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I knew better than to interrupt when my father was giving advice, but I was surprised to hear that he equated me and Gwen to him and my mother.
“Now, you may not have realized it, since you met each other so young, but I could see the connection right away. I knew that you would grow to love each other, and eventually spend your days together. We all face adversity in our relationships, Craig. It’s how we deal with our problems, and each other, that make or break us. The important things are to never give up, be generous with your forgiveness, and love unconditionally.”
We sat quietly for a few seconds, Dad’s words echoing in my head, then I said, “Thanks, Dad.”
He leaned in, clapped his hand around the back of my neck, and touched his forehead to mine.
“She’s a great gal, Craig, you picked a good one.”
“Yeah, she is,” I responded gruffly, my throat tight with emotion.
My father placed his hand on my shoulder as he stood and said, “I hope you have room for dessert. Mom made your favorite.” Then he walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with my emotions.
A couple minutes later I heard my brother ask, “You get the talk?”
I looked at him with a grin and nodded.
“The last one I got was about becoming a father, it was a good one,” Cal said with a half-grin. “Mom told me to grab you. We gotta have dessert so we can head out to the bar. You good?”
“Yeah, man, everything’s perfect.”
We had our dessert, Strawberry Shortcake, then I played on the floor with Sophie while Shelly finished getting ready and Cal fed and changed Timmy. My parents were thrilled to get their grandbabies for a whole night. Shelly was a little nervous about leaving Timmy alone for the first time, but I could tell Cal was excited to have his wife all to himself for the night.
When we got to the bar, TJ, Sasha, Gaby, Scott, and Gwen were holding a table by the stage, where Brock and Brady were already warming up. Brendan wasn’t there yet, but as the lead singer, he always liked to make an entrance.
We grabbed some drinks and joined our friends, Gwen causing my heart to nearly burst when she walked straight into my arms, lifted up on her feet, and kissed me thoroughly. I guess she’d missed me too.
“How was dinner?” she asked after she finished paying homage to my mouth.
“So good,” I replied, pushing the hair back from her face. “Yours?”
“We went to one of those Japanese teppanyaki places. It was delicious!”
“You been here long?” I asked right before the crowd began to cheer as Brendan sauntered onto the stage. The dude had the rock star persona down to a T.
“About a half hour,” Gwen yelled over the crowd. “Victoria’s in the back. Brock tried to get her to stay home, but she refused to miss their return to the stage, so he compromised by making her promise to relax on the couch in the back. I talked to her for a little while.”
“She should be about rea
dy to deliver, right?” I asked, looking nervously toward the door as if I expected her to burst through, screaming that it was time.
“Any day now,” Gwen confirmed with a dreamy smile.
The music started, so we turned our attention to the stage. Brock and his brothers were actually really talented, and I loved to hear them play. Their sound was great, and I was surprised that a label hadn’t picked them up yet.
After a few songs, and a few soft drinks, Gwen excused herself to go to the bathroom. Of course, Sasha, Gaby, and Shelly joined her, so when ten minutes past and they still weren’t back, I wasn’t too surprised. The line for the ladies’ room was always worse than the men’s; plus, they were probably in there talking, since they could actually hear each other, unlike out here.
Still, I found myself surveying the room. I looked around the bar, then the dance floor, before I found the women all standing off to the side of the room. Sasha, Gaby, and Shelly were surrounding Gwen, as she stood looking up at a tall dark-haired guy. I turned and started to walk toward them, curious to see who she was talking to, then he moved his head to the side and I saw it was Dave.
That’s when I started running.
Chapter Thirty-Two ~ Gwen
Present Day (20 years old)
We were coming out of the bathroom, laughing at something Sasha had said, when I felt a hand on my arm and turned. Then froze.
I’d seen Brad and Dave around school after that night, of course I did, but they’d steered clear of me, and I of them. Since graduation, I’d been lucky enough not to see them at all. So I was surprised to look up and see the person who grabbed me was Dave. When I looked into his face, my stomach clenched and I instantly felt like the beautiful teriyaki chicken I’d had for dinner was about to make a reappearance.
