AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Whatever.
All I know is that my sister wants a baby, but for some reason, he’s either not ready or willing to make that happen.
And that really pisses me off.
I glance over at Lex, not surprised to see the seat beside her occupied by someone other than her husband. In fact, Chris is absent more than he is in attendance when it comes to family functions. It doesn’t matter if it’s a night or weekend, either. He’s always working, wining and dining prospective clients or his existing clients, trying to get more business from them. As a young financial advisor at Edward Jones, he’s always looking for ways to get his foot in the door before those of the two senior advisors in the office.
“You okay, sweetie?” I’m startled from my own thoughts by my dad, Brian, who bends down and places a kiss on my cheek.
“I’m good, Dad. How are you?”
“Can’t complain,” he answers and takes the final open seat next to Josh. They immediately begin talking.
My dad seems to be smiling a little more than in the past. Losing my mom to ovarian cancer when I was seventeen left a big hole in our family, including my dad. He devoted his entire life to raising his six girls, but even then, it was tough. He had to work full-time to be able to support us, and thankfully, my grandparents were around to help out. Otherwise, I’m sure it would have fallen heavily on my shoulders.
In the fifteen years since Mom passed, I’ve never seen him so much as look at another woman, let alone take one out to dinner. I’m sure he’s lonely; hell, how could he not be? But he never lets on that his life is anything less than full. At least on the outside. But deep down, I see his sadness. I couldn’t imagine losing the love of my life at such a young age. The thought alone leaves me sweaty in the pit area.
“Payters, I think you should sign up for online dating,” Grandma says after our orders are taken. Everyone stops and stares at me. Again.
“What is this, pick on Payton day?”
“Never. I think it would be a great way to meet men your own age.”
Fidgeting uncomfortably in my seat, I say, “I don’t need to meet men. I meet plenty of men all the time.”
“I’m not talking about the ones coming in to buy flowers. I’m talking about the available ones that are looking to play hide the salami with my gorgeous granddaughter.”
“Could you not talk about the salami and my daughter in the same sentence, Emma?” Dad chastises before chugging his tea.
“Fine. Payton, what you need is a good ol’ fashioned round of bumping uglies,” Grandma rephrases happily.
The entire table groans.
When the silence descends on the table, Abby speaks up quietly. “I’ve thought about online dating.”
Her confession catches me, along with the rest of my sisters off guard. “Really?” I ask, trying to mask my surprise.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s hard for me to get out and meet people when you’re trapped in front of your computer screen fourteen hours a day with work. I thought I’d see what it was all about, you know?” She wrings her hands together and worries her bottom lip with her teeth.
“I don’t really like the idea,” Dad says. “There are all kinds of weirdos out there, Abby.”
“It’s just something I’ve been considering lately. I don’t know why I said it out loud. It’s not like I’ve decided anything,” she adds, turning her attention to a cracker packet from the basket on the table. The way she stares at it you’d think it was the most fascinating cracker packet in the entire world.
“Well, if that’s what you want, we support you,” Meghan chimes in. “Just promise us you’ll be careful.”
The rest of lunch progresses with minimal talk of online dating, fertility pillows, and sex. Even though they’re completely inappropriate most of the time, I can’t help but adore the way Grandpa rubs the top of Grandma’s hand. They’re totally touchy feely, often bordering on that fine line between loving and PDA. Oh, who am I kidding? They usually jump straight over that line and dive headfirst into groping.
What would it be like to love someone so completely that you’d risk public indecency on a regular basis because you just can’t help yourself? To find that one person who makes you laugh and causes your body to sing at the same time? Someone who’ll never make you cry?
Long ago, I thought maybe I had found that someone. Not all frogs transform into a prince. Some are just frogs through and through. And not every love is a great romance.
My mind instantly bypasses Cole and jumps straight to the man who triggers many dirty thoughts. He might have left his shirt behind after our first night together, but he took something when he left. In just a few encounters, he bulldozed through the reinforced walls I built surrounding my heart to protect it from getting hurt by those who claim to love you. He unknowingly broke through my tough exterior and started to make me like him.
Bastard.
