“I think I can make time tomorrow for coffee, how does that sound to you?”
“Really? That would be perfect! I can’t wait to see you. It’s been so long since we caught up and actually had some time together.”
“It has been a while.”
“I know you probably blame me for that, but you have to understand—” Wait, was she going to try and tell me it wasn’t her fault for traveling and never taking us with them? I cleared my throat, cutting her off.
I didn’t want to hear it, and I knew that. “Look, I’ve actually got to go; I’ll text you the time and address tomorrow, okay?
“Oh, um yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Bye, Mom.”
I hung up feeling a mix of so many emotions. Sorta excited, very nervous, worried, scared, sad, hopeful.
“You’re going to see her tomorrow? Do you think it’s a good idea?”
I shrugged. “She’s not like a guy who took me on a date. I can’t play hard to get and expect her to keep trying. I owe her this much, and … the truth is, I have been waiting my entire life for this.”
He reached out and took my hand. “Babe, it’s not that I don’t want you to see your mom, or make things work with her, it’s just ...”
“I know, you and Josh think they are up to something.” I wasn’t sure what I thought, but they could be right, I wasn’t going to deny that. I knew they might be right about our parents. Part of me wanted to run the other way, but the other part of me wanted to give them a chance. Like, a major chance. I wanted to have family dinners like I had dreamt about when I was little. I wanted to go to the movies and camping and everything else that all my friends and their family did.
I thought about growing up. About how jealous I would be. Josh had to give me trouble several times for calling girls at school names. I never got it. I never understood why I was the wrong one. He had to sit me down when I was eight and scold me because my parents weren’t there to do it. I’ll never forget what he told me. “Fee, I understand where you’re coming from. I want to do it, too. But you can’t get mad at those kids. You’re not really mad at them, you’re mad at someone else because they left you home when they went away, again. I get it. I’m mad too, but those kids at school don’t deserve to get your anger. They have really cool parents who want to spend time with them, and that’s not their fault. If it were you, would you want people getting mad at you because you had parents who wanted to take you camping?”
I’d hated him for saying it, for taking the other kids’ side, but I understood what he had said. And I did what he’d told me to do, I went to school the next day and told them I was sorry. A couple days later he’d bought me a journal and blow-up punching bag. I used the bag more than the journal.
Adam reached out and touched my hand, his warm fingers snapping me back to reality. I jumped back, shocked by it.
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yea, sorry I was lost in the past,” I mentally shook myself, “what’s up?”
“You don’t seem okay, but I was saying … that if you want, I can hire someone to look into your mom.”
The idea was pretty appealing, actually.
“No, but thanks. I’m going to see where this goes. I have to trust her if I want to make things work. I’m just going to be extra careful.” I gave him a wide smile. I needed a change of topic and needed it fast. I glanced down at my phone. Thankfully, no texts. But I did catch sight of the time. “So, we should get ready to go, right?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want to do.” He gave me a smile, but he looked kind of disappointed, honestly.
I felt bad, and I bit back my guilt. I knew I shouldn't feel guilty. He had held stuff back from me for a long time, and he was going to have to let me do this my way.
“Yea, I think that’s a good idea. I mean, it never hurts to get there early, right?” I made my smile widen before stepping away from him, heading for my backpack. It had been kinda stupid to get dressed without looking at the time, but I didn’t plan on wearing my dress over to Adam’s parents’ house anyways. I’d change there to keep it looking as nice as I could. Instead, I was just going to do my hair and makeup before we left, and then all I would have to do was take a couple small things to freshen it up just before leaving. Since we were eating, I wasn’t going with a dark lipstick. I was just going to use a nude lipstick, some foundation … a little mascara and some eyeliner. Nothing too fancy. I didn’t know what most of his family was like, so I didn’t want to be overwhelming. Since when did I start worrying so much about what his family thought of me?
I didn’t like it, but I was worried about what his family thought of me. As much as I hated admitting it, even to myself.
I sucked in a deep breath and forced a smile over my lips as I stared at myself in the mirror.
“Are you curling your hair again?” His eyes sparkled as I stared at him in the reflection of the mirror. He stepped towards me, and for a split second, I thought about the first time we’d gone to a family dinner.
“R-ready?”
“No.” He looked me up and down. I stared at him.
“No?”
He closed the distance between us and pushed me towards the bathroom.
My heart skipped a beat as he closed the door. He reached for the curling iron before my mind stopped racing.
“What are you doing?”
“You wanted your hair curled, right?”
“I … I did, but it wasn’t falling right, so this is fine.”
“Shut up.” He grabbed a small section of my hair and wrapped it around the curling iron.
My heart skipped a beat as I watched him. He’s … curling my hair for me?
It took me a few seconds to get used to the idea that he was doing my hair.
“I gotta admit … you’re pretty good at this.”
“I used to curl Gabby’s for her dance.”
I grinned, but I shook my head. “I hadn’t planned on it unless you wanted to curl my hair or something.”
He shrugged. “I was going to offer to help, but if you don’t want to, saves me time.”
I snorted. That had been the first time I really saw how much he cared for his family. I hadn’t realized before just how important his family was to him. Before that, I mean he was nice and everything, but he was kinda just a dick.
I grinned, deciding to keep that to myself.
“I’ll go get ready. Will you be long?”
“It shouldn’t take me too long, no.” I had learned a long time ago that if I wanted to do my hair reasonably, I needed to just accept that it wasn’t going to be perfect, and that would save me a whole bunch of stress. “I might even be ready before you,” I teased as he headed out of the bathroom.
He barked out a laugh. “Cute,” he muttered.
I couldn’t believe what I was about to do. But it was the right thing, right?
I stopped in front of Adam.
“I want to meet her.”
“What?” He turned to face me, already in his suit.
“I want to meet her.”
I felt stupid repeating myself. Adam stared at me with wide eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, well … I’ll see if we can stop by on our way to my parents. It won’t be very long, but at least you will be able to meet her, and a short visit will probably be easier on her.”
We met at a park. Adam seemed nervous, but he didn’t object or question the fact that I wanted to meet her. I could feel a small sweat along my lower back. I had no clue why I thought this would be a good idea.
“Uncle Adam!” a little girl shrilled.
“Hey, kiddo.” Adam dropped to his knees as a girl came rushing towards him. Whatever feelings I had seconds ago melted away the second I saw him pull that little girl into a hug. He held her tightly. “Do you wanna go play on the swings with me?”
“Yes!” The little girl looked so excited. She caught sight of me
. “Who is she?”
“She is my girlfriend,” he said, glancing up at me.
“Hi,” I dropped to my knees and held my hand out to her, “it’s nice to meet you.”
She shook my hand weakly.
“When Adam told me he had a girlfriend, I didn’t believe him. I never would have believed she was half as beautiful as he said.”
I looked up to see a petite woman standing there, a wide grin on her face. “Hi, Natty.” Adam stood. He was about to hug her when the little girl grabbed his hand and marched over to the playground set, pulling him along with her.
“Come on!”
I snorted.
We watched the two of them for a couple seconds. I had no fucking clue what I was supposed to say. Well, you were the one who wanted this. Finally, I turned to her.
“I’m Fiona.” I held my hand out to her.
“Natalie, but please call me Natty.”
We shook hands.
My mind raced as I gave her a once over. She was gorgeous. With long blonde hair and bright blue eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“Adam said you wanted to meet; I wasn’t going to object.” I could tell she looked nervous. She fidgeted on the balls of her feet.
“Um, yea about that …” I bit my lip. “It’s just … you’re obviously very important to Adam, and Adam is important to me, so I wanted to meet you and your daughter.” I scratched my neck nervously as she stared at me with wide eyes. “I mean, we haven’t been together very long, but I know it was a big deal for him to open up about you, and I wanted to make sure he realized I was going to be supportive of it. I figured the best way to do that was to actually want to meet you. Not that I just wanted to meet you to make it look like—”
She laughed softly. “Relax, I get what you’re saying. I’m glad you understand that we’re a part of his life, just not in the way most people think.”
81. Chapter Twenty-nine
We made our way over to his parents, and for some reason, I was actually nervous. I knew it was dumb. I already knew them, and they already loved me, but this was different. This was the first time I was seeing them as his real girlfriend. I knew they wouldn’t know the difference, but I would, and that scared me.
The entire trip, I held onto his hand tightly.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.
“Yea. I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” I said, a little too quickly. He just glanced at me again as we pulled into the driveway.
“You know … if you don’t want to do this …”
“I know. I do. I just …” I shook my head, trying to get rid of the emotions going through my mind right now. I mean, it was silly to be nervous, and I knew that, but I couldn’t help it. I just … was really worried all of a sudden.
But they already like me, I reminded myself.
Well, I wasn’t too sure if his grandma liked me, but that was another story entirely.
“Well, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.” I gave him a smile as I reached for the door handle and popped it open. He opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, I jumped out, closing the door behind me. I grinned, waving to him.
He flipped me off, but he returned my grin.
I laughed softly as I made my way up the steps towards the door.
I couldn’t believe how comfortable I felt walking up to the door with him a little behind me. I even reached for the door handle and pushed it open, stepping inside a couple paces ahead of him.
“Hi!” Kathrine called from the kitchen.
“Hello!” Adam and I called back in unison.
Seconds later, we were greeted by Merissa in front of us. “You’re here!” she exclaimed, reaching out and grabbing my hand. I felt her tug me along. “Come on!”
“Merissa!” Adam called, but we were already a few feet away. “Let the poor girl take her shoes off first!”
Merissa didn’t listen.
“Grandma is going to be here soon, and I made her a present. I want to know what you think,” she said, her voice brimming with excitement as she led me into the living room where there was a big canvas covered in paint of all different colors.
“Oh, wow!” I said looking at it. “Did you make that all by yourself?”
“Yup.” Pride welled from her.
“It’s amazing.” I studied it carefully. If anything, you would probably call it abstract. Mostly just a bunch of colors grouped together without any real picture there, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was how proud of herself Merissa looked.
“Wow!” Adam said behind me, his hand touching the small of my back. “Merissa, did you paint that?”
“Yup!”
I slipped out of the way as Adam praised his little sister. I couldn’t help smiling as I listened to him. Making my way out of the living room, I slipped out of my shoes on the welcome mat.
“Let me guess, she’s already been showing you her painting?” Kathrine, Adam’s stepmother, and Merissa’s mother, grinned, standing in the doorway to the kitchen.
“Of course. Before I could even get my shoes off.”
Kathrine’s eyes sparkled. “I should say I’m sorry, but I’m not. The truth is, it’s nice to have the girls take a liking to Adam’s girlfriend so much. I was a little worried the first time I met you.”
“Worried?”
“Yes. Adam has always been close to his sisters. I was worried …”
“That I was going to steal him or turn him against them?” I saw the look of guilt cross her face. “I understand, I’d be worried too if I were you. He is like a son to you, and they are your daughters.” I smiled, looking around. We were alone. I don’t know if I should be doing this. “Um, could we talk alone for a second?”
Kathrine looked startled. She stared at me with narrowed eyes but nodded. “Come up to my room for a moment.” She motioned towards the stairs, but I let her take the lead.
I was halfway up the stairs when I saw Adam. “Where are you two off to?”
“Fiona is going to borrow one of my necklaces.” Kathrine smiled, quickly giving him a reason for us to leave him downstairs with his sister. Without another word to Adam, she walked up the stairs, led the way into her bedroom and closed the door behind us. She looked at me as soon as the door closed. “I’m guessing this has something to do with my son?”
“Yes. Well, kind of. It’s not that he’s done anything wrong, it’s just that … there is something I thought you might like, no should, know about him and Kurt.”
She stared at me, her mouth falling open and making a small O.
I bit my lip. I still wasn’t sure if this was the right move to make or not, but I was going to do it; at least, then she would know. Then she could do whatever she wanted.
“You said you didn’t know why Adam hates Kurt so much … well, I do. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you because it’s not really my place to tell, but it’s also a matter of family, and sometimes you have to go behind a family member’s back to do what is best for them. So, you want to know why Adam hates Kurt? I don’t know all the details, but I do know that Adam was in love with someone, and Kurt and her….”
“You mean …” She trailed off.
“Adam was in love with her or had a crush, or whatever. They’re still in contact. He’s the only one she has. Kurt … is nowhere to be seen. That’s why Adam hates him.”
Kathrine stared at me. “He told you?” For a second, I thought she was angry. I opened my mouth to defend him. “I’ve been trying for years to get him to open up to me, and he would never do it. He’s never opened up to me, but he told you?” She crossed over to the bed and sat down; obviously, it was quite a shock for her.
I followed her over to the bed.
“I can’t believe none of us figured it out. Why wouldn’t he have said anything?”
“Because boys are stupid.” I shrugged, “He had already decided you wouldn’t care because of how you’d reacted. He
had already decided that he had to carry this burden alone.”
I could see the guilt on her face. I wanted to reach out and touch her but didn’t know how she would feel about that, so I didn’t.
“You know, you can’t change the way he is, but at least now you understand what he’s going through.”
“And now he has to see Kurt tonight.”
“Oh, he’ll be fine. He’s got me, after all. And Kurt … well, he’s not worth Adam’s time. Adam is, obviously, ten times the man Kurt is, and he would never give up on a child.”
I know I’m kinda biased because I was dating the man, but really. How could anyone think that Adam wasn’t ten times the man than Kurt? I mean, I hadn’t met him, so maybe I was being too quick to judge, but I figured in a situation like this that wasn’t such a bad thing. Right?
“I can’t believe he never told us. No wonder he was so mad at us when we punished him for what he did.”
“And Kurt wasn’t even given any punishment for what he did. Instead, the girl was shipped away, from Adam. That probably made everything worse on him.”
Kathrine stared blankly. “How could we have been so stupid, Fiona?” she whispered.
I gave her a soft smile. “We all make mistakes. People forget that 14-year-olds can fall in love; we forget that things are going on in their life that they don’t even understand.”
She sighed softly, tears pressing against the corner of her eyes.
For a few minutes, neither of us said a word. I had no clue what I was supposed to say to her. All I knew was that she had just found out one of the most devastating things, but she’d wanted to know, right? So I told her.
I just hoped it was the right move.
Finally, I cleared my throat. “Anyways, I’d best get back downstairs before Adam starts to worry too much.”
“Right ...” Kathrine stood and padded over to the other side of the bedroom where she pulled open her closet doors.
My jaw dropped. I shouldn’t have been surprised by her walk-in closets, but I was. It was huge. Everything was well organized and looked like it had been taken care of. I stood, following her towards it. Wow.
Interview with a Billionaire: Billionaire Romance Box Set Page 55