by Robyn Roze
“What? How?” she asked suspiciously.
Shayna prolonged Abigail’s torment and waited before answering. “Tell my brothers everything—or I will. I’ll show them the letters myself.” Abigail’s eyes popped at the knowledge her letters still existed. Shayna’s eyes darkened, and then narrowed. “You can leave out the bit about not wanting us. I’ll take those painful words to my grave,” Shayna bit out, feeling the sting of tears at the back of her eyes and willing them away. “But you owe them the truth about the rest of it. Like all of the men that came after Dad in your quest for a sugar daddy. The lifestyle you wanted more than us. The new life and new family you eventually had.” Shayna sat quietly and reflected. “Even that wasn’t enough at some point, was it? When you couldn’t get money from me, you got it from Dad. Your husband’s business took a dive and you suddenly couldn’t live the life you thought you were owed. Is that when you went in search of the next sucker?” Shayna snorted in disgust and shook her head contemptuously. “You kept my Dad on the hook with your letters right up until he had to go into the nursing home, and I made damn sure that I got to them before Jack when we had to clean out Dad’s house. I don’t want my brothers to know what you did—but they need to know—from you.”
Shayna leaned closer to the stony face across from her. “You come clean with Jack and Scotty. Tell them who you really are so they can make an informed decision.” Shayna fell back against the cushioned booth with a weary sigh. “You do that...and maybe...just maybe, I can be swayed at some point to believe that you really are trying to set things right. That you’re not here after Jack’s money, or mine.”
Abigail seemed unable to move or speak. Shayna couldn’t look at her anymore. She shook her head in disgust. She didn’t want to be in the same space, breathing the same air, as Abigail Montgomery. She felt drained, empty. Reaching for her purse and bag, she scooted from the booth and rose, standing in judgment above the woman who seemed to have shrunken since sitting across from her earlier.
Shayna dropped a small white paper bag on the table in front of Abigail. The woman’s brows pinched and she looked up questioningly.
Shayna smiled grimly and spoke without emotion. “Glazed. Vanilla icing. Sprinkles. My favorite. I knew you’d never bring them—so I did,” she said with a cold calm that caused a visible shiver and sharp inhale from Abigail. With that, Shayna Montgomery turned and navigated through the busy coffee shop in a dream-like haze, making her way out into the sunlit, fresh air. Eventually she found herself sitting behind the leather-padded steering wheel of her Jaguar. The dazed walk back to the car could’ve taken minutes or hours, she couldn’t remember, because she could only see and hear the past right now.
Then the tears crested—and the floodgate crumbled.
CHAPTER 19
The intervening weeks leading up to Jack’s family barbecue passed by quickly without an angry phone call from him to Shayna chastising her for the contentious meeting with their mother. Shayna wasn’t sure what to make of that. Maybe Abigail was really going to come clean. The woman certainly couldn’t have said anything negative about their conversation to Jack or Shayna would’ve felt his fury by now. It left butterflies in her stomach—the not knowing. She really didn’t want to see her brother’s hurt, but felt certain that they would be, one way or another.
Pulling into Jack’s circular driveway, Shayna couldn’t help the smile that slid across her face. He and Emily had certainly done well for themselves over the years and had just built their beautiful home a few years ago. It had a southern charm to it that didn’t surprise Shayna. Emily was from Georgia and determined not to leave her roots far behind.
Seeing the cars parked ahead of them, it appeared that they were the last to arrive. She felt Sean squeeze her hand and she glanced over at him. He had reservations about today, Shayna knew that, but he was doing his best to mask them.
“Ready?” he asked with an easy smile. “Everything will be fine, Shay, even if Abigail shows up.”
She nodded reluctantly, wanting it to be true.
Shayna sighed. “I just want to apologize in advance if my family doesn’t give you a warm welcome. They don’t like change...and you’re kind of a big one,” she said softly.
“I can handle it. Consider me coated in Teflon. No worries. Okay?” he said, dipping his chin down and emphasizing his words with his raised brows and determined eyes.
She sighed, bracing herself, and nodded hesitantly. “Let’s do this,” she said, opening her door and exiting Sean’s Audi.
She could smell the delicious aromas emanating from the deck at back of the house. Jackson Montgomery loved his family more than anything, but there was one thing that was a close second—cooking out. He looked for any excuse to be outdoors, grilling and barbecuing. Shayna’s mouth already watered at what she knew was awaiting them.
Taking the aromatic, lilac-lined path that snaked around to the back of the house, Shayna caught a glimpse of Jack at the smoker wearing his usual “Grill Sergeant” apron and Emily placing side dishes and desserts on the table. Her nieces and nephews, all five of them, were further out in the deep, lush lot, playing a game of Frisbee. Jack looked up and caught sight of Shayna. He hollered in his booming voice, “Hey, squirt!” Then his eyes landed on Sean and he quickly looked away, shaking his head in dismay.
Shayna glanced up at Sean. He simply grinned, shook his head unperturbed, and mouthed, it’s okay. They made their way up the multi-level deck where Emily, Scott, and Danielle, who had all just brought more food out from the kitchen, met them on the upper tier.
“Hey, Mom!” Danielle called out as she placed a covered dish on the table. She quickly strode to Shayna and gave her a warm hug. Stepping back, Danielle flashed a glimpse at Sean and then back to her mother. Looking back at Sean more assuredly, she said, “I promise to make a better impression this time. Sorry about before.”
“It’s all right. No hard feelings,” Sean answered kindly. Danielle nodded appreciatively.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Scott said exuberantly, offering his hand to Sean. “I’m Scotty. Shayna’s favorite brother,” he said intentionally loud, winking at his smiling sister.
Shayna couldn’t help but notice Jack’s head pop up from the smoker. He didn’t look pleased with Scott’s humor. Some things never change.
“You like beer?” Scott asked, gripping Sean’s shoulder.
“Yeah, what do you have?”
“Hell, my brother’s got every kind possible. He’s a real ass kisser. Oops. I mean a real people pleaser,” he said laughing at his own joke. “Follow me, I’ll get you set up,” he said, patting Sean’s shoulder and turning to lead the way. Scott made cursory introductions to Jack and Emily, never slowing down his mission to ply Sean with beer. Sean barely had a chance to hand off the two covered dishes to Emily that he had carried from the car.
“Man, Uncle Scotty’s in a good mood today,” Danielle said with a chuckle.
“He certainly is,” Shayna agreed knowingly. She suspected that Scotty was happy that there would be someone else here tonight that would make everyone more uncomfortable than he did.
“Can I talk to you, squirt?” Jack asked, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel as he moved closer to Shayna.
“Yeah, sure.”
He gestured with his head to follow him inside.
They made their way through the massive gourmet kitchen, expansive two-story great room, and finally down a hall to Jack’s home office. Once inside, he closed the door behind them.
“I just want to give you a heads up on a couple of things, sis.” Shayna crossed her arms and nodded. She didn’t have a good feeling about this. “First off, I invited Frank.” He held his beefy, callused hand up to silence his sister. “It’s my house and he’s been a good friend for a helluva long time. Like it or not, Shay, I still think of him as family. I probably always will. He’ll always be Uncle Frank to my kids, no matter what. You just need to deal with that. Besides, I think it�
��s good for Danielle.”
Shayna huffed. “Not if it ends in a fight.”
“You and Frank just need to act like adults then.”
“I wasn’t talking about me and Frank,” she said coolly.
“Well, lover boy just needs to cool his jets. He’s the new kid on the block. He’s going to have to earn our support.”
“Earn it? Really, Jack?” He nodded arrogantly. “Tell me something. What the hell does Frank have to do to lose your support? Because apparently, breaking your little sister’s heart isn’t on the list,” she remarked snidely.
Jack waved his hand dismissively. “That’s not my business.”
“You’re making it your business when you pull a stunt like this and you know it. It’s on your shoulders if this blows up in your face tonight, no one else’s.”
Jack, crossing his arms over his barrel of a chest, leaned back against his heavy, over-sized desk and assessed Shayna.
“I want you to be happy, sis,” he said just above a whisper.
“Well, this doesn’t make me happy, Jack.” He seemed ready to say something, but she wanted to change the subject. “What else did you want to tell me?”
He paused, swallowed his words, and sighed, averting his eyes down to the richly hued oriental area rug they were standing on. He suddenly seemed to be having trouble with the power of speech.
“Mom won’t be here today,” he said disappointedly, still not meeting Shayna’s eyes.
Oh, no, Abigail must’ve told him about the meeting at the coffee shop. Shayna felt her stomach start to bubble with what she worried was coming next. Jack reached behind him and picked up a piece of paper. He handed it to Shayna.
“Apparently, she feels like she has closure now,” he said crisply, clearly trying to tamp down the bitterness in his tone.
Shayna exhaled sharply and absently took the letter from Jack’s hand. She couldn’t believe what she was reading. When she finished, Shayna released the paper as if it had burned her, letting it float and eventually drift down to the floor. She turned and walked despondently to the bank of windows in Jack’s office. Abigail had simply wanted to make sure that her children were happy and doing well. That was the gist of the letter.
Shayna spat hot air at her reflection in the window. Then her eyes scanned the lush green landscape and the mountains serrating the horizon in the distance. Her heart squeezed and then she flushed with anger. Anger that for even one second she had allowed herself to dream that their mother might actually want to be a part of their lives. Anger that she had even hoped she might be wrong about Abigail.
Shayna startled when Jack’s large hand came around her shoulder, hugging her into his big, warm body. He felt so much like their father. She choked back a sob. She refused to waste one more tear on Abigail Montgomery. The woman was so not worth it.
“Sorry, Shayna. I guess you were right all along. You knew she wasn’t going to stick around.” He exhaled loudly, squeezing her closer. “I feel like such a fool,” he confessed, barely restraining his emotion.
Shayna reached up and tugged Jack’s bearded face to hers. “She’s the fool, Jack. Not you. Don’t ever think otherwise,” she said fiercely. He smiled sadly and nodded. She hugged him tightly, cursing Abigail for hurting her brother again.
A loud knock sounded at the door followed by Scotty barging in with Sean in tow. “Hey, what do we have to do to get food around this place?” he joked loudly.
He stopped, his expression quickly shifting to worry when he saw his siblings breaking apart from an emotional hug and the grief stretched tight across their faces. He glanced down at the paper lying on the floor in front of Jack’s desk. Scott’s features darkened, his body stiffened, and he nodded in understanding.
“Showed her the letter, huh?” he asked rhetorically. Shayna noticed the look of concern on Sean’s face. Scott sighed loudly. “Yeah, she’s a real nut job, isn’t she? Apparently, abandoning us once wasn’t enough.” He took a long pull from his beer bottle and swiped his hand across his mouth. “Ah, fuck her. It’s her loss anyway.” Then he snorted loudly. “I always figured we never heard from her ‘cause she was dead.” A demented giggle escaped his lips. “Now I just wish she was.”
Scott’s expression sobered as he registered the concern on everyone’s faces. He quickly changed the subject, saying, “Listen, I’m hungry as hell and so is everybody else here. Let’s get this show on the road, damn it!” He slapped Sean on the back as he made his exit. They all watched Scott leave, then turned back to one another.
“Yeah, I’d better get out there before all that meat’s ruined,” Jack said, trying to sound like everything was status quo. He winked at Shayna and gently patted the side of her face. “Hungry, squirt?” She nodded. “Okay then, let’s get out there.”
Shayna took Sean’s hand as they followed Jack out of the office, but Sean pulled her back inside the door, looking searchingly into her eyes. “You okay, Shay?” he asked softly, stroking her cheek.
She shook her head. “No, but I will be.” She forced a weak smile and he leaned down, brushing his lips tenderly across hers.
She pulled him in for a deeper kiss before breaking away and hugging him desperately, breathing his scent down to her toes, as he held her in his arms and nuzzled against her temple.
“Let’s go eat,” she finally whispered against his firm chest. Then she stopped him suddenly when she remembered. “Oh, by the way, Frank’s going to be here.”
Sean huffed and cocked one thick brow. “Yeah, I know. Already saw him.” He lowered his voice, leaning closer to Shayna. “Scott really doesn’t like him. More than I think he ever let on to you,” he remarked quietly.
Shayna’s brow furrowed. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s been talking my ear off. He pissed your ex off as soon as he saw him come in the door.” Sean’s eyes narrowed. “I think Scott’s tipped back a few too many today.”
Shayna’s heart clenched as she glanced over at the discarded letter still lying on the floor. Jack and Scotty had really gotten their hopes up, only to be cruelly let down. She felt sick to her stomach. She had always wondered if Scotty’s inability or lack of desire to settle down had anything to do with their mother’s abandonment. He seemed determined to be the first one out of every relationship he had ever had—guaranteeing he wasn’t left first. Now, he would probably feel even more justified in keeping people at arm’s length. Oh, Scotty, she thought sorrowfully, I wish I knew how to help you.
Shayna sighed in resignation. “I’m not surprised,” she muttered sadly.
****
Laughter filled the deck under the pergola draped with glowing lanterns, as Jack and Emily’s kids provided the entertainment after dinner with their dramatic flair and funny stories. They ranged in age from the oldest, a recent law school graduate, to the youngest, twin sixth graders. Shayna smiled nostalgically at the warm, cozy family her brother and Emily had grown. Jack was a wonderful father and husband, so much like their own father with his big, brawny body, bearded face and thunderous laughter. After Ben Montgomery died, Jack had even taken to calling Shayna squirt, her father’s term of endearment for her when she was a girl. Shayna was above average height for a woman, but next to the Montgomery men, she had always looked like a wisp of a girl.
Shayna chuckled inwardly at Natalie, one of the twins, sitting next to Frank on a lounger with her arms wrapped lovingly around him, confiding all about some boy at school who had been pestering her lately. Frank was playfully advising her in matters of the heart and sneaking in a tickle here and there. Natalie and Frank had always had a special affinity for one another, probably because she was so much like Danielle.
Shayna’s heart twinged at all of the old memories, all the cookouts just like this one, all of the holidays, all of those times she had watched Frank interact with Danielle just as he was now with his niece. She felt her throat fill with a lump of emotion. There were so many good memories.
Thumbing through l
ife’s photo album in her mind, Shayna suddenly snapped back to the present when she caught the wistful expression on Frank’s face, watching her—watch him. She quickly breathed in, erasing the nostalgic smile that had snuck on her lips. Someone else had also noticed her musings. She felt Sean’s hand glide around her waist, tucking her possessively against his hard body as they stood listening to a conversation between Danielle and one of her cousins.
“So, how’s your little restaurant doing, Parker? Any more problems with the health department?” Frank said loudly and crisply, while holding Shayna’s worried stare and then landing his cold, hard eyes on Sean.
Time stopped, leaving the sizzle of the bug zapper as the only noise audible above the heavy silence.
Sean’s hand caressed Shayna’s waist and then slid down to her hip, drawing lazy circles. Shayna swallowed hard. Frank’s eyes skipped to the purposeful, subtle movements along her body. It was clear he recognized the point Sean was making—Frank’s loss, Sean’s gain. Frank’s face shaded red and he released Natalie, sitting upright in the chaise, feet positioned over one side as if ready to pounce.
“Are you asking as one business man to another? Or as someone who knows it was a set-up?” Sean asked calmly, his tone and demeanor demonstrating the leisure of someone with the upper hand. Shayna heard whispers and throats clearing around her, while Scott moved closer to get a front row seat for the spectacle.
Frank’s eyes narrowed. “Are you accusing me of something, Parker?” Sean stared at him indifferently. “You think I had something to do with that?” Frank laughed aloud as he stood and inched closer to Sean. The good humor ceased immediately and his expression tightened. He leaned in menacingly. “Don’t flatter yourself that a man like me has time to pay any attention to someone like you,” he warned through clenched teeth.
Sean smiled confidently, unimpressed and undeterred. “Yeah, I’m sure you are busy. Busy watching the properties on Fairview and Lakeland get snatched out from under you.” Frank’s eyes widened. “And with your loans being called, I am sure you don’t have time for someone like me—anymore.”