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“Sean,” his grandmother said. “Come give me a kiss and put the gifts down. We can leave Sawyer alone.”
Normally his grandmother was the one that was on his case the most about being alone. She’d even started this conversation but then was the first one to end it.
He’d take the win while he could.
A few hours later, he was getting ready to leave. He had his box of leftovers to bring home with him. There was a slight headache building behind his eyes with the way his grandfather and father kept talking about relationships and life being short.
Not much was directed at him, but he felt there was an underlying theme to see if he’d react. He never did. They should know that by now.
“Thank you for everything,” he said to everyone.
Sawyer got some clothes that he could always use, some gift cards to places he liked to eat for takeout while he was working. Even some new sheets and towels. His grandmother always got him things for his apartment as she feared he never replaced stuff himself after years of use. She was right, he didn’t.
But maybe he should consider looking around and doing that if he was going to have someone at his apartment more. He never cared much before, but for some reason he was thinking—more like hoping—that it’d come about with Faith.
“Thank you,” his grandmother said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be grinding and brewing some of my new coffee tonight. Jolene and Gavin normally stop over once their house is empty and bring us some desserts left over.”
“And food,” his grandfather said. “Such generous neighbors.”
Hmmm, that was the first this had come up. “That’s nice of them,” he said.
“That’s because you helped Jolene for years with the kids when they were young,” his father said. “They will never thank you enough for that.”
Again, he’d never heard that before either and wasn’t sure why he hadn’t. “You did?” he asked.
“Oh yes,” his grandmother said. “I had just retired and Jolene and Gavin had the five kids. She had her hands full. She did have her family coming to help and Gavin was wonderful too, but five kids at once. They didn’t get a lick of sleep. I’d go over daily for a few hours to check in on her. Maybe help her do some chores around the house. Or just feeding time with five of them. It’s not like she could feed them all at once.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t easy,” he said.
“No, it wasn’t,” his father said. “But when you find your soulmate in life things work out the way they should.”
That was his clue to get the fuck out of there. Maybe he’d see Faith’s car when he left and could at least feel like he was close to her for the day.
“Have a great day, everyone,” he said.
* * *
Logan openedthe front door later that night to see Gavin and Jolene standing there. “Merry Christmas,” Jolene said. Her arms were full along with Gavin’s. They’d be eating well for a few days.
“Merry Christmas to you,” he said. “Come in. I’ve got a nice bottle of scotch just waiting to open. My boy Sawyer got me some of the good stuff this year even though I bought a bottle of my usual last week.”
“Nothing better than a man that knows his scotch,” Gavin said.
“I’ll let Logan pour you a glass,” Marci said. “And I’ll grind and brew us some coffee that Sawyer got me too.”
“We’ve got some cannoli in there to have with our drinks,” Jolene said. “I’ll help you in the kitchen.”
The two women went to the kitchen and Logan and Gavin moved to the family room not that far off. “Well?” Gavin asked. “Did you get anywhere?”
“I thought we were doing well until my son had to end the day with a comment about finding his soulmate. Too much too soon if you ask me, but Sean has always been one to have his head in the clouds or thinking with his heart.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Gavin said. “It works for some and not for others.”
“That’s the problem though,” Logan said. “My son let too much go in his life and he got taken advantage of. He was always a simple man. He liked what he liked and you couldn’t get him to see reason. Maybe we babied him too much as an only child.”
His son said he wanted to travel a little before he decided on his career. He’d met Lucy Long and the rest was history. His son was all about finding a job and moving in with her. No college there.
“You can never spoil your child enough,” Jolene said from the kitchen. “It’s not like Sean was ever disrespectful. He’s a wonderful son.”
