Chapter 17
Leah had never beento a family gathering quite like this. It was Mother’s Day, not Christmas, but apparently in Cedarville people treated them the same; at least Brandon’s family did.
There was so much food, which instead of making themselves, Brandon and the rest of the guys had catered. Then there were the gifts. It was a whole pile. Making her glad she’d had the forethought to bring something.
“Brandon, Leah,” his mom greeted them, hugging them both. “It’s so good to see you.”
“Thank you again for having me,” Leah said.
“No thanks necessary,” she said. “Go get some food and Brandon, make sure you introduce her to everyone.”
“She already knows half the people here, mom.”
“Brandon Bartholomew Graham, don’t you take that tone with me.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said and took her arm guiding her further into the house.
“Bartholomew?” she questioned and raised an eyebrow.
“It’s an old family name,” he cringed.
“You know I’m totally using that now that I know it, right?” She loved teasing him. When she had started calling him Chief over a week ago, she’d only done it because it bothered him so much. But now that he didn’t seem to mind it, she needed something new.
“You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t,” he said playfully.
They found Carly talking to her dad, who Leah had met years ago but hadn’t seen since.
“It’s nice to see you again,” she told him.
“How are you liking Cedarville?” he asked.
“I love it. Carly and Mel have been so amazing. I’m not sure what I would have done without them.” She was aware that almost everyone here knew about her past and yet it wasn’t really bothering her.
“Ahh shucks,” Carly said. “You’re gonna make me blush.”
“My daughter everyone,” Mike Graham said, making them all laugh.
“Are those Melanie’s parents?” Leah asked, pointing across the room to where Mel was standing with a man and woman that looked almost identical to her.
“Yeah,” Carly said. “Want me to take you over to meet them?” Leah looked at Brandon to make sure he was okay with that.
“Go,” he said, patting her butt lightly. “I’m gonna go find my dad.”
“Did Bran just smack your ass?” Carly asked as they crossed the large room.
“Is that a problem?” Leah said.
“No, I just had no idea that he was such an alpha.”
“Who even came up with that term anyway, and why can’t women be the alpha?” Leah was partly joking but there was some truth behind it too.
“Oh, I’m totally an alpha,” Carly said as they stopped in front of Mel and her parents.
“Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?” Melanie asked.
“No,” both she and Carly said at the same time.
“Leah,” Mel said, pulling her forward, “I’d like you to meet my parents, Christine and Dan.”
Leah shook hands with them both. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“Melanie says you are a whiz at keeping the business running,” Dan said.
“I don’t know about being a whiz, but I do my best.”
“I’m sorry to hear about the problems you are having,” Cristine said. “That has to be tough.”
“Thank you,” she said. “And I’m so sorry that Mel got caught in the middle.”
“That is not your fault,” her mom said, swatting her hand in the air. “You can’t control crazy and besides, Mel is just fine.”
Leah was grateful that Mel’s parents weren’t angry about their daughter being hurt, but she still felt horrible that the whole thing had happened. Brandon was still hard at work on the case, but as far as she knew, there was still no sign of Will.
“Hey,” he said, coming up behind her. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah,but first I want to drop this,” she pulled a small wrapped package from her purse, “at the gift table.”
“You got my mom a gift?” he asked slowly.
“I wasn’t coming to a Mother’s Day party without one.”
He was staring at her like she had two heads. “Is that a –” her last word was cut off when he kissed her. It was hot and quick but she was breathless when he pulled back.
“What was that for?” she asked, her breath mixing with his since he was still close.
“Because I can.” He smiled, took her hand and continued leading her to the kitchen.
Maybe Carly was right and he was an Alpha.
She was probably okay with that.
In the kitchen, she was finished filling her plate with all kinds of delicious-looking food when Logan and Tony walked in.
“Hey,” Logan said, reaching for a plate.
“What’s up?” Brandon asked. “I didn’t know you were coming,” he said to Tony and shook his hand.
“Logan invited me at the last minute, I hope that’s okay?”
“Absolutely,” Brandon said. “Mom loves when more people come.”
“As an added bonus, I get to annoy Carly,” he said.
“I told you,” Leah whispered to Brandon as they walked away. “He lives to torture her.”
“Better him torturing her than her torturing me.”
When the time came for both his mom and Melanie’s mom to open presents, Leah got a little nervous. She hadn’t had a whole lot of time to shop and she really had no idea what Alice liked. So instead of buying her something, she went to a craft store and purchased the things she needed to make a pair of earrings. It was a hobby of hers and if she’d already had her stuff from New York, her supplies would have been there. But she made do and loved how they had turned out.
When it was time for Alice to open her gift, she held her breath and waited.
“Oh my,” she said when she pulled them from the box. “These are so lovely, Leah.” She inspected the earrings. “Did you get them somewhere in town?”
“No,” she spoke and her voice cracked. “I made them.”
“You made them?” She looked at her in shock.
“Yeah,” she said shyly. Brandon was holding her hand, squeezing it for support.
“How did I not know you make earrings?” Carly asked moving toward her aunt to check them out.
She shrugged. “It’s just something I have always done for myself.”
“I want a pair,” Mel said from behind Alice.
“Looks like your gift was a hit,” Brandon said into her ear.
Alice was walking toward her and before she knew it, she was hugging her. “Thank you so much for the beautiful earrings. With a gift like that,” she stood back, hands on Leah’s shoulders, “I can’t wait to have you at all our family events.”
“Mom,” Brandon warned.
“What? I’m just saying,” she said and walked away, leaving Leah laughing.
“Sorry about her,” he said. “We have no control.”
She leaned into his side. “Is that your way of saying you don’t want me at all your family events?” She was kidding and hoped he could tell.
“I want you everywhere I go, forever.”
She wanted the same thing. Forever with Brandon. But was it possible? Could this love last?
Excusing herself to use the restroom, Carly caught up with her.
“Did you see that Anthony is here?”
“Yeah, I saw that Tony was here.” She laughed at her continued use of his given name.
“Why the hell did Logan have to bring him?” she asked and followed her into the bathroom.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Do you think maybe I could pee alone?”
“Pssh,” she scoffed. “Since when do you care if I see you pee.”
“I don’t care,” she said and gave in, pulling her pants down. “Maybe I just wanted a few minutes alone.”
“If I have to put up with Anthony, you don’t get time alone.”
“Why do you let him get to you?”
“He doesn’t.” She scrunched up her face.
“Bull shit,” Leah said. “You can’t stand that he is always picking on you or cracking jokes at your expense. But if Mel or I do the same thing, you don’t care.”
“That’s because I know you guys. He thinks he knows me so damn well but he doesn’t.”
“I don’t know,” she said and flushed. “Some of his cracks are right on.”
“Do you want to be homeless?”
“Mel owns the house, she would never kick me out. And anyway, I could always just live with Brandon.” As soon as the words left her mouth and she heard them, her heart started beating faster.
“Do you want to live with Brandon?” Carly turned and faced her.
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not ready for that. I mean staying there sometimes is one thing but living there...?”
“I thought you guys were all in love and stuff. Isn’t that what people in love do, move in together?”
“I’m not ready for that,” she stated strongly, even though her heart was beating faster at just the idea of living with him.
“Hey,” she put her hands up, “I was just asking. Don”t be pissed at me.”
“I’m not pissed at anyone,” she said a little more defensively than she had wanted.
“Yeah, it seems that way.”
There was a knock on the door. “Hey let me in,” Mel said from the other side.
“Oh my God, are we having a party or something,” Leah said and pulled the door open.
“I need to get away from Logan before I strangle him.”
“So basically we are all in here hiding out from guys,” Carly said leaning against the sink.
“I am not hiding from Brandon. I just needed a few minutes alone.”
“Well, I am definitely hiding from Logan,” Mel said.
“I thought you liked him?” Carly said. “Why are you hiding?”
“I do like him but this constant attention is weird and I think he is only doing it because he found me hurt.”
“Ahh, Florence Nightingale syndrome,” Leah said.
“That’s not a real thing,” Mel insisted.
“Yes it is.”
“Do you really think that’s what it is?” Carly said. “Because I don’t see that from Logan.”
“It would explain things,” Mel said.
“I don’t know,” Carly said. “Maybe he just really likes you?”
“There is no way,” Mel said. “All these years and now, all of a sudden, he likes me?”
“Isn’t that what happened to you?” Leah asked.
“Why is she so logical?” Mel looked at Carly.
“I keep wondering that same thing. It’s totally annoying.”
“With that, I am leaving,” Leah said and opened the door. “For what it’s worth,” she looked at Mel one last time, “I think you should open your eyes and really pay attention to what is going on with Logan.”
She found Brandon talking to his dad and instead of joining him, she stood back and watched. He was so handsome with his brown hair that never seemed to look bad. Today he sported a small amount of facial hair from two days of not shaving and even though she loved him clean-shaven, when his face had scruff, she was a hot mess.
“I remember those days,” a voice said from beside her. She looked to find Brandon’s mom, Alice standing next to her.
“What days?”
“The days where just looking at Charlie made me happy. He was so handsome, like Brandon and he made my heart flutter, especially when he would catch me looking at him and give me a wink.”
“How long have you been married?” Leah asked.
“It’ll be thirty-six years this summer.”
“How did you know that he was the one?”
“I remember asking my mom that same question.”
“And what did she say?”
“She told me that if I’m asking if he is the one, then he is.”
Leah looked at Alice and smiled. “And what did you do after that?”
“I resisted his best efforts to fall in love with him until finally, he did something that I couldn’t ignore.”
At her raised eyebrows she went on.
“We met the summer after I graduated from college and he was in Cedarville on vacation with his family. At the end of the summer, he wanted me to move with him back to Georgia. I refused. A week after he left, he showed back up here with all his belongings and said, ‘if you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you’. The love that I had been holding back, flooded out. He moved his whole life for me and to me; that was love.”
“That’s a beautiful story.”
She looked like she wanted to say more but instead she said, “Go get Bran and get out of here. You guys have done enough today.”
She left her standing there, still watching Brandon when he turned and caught her eye. He winked and she laughed thinking of his mom and dad.
They met halfway across the room. “You ready?”
She knew he was talking about leaving the party but she couldn’t stop her mind from wondering if she was ready for more with him.