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“Relax,” Donny soothed her. “You know almost everyone that will be here. They won’t make you feel uncomfortable, I promise.”
As soon as they entered the house, she was greeted by the captain’s bubbly wife, who gushed over the dress she wore, wishing she was a couple of decades younger and a few pounds less to pull it off.
When she made it out to the backyard, it was the same energy. Everyone welcomed her cheerfully, and she was involved in their conversations as she’d always been coming to their cookouts.
“Excuse me, ladies, but can I steal Andrea for a while?”
“Of course,” Celeste readily agreed, smiling broadly.
Andrea looked up to see Donny smiling down at her with an outstretched hand. She put her hand in his and allowed him to help her up.
“I want to introduce you to my sons,” he informed her as he guided her to another section of the yard.
He led her over to two young men who were laughing at whatever the female that stood by the older one holding her protectively was saying.
“Trey, Bruce, Janice,” Donny spoke up, getting their attention. “This is Andrea Hamilton. She’s the one restructuring our website.”
Bruce and Janice gave her a broad smile as they held out their hands for her to shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Hamilton. Dad has told us a lot about you,” Bruce said.
“All good things, I hope,” she replied, turning her head to Donny in question. “And please call me Andrea.” The couple nodded in acceptance.
“Trey,” she heard Donny say in what seemed to be a gruff whisper.
Andrea turned to the younger son just as he turned from whatever battle he and his father were having.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Andrea,” he said with a polite smile.
Andrea could feel the tension rolling off his body and knew the sentiments he expressed were possibly far from the truth.
“Likewise,” she replied simply, shaking his hand.
“I’m gonna go talk to Chelsea,” he said, excusing himself.
“I’m sorry, Andrea. He isn’t good with meeting new people,” Donny apologized as he brought her back over to the group of women she was with previously.
“It’s fine, I understand,” she replied.
Donny excused himself, and she spent the next fifteen minutes talking and laughing with the wives and girlfriends of the other firefighters, with her and Celeste being the exception.
Andrea excused herself from the group to go use the restroom. On her way out of the house, she could hear voices that seemed to be arguing out on the back porch.
“It’s like you’re trying to replace Mom like our feelings don’t matter…”
“That’s not fair.”
Andrea stopped herself from pushing open the back door.
“I’ll always love your mother, and no one can possibly take her place. No one will…”
Andrea retraced her steps but headed for the front door. She couldn’t listen anymore. She wasn’t sure why Donny’s words affected her as they did, but as he spoke, it felt as if someone had used a knife to puncture whatever high she was on.
“She means nothing to me. I want us to work. I promise I’ll stop behaving like a bachelor for you. Jus-just give me another chance.”
The tears streamed down her face as she watched the man who she thought was falling in love with her drive the final nail in her coffin as he tried to salvage the relationship with the female she had no clue about.
Just like that, Andrea realized that she was always on the losing side in the game of love.
“Andrea, are you okay?”
