19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Sebastian
“Read the note again,” Em said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“I found some reception at the end of the road and called a car to get me. I’m going to head home to unwind for a few days before the retreat and give your families time alone with just the two of you. All my love, Mac.”
Em sniffed, and I looked up, startled by what I saw. I thought she’d be crying, but her eyes were dry and narrowed. She was preparing for battle. Squaring her shoulders, she inhaled hard and put her hand on the doorknob. “Coming?”
I scrambled to my feet and followed her. “What are you going to say?”
She shrugged and threw the door open. “Whatever comes out of my mouth.”
“Good morning,” Jason said as we marched to the kitchen.
His face fell when he saw his daughter’s expression.
The front door opened. It was probably Ava coming in from a morning walk. Might as well let the whole family hear this.
“What’s wrong?”
“Mac left.”
Rachel was by her side in a second. “Oh, honey. We knew this would happen. We shouldn’t even be shocked it happened so quickly. Men like him are—” She searched the ceiling for answers.
“Flaky?” my mother added unhelpfully. “Here, come sit with us.”
Em resisted their attempts to pull her into a kitchen chair. I slipped in next to her, blocking our crazy mothers from getting close to her again.
“He didn’t leave us,” I ground out. “He went home.”
“To our house,” Em added.
“What a good morning,” my father sang as he waltzed into the kitchen.
We all glared at him, and he threw his hands up. “What the hell am I walking into?”
“A discussion that needed to happen a long time ago,” I muttered.
“What’s the problem?” Rachel asked, clearly not interested in resolving anything.
Em’s voice broke, and I reached for her, clinging to her shirt. “All I wanted was my family’s approval. It’s so stupid out loud, but it’s true. I wanted you to love the men I love—”
“We love Sebastian.”
“But we both love Mac and you guys pushed him away.”
“We were perfectly fine yesterday,” Jason said.
Em shook her head. “Nope. Try again. He wouldn’t have left if it had been fine. He didn’t tell us what you did, but I have a pretty good guess.”
“And that is?” my dad asked.
I held tighter to Em, hating that our families were more than prepared to go to war over my love life.
“We see you guys maybe once a year. Twice if you invite us to Christmas—”
“You’re always invited to Christmas.” My mom sighed and rolled her eyes.
Em ignored her erroneous comment and continued. “You couldn’t be happy for us for two or three days?” She flailed her hand, her blue eyes wild and beautiful. “You couldn’t think, ‘Gee, maybe after how hard of a time Bash and Em have had, Mac is such a welcome relief in their lives. The way he makes them smile and laugh so hard their sides hurt. They haven’t had that in so long. I am so happy for them.’ You couldn’t do that?”
“Is that what this is?” Jason asked. “Some way the two of you cope with Rob?”
If I thought Em’s eyes were wild a second ago, yikes. If she could shoot lasers out of those things, we’d all be dust.
“That’s enough.” Mac’s voice startled me and I jumped.
When I turned around, my heart grew three sizes. He was standing in the doorway, his curly blonde hair messy like he’d been tugging on it all night, trying to figure out how the hell to deal with these crazies.
“You came back,” Em breathed.
“Of course.” He kissed the top of her head and slid his hand into mine.
“Why are you here, Mac?” My father’s exasperated tone made me see red.
I stepped forward, but Mac tugged me back to his side.
“I wanted to meet the family who raised the two people I love with my whole heart. But I don’t know how the hell they came from—” He stammered and waved his arm around. “From this mess.”
“Here, here,” Grandma Agnes grumbled.
Everyone’s head swiveled in her direction, and she scoffed.
“He’s right. Truly, I can’t believe my daughters.” She sent a scathing look at my mom and aunt. “They act like they’ve never had two men at one time—”
“And you have?” Jason laughed.
Grandma Agnes smirked.
My mom gasped and Nina went pale.
“Grandma Agnes, are you saying—” Mac’s eyes lit up so spectacularly it took my breath away. “You have?”
“Yes.” She shot her daughters a scathing look and then smiled sweetly at Mac. “And if you’re offering, I’m not interested—”
Mac’s cheeks turned red. “I wasn’t offering.”
Grandma Agnes’s face crinkled in on itself and she laughed so hard we had to wait for her to regain her breath. “You should see your faces. All of them.”
“So, are you telling the truth? About being with multiple men?” My mother asked this like she was going to vomit over each word.
Grandma Agnes raised her brows and pointed directly at her. “We all have our secrets—”
Rachel grabbed her hand and pulled it back down to her side. “Now, mother. Let’s get you settled in the front room while we finish up your breakfast—”
“Oh, hell no.” She pulled her hand away and grinned at me. “I want to stay right here and see how this mess plays out.”
“I’m going to get our things,” Mac whispered in my ear.
I nodded, giving him a quick peck that every person in the room watched. He slipped away, and the discussion ramped up, everyone talking at once.
Rachel’s voice cut through the loudest. “It’s a hard situation—”
“But it’s not,” Em cried. “I love these two. They love me. We’re getting married and we’ll be in each other’s lives forever.”
“You can’t guarantee forever.” My mother folded her arms over her chest and tried to level me with a stare.
“Why can’t you just be happy for us?” I asked.
“Where are his parents in all of this?” my dad asked.
“Mac’s parents cut him out. They used him for money and as soon as he had enough of being used, they refused to talk to him.”
“Over money?” He scoffed. “Why would they use their kid for money?”
I shrugged and wrapped my arm tighter around Em. “Why don’t parents just let their kids live their own lives in general?”
My dad pressed his lips together, and Em laced her fingers with mine, a grateful smile lighting up her face.
“I just worry. The two of you love deeply and hurt even deeper. When Rob passed away—” Rachel clamped her eyes shut and I stared at her, not breathing. It was the first time she’d brought him up on her own. “The two of you fell apart. You—”
But it was too little, too late. It didn’t undo all the times they essentially told us to get over it. “Where were you when we were reeling from his death? Don’t throw it in our faces now because it suits your agenda.”
My mom gasped. “Sebastian—”
“No. He’s right. Where were any of you?” Em asked.
“We were dealing with our own loss—”
“We were all dealing with that loss and instead of facing it together, you told us to get over it. We fell apart because we lost someone we love.” Em said, clearing her throat. “We refuse to stop speaking about him because we want his memory to stay alive. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t handle his death as well as we could.”
Rachel shifted on her feet, but held her chin up. “Be that as it may, when Mac inevitably leaves, the two of you won’t be able to handle it.”
My mouth dropped open. I had no words for her. This was how they handled everything when we were growing up. If they thought we couldn’t handle something, they’d shut us down before ever letting an idea take flight.
I wanted to say something, anything. Em had gotten the brunt of this mindset way worse when we were younger and, at the time, I didn’t know what to do. It seemed like not much had changed in that department. I wanted to protect her and to set them straight, but I didn’t know how.
“I’m not leaving them,” Mac said, emerging from the room. His arms were loaded with our bags and my heart grew five sizes at the sight of him. “I am leaving this lake house, though. All three of us are.”
Normally, I didn’t enjoy being bossed around by anyone, especially Mac Savage, but that was one of the hottest things I’d ever seen him do. That was why the three of us needed each other. I didn’t know how to help Em in that situation, but Mac swooped in and rescued both of us.
Like lovesick puppies, Em and I followed him out the door and to our car without turning around to see the inevitably gawking faces we’d left in our wake.
Ava ran out, waving us down before we pulled out of the driveway.
Em got out, and I rolled the window down.
“I’m sorry it ended up like this. I wouldn’t have asked you to come—”
“It’s them. Not you,” Mac said.
“Still, I wanted the three of you to know I’m thrilled for you.”
Em pulled her cousin into a tight hug. “Thanks, Ava.”
We said our goodbyes and Em slipped back in the car.
“What a frustrating trip,” she said, frowning at me in the rearview mirror. “We didn’t really resolve anything.”
“We said enough.” I reached for her hand.
“Will they ever accept us?”
Mac reached for her other hand and kissed the back of it, careful to avoid her bandage. “I’m not sure, but I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know.” A soft smile stayed on her lips as her eyes fluttered shut and we left the lake house behind us in a cloud of dust.