One Big Happy Family

Chapter 4

4

“The greenbelt is pretty,” Blair said, telling herself not to clench her teeth. She didn’t want to have to start wearing a mouth guard. Unfortunately, spending any time with her mother made her insane, and then she got tense and the teeth grinding followed.

“It’s a lot of trees,” Gwen said, staring out the main bedroom window. “Maybe too many.”

“How can there be too many trees?”

Her voice came out sharper than she intended, causing her mother to flinch, which made Blair feel like a monster. They were three hours into condo shopping, which was two hours and forty-five minutes too long. Patience, she told herself. Patience.

“Trees are a Northwest thing,” she said, her tone lighter. “This is considered a premium view.”

Her mother circled the large bedroom. “The rest of the condo is all right, I suppose.”

“Mom, do you know what you’re looking for? You said the first one we looked at was too big and the second was too small. This one has too many trees. Maybe you should stay in your rental until you feel more settled.”

“I’ll know it when I see it. We need to keep looking.”

Oh, could they , Blair thought sarcastically, but carefully kept her mean-spirited comment to herself. What was it about her mother that brought out the worst in her? Some of it was resentment, she thought grimly. She’d given up her Saturday afternoon to go look at open houses with her mom, and she had a thousand things she would rather be doing.

Blair glanced at her phone, where she’d stored the list of condos they would be viewing. “Okay, we have two more. We’d better hurry if we’re going to get to them both before they close.”

They walked back to her small SUV. Once they were in the vehicle and Blair had plugged the next address into her GPS system, she backed out of the visitor space and tried to think of something neutral to talk about.

“I think you’re going to like spending the holidays at the cabin.”

“Up in the mountains? I don’t think so.”

Blair held in a groan. “It’ll be great. A real family Christmas.”

“It’s too many people, if you ask me. I don’t know why we can’t stay in Seattle and have something small at your place. Then it would just be the three of us. Four, I suppose, with Paul.”

Blair glanced at her. “Mom, it can’t be just the four of us. We’ll be with Julie and Dana.”

Her mother looked out the window without speaking, her disapproval plain.

“Nick needs to spend the holidays with his family.”

“And the boyfriend.”

Blair ignored the scandalized tone. “I’ll admit, I’m excited to meet Heath. I’ve never met one of Julie’s guys before. Knowing her, I’m sure he’s great.”

“I can’t believe she dates, and at her age.”

“Why shouldn’t she? She’s been divorced for ages. Julie deserves someone in her life.”

“You would take her side.”

Blair tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “Mom, there’s no sides. Why do you care if Julie is going out with someone?”

“I don’t care.” Her mother sniffed. “I have no idea why we’re talking about this.”

“Me, either. Oh, we’ve figured out the dates. We’re going up on the seventeenth and coming back on the twenty-seventh.”

Her mother stared at her in horror. “That long? You expect me to spend the holidays with those people for ten days?”

Blair told herself to breathe. She just had to get through this conversation and two open houses. Then she could drop off her mother and not think about her for several days.

“I’m not sure what you mean by quote-unquote those people . If you mean Nick’s mother and sister, then yes, I do expect you to spend the holidays with them.”

She pulled into the visitor parking lot for the next condo on their list, stopped the engine and faced her mother.

“I don’t understand what’s happening here. Your attitude puzzles me. I’m married, Mom. Nick and I are together and we both have families. He lost his dad less than a year ago and this is the first Christmas without Eldon. He’s missing him and is really sad. Dana’s the same way. They want a traditional Christmas to help with the healing. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that we help them through this difficult time.”

Her mother pressed her lips together and looked out the side window, without speaking. Blair wanted to throw something.

“Mom, I don’t understand what you want. You didn’t tell me you were moving to Seattle. You just showed up and announced you’d rented a place. Then you want me to help you find something to buy, but you hate everything we see. You’re not happy, you won’t tell me what’s wrong, and now you’re picking apart the holiday plans.”

“Plans that don’t include me.”

“What are you talking about? You’re coming with us.”

Her mother swung to face her. “You never asked me what I wanted to do. Maybe I don’t want to go to the cabin.”

If only, she thought longingly. “You are very welcome to come, but if you’d rather not, then you can stay home.”

“By myself,” Gwen said bitterly. “You’d like that.”

A horrifying thought occurred to her. “I’m not staying here with you.”

“Yes, you’ve made that clear.”

“As I just said, Nick and I are married. News flash, Mom, but this is our first Christmas as a married couple. I’m not staying in the city with you while he goes away with his family.” She tried to drop the energy level. “Is that what you thought would happen? That I’d abandon Nick for Christmas?”

“He would hardly be abandoned. He has his family.”

Jeez, that was what her mother had expected, or at least wanted. “I’m his family.”

“Now. You weren’t before. You barely knew his father. What do you care if he’s not there at Christmas?”

Blair couldn’t help wishing Julie was with them. Nick’s mom always knew the right thing to say, even if her delivery was a little blunt from time to time. She would be able to handle Gwen, change out a transmission and bake up some brownies without breaking a sweat.

“I’m not leaving Nick for Christmas.”

“So you’ve said.”

“We’re going to the cabin on the seventeenth. If you’d like to come later, I’ll arrange to pick you up closer to Christmas.”

She mentally crossed her fingers, hoping her mother would say she wasn’t coming at all. Only if that happened, she would feel guilty and end up begging the other woman to join them. Honest to God, when it came to Gwen, there was never a win.

“I wouldn’t want to put you out,” her mother said with a sigh. “I’ll do whatever you tell me to. What I want doesn’t really matter.”

“Do you have to be the martyr?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Blair unclenched her teeth. “Do you want to go see this condo or are we done for the day?”

“I think we’re done.”

“Fine by me.”

As she drove her mother back to her rental, Blair once again asked the Universe why oh why couldn’t her mother have stayed in Boise. Why did she have to move here and ruin everything?

“You lied to me.”

The flat statement had Julie wincing. “Really? A lie? That seems harsh and a little dramatic.”

Her daughter stared at her, unblinking. “Mom, you lied. You’ve been seeing someone for over three months. It’s serious enough that you want to spend Christmas with him, and you never told me.”

Tears filled Dana’s eyes. “I never thought you’d do that. What other secrets are you keeping?”

“None! I swear.”

Julie glanced at the sandwich she’d ordered—it was her favorite. Ham and cheese with tomato, lettuce and avocado from the great deli just down the street from the tow yard. She always ate too much and rued the calories, so she rarely indulged. She’d been so looking forward to having one today while she and Dana hashed out what had happened. But suddenly she didn’t feel like eating.

She pushed away her plate. “Dana, please don’t make this more than it is. You’re right—I didn’t tell you about Heath and I should have. It just kind of crept up on me.”

Her daughter didn’t look convinced as she picked at her salad. “What crept up on you? You didn’t notice you were dating?”

“Not exactly.” She hadn’t noticed he was flirting with her. Okay, she’d noticed, but had thought she was misreading the signals. “I should have said something. You’re right to be upset with me about that, but seriously, Dana. Ghosting me?”

Her daughter shifted in her seat. “I wasn’t.”

“What would you call ignoring my texts and calls?”

“I was busy.”

Julie stared at her daughter without speaking. Dana shifted again.

“Fine,” she said with a sigh. “I was ghosting you, but you really hurt my feelings.”

“I know and I feel awful about that. I’m sorry. I should have told you about Heath. I just didn’t know how.”

“What does that even mean?” Dana’s eyes widened. “Mom, is there something about him I should know?”

Now it was Julie’s turn to be uncomfortable. “No, of course not. He’s very nice, perfectly respectable. He owns a roofing company. That’s how we met. The guy who does estimates called out sick, so Heath was taking his appointments. He came to the house and looked things over.”

“Are we still talking about the roof?”

Julie felt herself flush. “Yes, the roof. He gave me an estimate and we started talking.”

“And he asked you out?”

“No, that was later,” Julie hedged. “He came by the tow yard a few times to give me updates. That’s where he asked me out.”

She’d been shocked and hadn’t known what to say. A first for her when it came to men.

Dana’s expression turned quizzical. “You’re not making any sense. What aren’t you telling me?” The color drained from her face. “Oh, no! He’s married!”

She practically shrieked the words, causing other patrons to turn and look at them. Julie did her best not to shrink in her seat.

“What? No! Don’t say that. He’s not married.”

“Then what?”

Julie ducked her head. “He’s younger.”

“That’s it?” Dana almost sounded disappointed. “He’s younger? That’s the big secret?”

Julie looked at her. “Twelve years younger.”

“He’s forty-two?”

Julie briefly closed her eyes. “Yes.”

“You go, Mom.”

She stared at her daughter. “You don’t care?”

“I’m impressed. You’ve always been so in control when it comes to guys. You tell them exactly what you expect, and if they’re not interested or willing, you dump them. You never get your heart broken. You have fun and move on. Dating a younger guy is just an extension of that. Why did you think I’d be upset?”

“I didn’t, exactly. I just feel a little weird about the age difference.”

“Mom, you don’t look your age at all.”

“Thank you, but sometimes I feel it. Heath’s kids are so young. Ten and eight. I haven’t met them yet, and believe me, I’m willing to wait on that for a long time. I’m afraid people will think they’re my grandkids, which makes Heath what? My son?” She shuddered. “His age complicates things.”

“Only in your mind.”

“I wish that were true.” Julie leaned toward her. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. When Heath first asked me out, I figured nothing was going to happen, so I didn’t bother mentioning him. Then we kept going out and it became a thing and I didn’t know what to say. I was wrong. I should have told you.”

“It’s okay.” Dana looked at her. “I get it. You were embarrassed, but you shouldn’t have been. I wouldn’t judge you.”

Julie smiled at that, thinking they all judged each other. Maybe not harshly, but it happened. She judged Dana for being such a pushover when it came to Axel. The man broke her heart on a regular basis. At some point, Dana was going to have to learn to say no and mean it.

“So he’s nice?” Dana asked.

“He is. I think you and Nick will like him. He works hard, loves his kids. He’s busy, like me, so we don’t get a lot of time together. He has his kids every other weekend. This year it’s his ex’s turn to have them for the holidays.” Her tone turned wistful. “He’s getting his house painted and floors refinished, so he was going to move in for a couple of weeks.” They were going to have all that glorious time together—just the two of them.

Dana groaned. “Then Nick and I messed up your plans.”

“We’ll still be together, just up at the cabin.” Which wasn’t the same, but she didn’t want Dana feeling bad. “It’ll be a big family Christmas and that’ll be great.”

“It’s just we need this,” Dana said. “Nick and I.”

“You do. Don’t worry about me.” She picked up her sandwich. “Enough about my personal life. What’s going on with you? Anything interesting?”

Dana sighed. “Mom, I’m the actual definition of not interesting . You should know that by now.”

Julie figured she’d worked things out with half her children, now it was time to conquer the other half. She waited while Huxley checked out the men’s room at the tow yard. When he walked out, his expression amused, and said, “All clear. Nick’s the only one in there,” she thanked him, went into the five-stall bathroom and locked the door behind her.

“Hello, Nick,” she said calmly.

Her son, in one of the stalls, no doubt reading something about sports on his phone while he did his business, yelped. “Dammit, Mom. I’m in the bathroom.”

“I’m clear on that.”

“Doing bathroom things.”

She held in a smile. “I assumed that. I doubted you were masturbating or shooting up drugs.”

He groaned. “Can I please get some privacy?”

“No, you can’t. I’ve sent you three emails to schedule a conversation and you haven’t answered me.” She paused. “Both my children ghosting me in the same week. I’ve failed as a parent.”

“No one is ghosting you. I talk to you every day. It’s only the emails I’m not dealing with.”

“We’re dealing with them now.”

She folded her arms over her chest, prepared to wait him out. It only took a few seconds for Nick to sigh in defeat.

“Fine. I’ll talk to you as soon as I’m done here.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

“On Blair’s beating heart?”

Another sigh. “Yes.”

“I’ll be in my office.”

Seven minutes later he made good on his word and took a seat across from hers. His slumped shoulders told her he wasn’t looking forward to what she was going to say.

“Why won’t you commit to the business?” she asked bluntly. “We’ve talked about this all your life. You were going to start out as a driver, then slowly take over. You’ve been working here for ten years. It’s time to start learning how to run things, but every time I try to talk to you about it, you slink away.”

“I don’t slink,” he said, avoiding her gaze. “I move quickly in the opposite direction.”

“I don’t understand. This was always our dream. What we were going to do together. You and me running Parker Towing. Don’t you want that anymore?”

He looked at her, then away. “Mom, it’s not an easy thing to decide. I’ve never done anything but this. Maybe I’d like a different job.”

She did her best not to shriek. “This isn’t a job,” she said as calmly as she could. “It’s an inheritance, Nick.”

She looked at him, not sure what he was trying to tell her. He was a great guy with a big heart, but he’d never been ambitious. Not like her. She’d wanted to know everything about the company from the time she was five. She found it all fascinating.

“I know it’s a great opportunity,” he said. “You’ve done well, and I get after all this time, you want to start sharing the load.”

Which sounded right, but she couldn’t help thinking there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“What does Blair want?” she asked.

“We’re still talking about things.” He sat up and faced her. “Mom, it’s nearly Christmas and I’m thinking about Dad a lot and Blair’s dealing with her mom. Can we table this conversation until after the first of the year? I promise I’ll be straight with you and we can figure out a plan.”

She would rather they talked now, but understood she couldn’t push him. Not on this. “All right. We’ll talk the first week in January. But it has to be then. No more avoiding me.”

“Deal.”

Julie looked up from her computer, surprised to see Heath walking into her office. Sometimes, if he was in the area, he dropped by, but he usually texted first. Even more concerning was the look on his face—two parts guilt, one part apprehension.

“What?” she said by way of greeting. “Something’s wrong or something happened.” She stood and circled the desk. “Just blurt it out.”

She told herself she could handle whatever it was. She was tough, she’d been through some things in her life. When there was a crisis, she got calm and took charge. Any freak-out happened later, when the problem was solved.

He hesitated.

She poked him in the chest. “Talk. I mean it.”

“Tiffany’s boyfriend invited her to the Bahamas for Christmas and she wants to go.”

Julie was good at not assuming the worst. She’d refused to consider that Heath had decided to break up with her or that someone she cared about was in the hospital. But she sure hadn’t been expecting an update about his ex-wife’s travel plans.

“Why would that be a problem?” she asked, even as the answer became painfully obvious.

“No, I get it.” She took a step back. “She wants to go away, so asked if you’d take the kids and Rufus.” She nodded slowly. “You want to spend the holidays with them, so you’re all in.”

He studied her as she spoke. “It’s a complication.”

And two more bodies, she thought, not to mention a dog, although he would be easy. She loved dogs and had always had one. But when Brownie had passed away a few years ago, she hadn’t had the heart to start over with a puppy again.

“We’ll get a couple of hotel rooms,” he said. “The Residence Inn is pet friendly. I’m going to call them and see if they have any availability.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Me and my kids.” He moved closer and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Julie, come on. It was enough of a stretch when it was just me, but now it’s two kids and a shedding dog. I want to spend the time with you, but it’s my kids at Christmas. I need you to get that. This isn’t about you or us.”

She stared into his dark eyes. He was telling the truth about all of it, she thought. And as a mom, she totally got the whole kids-holiday connection.

“You’re not going to a hotel,” she told him. “What kind of Christmas would that be? You’ll bring the kids up to the cabin. Rufus, too.”

The place was made for kids, she thought, swallowing hard at the thought of explaining Heath’s kids to her own. Plus judgy Gwen.

His gaze turned warm. “You’re a hell of a woman.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“We’re not coming to the cabin.”

“Why not?”

“It’s too much. You haven’t met my kids, and there’s not enough room. But I like that you offered.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Listen very carefully, because I’m about two seconds from getting annoyed with you, and let us all remember the last time you tried to tell me what was best for me.”

His lips twitched as if he were trying not to smile. “It didn’t go well.”

“It didn’t go well,” she repeated sternly. “You are not spending Christmas in a hotel. The cabin is plenty big. There’s a room downstairs with double bunk beds. The kids can each have a top bunk and Rufus can sleep on one of the bottom ones. There’s plenty to do, both inside and out. Maybe being around them will show Nick and Blair how great it is to have children, because I’m ready for Blair to be pregnant.”

“They’ve only been married six months.”

“I know, but tick, tick, tick. Anyway, everyone will have a good time. As for me not having met them, well, we need to make that happen.” She sucked up any concern and plowed ahead. “I should meet Tiffany, as well. So let’s set that up. When’s the last day of school?”

“The seventeenth.”

“So next week. That’s a Tuesday, right?”

He nodded.

“You and I will still go up the weekend before and start decorating. You’ll head home Monday morning and come back with the kids Wednesday morning. We’ll all stay until the twenty-seventh. I’ll make a list of what they should bring.”

She had more to say but Heath pulled her close and held her so tight, she could barely breathe.

“You’re incredible,” he murmured. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I know, but I want to.” She was a little apprehensive, but she would just keep moving forward and eventually everything would be fine.

He stepped back and looked at her. “You sure? It’s a lot of people.”

“I can handle a crowd.” She would pull together menus and a shopping list. “Okay, head count. You, me, Dana, Nick, Blair, Paul and Gwen. Plus Madeline and Wyatt, and Huxley for Christmas. That’s ten.”

“And Rufus.”

“Yes, Rufus. Thankfully, he doesn’t need a seat at the table.”

Heath repeated the head count. “You sure there’s room? For all of us?”

“Yes. There’s four bedrooms on the second floor and two downstairs. In a pinch the living room and family room on the main floor have very comfortable sofas.”

He stared at her. “Your cabin has six bedrooms?”

She walked to her desk and picked up her phone to check her calendar. “Uh-huh. You need to get in touch with Tiffany and get our little meet and greet scheduled. We leave for the cabin in four days, so there isn’t much time.”

“Six bedrooms?”

She looked up at him. “Why does that surprise you?”

“How big is this cabin?”

“Big, but that’s not the point. The kids are going to need winter coats, boots, gloves and hats. Do they snowboard or ski?”

“No. Madeline can ice-skate a little.”

“Maybe Nick can teach them.” She put down her phone. “I haven’t looked at the weather. There had better be snow. We need a white Christmas.”

He stared at her. “Just like that? I tell you I have my kids and you start making menus?”

“I haven’t started making menus yet, but I will. We need to bring up as much food as we can. The local shopping is good but not great.”

He pulled her close and kissed her. “Thank you.”

“Of course.” She was nervous about meeting them, not to mention Tiffany, but knew she would muscle through. “It’s your kids at Christmas. We’re going to have a great time.”

“We’re getting further and further from the low-key, intimate vacation we had planned.”

“Yes, we are, but maybe this is better. We’ll be making memories.”

“I want to make memories with you.”

He kissed her again, lingering this time. Her hormones, usually quiet, but always on alert around him, started to stir. She pulled back and pushed him toward the door.

“I’m running a business here, mister. None of that sexy stuff during work hours.” Her voice softened. “We’ll work on the details tonight.”

He grinned. “I like working on your details.”

She laughed. “You know what I meant.”

“And you know what I meant.”

She did. The man was the best kind of trouble. She would think about that and not the horror of sitting across from what she assumed was his younger wife and his still-young children. As long as no one said the g —as in grandmother —word, she would be fine.