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Mark Sherbrooke’s face lit up and he enveloped Allison in a hug. Before letting her go, he kissed her check. “I’ve missed you. You need to come home and visit us.”
“Miss you too, Dad, but I’ve been busy.” She moved away toward her stepmother, leaving Rock inside her father’s crosshairs, not the place he wanted to be.
“Rock, it’s nice to see you again. How have you been?” Mark extended his hand, a welcoming smile still on his face.
“Fine, sir. And you?” Rock returned Mark’s surprisingly firm handshake.
“Well, but please call me Mark. None of that ‘sir’ business,” he answered.
Calling her father by his first name would take some serious getting used to. His parents had installed the belief that you never address your elders by their first name. The Corps had only further drilled respect into him. “I’ll try to remember.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll remind you if you forget,” Allison supplied, sitting down at the table.
“That’s my girl.” Mark’s comment sounded similar to something his dad would say, and it somehow made the guy seem more approachable.
“Have you talked to Trent again?” Allison asked.
Other than the text message he’d received from his mom, he hadn’t gotten any more information about Addie’s condition. He considered trying his sister’s phone, but figured it would be pointless. If she was still in labor, the last thing she’d want was a conversation. And if the baby had been born, she’d want to be holding the baby not her phone.
Mark’s smile faded. “He hasn’t called again.”
“Be honest,” his wife added as she patted his hand.
Mark cleared his throat at his wife’s comment and then spoke again. “I called him before we came here.”
“He couldn’t resist. You know how impatient he can be,” Abby said.
Rock knew the woman wasn’t Allison’s biological mother, but judging by the interaction between them, the two women shared similar personality traits.
“Dad impatient? No way.” Allison tried to maintain a shocked expression. “He’s the most patient man I know,” she said as she lost the battle and her expression changed to one of pure amusement.
“I wanted to make sure they’d gotten settled in at the hospital.”
“Understandable, don’t you agree, Allison?” Abby asked, her lips twitching. The woman enjoyed giving her husband a hard time. Judging by the way Mark went along with it, he didn’t mind.
“Completely. Did Trent give you an update?”
“He said they’d been admitted and that Sal and Marta were there with them.”
Good. Addie would want their parents close.
“I’m anxious to get there myself tonight. There’s nothing like meeting your child, or in this case, grandchild for the first time.” Mark’s voice grew thick with emotion. “I was right by your mom’s side when all of you were born, although I almost didn’t make it in time for Gray. He couldn’t wait to get into this world. Hopefully, Addie will have a similar delivery to Gray’s tonight. But enough talk about Addie and Trent. Tell me about things here.”
Allison gave him a sideways glance. If they’d been in a private setting, he would’ve encouraged her to get it over with and tell her dad about the current problem. With so many people around them and considering the response she predicted from her dad, Rock kept his mouth closed.
“Jake’s a slave driver,” Allison said. “Do you know he took two weeks off when Garret was born and left me all his work?”
Rock sat back and listened to the conversation between Allison and her family. Although it was only one meeting, it appeared as though she had a strong relationship with both her dad and stepmom. A few of his buddies in high school had stepparents and, with one exception, all their relationships had been cold. In those cases though, the parents had divorced before remarrying. He didn’t have the details about the how, but he knew Allison’s mom passed away several years ago. He guessed his sister knew what happened. It seemed like something a man would share with his wife. He’d stopped himself from asking his sister despite his curiosity. He’d dislike someone poking around in his personal life, especially about something like the death of a parent. Besides, he figured enough people poked into her business because of her last name. He didn’t need to do it too. When she wanted to tell him, she would.
“It’s too bad you cannot get away this weekend. I’m sure Addie and your parents would love to see you. Marta mentioned you don’t make it home much,” Abby said once Allison had finished filling her dad in all about her work at the Falmouth Foundation.
Abigail Sherbrooke and his mother discussed him? He couldn’t picture such a conversation. “Not too often. She gets it though.”
“Understanding and liking it are two very different things. It’s only been a few months and I miss my regular lunch dates with Allison. I can’t imagine going a year or more without seeing her and the boys.”
Sounded like not only Allison but also her four brothers had a close relationship with their stepmother.
“We’ll be up next weekend. Maybe we can have lunch then and ask Addie along too. We’ll leave the men in charge of the baby. By then, Trent will have had a whole week to master changing a diaper.” For about the third time since they’d sat down, Allison checked her phone for any text messages. He’d noticed her dad doing the same thing.
