AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mason looks over his shoulder, making sure no one else is at the nurse’s station to overhear, but still whispers, “Yeah, it didn’t get too far, thankfully. Let’s just say there’s a reason she does full recon on guys before meeting them in person. The dating pool is a dark, ugly place with sharks hiding in plain sight.”
“Oh! I hate that. Maybe her Prince Charming is still out there, and she’ll find him soon. Or maybe he’ll stumble into her remote cabin in the woods, and she’ll attack him with bear spray?” I suggest hopefully, knowing that sounds like a worst-case scenario, not a best, but it worked for me.
“Yeah,” Mason says with a shrug. “She’s okay. Could probably use a pick-me-up, though.” Quieter, he adds, “Or a hook-up without a record or an STI.”
I cringe. That makes me sad for Gabriella who is gorgeous, brilliant, and so big-hearted. But one day, she’ll find The One. I have to believe that. And then all the hardships will be a part of her story on how she found happiness. In the meantime, the struggle is real.
“Other thanstuff, what’s on the agenda for tonight?” Mason asks, using my euphemism for sex. I’m not a prude, but I also don’t go around spilling private details, despite the fact that I basically share everything else, intentionally or not.
“Oh, my God! I haven’t told you?” I say, then slap my hand over my mouth because that was definitely too loud. Too late, though, because one of the lights on the screen comes on. I hold a finger up to Mason and answer, “Yes, Mrs. Donald?”
“Somebody’s screaming in pain down the hall. I know you hear it too, but you’re sitting on your lazy rump roasts, letting her cry out like a wounded seagull.Raaaawrch,” she screeches, not sounding anything like I did.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. I’ll check up and down the hall,” I reassure her, knowing full-well that what she heard was me, but I’m not going to admit that.
For every kind, nice patient we have, there are always a few who’re unhappy in their old age, somehow thinking they’d escape the passage of time and feeling betrayed that their golden years aren’t as imagined. Mrs. Donald is one of those and always mad at someone for something, even when it’s been a perfectly lovely day. I once heard her complaining that she didn’t finish a puzzle fast enough. Not that a piece was missing, or it didn’t look like the picture on the box, but that she had arbitrarily decided that it would take her no more than an hour, and it took her all afternoon. We’d tried praising her speed, which was remarkably good for a woman of her age and eyesight. Even going so far as comparing her to competitive puzzlers, which is surprisingly actually a thing. She wasn’t having it and pouted for days, refusing her pudding at dinner and any other attempts at puzzles.
I hang up to find Mason touching his nose. “Not it.”
I roll my eyes. I’m the one who disturbed Mrs. Donald, so it’s only fair that I be the one to go tell her that everything’s fine on the hall. But first...
“We’re having a family dinner at Cole’s tonight. All the siblings and spouses are coming over!” I’m being quiet, but my excitement is palpable. My plan to bring Cole and his siblings together wasn’t a failure after all, and in fact, it was his idea to invite them over for dinner.
If there were a gold medal in successful plans, well... I wouldn’t get it because it was super-rough there for a minute, but I’d totally get a participation ribbon.
“Sounds like one big, happy family,” Mason muses.
He’s wrong. The Harringtons haven’t been happy for a long time. There are feelings of hurt and betrayal, of being judged and dismissed, and a ridiculous amount of male posturing in their past. But even in their mess, they’d do anything for each other. That’s what makes them family. Not the blood they share, not the history they wrote together from vastly different perspectives.
They love each other in spite of being family, not because they are.
Seeing that shines a new light on my family too. They think sharing blood trumps everything. My parents, sister, cousins, and even beyond think they can do anything and not suffer any consequences because blood is thicker than water.
But it’s not. Family can be those you choose. If you’re lucky, you can choose the people you’re born into. If not, you can choose others to be your family.
I’m choosing Cole.
And if possible, I’d like to choose the Harringtons too.
“Hopefully, they will be if I have anything to do with it,” I tell Mason. “I’ll go tell Mrs. Donald that everything’s fine if you go check on Mrs. Michaelson. She’s due for a new bag.”
Mason holds up a bag of saline that’s prepped and ready. “On it. Good luck.”
He means with Mrs. Donald, but I mentally store the well-wish away for tonight’s dinner, which is important to Cole and his siblings in a way I’m not sure I can even fathom.
* * *
Cole and I are standing in the private garage below his office, waiting for his siblings to arrive. He told them the address and that there was parking, but not much else. I think he wants to surprise them more than he wants to keep secrets. Or maybe it’s just a habit that needs to be worked on.
Either way, with only that small bit of information, they all readily agreed to come, which I think bodes well for this big reveal. Well, what I assume is a big reveal because I think he’s going to tell them everything tonight. It won’t undo years of hurt in one night, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping it heals some of the damage that’s weighed Cole down for so long.
He told me what Kayla and he talked about and how confused it made him, but he’s been mostly silently working it out in his mind ever since. That’s been hard for me because I’m a talk-talk-talker, but I’ve tried to respect his mental space and process.
But the fact that he initiated this dinner speaks volumes. Loud, clear, resounding volumes.
I hear the gate rolling up and hold my breath.
Like they planned it, everyone arrives at pretty much the same time. Carter and Luna carpooled with Chance and Samantha, who surprisingly don’t look tan from their island honeymoon. Cameron comes in a luxury sedan, and Kyle roars in on a motorcycle.
