Chapter Thirty-four
Abby
“Thanks for the coffee,” I tell Jill as she sets a steaming mug in front of me at her kitchen table.
“Oh, it’s my pleasure. Thank you for coming with me. I have to confess something, though.”
“Did you bring me here to kill me?” When I say it, I wonder if my dark sense of humor is going to land.
I think I’m safe, though, when she starts laughing. “No, I actually had Mom make up that thing about the butter just so I would have a reason to get you out of the house. I wanted to get to know you better, but knowing my brother, he would hover over you all day.”
“Oh,” I begin. “You could have just said that. I would have still come.”
She gives a nervous giggle. “Well, I guess I just had to make things more difficult and now slightly awkward, huh?”
“You’re in good company. I’m the queen of awkward.”
“I’m not going to interrogate you or anything. But when my brother, the ladies” man, brings home a woman for us to meet, I know she has to be special.”
“I can’t be the first girl he’s ever brought home,” I say. “He told me about Alicia.”
She rolls her eyes. “Don’t get me started on that whole thing. I still want to punch that bitch in the face every time I see her around town.” She sips her coffee. “And yes, they were serious, but Mom and I knew that it probably wouldn’t work out. And when he went to New York, he just became a serial dater.”
Curious, I ask, “Why did you think they wouldn’t work out?”
“Because Alicia was always all about herself all the time. Donovan was constantly going above and beyond to make her happy, but she never did anything for him. He is the guy who will go out of his way to make people happy. And he will never ask for anything in return. But I think someone can only go through that so much before it starts to wear on them.”
“He told me that she cheated when he came to New York,” I say. “I didn’t know about the other stuff.”
“Because he probably doesn’t even realize the other stuff was happening. Look, I don’t presume to know what goes on in a relationship. Maybe her vagina was made out of candy or blew him like a Hoover—I don’t know. But from what I could see, it was always very one-sided. Like, one year on his birthday, I came to her with an awesome idea to have a party at this paintball place that he loves. I had gotten her all the details and even offered to pay for some of it. She didn’t listen to any of it. All she did was buy him a 99-cent card. She didn’t even write a note in it. Just signed her name like he was just a coworker or something. And he never complained. He acted like that card was the best thing he ever received. But just imagine if she actually would have taken my advice and given him a really kick-ass party. Or even did something else just to make him smile.”
We fall silent for a moment, and I think about her words. It’s not lost on me that Don goes above and beyond to make me happy too. He will do anything in his power to make me smile.
Jill interrupts my thoughts. “I just want to see my brother receiving a tenth of the happiness that he gives to others. I want someone to think about what he wants for once.”
When she realizes that her comments may sound a little pointed, she says, “I need you to know that none of this is directed at you. As far as I can tell, you make Donovan endlessly happy.”
“I hope so,” I reply in a low tone.
She runs her nail along the handle of her mug. “We just all miss him. It’s harder with him in New York because we don’t always know what’s going on in his life. And he misses out on so much here. I wonder if maybe he feels a little left out.”
“For what it’s worth, you guys take way more of an interest in Donovan’s life than my family does in mine, and they live just uptown.”
She gives me a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You guys should come to New York sometime. I know Donovan would love to show you around.”
She smiles. “That would be nice. I’m sure Kaylee would love to go see where her Uncle D lives.”
“Man, that little girl really loves him, doesn’t she?’
“Oh, yeah. He used to come pick her up all the time and go spend time with her—whether it was just going to get ice cream or spending the entire day at the park. When he moved, it was hard for her. She constantly wondered where he was. It took a lot of diverting her attention to get her through it.”
“He never told me that,” I say.
“I never told him. Donovan holds enough guilt over moving—especially with Mom and Kaylee. I didn’t want to make it worse. I know he moved to further his career and build a better financial future for himself. I don’t want to make him feel bad about his decision.”
We fall silent again before I finally say, “I wanted to thank you.”
Her eyebrows furrow. “For what? I know the coffee isn’t that good.”
“For pushing Don to ask me out. I don’t know what you said to him, but I’m glad you did. I’m so awkward and introverted that I never would have stepped up and actually asked him out. Hell, I probably would have denied my feelings for the rest of our lives for fear of getting rejected. Ever since he took the leap, I’m happier than I’ve ever been. So, thank you…for whatever you said to him.”
“Well, you’re welcome. But I know my brother. He would have eventually gotten his head out of his ass and saw the light. But quite frankly, I was tired of him wasting all of his time with women who meant absolutely nothing to him. I just gave him a friendly nudge.”
Showing a little of my vulnerable side, I ask, “Do you think he will miss his days of sleeping around?”
She shakes her head while swallowing the sip of coffee in her mouth. “Not a chance.”
“Really? I’m worried he will get bored.”
“No matter what his dating life has looked like, Donovan has always been a hopeless romantic. He’s yearned for someone he can come home to and shower with love. A partner and a best friend wrapped into one. I think that he thought he found that with Alicia. He tried to fit a square peg into a round hole. After her, he was in New York and just didn’t want to feel so lonely. And maybe he wouldn’t for a few hours at a time, but every time I’d talk to him, I could tell how miserable he was. He was searching for that connection in all the wrong places.”
“And you don’t think that I was just a convenient option?” I ask.
“Not at all.” She sets her hand on mine to reassure me. “Because that man talked about you like you hung the sun in the sky before you guys ever got involved romantically. I think that speaks volumes.”
Jill’s phone dings on the table. She picks it up. “Speak of the devil. Donovan says, ‘I swear to God, Jill. You better not be doing anything to scare Abby off. You may be older than me, but I’m much bigger.’ See? I think he really likes you.”
As she types out a response, I think about everything she and I have talked about—especially the thing about how Don will go above and beyond to make his woman happy without asking for anything in return. All of that makes perfect sense. Don does everything he can just to make me smile.
But I don’t want to be like Alicia. I don’t want to have a one-sided relationship where I never take into account how he feels. I don’t want it to be him constantly making me happy and me never doing the same for him. I want to make him just as deliriously happy as he makes me.
But what do I do for the most easy-going guy in the world? What sort of grand gesture do I do for him?
When Jill puts her phone back down, I say, “Hey, Jill, do you think you could help me out with something?”
When we get back to Denise’s, Don greets us at the door with Kaylee riding around on his shoulders.
“Jill,” he pointedly greets his sister. “You and I are going to have a talk later.”
As she glides by him, she turns her head, “Whatever you say, baby brother.”
Then, he turns his attention to me. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I smile at him. “Your sister is great.”
“Good God, she’s drugged you, hasn’t she?”
“I can assure you that I am in my right mind.”
Kaylee tugs Don’s ears so hard that his eyes cross. “Giddy up!” She cries. “Horses don’t stop to talk.”
I smack him on the butt, “Get along, little doggie.”
Over the next couple of hours, I get to know the McDowell family a little better. They are all wonderful. Somehow, being here, I feel more at home than I do when I’m with my own family. They all are so nice and so welcoming.
And watching Don with Kaylee is the cutest thing ever. She has Uncle D wrapped around her little finger. He plays Barbies, watches videos she shows him, gives piggyback and horse rides, and reads her favorite book to her over and over. I’ve never thought much about the whole motherhood thing, but if I ever did, I could see having a kid with someone like Don. He would make an incredible father.
We eat dinner while Jill and Denise take turns telling stories about Don when he was younger. They tell me about how he always loved any and all animals—trying to bring every single one of them home to keep as a pet. And how he had a crush on his third-grade teacher and sent her a note asking her to be his Valentine.
I can tell he’s embarrassed, but honestly, nothing that they are telling me makes me love him any less. On the contrary. They just add to the growing list of reasons why I am crazy about him.
After dinner, they even pull out the photo albums. And what do you know? Even back then, he was a little heartthrob.
Same dark hair.
Same piercing blue eyes.
Same crooked smile.
Even when he was tall and lanky in his early teenage years, he was still handsome. I wonder if there was ever a time in his life when women weren’t just fawning all over him.
Probably not.
I’m sure women have always gone crazy for him. They probably still do. I just don’t see it.
But as we look at the photos, I feel his arm wrap around my shoulders, and every once in a while, he gives me a soft kiss on the cheek. And something remarkable hits me.
Something that gives me butterflies in my stomach and tingles everywhere else.
He’s mine.