“It’s not always up to you.”
He nodded, looking up. “If anyone’s proved that, it’s you. You’ve always been headstrong, doing what you want, what you think is right.” He straightened up, wiping off his hands with a rag. “So you’re leaving tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” Lance stuck his hands in his pockets. “I can’t let her do this all by herself. Even if she thinks she wants to. She’s strong and independent, but I know she’ll feel better if I’m there.”
His dad cocked an eyebrow. “Pretty sure of yourself, huh?”
Lance flashed a grin. “Yup. With her? Definitely. She always pushes everyone away when she’s stressed. It’s reflexive for her after being abandoned by her dad and brother and having to take care of her mom. I get it. But she also needs to know that I’m there for her. Otherwise I’m just as bad as everyone else.”
His dad scratched his head, his blue eyes analyzing. “That’s quite a mess she has for a family. You sure you’re up for that?”
Lance shrugged and swallowed, trying to seem dismissive. “I don’t have much choice. I love her. And that’s the baggage she carries.” Truth was, sometimes he didn’t know if he was enough to overcome everything. But he had to try. He wasn’t willing to give up, and she hadn’t told him she was done. He hoped that over time she’d see he wouldn’t leave and stop trying to push him away when things got hard.
“You’ve said a few times that you love her.”
“I do. I’m going to marry her.”
Both steel gray eyebrows winged up at that. “Are you now? When’s the big day? Do I get an invite, or are you too mad at me?”
Lance chuckled and shook his head. “I haven’t proposed yet. I was going to do it tomorrow morning. Now,” he looked away, inhaling a deep breath, “now I don’t know when I’m going to do it.” He ran a hand through his hair, scratching the nape of his neck and shaking his head. “It depends on what’s going on with her brother, I think. I’ll have to get back and figure it out.”
His dad nodded. “Yeah. Let me know how it goes. And you better tell your mother you’re planning to propose. She’ll skin you alive if you pop the question and she doesn’t know ahead of time.”
“Okay. I’d planned on surprising everyone Christmas morning, but since that can’t happen now, I’ll be sure to tell mom before I leave.”
“Good.” His dad tossed him a rag. “Now get to work on that transmission. We’ve wasted enough time.”
Lance smiled to himself as he walked to the car, pulling it into the open bay. Some of the tension in his shoulders released, glad to have cleared the air with his dad. Now, he just needed to get through until he got back to Abby tomorrow. It had only been a couple hours, and he missed her already. He just hoped that things with her brother weren’t as much of a clusterfuck as he feared.
Chapter Eleven
Abby trudged out of the terminal to see Megan bouncing and waving. Abby couldn’t help smiling at her friend, happy to see her after a long, stressful day of travel.
Megan squeezed her in a suffocating hug as soon as Abby got clear of the crowd. “I’ve missed you!”
Abby laughed. “You saw me last week!”
Megan just shrugged, releasing Abby from the hug and hooking their arms together. They walked to the baggage claim to wait for Abby’s suitcase. Abby looked around. “No Chris?”
Megan shook her head, her dark curls swinging around her shoulders. “Not tonight. I told him he had to stay home. He grumbled and whined, but I thought you might need some girl time in case you wanted to talk about your brother or Lance or whatever. I know you enough to know you wouldn’t say anything about any of that if he came.” She shrugged one shoulder. “So it’s just you and me, baby.”
Abby laughed, and Megan grinned, winking at her, her dark eyes twinkling. “Thanks, Megs. I appreciate the thought. I like Chris, but, yeah. It’s nice to be able to talk about whatever without worrying about him.” Abby’s gaze sharpened on Megan as a thought occurred to her. “How much do you tell him?” She waved a hand around. “About me and all my crap?”
Megan sighed, the twinkle in her eyes dying away. “You know me better than that, Abs.” She shook her head. “I don’t tell him much of anything. I mean, he knows your mom has issues, but you told him more about that than I ever have, and that was because you decided he needed to know. I told him about your brother leaving after we graduated and him not contacting you for the last year, because he needed to understand what was going on. But I don’t tell him things that you’ve told me in confidence.” Now Megan narrowed her eyes. “Why? Do you tell Lance about my shit?”
Abby laughed, shaking her head. “No. I don’t need to. You tell everyone everything anyway.”
“Not quite everything, but yeah, I know what you mean. Anyway, tell me about meeting Lance’s family? How did it go?”
“Good. Mostly.” She told Megan about Lance’s dad trying to put her in a different room the first night.
“What? That’s crazy! Does he think you sleep in different rooms in your one-bedroom apartment?” Megan laughed and shook her head.
Abby shrugged. “I don’t know. Lance was pissed, though, and told his dad that I’d be staying in his room or we’d go to a hotel. So that was a fun way to start the visit.”
“Oh, man. How was his mom?”
“She’s great. Welcoming, and she hugs everyone all the time. It was weird, but in a nice way. You know how my mom is, so I’m not used to that. The only other mom I’ve had much experience with is yours, and …”
“Yeah. Not much of a hugger either.”
Abby nodded, falling silent. “Oh! There’s my suitcase.” She grabbed her luggage off the conveyor belt, and they headed out toward Megan’s car. They stopped for some food on the way back to Abby’s apartment and ate at the coffee table, catching up on the last few days.
“Alright, Abs. Chris has been texting me for the last hour begging me to come home. I better go. You want me to go with you to your mom’s tomorrow?”
Abby stood up with Megan, hugging her again before she left. “No. I’ll be fine. I don’t want to ruin your Christmas.”
Megan pulled back, her eyes serious. “It’s not a big deal, Abby. I can come with you if you need the moral support.”
“No, no. It’s fine. It’ll be better if it’s just me. I don’t know why Aaron’s back or what he wants. If there are other people around, who knows how things’ll go.”
Megan stared at her, her eyes examining Abby’s face. “Okay. But if you change your mind, just let me know. Or if things are crazy and you need backup, we’ll get there as fast as we can. Don’t hesitate to call.”
Abby walked Megan to the door. Megan stopped, facing Abby again. “You know, I’m surprised Lance let you come back by yourself.”
Abby bristled. “Let me? He’s not my boss.”
Pursing her lips, Megan shook her head. “I know. That’s not what I meant. But he and Chris are a lot alike, and I can’t imagine Chris letting me fly home by myself to deal with my crazy family, no matter what I said about it.”
“Lance wasn’t happy about it, but he respects my need to deal with this on my own.”
Megan eyed her. “If you say so. Good luck tomorrow. And seriously, call me if you need me. For anything.”
“I will. Thanks, Megan. You’re the best.”
She flashed a cheeky grin. “I know. That’s why you love me.”
Abby laughed. “It is.”
With a final goodbye, Megan left and Abby got ready for bed, feeling very alone. She wanted Lance, and regretted making him stay behind, especially after what Megan had said. Was he upset that she’d made him stay? She knew he wasn’t thrilled about it, but he’d seemed to understand. And when she’d talked to him on the phone after getting back to the apartment he hadn’t sounded upset. She wished she could call him now, but it was after midnight in Texas, and they’d been up early this morning.
Tired, but restless, she unpacked her suitca
se before crawling into the cold, empty bed and curling up with Lance’s pillow. She dreaded confronting her brother tomorrow, and she was starting to wish Lance was here to come with her. Maybe she should take Megan up on her offer to come along. The thought of moral support, someone having her back, seemed more appealing than it had when Megan had suggested it. She’d always dealt with everything on her own, but the last few months she hadn’t had to, and she’d gotten used to it. Maybe that was more reason than anything to deal with this on her own, though. Just so she didn’t get too accustomed to having someone help her. People left. People left her. She needed to be able to deal on her own and not rely on anyone. Even if that thought left a cold, empty ache in her chest.
Abby woke up with gritty, gunky eyes, the product of terrible sleep and loneliness. She forced herself to get up and take a shower, the hot water soothing her to some extent. During breakfast she texted with Lance while she ate a bowl of cold cereal. Not quite the family-filled Christmas morning she’d been planning on for the last couple of months.
Her stupid brother. Why couldn’t he just stay gone? She knew he wouldn’t stick around. If he planned on staying, why wouldn’t he say so on the phone? What did he want, anyway?
She sighed, rinsing her bowl. Only one way to find out. Her phone dinged with a text alert as she gathered her coat and purse to head to her mom’s.
Megan: When are you going to your mom’s?
Abby: Now.
Megan: Hang on. Don’t go yet.
Abby: Why not?
Megan: Chris and I are coming over. We want to bring your Christmas present. Be there in 10.
Abby flopped down on the couch. She didn’t want to wait, but she didn’t feel like arguing. She flipped through the channels, landing on a Christmas special while she waited for Chris and Megan.
Megan barged her way in when Abby answered the door, Chris trailing behind her, his sandy blond hair in its usual casual, messy style. “Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas to you, too.”
Chris bent and gave Abby a quick hug. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Chris.”
His hazel eyes were serious as they examined her. “How are you doing?”
Abby tugged at her lower lip, then forced her hand to her side. “I’m fine. Just worried about my mom. Anyway,” she turned to Megan, “you said you wanted to give me a Christmas present. But we exchanged presents before Lance and I left, remember?”
An impish smile coming to her lips, Megan shrugged. “We’re coming with you to your mom’s. Merry Christmas.”
Abby shook her head, taking a step back. “No. That wasn’t—“
Chris stepped in front of her. “Abby. Yes. I don’t feel good about letting you go alone. Not with some random dude in your mom’s house. I don’t trust him.”
“He’s my brother, Chris.”
“Maybe technically. I don’t care. He gives me a bad feeling, and there’s no way I’m going to let you go by yourself. Megan was going to insist on coming with you, but I don’t want her around that asshole either.” Chris’s chest had puffed up as he talked making him more intimidating than normal. Broad shoulders topped his expansive chest, covered in hard muscles honed from hours spent on the football field and in the gym.
“But, Megan—“
Chris cut Abby off with a shake of his head, crossing his arms. “I’m not changing my mind. Either we go with you, or you’re not going.”
“But my mom—“
He nodded. “I agree. We need to check on your mom. I don’t like that he wouldn’t let us see her, not even Megan. And Megan told me that he wouldn’t let you talk to her on the phone last night?” Abby nodded. “Yeah. I don’t trust that guy. So I’m going with you. I’ll stay outside if you want, but you have to leave the door open so I can hear what’s going on. Those are my terms.” He raised an eyebrow and angled his body toward the door. “Shall we?”
Abby sighed, defeated. What was it with these stubborn guys and their overbearing need to be involved with everything? In some ways, Chris was worse than Lance.
But deep down where she’d barely admit it to herself, she was grateful they were here. That Chris insisted on coming. She was more worried than she let on about the whole situation. While she had no way of knowing how her brother would react to having two more people around, she felt stronger, safer, more reassured with them than she would’ve on her own.
The ride to her mom’s house seemed to take forever, passing in tense silence. She knew Chris had been here before, but she still felt a pang of embarrassment at the overgrown dead weeds poking through the thin crust of snow around the edges of the property, the rutted track that passed for a driveway, and the crumbling edges of the siding on her mom’s double-wide. She’d grown up here, but she barely ever had friends over. When she was little, it was because her mom didn’t like having people over, but as she got older, Abby didn’t want anyone seeing where she lived.
Megan had been there off and on over the years, but other than her, Lance was the only person Abby had brought here. After he’d met her mom over the summer, he’d insisted on helping with the mowing, which was why the dead knapweed stayed on the edges of the yard, instead of taking it over like it used to. He’d offered to paint, but her mom had declined, and no amount of reasoning would make her change her mind. Lance had suggested just buying paint and doing it anyway, but Abby had convinced him that that would alienate her mom, and she couldn’t do that.
And now Chris was here. Knowing he’d been here days before didn’t make bringing him here any easier to swallow. But he didn’t comment about the state of the yard or the outside of the house, parking behind a beat-up old Honda that she assumed was her brother’s car, rust patches showing through the dark green paint, with an Arizona license plate. Is that where he’d been? For how long?
She unbuckled, getting out of the car along with Megan and Chris. She glanced at both of them and started for the worn concrete steps to the front door. They followed. Both of them. Didn’t Chris say he’d stay in the car? She turned to them before putting her key in the door. “Um, so, I think it’s best if I go in by myself.”
Megan shook her head, and Chris crossed his arms.
Before they could say anything, Abby cut in. “This is my family. You guys are outsiders to them. If you come barging in, it’ll only make things worse. Just stay here.”
Chris’s jaw firmed, but he gave a short nod. “Leave the door cracked.”
A twisted smile came to Abby’s mouth. Even if it were closed all the way, they’d be able to hear anything above normal conversation. This house was not soundproof. At all. But arguing seemed stupid, so she agreed. “Sure.”
The light from the open door lanced through the dim living room when she stepped inside, narrowing to a sliver when she pushed the door mostly closed. The familiar stale smell of a place that had been shut up for too long hit her nostrils. She blinked a few times, letting her eyes adjust and stepping into the room. “Mom?”
A door opened in the hallway, and her mom’s thin form came into the room, her face lighting up at the sight of Abby. “Hey, baby girl. You came home for Christmas.” Confusion marred her angular features. “Wait, I thought you were in Texas all week with that boyfriend of yours.”
Abby swallowed and nodded. “I was. But I heard that Aaron came back. He wouldn’t let me talk to you when I called the other night. I got worried, so I came home early.”
Her mom stepped closer, and Abby noticed her dingy white t-shirt looked like it hung off her frame more than normal, her strawberry blonde hair fell in greasy hanks around her face. Abby reached out a hand, but let it drop when her mom flinched back. “How are you feeling, Mom?”
Wrinkling her nose, her mom crossed her arms, hugging herself. “Not great. But it’s nice to have both my kids home for Christmas.”
Abby looked around the room. “Where’s Aaron?”
“He’s taking a nap. Do you want something to eat?
I still have a lot of groceries from when you stocked me up before you left. Aaron’s been eating some, but we still have plenty.” She moved toward the kitchen, ready to open the fridge and get something out.
Abby shook her head. “No, I’m good. I can’t stay long. My friends are waiting outside.”
Disappointment crossed her mom’s face. “Oh. Okay.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I really came by to check on you. Chris and Megan were worried too, especially since Aaron wouldn’t let anyone see you. You’re really okay?”
“I’m fine, Abby. Why wouldn’t I be fine with Aaron? He’s my son.”
Abby stared at her mom. “Well, he’s been gone for years without a word to anyone most of that time. Then he suddenly shows up and won’t let anyone see or talk to you.” She paused, pulling at her lower lip. “Why is he here? Did he say? And how long is he planning on staying?”
“That’s a nice welcome home for your big brother.”
Aaron’s deep voice made Abby jump and spin around to face the hallway. She hadn’t heard him come out. He stood in the opening to the hallway with his arms crossed wearing a pair of lounge pants and no shirt, more muscular than she remembered him, his blond hair buzzed close to his head, but a full beard on his face.
Abby stepped closer to him, but still on the other side of the living room. “Hey, Aaron.”
“Abby.”
“What are you doing here?”
He raised his eyebrows. “A guy can’t visit his mom without having ulterior motives?”
“Given how long you’ve been gone, no. You can’t. You left. You told me that Mom was my responsibility now, and you were done. You haven’t even called in over a year. Why are you here now, Aaron? Do you need money? You should know that Mom doesn’t have any more than she ever did. It’s not like she can work.”
He laughed, a warm, booming sound that contrasted sharply with the tension and worry cranking Abby’s muscles tighter and tighter. “Oh, Abby. Just because we haven’t talked doesn’t mean I haven’t talked to Mom. Right, Mom?”
Unsaid Things (Players of Marycliff University #4) Page 8