Page 58 of That Reilly Boy
Because we actually are the real deal?
No. I can’t let myself believe that. Not today. Not while we’re standing at the altar. And definitely not while we’re acting out our roles as man and wife, waiting for Gin to sign the paperwork that will make the house mine.
“Aaron,” Hope calls from the living room. “Daisy and AJ are squabbling over something upstairs and I’m not dealing with it because you owe me for life after tonight.”
“I don’t think we settled on life,” he calls back, and then he points at me. “Don’t forget you’ll be watching my kids for a weekend. Maybe even a long weekend, if Hope can work it into her schedule.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
By the time he’s done refereeing his kids, I’ve finished cleaning the dining room and kitchen, and the dishwasher’s running. Hope’s on the couch with her feet up on the coffee table, watching rich housewives yell at each other on the TV, while Aaron’s doing his best not to nod off.
“I should get Penny,” I say. “She’s sensitive to tension. And Mom’s probably pacing, waiting to give me hell when I walk through the door. The sooner we get it over with, the sooner Penny can relax.”
“Have fun with that,” Aaron says smugly from his position of being the son who married a woman Colleen adores and gave her grandchildren, and not the son who made her share a meal with Gambles.
I go upstairs to say goodbye to Daisy and AJ, and then I thank Hope again for dinner. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t take that long to walk to my mother’s house, so I don’t get a lot of decompression time before I have to go through the door.
Penny’s happy to be back to her fluffy bed, at least, and I take my time putting her harness and leash away before making eye contact with Colleen. She’s watching the same show Hope was, but she mutes it when I sink onto the couch next to her.
“Thank you, Mom,” I tell her. “I know that was hard for you, but it meant a lot to Cara and me.”
“It was hard.” She puts her hand on mine, surprising me. I was expecting anger. “But seeing you two together… I wish she wasn’t a Gamble, but I want you to be happy.”
I nod, letting her words sink in. The goal is to convince our friends and family we’re head-over-heels in love with each other, but it’s a little alarming how easily the two people who know me best have accepted it.
Before I can think of a response, she pats my hand twice and then pushes herself to her feet. “It was a long day, so I’m going to go read in bed for a while. If I fall asleep before I come back down, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Once she’s gone, I grab the television remote and start flipping through the channels, looking for something that might offer distraction without requiring concentration. Since we’re alone, Penny abandons her bed and relaxes into her favorite position—stretched out beside me so her entire body is pressed along the length of my thigh.
I want to call Cara, but I don’t want to interrupt anything if Gin didn’t take the evening as well as Colleen did. Plus, on the telephone, her mother might not be able to hear me, but she’d be able to hear Cara’s end of the conversation. A text conversation, though, is not only private, but Cara can ignore it if she’s in the middle of something or just not in the mood to talk about it.
HAYDEN
How are things at your house?
CARA
My mom claimed a headache and went to her room to be alone.
HAYDEN
Same with my mom, more or less. Let’s blame the lasagna.
She sends back a laughing emoji, which makes me smile. I really want to hear her voice, but I also don’t want to be pushy. Showing up in town and getting her to marry me so I can have her house is probably pushy enough.
HAYDEN
Do you have any free time tomorrow?
CARA
I’m booked up solid the next two days. A bug went around the elementary school and I’m trying to get the rescheduled appointments out of the way this week. And I need to get Gin to commit to what she’s wearing Saturday.
That’s disappointing, but I’ll be patient. After Saturday, everything will be different.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cara
