Love Resisted (The Real Love Series) (4 page)

Still, she made sure to stand next to him in case he needed her. Sean, Gillian’s brother, and his wife, Morgan found them, with all three kids in tow. At the same time, both she and Gillian made a quick move to remove Morgan’s youngest from her grip. The nine month old put her hands out for Gillian, and she quickly claimed her prize. Allie was pouting alongside her friend saying, “Oh come on, Gilly, you’re already carrying a baby. Don’t be a baby hog.”

Gillian stuck her tongue out at Allie. “Deal with it, Al. I won’t be able to carry her for much longer and then you’ll get all the baby fix you need.”

She was still pouting when Jake came up beside them and said, “Gilly, maybe you should hold the baby with your other side?”

Gillian gave her fiancé and exasperated look before saying, “I'm fine, Jake, stop worrying. I know how to listen to my body. My muscles were just sore this morning.” Allie was immediately concerned, as she always was when the subject of Gillian’s shoulder came up.

“BW bothering you?” she asked. They had shortened the name of her injury to BW instead of saying bullet wound to make it sound less serious than it was. Sure, it was weird to even give the injury a title, but they were a weird crew. It was like it was its own individual.
Hey, is BW coming to the party, too?

Gillian got a kick out of it—the men, not so much. A little laugh escaped the two of them as they made eye contact, and Gillian responded, “BW was a little stiff this morning, but Jake gave him a rub, and he softened up.” Allie didn’t even contain the laugh that bubbled out of her at that comment, with Gillian dissolving to laughter at the same time as they both got a look at Jake’s face. He wasn’t pleased with that.

“Oh, come on, it’s bad enough that you gave the damn scar a name, but I don’t understand why it has to be a guy.” Jake grumbled.

“Duh, it has to be a dude because a bullet wound is masculine.” Allie snorted at Jake. He just shook his head as they both continued to giggle at his expense. Allie reached over and took the infant from Gillian’s arms. She couldn’t stop her because she was too busy trying to hold her shaking belly and appease her now grumpy man. Sticking her tongue out at her in victory,
Allie proceeded to snuggle the baby smell right off the baby. Her brother was now chatting with Jason, who had arrived at some point during her laughing fit with Gillian. Saying her hellos to the biggest guy of the bunch, he barely acknowledged her while he bent over and cooed at the baby girl in her arms—right before he swept her out of Allie’s grasp.

“Hey! I just stole her fair and square, give her back,” she protested to Jason, Jake’s brother.

“Back off, half-pint, she totally put her hands out for me,” Jason said as he continued to make goofy faces at the child.

“I would totally kick you in the shin if you weren’t holding that baby. Don’t think for one minute your gigantor status would sway me otherwise.”

Jason laughed and smiled at her. “It’s the only reason I felt safe taking her.”

Her brother sidled up next to her. “Kind of funny seeing a big guy like that cooing to a baby. Always cracks me up.”

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” she replied while continuing to watch Jason play with the baby. Then turning toward her brother, she said, “So how
are
you today? I know you have to know already.”

CHAPTER THREE

ALLIE watched her brother’s jaw tighten as he tried to maintain a neutral face at her question. She was certain he knew about the new ring on Gillian’s finger. It took him a few moments to compose himself and answer her. “My wife is marrying another man and having his baby.” He paused as he looked over at her, before finishing, “How the hell do think that feels? Pretty sure it’s right up there with getting a vasectomy without anesthesia.”

“Ouch. That’s a brutal description, but I’ll let you have it. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Nobody is as sorry as me, Al. But I know it’s my fault so I’ll take my blame and quietly stand back to watch her move on without me. What else can I do?” He shrugged his shoulders and slid his sunglasses on as he turned in the direction of the crowds of graduating students.

Gillian stood with Madison, and they were taking pictures as Allie noticed her handsome nephew, looking a hell of a lot like she remembered her brother looking at his graduation, smile for his mom and sister before descending the stairs to the football field. Gillian was now making her way back over toward them and wiping the tears from her eyes as she did. When she strode up behind the two of them, Gillian wrapped an arm around the waist of both Allie and Logan as she let out a big sigh and said, “God, can you believe it, guys? Jonathan is graduating high school.”

Allie turned and watched her brother smile down at his high school sweetheart and say, “Thank you for him.” It was a cute little thing the two of them always said to each other that always carried such meaning. It warmed Allie’s heart each and every time she heard it, even more so now since the two of them were no longer married.

Gillian responded the way she always did, “My pleasure.”

The moment could certainly pass for an intimate one, had they not been standing surrounded by many other people while the graduation got underway. Seeing her brother’s obvious adoration of Gillian bummed her out a little because, let’s face it, he was her brother, and she wanted him to be happy, but that ship had obviously sailed. After everything between Gillian and Logan went to shit, Allie had been furious with him and didn’t speak to him unless she absolutely had to for a few months. She’d even physically assaulted him a few times when Gillian had been hurt and emotions were running high, but she knew he accepted the fact that it was all his fault. At that point, all she could do was be his sister; he was taking care of the rest of the guilt just fine on his own.

Allie didn’t want to interrupt the moment passing between her brother and Gillian—they had tons of history together, and she knew the fact that their oldest was graduating high school was a big deal for them—but she kind of wanted to snap her brother out of the dreamy state he appeared to be in. Gillian wasn’t his anymore, and he looked like he was momentarily forgetting that, so she spoke up. “Hey, before I forget, I need a ride to your place.
I got kidnapped and tossed into a big truck while standing in the parking lot at my condo. Thank goodness for short skirts and the power of female persuasion, if you know what I mean, otherwise I would’ve missed the graduation.”

Gillian snorted a laugh as she disengaged herself from Logan and leaned completely into Allie’s side. “Kidnapped, huh?” Logan didn’t find it quite so funny.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled as his big brother status dictated he do.

“Stop goading your brother, Allie,” Gillian said with a smile before telling Logan, “Calm down, she’s just messing with you. She got a ride with Mike.”

Logan just scowled at Allie and said, “I’m not sure I like that guy.” It was Allie’s turn to snort at her brother. Mike was a completely likeable guy; Logan only had an issue because Mike was Gillian’s first date after the two of them split. Never mind the fact that Logan had a mistress at one point, but he could hate another guy because he took Gillian on a date. Can someone define irony here? “Anyway, you can ride with me if you want. Gillian stuck me with the duty of picking up the balloons, and that would be easier if I had a co-pilot. Not sure why an eighteen year old boy needs balloons, but I’ll do what I’m told.”

Allie was about to say something sarcastic when Gillian beat her to it, “It’s about time you did,
geesh!” Both Logan and Allie huffed a laugh, and the three of them fell silent as the graduation began. As the names began to be called, the rest of the family moved closer to them, Logan shifted away from Gillian, and Jake came up alongside of her instead. Jason came up alongside of Allie while Sean, Morgan, and his family congregated nearby. This was her family, and she loved that they were all together.

M
IKE and his family planned on an early dinner together, so there he sat chatting with his sister and brother-in-law, when all he could think about was getting it over with so he could see Allie. His sister must have sensed his distraction and asked, “What’s going on with you? You’re here, but not really here.”

Before he could answer, his niece asked, “What’s that mean, Mommy? Uncle Mike is right there. I can see him.”

“It’s nothing for you to worry about Hannah. Can you do Mommy a favor and draw me another flower? I need a purple one for my desk now.”

“Okay!” the little one declared with enthusiasm, and set about her task of creating what her mother asked for.

Mike was smiling at her when his sister spoke up again, “She has been redirected, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to answer me.”

Paige was nothing if not persistent and was certainly not a pushover, so he answered her, “Just thinking about somewhere I want to be.”

“And where might that be, dear brother? Since you just admitted to not wanting to be with us, I will try my hardest not to feel rejected, so make sure wherever it is, it’s totally worth it.”

Laughing at his sister’s attempt at being insulted, he said, “Of course it’s totally worth it, dear sister. You know I would never just pick any girl over you.”

His sister sat up straight, dropped the fake expression and gave him an excited yet questioning look. He once again let out another laugh at her as he waited for her to say something else. “Did you just say … girl?” It came out in a whisper as his sister remained sitting straight and tall in her seat, looking like she was going to pounce on him at any moment.

Wanting to string her along a little, he said, “Did I say girl? My mistake, that’s not what I meant.”

His sister visibly deflated at his statement, and he immediately felt bad for deceiving her. “What I meant to say was woman.”

And just like that, his sister pounced on him and just about squeezed the life out of him as she whispered a threat at him, “I expect full details.”

“Mommy, why are you squeezing Uncle Mike so hard?”

The two of them let go and
he smiled when Paige said, “’Cause he is my big brother, and I love him so hard, so I have to squeeze him so hard.” He watched as the five year old processed the load of crap her mother just gave her, before she shrugged and went about her business. His parents caught the exchange and gave them a questioning look so he shrugged and repeated his sister’s excuse.

“What? Paige loves me so hard, so she had to squeeze me hard.”

His mother just shook her head, took a sip of her drink, and returned her attention to her grandson and the interrogation about his future plans.
Poor Zane
, he thought. Looking back at his sister, who was practically bouncing in her seat, strongly resembling her daughter. Placing a patronizing hand on her shoulder he said, “Are you okay there, Paige? Do you need your medication or something?” he heard his brother-in-law, Brett, almost choke on his water before breaking into a coughing fit, when trying to laugh.

She looked over at her husband and said, “That’s what you get for laughing at your wife.” Then her glare swung back to Mike, and she added, “Just give me a name so I know you aren’t being a total jackass and lying to me.”

“Why would I lie to you about something like that?”

“Because you like to tease me and laugh at me. I think I recall a time when you used to push me down and make me cry, then you would stand over me and point while you laughed at me crying.”

Mike heard Brett choke on his water again before defending himself, “I never did anything like that!”

“Sure you did! Don’t you remember? You wanted to play with my Barbie, but I told you no, that only girls and sissy
boys did that. But you insisted and I continued to tell you no. So you just decided you wanted it so bad that you had to take it from me and push me down so I couldn’t take it back from you.”

Thankfully, Brett had given up on drinking his water because now he broke out in a hysterics at his wife’s antics. Mike just shook his head at her and waited for her to continue, ‘
because he knew she would. And she did. “Remember, we were playing chess, on the frozen lake, and then you took off your energy mask … oh wait, there’s a chance this might have been a dream.”

Then both of them laughed out loud because she was obviously quoting a line from
Friends
and they loved that show. It was their thing. Around them, the other family members ignored them, used to the show they were putting on. The evening continued and things wrapped up. They said their goodbyes, and when he walked them to the car his sister said, “Are you even going to tell me her name? She is real, right? Are you going to see her right now?”

“You know, you sure seem to resemble your daughter a lot tonight.” He hugged her, then kissed her on the cheek. When he pulled back he told her, “Her name is Allie. Yes, she is real, and yes, I am going to go see her right now.” His sister’s smile was electric. He loved that she could smile that big over something that really had nothing to do with her.

“Please call me tomorrow. I want to chat without prying ears of both the five year old version and the sixty-something version,” she pleaded with him.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” he offered, and with that, he made his way toward his truck.

Mike had already said goodnight to Zane, who, of course, had plans with some of his friends. It was graduation night, so Mike made sure to give him the same instructions he always did, telling him, “Have a good time, but make sure you’re smart about it. You need a ride, you call me any time of night, and I come, no questions asked.” He was proud of his son, and he made sure to tell him that in both words and action. Trust was important, and he felt that the two of them had a great relationship. There was no doubt in his mind that if his son found himself in a situation that had potential for disaster, he would call him. This trust allowed him to sleep at night. Now heading to Gillian and Jake’s place, he felt himself getting excited about seeing Allie. A mixture of anxiety and anticipation fluttered around his gut.

A
LLIE struggled with the ridiculously oversized bundle of balloons as she made her way into Gillian’s house. The party was due to start in the next hour, and she wanted to make sure she was there early enough to prevent Gillian from doing more than she was supposed to be doing. Making her way into the kitchen, she found Gillian crouched down talking to Ryan.

Ryan was Jake’s son from his brief fling of a marriage to a complete idiot, who took off and left him without a mom. Not that the little guy was left without motherly-type love, oh no. Since he was attached at the hip to Dylan, Gillian’s son, he got plenty of attention from Gillian. And of course from Morgan, herself, and any other woman in the group they considered family. Ryan was an easy little boy to love. Allie watched for a moment while the two of them shared what looked like a private moment, then she couldn’t help the smile and simultaneous heart clench when Ryan threw his arms around Gillian’s neck and hugged her.

Gillian closed her eyes and embraced the young man tightly, a look of complete adoration on her face as she accepted his affection. When Ryan pulled back, he kissed her on the cheek and said, “Thanks Mom,” before walking out of the kitchen. Allie watched as he strode out of the room with a big smile on his face, before turning back to her best friend.

Gillian was still crouched down close to the ground, staring in the direction of Ryan’s retreat as she saw a tear roll down her cheek. Looking up to Allie, she said, “It doesn’t matter how many times I hear that adorable boy call me Mom, it still chokes me up.”

Allie moved to help Gillian stand up and said, “No kidding. This lump in my throat is going to require a serious dose of sarcasm and alcohol to get rid of it.” Gillian gave her a knowing look as she wiped away the remaining moisture around her misty eyes.

“It can’t be as bad as mine was on Mother’s Day.”

“Pretty sure that lump was visible from space,” Allie said as she recalled the emotions she felt that day.

Gillian huffed a little laugh as she said, “You’re telling me. It took the whole day to get me to stop crying. Then it took another two days before that damn lump finally disappeared.”

“I do believe Ryan had all of us chicks in tears on Mother’s Day.”

Allie remembered it
well. They had gathered at Gillian’s house, as they always did. Her place was just set up to accommodate the whole crew, including the grandparents. The men had all put together a Mother’s Day brunch and set it all up in the backyard. It was sweet, because even though Allie wasn’t a mother, they included her in the celebration because they didn’t have an Aunt’s Day. As they had all gathered around the table, the women were all seated and chatting when the kids and men carried out the food and gifts.