Chapter 42
Nerves flood my entire body when we arrive at The Moore’s home, my grip tightening on his hand as he puts his car in park. His family home is decent in size, a gray home with white trim, neatly manicured bushes throughout the long walkway up until the home, and a giant American flag in the front yard. Even the grass is trimmed perfectly despite it nearing winter, its green color still vibrant despite the dew resting on top of it. It’s only eleven in the morning, and the sun is slowly rising, as if knowing winter is nearing. Cars on cars are stacked in front and behind one another, and based on the lack of parking space in the driveway, it seems like this Thanksgiving will be larger than I anticipated, although, to be fair, I didn’t know what I was expecting, anyway.
“You okay?” Tanner’s deep voice fills the space of his car, his head turning to look at me as he squeezes the top of my thigh in reassurance. I swallow thickly, nodding once as the nerves threaten to constrict my throat, making me forget all words I should normally say. I don’t pull my gaze to look at him, still transfixed by the larger-than-life home, and for a second, I don’t feel like I’m on this planet. I’m processing a time when I was in the comfort of my own home, unworried about anything else on this day but how much green I could smoke and what delicious food I’d cook up for myself. Now, I have to socialize with the guy I’m seeing and his entire family, which causes nerves to twist in my stomach. My chest squeezes tight, even more so when the front door opens, a small, brunette-haired kid peering out into the way, waving at us as he undoubtedly knows Tanner is here. It’s obvious, based on the few other kids peering from the side of the doorway, pushed inside by a girl with bright pink hair as she peers out, eyes narrowed until she, too, recognizes Tanner, waving brightly. He chuckles to himself, waving back once.
“Aurora,” he says, although I didn’t ask. “She’s my cousin. Lives in Washington.”
I nod once, finally pulling my gaze away when the door closes. The happiness on Tanner’s face slowly falls when he sees the concern in my gaze. “What’s up?” he asks carefully, nervously.
I swallow, squeezing his fingers. “This is just…a lot.”
He nods slowly, waiting for me to elaborate. “What if they don’t like me?”
His brows furrow, and he angles himself so he can look at me better. I don’t have to say anything for the understanding to wash over his face. The concerns vocalized earlier this week about his mom’s discontentment ring in the space between us.
“Everybody will like you,” he says. “Including my mom. Especially her. She was just vocalizing her concern, is all.”
I twist my lips to the side and glance out the window again, staring at that big house with people undoubtedly waiting for Tanner to walk inside. I get the feeling he’s everybody’s favorite, although if asked, they’d deny it.
“It’ll be fine,” he reassures again, bringing our hands to his mouth and pressing a kiss against his lips. “At any point, if you’re uncomfortable, we’ll go. No questions asked, we’ll leave.”
My eyebrows hitch. “Really?”
He nods. “Really.”
I blow out a breath, shaking my head. “It’ll be fine. This will be fine,” I say more so to myself than him, but he agrees anyway, switching off the ignition and unbuckling his seatbelt.
I pull the visor down quickly and check my face for any smeared makeup or things in my teeth, unaware he’d already gotten out of the car, rounded the hood, and now stood at my side with the passenger side open. His large hand is out, ready for me to take, which I do and step out. We stand like this for a minute, just taking each other in, when he brings his mouth to mine.
“I’m proud of you, you know,” he says lowly.
I rear my head, angling to get a better look at him. “For what?” “Stepping out of your comfort zone to be here. It means a lot to me.”
My face softens, squeezing his hand for the reassurance that I’m truly here with him. “Of course.”
He brings our hands up again, pressing another kiss similar to the one in the car on my hand, only this time it’s on my palm, before gesturing with his head towards the door. My feet willingly carry me despite every internal protest I have to stay put. The only safety I feel is Tanner being at my side. With him, every difficult encounter I face feels easier, like I know he’d be there every step of the way, guiding me through it.
“Ready?” he asks once more when we approach his front door, seemingly nervous as he shifts on his feet and wipes his free hand against his pants. I blow out a breath, looking at the man I’m slowly giving every piece of my heart to, nodding once.
“Ready.”
He gives me a heart-dropping smile before pushing the door open, the chatter of family subsiding to see who’s at the door. It’s a split second before they cheer. Literally cheer when Tanner walks in, all yelling his name and standing from their retrospective spots to run over to us. My mouth gapes as I wrap my head around the excitement seeing family, but before I can process more than that he glances back once before a swarm of people greet him, hugging and kissing his face before turning to me. I don’t get a say before people are wrapping their arms around me, introducing themselves and saying, “I know you’ll probably forget who I am—“ and so on. I’m barely able to register the commotion around me until a strong hand braces my elbow, emerging from my side. When I look over my shoulder, my heart warms instantly in my chest. Bright green eyes similar to Tanner’s peer at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling in happiness as he looks down at me.
“What are the odds I’d ever see you in my house?” he teases, pulling me into his arms and squeezing.
“Honestly, this could be considered harassment,” I mumble, squeezing back the man who is like a father figure to me. He pulls away, running his thumb briefly over my cheek in pride as he chuckles. “Hey, Miss Daisy,” he says.
“Hi, Duncan.”
He nods towards Tanner, who is seemingly lost in conversation with everybody around him. “You giving my boy a hard time?”
I smile, glancing at Tanner before turning back to his father. “I’m certainly trying.”
“She is,” he says over the conversation, clearly more attuned to what’s going on around him. We both look over at him again as he makes his way through the crowd to me, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into him. “But she’s worth it.”
There’s so much love in my heart that I barely know what to do with it. Seeing Duncan again after months fills me with something I’ve always longed for, and even more than that, being in Tanner’s arms, around people who seemingly like me, fills me with so much joy I could skip around. I’ve always known the similarities between Duncan and Tanner were uncanny, but seeing them next to each other makes my heart stop. While Tanner’s hair is a dirty blonde, erring on the brunette side, his dad has salt-and-pepper blonde hair. Both have the same green eyes, although Duncan’s are paler in contrast to Tanner’s deep green ones. Same slanted nose, and sharp jawlines. If you didn’t know any better, you’d assume they were brothers.
“Come on,” Tanner says in my ear. “I want you to meet my mom.”
“We’ll catch up, Daisy,” Duncan says as Tanner ushers me forward. I smile at him from over my shoulder and allow Tanner to slip his hand in mine as he makes way through the masses of people, stopping when we run into the girl with pink hair again. It’s a shade darker than Sam’s, and for some reason, I think they’d be best friends. She cocks a hand on her hip; eyebrows raised as her eyes playfully narrow at Tanner.
“Staying off the edges of cliffs?” he teases, and my eyes snap to him. She only rolls hers, the smile on her mouth.
“Eh. Trying my best, but you know I’ve always enjoyed the thrill.”
They envelop each other in a hug longer than what he’s given everybody, and I’m assuming they must be close when he pulls away, slinging his arm over her shoulder, both facing me. “Daisy, this is my cousin, Aurora. She decided to move to Washington a year ago to ‘figure her shit out,’” he says teasingly, and she rolls her eyes again.
“And he–” she hooks a thumb in his direction. “-Has believed it was my karma for bullying him as a child because every possible bad thing that could’ve happened to me out there, has.”
“Except me,” a deeper voice says, one coming from a man so rugged my mouth nearly waters. He has dark hair and a charming, all-boyish smile as he steps on the other side of Aurora. She looks at him, and her entire being softens, even in Tanner’s arms.
“He’s alright,” she says, although she doesn’t break away from his gaze. The man lifts his eyebrows. “That’s not what you were saying on the way here—“
“Okay!” Tanner exasperates, stepping away from Aurora. “Didn’t need to know that.”
I laugh, shaking my head as Aurora’s face heats. The man looks from me to Tanner and holds his hand out for me to shake. “Hey, I’m Justin. But everybody calls me Brooks.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, taking his hand and shaking it with the same firmness he gives me. “Daisy.”
“And this–” Aurora gestures to Tanner. “-Is my annoying cousin, Tanner. He’s the one who gave me shit when I was in the hospital after you saved me.”
Justin—Brooks, looks over at Tanner with a newfound appreciation. Something fills his eyes as he reaches for Aurora and tucks her into his side. “Thanks for that, man.”
“Always.”
When they all look and see my confusion, Aurora pipes up. “I’ll explain the full story later, but when I moved to the town we live in–” she gestured between herself and Brooks, “I ended up veering my car off the side of the cliff, hence how I met Mr. Firefighter boy over here.”
“Best love story of my life,” he grins, hooking an arm around her shoulder and pressing a kiss to her temple.
The conversation carries on for a while longer before Tanner tugs me into the kitchen. A woman with blonde hair talks amongst a few older ladies, all who smile and flick their gaze from Tanner to me. For some reason, a deadweight drops in my stomach, and my knees threaten to buckle, but thankfully, Tanner’s arm is around me.
“Ma,” he says in the most Boston accent I’ve ever heard from him. She instantly turns, her gaze softening upon seeing him. “Have somebody I want you to meet,” he says sheepishly.
This is the moment I’ve been preparing for. It reminds me of those earth-shattering moments when the first thing that comes out of your mouth either makes or breaks you. It matters what I say to his mom, and I want to get it right. For Tanner, myself, and our relationship. I know her opinion won’t determine what happens between Tanner and I, but it matters to him.
She is petite woman with long blonde hair like Brooklyn’s, but hers is much thicker. Her eyes are a combination of green and blue, a seafoam color.
“Daisy,” she smiles, taking a step forward. Her teeth are impossibly white and straight, and suddenly I’m self-conscious of my own. My tongue quickly runs across the tops of them. She gently takes both of my hands, squeezing warmly. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
I want to raise my eyebrows, but I can only smile kindly back. I don’t know why I made her out to be this monster when she seems like the sweetest person you’d ever encounter. There’s that motherly radiance about her that makes my nostrils prick, and all I can do is smile softly and nod once.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
She glances at Tanner once, so subtly you’d have to be paying attention otherwise you’d miss it. “I’m hoping you and I can talk later, get to know one another. I know how important you are to my son.”
“I—“ I swallow thickly, nodding. “Yeah, that’d be great.”
“Good,” she smiles, dropping my hands and taking a step back. “We’ll chat after dinner.”
“Looking forward to it,” I strain. Tanner’s hand finds the small of my back in reassurance, and whether his mom disapproves of that or not, she doesn’t let on. Her gaze only drops to the gesture before turning back to whoever these women are. Tanner tugs me out of the room and presses a kiss to my temple. I can only hope the conversation with his mom is a genuine get to know each other, rather than the warning of needing to stay away from her son.