AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Nope. You are staying put.” Paisley tugs on her husband’s arm.Yup, this sisterhood is strong.
“Angus can’t have all the fun,” he moans at his wife.
“She is a grown woman,” Paisley reminds him.
“Dating for the first time and alone,” Wiley argues.Good point.
“It is all innocence.” Paisley waves her hand in the air, dismissing her hubby’s concern. They are protective men. I get it.
Wiley holds a finger up. “What happens if they are—”
“La-la-la-la”—Angus puts his fingers in his ears—“I can’t hear ye. Whatever ye are suggesting, they won’t be. We just take a quick peek in any of the windows, and we can all put our minds to rest, and Teagan can offer up the projector TV and a bunch of PG-13 movies with absolutely no sexual content in them.”
“I was going to say, ‘kissing.’” Wiley rolls his eyes.
Teagan clasps her hands on her head, her anxiety for the hypothetical situation rising because of these two knuckleheads. “But what if they are—?”
“La-la-la-la-laaaa—” Wiley has his fingers in his ears and his eyes shut. Oh, boy. Alice and her love life have turned these big Scottish men into messes.
Santiago looks uncomfortable with the idea from the silent conversation boomeranging back and forth between him and Isabella.
“She’s a grown woman,” Gwen reminds us from the sofa, “but she’s also our Sweet Alice—”
Not helping.
“—so, how do we know things haven’t progressed since they have been umm… dating?”
“That’s easy. They have never been on a solo date.” Teagan is confident in her reasoning. “Just donuts and breaks spent together either outside the donut shop or at his father’s garage in full view of everyone.” Teagan starts pacing. “Dammit, this isn’t helping my anxiety. It was all so harmless before, but we all know what happens when you are in love.”
Angus gets up and walks over to Teagan and puts his arms around her, hugging her close, whispering in her ear.
She is starting to upset herself. There is a mixture of emotions she’s warring over, considering she is Alice’s primary guardian and sister.
Teagan nods at something Angus says to her then he turns around to face us.
“Okay, the plan is to get a feel for what is going down in the tiny house… not my best choice of wording, and with Teagan’s permission, I’ll take it from there. They are adults, and even if I need to talk man-talk with Matty to gauge his understanding of what being with his girlfriend alone means to him, then I will do so. The bottom line is they are grown-ups, but they are Down syndrome adults. From what we can all see of Matty, he has been brought up well. He’s a good man. If I must talk about safe sex, I will. We can’t assume what is going on. They could be in a hand-holding relationship for a long time. Teagan might need to speak with his father another day, and if their relationship is serious, then they might need to work with professionals who understand how to handle a conversation like that. We can’t assume Matty has never had a relationship before with a woman, but we are all pretty sure about Alice.”
“I’ll go get your projector device, and it will be my excuse to knock on her door or join your conversation,” Teagan offers, looking much better about handling any awkward situation that may arise.
“Okay. I’ll go then.” Angus jogs away.
I could point out that we offer the tiny houses the projectors, and they are in my office, but I won’t bring it up. Teagan is keeping busy, and Angus has a plan.
Teagan starts to walk toward the pink carpet.
“I’ll drive ye,” Wiley offers, walking beside her. “I’m parked in yer driveway.”
“Thanks.”
Isabella kisses her husband on the cheek. “Remember when—”
Santiago holds his palm up. “My Bella, please do not remind me. I know what we were like. You and I were insatiable when we were young.”
Isabella blushes, laughing softly.
Let’s hope the hand-holding phase lasts until Tucker gets released from his job.
“I guess, Gwen, Isabella, and I will have another margarita now I know I am free from guest check-in.”
