Chapter 21 Lainey
Lainey
The “incident” with Cora was three weeks ago, and we have not seen or heard from her since then.
Remington thinks that she is gone and took her crazy elsewhere, but my anxiety won’t let go of it.
The whole interaction with her felt so desperate and off.
Why would she just show up after all this time and basically throw herself at Remington like that?
The man obviously has nothing but disdain for his ex-girlfriend—I have no worries on that front.
What actually worries me is her behavior and how Cora was trying to force him into a stupid childhood deal, one that thousands of kids make on playgrounds all the time.
Hell, even friends in college make those promises that are a little more serious, but not really.
Desperation and loneliness can make you say and do silly things.
Remington and I have fallen into a sweet routine.
Whenever he’s at work I stay at my apartment, but when he’s off we stay at his house.
On days I have to work, I set up at his dining room table.
It has become my own little home-away-from-home office.
We’ve gone on several dates, hung out with Eli and Sutton, Kendra and I have enjoyed our wine night on Remington’s deck instead of her house or my apartment on more than one occasion, and now I am going to meet his parents.
Tonight they invited us over for dinner and I am a nervous mess.
My clothing options exploded all over again, but Remington is here to witness my breakdown this time.
I did not want him to see my anxiety spiral, but just like with everything else, he knows exactly how to ease my fears and help me walk into his family home with more confidence than I thought I was capable of.
“Lainey, they are going to think you are wonderful no matter what outfit you have on.” Remington stands behind me, rubbing my arms as I look at my reflection in the full-length mirror.
“That’s not true! This is very important. I have to have just the right thing. This is the first impression they will have of me, Remington. I don’t want them to hate me.” Tears are welling and my anxiety is building.
“Jeans versus a sundress is not the make-or-break situation that you think it is. I am partial to that pink sundress though, if you want my unsolicited opinion. I know my parents pretty well, and I think you can trust me.” He kisses my temple, and I take a deep, needed breath.
“I do trust you. I’m really nervous.” My eyes meet his in the reflection.
“I know, it’s okay. But we have to leave in like five minutes, so can we agree on the outfit and head out soon? I promise that I’ll be with you the whole time, and if you get overwhelmed we can leave.” I turn to look at him.
“We cannot just leave!” He silences my protests by running his thumb along my jawline in the way that makes me want to melt like ice cream in his hands.
“Lainey, we can do whatever we want. We are grown adults with free will. If you’re overwhelmed, not having a good time, are tired, or just plain and simple are ready to go home, then we come home.
” Remington explains this like it’s easy for him to set those boundaries—and stick to them.
I know I told him about some of the boundaries I had to put into place in my life, but those took years of therapy and a near mental breakdown.
“Okay, I will wear the pink sundress.” He smiles at me as I finish getting dressed and we finally get going.
Remington was right, of course he was right.
We walked into his parents’ house hand in hand.
Charles and Renee LeBlanc were everything I hoped they would be and more.
They welcomed me with warm embraces, genuine excitement over meeting me, and a meal that was prepared with obvious love.
We ate on their garden patio, surrounded by Renee’s stunning flowers and the landscaping that Charles spent years perfecting.
“Lainey, thank you so much for bringing us this lovely bottle of wine,” Renee says to me as she tops off her stemless glass. “I’m going to be picking up a few bottles to have on hand for us! It’s officially my new favorite.”
“Oh, it was the least I could do. I appreciate you having me over. Tonight has been really nice.” I blush looking between her and her husband.
They are sitting across from me and Remington at the patio dining table.
Our dinner of perfectly seasoned and grilled chicken, fresh salad, homemade bread, and crispy potatoes was delicious.
Now we are enjoying the conversation, fresh air, and being in each other’s company.
“The first of many dinners to come! You are always welcome here, sweetheart,” Charles says with a warm smile splitting his bearded face. The kindness and genuine words pouring from Remington’s parents is overwhelming. There is no show or pretense here, they actually mean every word they say.
Being with all of them made my anxiety vanish.
All night I have been able to talk, laugh, and be myself.
I can’t even be myself around my own family.
I have to be the polished, up-to-par version they want, and even then they will find some flaw to pick at.
What the LeBlancs had was rare, and I wanted to do whatever I could to stick around and soak up more of it.
The whole time we were there, Remington did what he promised.
He stayed close, always touching me in comforting ways—an arm around my shoulders, holding my hand, a kiss to the top of my head, his thumb rubbing the inside of my thigh.
He also kept checking in to see if I wanted to stay or leave, but no part of me was ready to bolt like I thought I would.
The night was made even more fun when Sutton showed up for dessert, a fresh blueberry buckle that his mom swears I will be capable of making on my own, but she insisted on teaching me sometime soon.
When she said that she would love to bake with me after Remington went on and on about my apple pie, I felt like my whole heart was going to pound right out of my chest. It was about to land right in his hands, and I have a feeling I won’t ever ask for it back.
The more time we spend together, the harder it is for me to keep taking things slow physically when my heart is in an absolute free fall.
Today is another family meal of sorts. Remington invited me back to the fire station for “family dinner.” He explained that this is different from the meals that the crew eat together on a daily basis.
Once a quarter they have a big meal for the whole fire station crew, their significant others, and kids.
It’s a good way to bond and enjoy seeing everyone at one time.
I asked what I could bring, but Remington told me that they all pitch in to have it catered so that nobody has to cook.
This time Gino’s is making the meal, and Remington told me he had them order extra cheese bread—to make sure I would get as much as I wanted.
Since Remington is on shift today I had to meet him here.
I am looking forward to being introduced to more people and hopefully getting to know some of the wives and girlfriends.
We have spent a lot of time with Eli because he’s Remington’s best friend, but he is a self-proclaimed bachelor, so I doubt he will be inviting anyone to family dinner anytime soon.
Walking into the fire station I feel overwhelmed by the amazing smell of Gino’s waiting to be eaten by everyone and the sight of so many firefighters.
Muscles, mustaches, and men are everywhere along with kids and women.
Everyone is smiling, chatting, and enjoying themselves.
My eyes scan the room for the one person I want to see most, finally locking in on Remington all the way across the room talking to Chief Roberts.
Feeling my gaze, he looks over to me, and a smile lights up his handsome face.
He points my way and Chief waves to me, slapping Remington on the back.
Remington makes his way to me, meeting me in the middle of the chaos.
He palms my cheeks gently and kisses me deeply, not giving a shit that we are in a room full of people.
Whoops ring out, echoing around us, and he pulls back from my lips with reluctance.
“Well, hello,” I say, feeling like my cheeks must be as red as the fire trucks.
“Hi, beautiful. I missed you.” He takes my hand and leads me over to a group of people.
“Hey, Ryder, Jess. This is my girlfriend, Lainey. Lainey, you remember Matt Ryder from when you came before? And this is his wife, Jessica.” Matt is a few inches shorter than Remington, but a solid wall of thick muscle.
He has dark hair and even darker eyes, and olive skin.
His wife, Jess, is his exact opposite. She has fair skin and a dusting of freckles on her cheeks, white-blonde curls fall around her shoulders, and she has piercing, icy-blue eyes.
She’s holding an adorable baby in her arms that looks about a year old.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I say and shake both of their hands. “And who is this cutie?” I ask looking toward the baby, who’s now drooling all down his chubby arm.
Jess looks down at him with a dreamy smile and says, “This is Cooper, he’s one. We have two more playing over there.” She points to a large area with lots of toys and kids of various ages. “Noah is seven and Liam is five.”
“Wow, they are all so cute,” I say easily spotting which of them she is pointing out to me in the crowd, their blond hair matching hers and Cooper’s. “Remington told me all of you had the flu a while ago. That must have been terrible.” I look back to Jess.