Chapter 26
chapter twenty-six
We were maybe ten minutes out, and I was freaking the fuck out. Forrest was going on and on about how great everything was going to be and how excited he was, yet I was wondering how many seconds it would take before his brother knocked me out and his mother decided she hated me.
This wasn’t going to end well.
“I have no idea what Mamá is going to make, but I know you’re going to love her cooking. It’s a hell of a lot better than mine. I mean, I’ve learned as much as I can from her, but you know.”
I nodded along, staring straight out the windshield. He was damn near jumping out of his seat, and it was absolutely adorable, but he had no idea. I hadn’t told him about River coming to Driftwood.
Forrest stopped talking for a second, turning his blinker on to turn right. I felt his eyes on me, but only for a second. When I glanced over to check, he glanced back at me. “What’s wrong, sweetie? You’ve been quiet all day.”
“Oh, no reason. Just tired today.”
He frowned, keeping his focus on the road. “Did you have nightmares last night? I didn’t notice if you did. I’m sorry.”
Why did he have to put on that pitiful face of his?
It tore at my heart to think he felt bad about me not sleeping, when the truth was, I slept as peacefully as any other night I’d spent with him.
We knew we were going to see his mom and River today, so I invited him to stay with me at my house last night.
Again. Look at me go—letting him stay at my house and shit when I’d sworn it off entirely before.
Shaking my head, I sighed and leaned against the seat. “No, I didn’t have any nightmares. I just… I’ve never been serious enough with anyone to meet their family before. Not even when I was younger. What if they hate me?”
“They won’t hate you. They couldn’t.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I broke your heart, babe. They have to hate me for that.”
We went through another light, pulling down a smaller, more residential street. There were houses lined up on either side. “For the record, they both said it sounded like you were scared. Mamá said you’d come back to me because you were the one for me. She knew you’d come back.”
I chewed on my bottom lip as we pulled into a driveway that already had two cars parked in it. The house looked small but comforting, and I was suddenly envious of the upbringing Forrest and River must’ve had. I knew it had to have been full of love, no matter what they did or didn’t do.
I was envious of the mother they had, even though I hadn’t met her yet. The way River had fiercely come to defend his brother proved how deeply he loved Forrest and that he wasn’t afraid to stand up for his family. I admired it.
Turning in my seat, I faced Forrest but couldn’t bring myself to make eye contact with him. “I’ve met River. He came to the bar after I broke things off with you.”
Forrest immediately scrunched his nose and furrowed his eyebrows. “Oh no. Did he yell at you?”
I winced. “Yeah, he did. He called me a coward and yelled at me and even threatened me, but that wasn’t what got me to pull my head out of my ass. He told me you’d been crying.”
“Well, that’s fucking embarrassing.”
“No. No, he said he’d never seen you cry before, and that got me.
That made me think about everything. He told me to go back to you, and I did because the idea of you crying made my chest hurt so fucking bad.
I realized I didn’t want to think about the future because it didn’t have you in it, and that didn’t seem like a good future to me.
” I shook my head. “I ran off, went to Crew and Price’s house of all things, talked to them, and got my head on straight.
River made me realize how fucking stupid I was being.
But I’m still a little scared that he might punch me. And that he hates me.”
When I finally looked up, Forrest was smiling. Fucking smiling. It was as endearing as it was concerning. “That’s really fucking sweet of you.”
I rolled my eyes, scoffing. “This is not a sweet thing. I’m being serious.”
“I know that. But I can’t help that everything you told me was super sweet and cute and means that you really do love me.
” He reached across the console, taking my hand in his.
“I love you, Jackson. They’re going to love you, too.
River can’t punch to save his fucking life, so I’m confident that you’re safe.
He won’t hate you, either. He was playing big, mean little brother, and when we walk in, you’re going to see just how mean he is to me, too.
We’re together now, and that’s all that matters. ”
“Do you really think it’ll all be okay?”
“I do.”
I squeezed his hand back, slowly starting to accept it.
Unfortunately for both of us, my mind had other plans and brought up one core issue I’d almost forgotten about.
Almost. Squeezing my eyes closed, I groaned.
“Oh, my god. You’re about to bring your forty-year-old boyfriend in to meet your mom. Holy fuck.”
Forrest didn’t say anything for a second, but when he did, he sounded absolutely exasperated. “Not this again. I thought we hashed the whole age thing out already.”
“How could we have? Hashing it out would mean resolving it, and there’s no resolving this.”
“I thought you liked being called my boyfriend.”
He got me there. “I do! I do like being called your boyfriend.”
“Then what’s the issue, baby?” He took my hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “They both already know how old you are. We had a whole moment about it.”
A whole moment? What does that even mean? “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Baby. Stop. River made fun of me for a minute, but Mamá simply asked if I was happy with you. That was enough for her.”
I frowned.
“Don’t pout at me.” It wasn’t a pout, but whatever. “The best thing to do is go in. You’ll see that there was nothing to worry about. You can’t see it if we never go in, though. Plus, we’ve been sitting here for a while. River might come running out.”
He had a point, and I hated it. “Okay, fine. Fine. Let’s go.”
With a gorgeous grin, he kissed my hand one more time. “Good boy.”
Did he really have to say that and make me blush and feel warm and fuzzy all over? I would never be able to say no to him because of that. Never.
I let him go in front of me, watching as he seemed to bounce on his heels the entire way to the front door.
I was expecting him to knock for some reason, so it shocked me a little when he simply opened the door and walked right in.
It shocked me enough that I didn’t move to walk in with him at first. He had to turn around and wave me inside.
I took a deep breath, preparing myself for pure hatred to be thrown my way, then finally stepped over the threshold.
Forrest closed the door behind us and grabbed my hand, leading me down the short hallway.
The first thing I noticed was how fucking good it smelled inside.
Whatever his mom was cooking, I knew it was going to taste amazing.
To the left was an opening to the living room where his mom and River were sitting. Forrest let go of my hand, rounding the corner to them. “Mami, it smells so good.” He leaned down, giving her a hug.
She patted his back gently. “Yes, lunch should be ready in a minute.”
“What up, fartwad.” River hit his arm. Fartwad… That was a new one.
Forrest stepped back, furrowing his eyebrows. “Fartwad is your name, asswipe.”
“Sure, but you look like a wad of fart today, so.”
“Can you not be an asshole for, like, one second?”
River leaned back, looking pretty pleased with himself. “Afraid not. That’s the whole point of being a little brother.”
Their mom peered around, looking at me. She pointed to the smaller loveseat off to the side, ushering me over. “You’re Jack, hm? Sit. We were just talking about you.”
That didn’t bode well. I sat down anyway, and Forrest took the seat right beside me. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’ve heard great things about you both.”
River made a tsk sound. “I would hope so. I’m amazing and have no flaws.”
“Except for the part where you showed up at Jack’s bar and threatened him.”
Their mom’s eyes widened as she turned to River. “Mijo… You threatened him?”
I was ready to sink straight through the cushion we were sitting on and find my way to hell. Why did he have to bring that up? I wasn’t going to bring it up. It was fine. Everything was fine, and now it was a whole thing.
River put his hands up in defense. “I was merely trying to talk some sense into him. If he was scared, I scared him even more. Scary versus scarier.” He shrugged. “It obviously worked.”
Their mom let out a long, exasperated sigh before turning back to me. “I’m sorry that my son is an idiot. I am glad he didn’t scare you off.”
“No, no, he definitely didn’t. I needed that little push, honestly. It all worked out in the end.”
She gave me a soft smile. “Well, consider yourself a part of the family, then. Come, let’s go eat. I’ll make the bowls.”
“Let me help, Ma.” Forrest was up before she was, but she shook her head, making her way to the kitchen.
“You can help by sitting at the table.”
Forrest kind of looked like a kicked puppy because of that. Poor thing just wanted to help. We did as she said, though, finding seats around the table. There were all kinds of decorations on the walls, making everything as cozy looking as the outside of the house.
Right in the center of the back wall, though, was a single picture frame and nothing else. Inside the picture frame was a photo of a man holding two small kids with a big smile on his face. He had the best mustache I’d ever seen.
“Ah, you see my Ernesto.” Forrest’s mom slid a bowl in front of me.
I glanced from her back to the photo. “Ernesto?”
“Our Papi,” River explained.
“Mhm. The baby is our little rushing River, and attached to his leg is our big, beautiful Forrest.”
The look she had on her face reminded me so much of Grandma’s. Nothing but pure love and adoration with a hint of a sparkle in her eyes. It was a look I stopped seeing in my mom the moment she signed me up for swimming lessons.
Six-year-old me would be very jealous right now.
Forty-year-old me just felt sad. Really fucking sad.
I looked back at the photo on the wall. “His eyes look so kind.”
She settled in the chair at the head of the table.
We all had matching bowls with some kind of soup or stew in them with corn, some kind of meat, chili peppers, and plenty of fresh garnishes on top.
We were sitting around a table like a real family.
A family dinner I hadn’t had in decades.
“He was very kind. Very happy. He worked hard to provide for all of us. Which wasn’t always good.
” She set her elbows on the table and peered over at the picture.
“He worked too hard. He was a good man.”
I could see the hurt in her eyes and feel the despair in her words.
Grief was never-ending. I’d made peace with Grandma’s passing, but that didn’t mean I was immune to missing her.
It wasn’t as fresh as Callum grieving his Papa, and it wasn’t as distant as Forrest’s mom grieving the love of her life and father of her children. It was in the in-between.
Grandma and I hadn’t been the closest until I’d moved here. We became best friends during the time between me showing up at her house for the first time and when she went to the hospital and never came out. I’d grieve her until my own death, I think.
I needed to introduce Forrest to her.
I tried to shake away the pain for now. Just for now. Just long enough to keep going. “I’m glad you had him. It sounds like you two had very happy lives together.”
“We did. Very happy lives, and Ernesto left me the two greatest gifts of my life.” She placed a hand on each of her son’s shoulders, giving them a smile. “Now, I get to share one of those gifts with you, Jack. You make my son very happy, you know.”
“He makes me very happy, too.” I looked at Forrest, taking in the gorgeous side profile of the man I loved. Truly, deeply, undeniably loved.
River groaned from across the table. “That’s so gross. You two are gross. This is an outrage.”
“Just because you can’t get anyone special, fartwad, doesn’t mean you have to be mean to me.”
“That’s exactly what it means. You’re all happy and blushy and gross and weird. Hopeless romantic.”
Their mom glared at River. “Mijo, be kind. Hopeless romantic isn’t an insult. You’ll find your person one day. He’ll come when you least expect it, and then you’ll understand.”
I nodded along with her. “Your mom is right—”
“Josefina, honey.”
“Josefina is right. I mean, look at me. I never thought I’d find someone special.
I was too scared to think I could.” I grabbed Forrest’s hand, rubbing my thumb along the back of it.
“It took forty years, but I found the one. You’ll find your one.
It’ll feel like magic when you first see him, and the magic won’t ever stop. ”
River didn’t roll his eyes. He didn’t make a big fuss. He didn’t immediately settle for throwing out rude comments. Instead, he looked straight down at his bowl and dipped his spoon into it. “Magic sounds kind of nice, I guess.” He was mumbling, but we could all hear him.
I wondered if River was lonely. All that personality…was it a front?
“You’re going to be a great addition to the family, Jack. I’m very glad my son found you.” Josefina looked up at the photo of Ernesto one more time. “We both are.”
We ate what I found out was called el pozole together—a rendition of pozole made in Puebla—talked about everything under the sun and laughed together.
River talked about moving to Newton once the new Fire and Ice location opened, to which Forrest had to go all big brother on him.
They bickered. Josefina admonished them, reminding them that they do, in fact, love each other.
The Castillo family made me feel right at home—something I hadn’t felt since Grandma passed. All it took was a little bit of magic, a small taste of freedom, and a whole lot of time to get here, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
They didn’t hate me after all.