tess’s jaw. “Ryan! What on earth has come over you? She has a perfect right to take her son if she wants.”
“She has no rights where he’s concerned. No rights at all. She forfeited those years ago.”
Julia glanced at Mike. Before returning her attention to her ex-husband, she let her gaze flicker over Leah’s white face. Even in that fleeting moment the look in her eyes promised retribution. “I’m not talking about Mike. I’ve come for Quinton.”
Mike frowned at his father. “What’s going on here? How do you know Mrs. Albright? And why would you think she’d come here to see me?”
“Mrs. Albright?” Ryan’s fierce gaze shot from his son back to his ex-wife. “Quinton is your son?”
“That’s right. And I’ve come to take him home.”
As though the statement had conjured him up, Quinton and Molly and two of the McCall twins came clattering down the stairs. Quinton halted when he spotted his mother, surprise and delight widening his eyes.
“Mom! What’re you doing here?” Without waiting for a reply, he surged forward and hugged her. Julia suffered the embrace for only a moment before extricating herself.
“Hello, darling. It’s nice to see you, too.” She straightened her coat and gave her hair a pat. “Now, go get your things. Your father is waiting in the car. We’ve come to take you home.”
“But, Mo-om,” he wailed. “I’m having a great time. Why do I have to go?”
“Don’t argue, Quinton. You’re coming home with me. You, too, Leah,” she snapped. “Go upstairs at once and pack your bags. And hurry up about it. I want you both out of here and away from these people as soon as possible.”
“Hey! Wait just a minute, lady,” Mike challenged, stepping forward. “‘These people,’ as you put it, happen to be my family. I don’t know what you’re implying, but I don’t like your tone. And Leah is a grown woman. She doesn’t have to go anywhere with you.”
Becoming suddenly aware of the tension in the room, Quinton looked from one adult to another, his expression wary. “Hey, is something wrong?” he asked, but no one answered him.
“How did you find us?” Leah finally managed to ask.
“I called home yesterday to wish you and Quinton a happy Thanksgiving, but no one answered. No one answered at Cleo’s sister’s, either, so I tracked down that rude nurse of yours. She told me you and Quinton were spending the holiday with Mike and his family. Your father and I caught the first plane home. We came straight here from the airport. As you can imagine, I’m exhausted and in no mood to argue, so please get your things.”
“Don’t listen to her, Leah,” Mike urged.
Ryan stared at his son’s angry face. Then his gaze narrowed on Leah’s guilty one. She shivered under that cold stare.
“You haven’t told him, have you? He doesn’t know.”
“Know what?” Mike demanded.
“That Mrs. Albright is your mother.”
Like a bomb exploding, the statement seemed to suck all the air out of the room. Tess gasped, and Quinton looked as though he’d been poleaxed. No one else moved, not even Mike. As though turned to stone, he stared at Julia. The silence became so thick it was suffocating.
“You?” he said finally in a deathly quiet voice. “You’re my mother?”
Julia lifted her chin another notch and tightened her mouth but didn’t deign to answer the question.
“Mom, tell him it’s not true. It can’t be true.”
The raw hurt and panic in Quinton’s voice shredded Leah’s heart like sharp talons. Julia slanted a look at her youngest son, her expression softening only slightly. “It’s true.”
“But th-that means that...that Mike is my brother. Why didn’t you tell me? How could you keep something like that from me?”
“I had my reasons. I don’t wish to discuss them.”
He stared at her, his young face working with emotions. At his sides, his hands repeatedly fisted and unfisted.
Slowly, Mike turned and looked at Leah. “You knew, didn’t you? You’ve known all along.”
“Y-yes.”
“Leah!”
The one wo
rd held a wealth of accusation and pain. There was so much anguish in Quinton’s face Leah’s eyes filled with tears. “Quinton, please. Let me explain. I couldn’t tell you. I had promised Julia that I wouldn’t. Please, sweetie, try to understand.” She held out her hand to him and pleaded with her eyes, but he turned his head and refused to look at her.
“That was why you were so insistent I be tested as a possible bone marrow donor, wasn’t it?”
Quinton whipped his head around. His shocked expression revealed that he hadn’t thought of that. When he looked at Leah the condemnation in his eyes made her feel lower that scum.
“I asked that everyone at the hospital be tested.”
“Nice try, but we both know that was just a smoke screen. It was me you were really after, wasn’t it? Because you knew that there was a chance I’d be a match.”
“We hoped you would be,” she whispered.
“You must have been over the moon when the test results came back,” he said with biting anger.
“Mike, you have to understand. You were our only hope. I had to save Quinton. I couldn’t let him die.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth and ask for my help?”
“W-we couldn’t be sure you would help. Julia was afraid that you might refuse in order to get even with her for leaving you all those years ago.”
“Dammit, you know me well enough to realize I wouldn’t do that. I’d help anyone in that situation if I could.”
“I understand that now. But at the time I didn’t.”
“You would have if you’d taken the time to get to know me.”
“I didn’t have the time, Mike. Quinton was critical. I had to act fast.
“So you manipulated and connived. You used me and lied to me. You even pretended to love me. What’s the matter? Were you afraid ‘our’ brother might need a second transplant? So you decided to string me along for a while? Or were you just having a little fun at my expense?”
“No! No, you mustn’t think that! It’s not true. I wasn’t pretending, Mike—I swear it. I do love you. I love you more than life itself. I was going to tell you the truth. You have to believe me.”