Page 10 of With Wine Comes War

He pulled me to his side. “Scared the shit out of me.”

I relinquished Ryan’s hold on me as I turned to Landon and inquired about his love life next. “So, Prince Charming, what’s new with you and Piper?” The three of them suddenly got excited looks on their faces.

“I asked her to marry me!” Landon blurted out.

I looked at everyone and asked as curiously as I could, “Did she say yes?” I knew she would, but I had to mess with him.

He didn’t look amused when he huffed, “Haha! Of course she said YES! What the hell.” I gave him a big congratulatory hug.

“I better be getting an invite to that wedding.”

“Of course you are, I was thinking about asking you to be my best man. Don’t want to muck up the wedding with some douchebag trying to sleep with all the bridesmaids.”

We all started laughing and Ryan shoved him knowing exactly who he was talking about.

“Like hell you were. I’m the only best man at your wedding.” God, I missed this place. Watching the guys pretend to fight has been the highlight of the past three weeks. The past three weeks that I barely remembered that seemed like a year ago.

Just then the door opened with a loud moan from the hinges as Grant entered. “I’d recognize this party anywhere,” he said with a smile on his face staring right at me.

I jumped up, throwing myself into Grant’s welcoming arms. He was tall with perfectly groomed gray hair and a well-trimmed gray beard to match. His suits were all Italian and expensive along with his cologne, which had always been a source of comfort to me. My guess is he was born in Italy. As much as he tried to hide it, I can hear a little bit of an accent even though he’s never said one way or another if he is from there. He’s a good-looking, older man with very expensive taste in clothing– that is what I do know for sure.

“Alex, where have you been? You need to come around more often.” I nodded my head trying to hold back the tears. I was so sick of crying all the time, but this seemed to be a daily occurrence for me now.

“I will, I promise, just needed to get some space.” I grabbed a tissue off the desk to blot the tears that were threatening to spill over.

“Yeah, I know. By the way, there’s a couple in my office you need to see.”

I told the crew I’d be back, and I followed Grant to his office.

Chapter 4

ROMAN

“Hey mom.”

This isn’t something I want to put on my mom, but I don’t know who else to turn to.

“Hey honey, how are you? Harrison said you left the office with a headache and never came back. Is everything okay?”

Thanks a lot Harry,I thought as I looked up at the ceiling and let out a breath. We might be a little old fortattle-tailing.

“I think we need to talk,” I managed to get out as I put a hand in my pocket and tried to decide if this was really the best idea. Mom had helped Alex at my request, but I didn’t know if this might be too hard for her to navigate trying to help me get through this. What Alex didn’t know is that mom doesn’t see patients anymore because it got too stressful, and she was sent off to a rehab program of sorts out of the country. I was younger then and found myself very protective of my mother and ended up with a lot of anger issues as a result. The thought of losing someone I love intensifies those feelings and Alex seems to have brought it all to the surface again.

“Do you want me to come over?” She asked but I needed some fresh air; the drive would do me some good.

“No, I’ll come to you. I think it will be calmer at your place than mine right now.” Too many memories here with Alex. I looked around catching a glimpse of the sofa, visualizing our last night together when we finally said “I love you” to one another. The thought is making my headache start to intensify again. I shake off the memory and head to the bedroom.

“Ok, I’ll see you soon honey.” I hung up and tossed the phone on the bed as I went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face.

I got in the car to the sound of my stomach growling. I probably needed to eat because I was feeling a little irritable when I pulled up to my parents’ house, realizing I haven’t eaten since breakfast. As soon as I got in the kitchen, she was plating up food for the three of us.

“Did I sound hungry on the phone?” Mind reading seems to be a thing in this family, or I just came at the right time.

“You used to get headaches when you were out all day playing and forgot to eat. I figured I could guess why you might have one now. You’ve been through a lot these past few weeks and I’m sure you’ve been a little preoccupied.” Mom leaned in to kiss my cheekso I leaned down a little so she could reach as she was handing me the plate. That’s what moms are for, aren’t they. They know us better than we know ourselves sometimes.

“You hit the nail on the head.” I agreed and kissed her cheek hello as well.

“What happened at noon that set you off?” She asked as I sat at the table and started eating before I said another word and realized how much I loved dinner time when I was growing up. It was always just the four of us. Tonight, we were having homemade spaghetti and meatballs– one of my favorites. Mom makes the best sauce. It’s tangy and the fresh grated parmesan melts perfectly over each bite.

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