Page 148 of Nobody's Girl

Phoenix put his arm around her shoulders. “Mr. Flannigan, your daughter and I got married last night in Vegas.”

Mr. Flannigan sat still and blinked with the news. “Married?”

“Married, Dad,” Cait said.

“But you share a bedroom with your sisters. What’re they supposed to do now?” he asked, as he seemed more than a bit confused.

“Um, we have news too, Dad,” Kel called out.

“Not you too, Kel,” her mother whined. “You’re the level-headed one of the bunch.”

“No, we didn’t get married,” Kel told her mother. “But we are going to move in together. As a matter of fact, Ethan and I are going to be staying at the O’Toole’s Bed and Breakfast while he looks for us a house here in town.”

“Then I suppose you and your husband can sleep in the bedroom and we’ll put Jess on the sofa until you two find your own home,” their father said.

“No, we aren’t staying here, either,” Cait said.

Phoenix added, “We’ll be at the O’Toole’s as well while we’re looking for a suitable home.”

Jess looked up at Griff, then whispered, “Should I tell them about us?”

He nodded. “Might as well get all this out in the open, baby.”

“Mom, Dad,” Jess said, taking their attention. “Griff and I would like to spend the night here. Will that be okay?”

“I don’t like it!” her mother shouted. “Not one bit!”

“Now you’ve gone and made your mother mad,” their father groaned.

Mrs. Flannigan began her sermon, “My youngest wants to bring a man to sleep with her in the bedroom she’s shared with her sisters since she was born. My middle daughter has eloped with a man she barely knows, and who we know next to nothin’ about. And my oldest and most trusted child is moving in with a man, to live in sin. At least Cait’s married to her man. What have I done to deserve this punishment, Lord?” She looked up and raised her hands as if asking for help.

“This isn’t about you, Mom,” Kel hissed. “Can’t you tell any one of us congratulations?”

Jess stood still and quiet, but Griff thought their news should be out in the open so the parents could deal with it all. Much like one rips a bandage off to deal with the pain all at once. “Um, just to let everyone know what’s going on here with us,” he said as he pulled Jess closer to him, wrapping his arm around her, tightly. “Jess is going to change schools and come live with me in Montana. She’s going to take an internship with Montana Matrix, my family’s company.”

“No!” her mother shouted and got up. “She’s a baby! She can’t go!” She walked straight up to Griffin, shaking her finger. “You cannot have her!”

Jess was red with embarrassment. “Stop, Mom! Damn!”

With the curse word hanging in the air, Mrs. Flannigan went red in the face and walked silently to her husband’s side. “Fix this.”

Her husband looked up at her and shrugged. “They’re grown. What would you have me do?”

Kel went to her mother and pulled her in for a hug. “Mom, this is all great news. Your daughters have all found good men. Great men, actually. And what’s more is they’re all financially stable. You don’t have to worry about any of us.”

Ethan came to Kel’s side, adding, “We’re more than financially stable, Mr. and Mrs. Flannigan. All three of us are billionaires. And the debt of their student loans will no longer be a burden to you.”

Phoenix pulled Cait along with him as he stepped forward. “Along with that taken off your plate, we’d like to buy you a new home for your thirtieth wedding anniversary that Cait told me was coming up this year.”

Griffin saw an opportunity to win some brownie points and pulled Jess to step up with him as he said, “And Jess and I want to give you both new cars for that prestigious thirtieth anniversary. Not many make it that long. It’s a great achievement and deserves great gifts.”

Jess gave him a smile that told him she approved of his gifts. And all thought things were going well as Mr. Flannigan began to laugh. “Really? No more student loan debt? A new house and cars? Really?”

Mrs. Flannigan pulled away from Kel and left the room in tears. Silent tears, the likes of which none of her family had ever seen. “My God, we’ve killed her,” Kel whispered. Then she ran after her mother, who’d gone up the stairs to her bedroom.

Kel tapped at the closed door and got no answer. So she went in anyway. She wasn’t going to let a rift grow in their family merely because all the sisters had managed to find love at the same time.

She found her mother lying face down on the bed. Placing her hand on her mother’s shoulder, she said, “Mom, I know this is a lot to take in all at one time. We’re all leaving the home you made for us. A great home that we’re all thankful for having come from. We’re thankful for you and Dad and all you’ve done for us.”