Dalton, Tymber - Stoneface (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (30 page)

Ruthie roared with laughter. “No, it’s okay, really. She’s over here all the time, and she takes me shopping when I need something. Your dad comes over and helps me with the yard and stuff. It’s okay.” Another pause. “She asked me today how you guys were doing, if I’d heard from you lately.”

“She could call. You said you gave her my new number.” Gwen had changed her cell number after two more drunk-dialing calls from Dickweed.

“I think she’s afraid to.”

Another pang of guilt. “Never stopped her before.”

“Maybe you should call her. I know, I know, but do it. It’d make her feel better to hear from you and Liam.”

“Better not call tonight then.”

“Why not?” Gwen explained Liam was out on a date. Ruthie laughed. “Oh. Um, yeah, maybe leave that part out. I think she still hopes he’ll meet a nice girl and settle down.”

“Lucky bastard. The guy’s cute, too.”

“Ah.” Another pause. Gwen began to dread those. “You should call your mom. Seriously. She misses you. I think she understands now. She didn’t see before. She went from having three kids to basically none. Amy won’t talk to them, and your father’s disowned her. Which has left your mom out in the cold because she’s afraid to stand up to your father. I think she wishes they’d handled things differently all the way around. Oh! She actually read your latest book.”

Gwen’s mind raced. She had two come out in the past month, one of them extremely graphic and erotic. “Which one?”

“The tame one, the Gwen one. The mystery.”

“Whew. Oh.” She didn’t know if she wanted to ask. “And?”

“She really loved it. She asked if I had some of your others she could read. Tame ones. I went through your books and loaned a couple to her.”

Gwen hated the hope she felt. That had gotten her hurt before, by unrealistically expecting emotional support from her parents. She knew they loved her, but it would have been nice to have their blessings about something for a change. “Maybe I’ll call her.”

“I would. It’ll make her feel better.”

Gwen hung up and stared at the phone. After several aborted attempts, she finally bit the bullet, pulled up their number, and hit
send
.

Her mom answered on the third ring. “Gwen?” Her voice sounded soft, like she was trying not to let her dad hear.

“Hi, Mom. I just talked to Ruthie.”

Her mom’s voice dropped even more, like she didn’t want her father to overhear. “How are you doing, sweetheart? How’s Liam?”

“We’re fine. He’s fine. He’s…out at dinner with a friend tonight.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Um, no. Just a friend. Just dinner.”
And hot man boinking.
“How are you and Dad?”

She suspected her mom had closed herself in her bedroom or one of the other rooms, because her voice sounded a little more normal. “Good. He’s fine, he’s watching TV in the living room.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry things were left that way between us.”

Gwen fought back her tears. “It’s okay. Liam and I needed this. I couldn’t stay there and watch Amy and Bob together. I just couldn’t.”

“Ruthie really is a sweetheart. I understand why you were so close all these years.” Her mom laughed. “She’s putting up with me. I’m trying not to hover, but she’s such a sweetheart. I really enjoy spending time with her, and it gets me out of the house.” Another pause. “Will you and Liam make it home for Christmas?”

She and Liam had enjoyed their first drama-free, guilt-free Thanksgiving a week earlier. Their first Thanksgiving without their parents and older sister. Not to mention they now considered their RV “home.”

“I don’t think so, Mom. Not this year. We’re going to string lights on the RV and sit on the beach.” She needed to say this and get it off her chest. “We love you guys, we really do. Let’s let things settle a few more months with Dad and Amy. Liam and I aren’t ready to deal with her or him yet. We’re okay. Really.”

“How’s his health…” And there they went. Gwen noticed unlike in the past, where her mom might have railed about what he was doing, she listened to what Gwen said.

Actually listened.

Even more importantly, she didn’t gripe or complain or make suggestions. “I’m glad he’s doing so well. I worried all the driving might be bad for him. Sitting for all that time.”

“No, he can get up and walk around. We’re not on the road all that much. We’re parked more than anything. He loves the beach.”

Her mom’s next statement shocked her. “Ruthie helped me set up my own e-mail account. Can you e-mail me pictures and letters?”

Her mom growing a spine? Her father had always discouraged their mom from using a computer because he didn’t like them and didn’t see a valuable use for e-mail when they had a phone. “Of course! I’ve got some I can e-mail you right now.”

“It’s not a big computer, it’s just a little laptop Ruthie had. I think she said this one was Liam’s old one. She made Bob buy her a brand-new one and gave met this one. I’ve got it set up in Liam’s old room.”

Gwen shot off several photos to her mom. A moment later, her mom laughed. “He’s got a tan! He looks so good! I mean, so do you.”

“Yeah. He’s becoming a beach bum.”

A long pause. Gwen began to wonder if the call dropped. “You both look very happy.”

“We are happy. Like I said, just give us some time.” She’d never told her mom about Tim and Jack, never even hinted she’d had her heart broken. Her mom wouldn’t have understood anyway, and Gwen suspected she would have deserved any admonishments for putting herself into such a stupid and scandalous situation to begin with.

“It wasn’t just the family stuff and Amy,” Gwen said. “Liam and I needed to get some away time, to reset our priorities. To spend time together. We both needed it.”

Another long pause before her mom responded. Tonight was pause night. “Is he out on a date?” her mom whispered. “With a man?”

“Do you want the truth?”

“Yes.”

“You promise not to freak out?”

“Yes.”

“He’s on a date with a very nice man. I got to meet him. We all had dinner together. Liam doesn’t think it’ll develop into anything, but he’s making friends.”

“He’s happy though, right?”

Gwen shoved back her wave of irritation. This was true progress. “He’s really happy. He loves you, and he misses you, but he’s making up for lost time and the things in his life that he lost when he got sick. He needs to do this. He’s not dying.”

She heard her mom sniffle. “I’m glad he’s happy. Maybe if he feels like it, tomorrow he can call me. I’d like to say hi. I promise I won’t nag. I miss you both.”

If Gwen didn’t get off the phone soon, she’d start crying. “I’m sure he’d like that. I’m going to go, I need to charge my cell,” she lied. “It’s almost dead. E-mail me, too. I’ll start e-mailing you now that you’ve got it.”

“I’d really like that. Love you, sweetheart. Please tell Liam I love him, too.”

“Love you, too, Mom.” She got off the phone and stared at it. Then she wrapped her arms around her body and cried herself to sleep on the sofa.

* * * *

Tim sat on the back porch with a beer and stared out at the valley. Normally, this time of year, he was already busy decorating the house and outside with lights and decorations, but not this year.

His heart wasn’t in it.

He heard Jack walk onto the deck but didn’t acknowledge him. Jack pulled up a chair next to him and sat down. They’d had a quiet Thanksgiving with Jack’s parents. His mom had been in a good condition, nearly normal, able to have conversations with everyone. If he hadn’t known she had Alzheimer’s, he wouldn’t have suspected.

Jack let out a sigh. “Can we talk?”

“Sure.” He took another pull of his beer.

“What do you want to do for Christmas?”

Tim shrugged. “I don’t really give a shit.” He shot Jack a pointed look.

“How long are you going to mope around like this?”

“Depends.” He took another drink. This was his third beer. He knew he shouldn’t be drinking, because he was in a foul mood to begin with.

“Depends on what?”

“On how long it takes you to quit being a jackass and call Gwen.”

“She won’t talk to me even if I do, you know that.”

“No, I don’t know that.” He finished the beer and stood. “You broke this. You need to be the one to fix it. She didn’t deserve what you did to her. We could all be having Christmas together right now if it wasn’t for what you did.”

Jack stared at his hands. “I told you, this is for the best.”

“No, that’s the bullshit lie you keep telling yourself because you can’t figure out why the fuck you fell in love with her. I know why I fell in love with her. Isn’t it enough that you do love her?”

“Is it?”

“Christ.” He rubbed his face with his hands. “Man, I love you, but sometimes you are a really dumb fuck, you know that?” He stormed into the house, slamming the door behind him.

Jack stared out at the valley. He didn’t tell Tim that he had tried calling her a few days before Thanksgiving.

The number wasn’t good anymore.

* * * *

Gwen awoke with a start to find Liam standing over her in the dark RV with a concerned look on his face. “Hey, why aren’t you in bed, sweetie?”

Disoriented, she sat up and looked around. “Um, I fell asleep.” She yawned. “Why are you here? What time is it?”

“Four in the morning.” He sat next to her and shrugged. “It was fun, but I think he and I both knew it would just be a fun night. He brought me home.”

Liam didn’t look upset. “I’m…sorry?”

He laughed. “No, it’s really okay. We agreed friends with bennies was the way to go. Too many differences to make it as more than friends, but attracted enough to each other to…you know, overlook those differences for a night.” He smiled. “Might see him again before we move on, and we agreed to get together whenever we were in town. Plus we’ll keep in touch by e-mail.”

His hair was damp. “You took a shower. Lucky bastard.”

He smiled. “I have to admit, not worrying about hot water and having a shower bigger than a breadbox is a nice luxury. Come on, you can curl up with me and go back to sleep.”

They settled in the back bunk, Gwen nestled in his arms like when they were kids. They’d spent a lot of nights together like that, especially when she was younger and mercilessly teased at school about her braces and glasses. Liam always comforted her even when their father told her she should just suck it up and be tough.

She shoved away her thoughts of Tim and Jack. “Ruthie called,” she said.

“Yeah? How’s she doing?”

“Good. I called Mom, too. Ruthie said I probably should.”

She felt the sudden tension in Liam’s body. “Oh.”

She rolled in his arms to face him. “I told her you were out on a date. She was pretty mellow about it. She said she was sorry about what happened and to tell you she loves you.”

“Go to sleep, kiddo.” She didn’t miss his tight tone. “We’ll talk later in the morning.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Chapter Fourteen