CHAPTER 14 THANKSGIVING, WALKER STYLE
TALON
The air was crisp and humid, an indication that the one week of fall had arrived in Texas.
November had dragged on, filled with therapy and strengthening.
The cast had finally been cut off, and my wrist felt free.
Once I was back from Thanksgiving, I’d finally be back on the ice.
I couldn’t wait; the ice was home, my last connection to my dad.
Rubbing a hand down my face, I walked through Mom’s house. It smelled like freshly baked cookies. A smile hit me. Mom was constantly baking, and it instantly made me feel at home. Baking was Mom’s solace. She loved to help “fatten” people up, and she always said it was her favorite pastime.
“Which of my wild babies is home?”
“Hey, Mama.” I placed a kiss on her cheek,
grabbing a chocolate chip cookie. “Anyone else here?”
Mom rolled her eyes at me. “You know damn well none of them can ever be on time.”
She smiled brightly at me. I’d missed her smile.
Ever since Dad died, her smiles were less frequent.
Then again, so were mine. Dad brought out the love and joy in all of us.
It was a gaping hole in the Walker family, and one that couldn’t be filled.
“Just you and me then?” I bit into the cookie. “Yes, and good thing too. Tell me about your Aife.
And don’t act like there isn’t an Aife.” She sent a narrowed look my way.
I forced a groan down. “Ma…”
“Don’t—” She whirled to face me. “Don’t you dare start that ‘just friends’ bullshit with me. You’ve spent every weekend with her. You’ve told your brothers about how she’s seemingly always there for you. So, don’t even start with me, Talon James.”
“Jesus. Alright, Mom.” I sighed, my hands raising in defense. Mom knew me too well for me to try to hide anything from her. “I have feelings for her. She’s… simply amazing.”
“Well, tell me more.” Mom stirred her batter, not bothering to look at me now that she had me talking.
The door banged open. “TJ ain’t gonna say shit.
He’s too afraid to have a real relationship.” CJ shot me a look. “Right?”
My head fell into my hands. How had they even heard us? “Y’all are assholes.”
CJ rubbed his hand into my hair. “Hey, little brother. Seriously though, we ever gonna meet this Aife girl?”
My brothers all followed CJ into the kitchen, staring me down as they munched on Mom’s cookies. I loved my family, but the interrogations could go too far. I didn’t want to spend my Thanksgiving answering questions about my relationship with Aife.
“How would we meet her?” DJ looked at me. “You so in love that you brought her here?”
My heart rate picked up. Love? That wasn’t a word I was ready to use.
Aife and I were just friends. Did a huge part of me want to kiss her?
Yes, but that didn’t equate to love. She was my best friend, more so than Zeke or Davis.
I cared for her, but that wasn’t love. Love was deeper, built up over time.
“Dude, you’re zoning out.” CJ flicked my ear. “The word love shouldn’t impact you that much.”
“It’s just not a word to use lightly.” My heart was still racing as I tried to respond to my brothers. “DJ, she’s from Katy. So, she’s actually here to have Thanksgiving with her own family.”
Mom’s eyes met mine, looking up from her baking for the first time since I walked in. “Invite her over Saturday.” It was a command.
“Mom, this is her first time home in a number of years. Don’t you think she wants to spend it with her family? It wouldn’t be fair for me to ask her to come over and spend time with a bunch of strangers.”
I left out the part that I desperately wanted her here.
Aife calmed me down, and my family only excited me.
Mom narrowed her eyes at me, calculating my words carefully. She had an uncanny ability to read her boys. We all hated it when she directed her gaze at us. Mom wanted to be in every aspect of our lives. I didn’t think it was a bad thing, but it could be a very frustrating thing.
“Just ask, Talon James.” Mom pointed her spatula at me. “It never hurts. In fact, why don’t you call her right now and see if she is available?” A small smirk made its way onto her face.
“Yeah, go on.” AJ encouraged our mother. He was always one to rile any of the family up.
Sighing, I pulled out my phone and hit Aife’s number. The phone rang four times before she picked up. Nerves hit me, forcing my jaw to clench.
“What’s up, Talon?” Her voice sounded tight,
strained. I wanted to ask but not with my family around.
“Hey, I have a question for you.” I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. “You doing anything Saturday?”
It was better to just ask the question than to play a game. My family had all eyes focused on me.
“Packing to fly back to Chicago early Sunday.
Why?”
“My family wants to meet you if you have time.”
For some reason, my cheeks had flushed pink. This was embarrassing.
“Tell me where and a time,” she said sweetly. “I’ll be there.”
“I’ll text you. Have fun with your family.” We hung up.
I wasn’t quite ready to face my family. My brothers would definitely make fun of me.
They had a tendency to tease which was fair; we all liked to tease each other.
But Aife was a tender topic for me because I did have feelings for her, whether I was ready to admit that or not. Slowly, I turned around to my family.
AJ and CJ blinked. They seemed surprised that a blush was on my cheeks. I wasn’t known to fawn over women, not even Melody.
“Jesus, you really are impacted by this chick,” CJ said.
“Just shut up.” I pushed past my family and plopped myself onto the couch. “New topic, please.”
Eaton was my oldest brother, but we were always the closest.
Of all my brothers, he was the easiest to talk to.
AJ was too goofy to take any topic seriously, and DJ was often too busy.
His life as a med student was typically all he could focus on.
CJ was… well, he was CJ. He liked to poke the bear, and it made it hard to talk to him. Eaton was the one I trusted the most.
Knocking on his door, I entered his room at his call.
His head snapped up as he looked at me. A book dangled from his hand. Eaton could have easily gone to med school or law school as well. He was probably smarter than DJ was.
“What’s going on, TJ?” Eaton placed a bookmark in his book and set it to the side.
“You ever been in love?” I didn’t really know how to start the conversation other than to start it.
Eaton blinked at me. He probably didn’t know where this conversation was going either. “I have been.”
“What did that feel like?” The more I thought about Aife, the more I wondered if I was in love with her. I thought I had been in love with Melody, but that wasn’t really the case. I think that was infatuation and lust.
Eaton sighed. “It’s hard to explain what it’s like to be in love. What did it feel like to be with Melody?”
“Anxiety ridden.”
“Well, that’s not what love feels like.” Eaton chuckled softly, patting his bed so I could sit. “Being in love should be easy, fun even.”
My brain processed what my brother was saying. I didn’t think what Melody and I had was love. I didn’t think I really knew what love was, but that’s what my older brother was for. He was supposed to tell me things, especially since Dad was gone. Grief hit my chest. I really needed Dad right now.
“… Is loving someone different than being in love with someone?” I finally asked. In my heart, I knew the two were different, but I wanted to hear Eaton’s response.
My brother sighed. I could tell the question bothered Eaton a bit, though there was no telling why. My brother was always the quieter of the five of us.
“Why do you always ask such deep questions?” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m not Dad, you know.”
His words hit my chest. I knew Eaton wasn’t Dad,
but he had spent the most time with him and had more of Dad’s wisdom imparted to him. Sighing, I turned to leave his room. I wasn’t going to play this game with him if he didn’t want to talk with me. I was trying to figure out my own feelings.
“James, wait.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “I know you’re just trying to figure something out. Look, it’s just hard. I feel like I’m not always the best brother.”
Turning around to my brother, I leveled a look at him. “You’re a fine older brother, Eaton. Answer my question.”
EJ smiled at me and forced me to sit on his bed again.
“You don’t ask easy questions, TJ. Loving someone is vastly different than being in love. Love comes in many forms. There’s the type of love you feel for friends, family, and pets, and then there’s the love you feel for a partner. Being in love is not something you choose.
Being in love is kind of something that just happens to you. Falling in love is magical and that’s why people talk about the ‘honeymoon stage.’ That’s when you’re just in love. Loving your partner is a choice. You may have fallen in love with someone, but you choose to love them every day.
Every day, you find something to love about your partner. Being in love tends to go hand in hand with loving someone.”
I blinked. I didn’t expect that kind of an answer from my brother. It was like he had thought about this many times. His words triggered something in my brain, and I realized what I felt for Aife. It scared me though. I think love would always scare me.
Before I knew it, it was Saturday. My palms were sweaty, thinking of my family meeting the woman I was possibly in love with.
What if they didn’t like her? What if she didn’t like them?
There were so many what ifs in this scenario.
It made my heart race just thinking about everything that could go wrong.
What if she liked my brothers more than me?
I didn’t think I could handle that. Aife was my woman.
A smile grew on my face at the thought: she was my woman, my best friend.
The doorbell rang, taking me out of my thoughts.
Nerves briefly wracked my body as I quickly moved toward my mom’s door before my family could.
Thankfully, I managed to beat my brothers.
However, Mom was already there pulling the door open with a wide grin.
Her eyes seemed to rove over Aife, taking in her appearance.
Her face lit up, pleased with what she saw.