Chapter 26 Promises
Promises
Before I could answer, I found myself face-to-face with a handsome older man through the screen.
He smiled at me. “You must be Harley.”
“H-hi,” I stuttered. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” He smiled warmly. “There’s someone in the living room who’s going to be royally pissed that I got to meet you first, so I better get the laptop down to her.”
His eyes flicked to Daire, soft with concern. “It’s not necessary for you to fly out here.”
“The fuck it isn’t,” Daire growled back as he stood up from the table, laptop in hand, and paced the length of the room.
The uncharacteristic hostility in his voice startled me. My eyes followed him as he paced.
A woman’s voice cajoled, “Darling, darling, please honey. Come for Christmas. Bring Harley. I’m desperate to meet her.”
He stopped short. “I need to see you.”
“Honey,” she answered softly. “I really am okay. Look. I’ll show you my set-up.”
Daire loped back to the table and set the laptop down in front of us before tucking his chair in close beside me.
His mom had swiveled the laptop away from her face to show him her TV tray outfitted with books, sudoku puzzles, the television remote, a water bottle, and a cup of herbal tea.
She then angled the laptop to show him the kitchen table which she told him was strewn with fresh bread, homemade cookies, and casserole dishes from her neighbors.
Breathing harshly, Daire dropped his head and rested his elbows on his splayed knees as his emotions battered him.
I slid my palm over his thigh and squeezed.
The laptop spun once again to frame a pretty woman with short, dark hair and large blue eyes focused intently on Daire.
She flicked me a glance and a quick smile before returning her attention to her son.
John cut in. “Daire, if you want to come, I’ll get you on the company jet tomorrow.
But I’m working from home until she’s on her feet, so don’t worry about her being alone.
I’ve booked her a follow-up appointment for a week from today.
If you’re okay to wait, we’d love to have you and your girl for Christmas. ”
He didn’t raise his head. “Mom?”
“I’m not going to say you can’t come. I know that’s the worst thing I can say. I will tell you I’m safer now than ever because John won’t let me off the couch never mind out of the house. And I’d much prefer to see you when I’m not hopped up on pain medicine.”
Daire blew out a long breath beside me.
His mom’s gaze found mine. She smiled warmly and fluttered her fingers.
I smiled back at her, enchanted by her already, and no longer so confused by Daire’s reaction.
It was clear they were close. As close as my family if not closer. It had been just the two of them since he was a young teen. And I knew what it was to worry over a family member.
She cupped her cheeks with her palms, squeezed her shoulders up, and beamed at me.
I laughed out loud.
Daire’s head shot up. Looking between the two of us, he barked out a laugh. “You’re trying to have a non-verbal conversation while I’m freaking out?”
“Something like that,” she murmured, nonplussed. “Harley, it’s so good to meet you! I’m Ashley. I hear you’re keeping my son on his toes!”
“Something like that,” I murmured back, much to her delight.
“Do you think you might come for Christmas?”
My gaze flickered toward Daire who’d yet to mention anything of the sort.
“Don’t pressure her, Mom. I wasn’t going to ask her until after Halloween.”
“We’re still new,” I blurted out.
Daire looked at me incredulously while his mother laughed out loud.
John chuckled in the background.
My face warmed.
Turning back to the screen, he grinned. “I’ll do my level best to get her to you for Christmas.”
He closed the laptop and slumped back in his seat. “I suppose you’re wondering why I freaked out?”
I stood up and swung one leg over his lap to straddle him.
He leaned forward and grasped my hips while I gently scratched his scalp, undoing the knot holding his hair back, and running the long, silky strands through my fingers.
He laid his forehead down on my shoulder, his hands rhythmically squeezing and releasing my round hips.
His voice was subdued. “I had a great dad. Truly great. He coached my baseball team and my soccer team, he would have coached my swim team, but he could barely tread water. I didn’t have any siblings. My mom had an emergency hysterectomy after I was born. He was my best friend until I was twelve.”
His shoulders lifted and fell with his deep inhale.
I sat quietly, my hands gentle in his hair, my chest tight as I waited for the rest.
“Then one day, I got called down to the office at school. He’d been in a car accident.”
A shudder wracked his body, his fingers clamped down on my hips.
“I was told to wait in the office for someone to pick me up. Before our neighbor could get there, the entire school was put on lockdown. There was an active shooter in the neighborhood. When my ride arrived, they wouldn’t open the doors.
Threatened her with trespassing if she didn’t leave school property. ”
He began to shake.
I shifted closer, wrapped my arms around his neck, and aligned my chest with his.
My breath came as unevenly as his own.
His hands slowly swept toward my lower back then crossed each other to hold me tight.
“I told myself he’d be okay. People got in fender-benders all the time and walked away. The police picked up the shooter an hour later. The office called my neighbor. She’d been waiting on a side street. Got to me within two minutes. But by the time I got to the hospital, he was gone.”
“My God,” I breathed, rocking against him. “Daire…”
“And then afterwards, seeing my mother…I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”
“Old enough to see she was falling apart, young enough that there was nothing you could do about it,” I murmured, stroking my fingers through his hair.
Dipping his head, he gently pressed his cheek to mine. “Don’t try to make me feel better.”
“I promise,” I whispered. “I won’t.”