Stay With Me (The Montgomery Brothers) (6 page)

Mac searched his brain for what he could possibly say when Gina was so clearly distraught.  So rather than
talking about her father, he took another approach.  “Tell me about your hobbies,” he said softly.

Gina raised her head and looked at him as if she
’d just realized he was truly there.  “What are you doing here?”  She started to wipe away her tears but Mac carefully pulled her hands away and did the job for her.

“You left your phone at the hospit
al,” he said, mesmerized by the deep green of her eyes that were slowly starting to become addictive to him.  “Your father called and asked me to bring it to you because he was concerned about you being alone without a way to call for help if you needed to.”

“I didn’t even realize.”  Gina couldn’t look away
; everything in Mac’s gaze called to her.  He was looking at her as if he was memorizing her every feature.  His gaze heated and she was certain that he was going to kiss her.

Mac cleared his throat.  “Did you have
a lot of hobbies growing up?” he asked, breaking the spell.

Gina looked away and nodded.  “I was always trying something new; most of the things I did made my mother crazy.  She wanted a little porcelain doll for a daughter; someone to dress up in frilly dresses who always looked neat and pristine.  Instead she got me.”  She gave a small laugh.  “She wanted me to play the piano and I took up guitar.  I was really into painting and so she wanted me to paint
formal portraits and landscapes and instead I was doing all kinds of abstract stuff.  She wanted my hair straight and sleek and it’s a mass of untamed curls.”  She stopped after that last comment and shrugged.  “That wasn’t about hobbies but the sentiment is the same.  I was never the daughter that she wanted.”

“Then she’s a fool,” Mac said firmly.  “There is nothing wrong with you, Gina.  Nothing.”  He placed a finger under her chin and forced her to look at him.  “
Those were her issues, not yours.  Don’t ever be sorry for being who you are.”

“You sound just like my father.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment because he’s a very smart man.”

Gina smiled.  Reluctantly she removed herself from his loose embrace and stood.  “He gave me a list of things that he wanted me to bring to him at the hospital and at the end of it was a box of stuff he wanted me to have.  I came up here and it wasn’t
simply a box, it was a room.”  She walked around, still in awe of all that was there.  “He set up this room for me,” she said as she continued to walk and touch. 

“There are paint supplies in the closet to use with this easel that he set up by the window.  He must have bought every
size of canvas available so that I’d have a big enough selection.  There’s a guitar over there,” she pointed and nodded her head in the direction of the far corner of the room.  “I went through a cowboy phase and there on top of that wardrobe is a selection of cowboy hats.”  Gina pulled one down and put it on and posed for Mac and then giggled.  “It was silly and just a phase, but he remembered.”  She placed the hat on the bed.

“I took a photography class during my sophomore year of high school
right before we moved and there are three different types of cameras on the shelf.  He remembered authors that I loved and kept up with their titles.  There’s even a collection of movies set up on a shelf here of teen movies from the eighties because he remembered how much I enjoyed them.  They’re all on DVD and Blue Ray so he’s been doing this recently.”  She looked around the room as tears welled up again.  “All those years that I wasn’t allowed to come home and he was doing all of this for me.  I was such a brat and thought that he didn’t care and yet he did all of this.”

“You weren’t being a brat, Gina.  You were a child who was put in the middle of a really sucky situation.  How could you know that he was doing all of this for you?  Why didn’t he just bring these things to you or send them to you as gifts?”

“My mother would have had a fit.”

Mac stood and began to pace.  He remembered Gina’s mother; she wasn’t the warm and fuzzy type.  Arthur would always play games with Mac and his brother
s but Barbara Micelli often looked at them like they were nuisances; she didn’t want to interact with them and she certainly never did more than simply tolerate their presence for very short amounts of time.  “Then shame on her,” he said roughly.  “You were a child and you were entitled to do things that you enjoyed doing.  That’s not a crime.  What she did to you?  Now that was a crime.”

“She was angry and hurt…”

“And it had nothing to do with you!” he interrupted.  “If she wanted to be angry with your father for whatever she deemed his crime to be that’s one thing, but to take it out on you is irresponsible.”  He almost kicked himself when he saw Gina wince.  She was upset enough and didn’t need him yelling at her for things that were beyond her control.

He took a deep, steadying breath before speaking again.  “So, what are you going to do with this stuff?  We can move some of it over to the guest house if you’d like.”

She couldn’t have been more surprised if Mac had grown a second head right then and there.  “Seriously?  You’d help me do that?”

“Of course,” he said simply.  “I think we can bring the easel and the paints and maybe just a couple of the canvas
es to start.  Then we can take the guitar and the cameras…” he looked around the room.  “It looks like that’s a fairly new laptop over there and he’s probably loaded it with photo editing software so we can set up a workspace for you.  There’s plenty of room.”

“You don’t think your parents will mind?”

Mac laughed.  “Are you kidding me?  They would be thrilled to know that you are using the space and doing something that you enjoy.  Plus, you know your father would love knowing that you are using his gifts.”

What he said overwhelmed her in its sincerity.  Unable to speak, she simply nodded and began to collect some items.  Together they worked in silence to get the things that she wanted down the stairs and into their cars.  Thirty minutes later it was dark out and they were ready to go. 

“Have you eaten dinner?” he asked before Gina could climb into her car.

She looked at her watch.  “Goodness, no.  I didn’
t even realize how late it was!  I’m so sorry!  You must have missed dinner, too!”

“Not a problem.  We did pizza last night, why don’t I grab us some burgers and meet you back at the guest house?”

“Are you sure?  I feel bad about stealing two of your evenings.  I’m sure you have better things to do than babysit me.”

With another woman
,
Mac might have thought that she was fishing for compliments but with Gina he knew that she was genuinely concerned with being a burden.  He could smack both of her parents for making her feel that way.  “You aren’t stealing my evenings.  If anything, you’re saving me from myself.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

He smiled and walked over to his car.  “We’ll discuss it over dinner.”  Opening the door he climbed in and turned the key.  He lowered the window as he was about to pull away.  “I’ll meet you there in about thirty minutes.  Don’t move anything without me.”

And then he was gone.

****

When Gina arrived back at the guest house she did not unload the car.  Much.  She carried one box with her as she went inside and then screamed at her own reflection.  No wonder the man didn’t kiss her; she looked like some sort of deranged lunatic with raccoon eyes!  “What man in his right mind would want to kiss that?” she said with disgust.  She washed her face and brushed her teeth and grabbed a clip for her hair.  Knowing that her chances with Mac were growing dimmer by the second, Gina decided that maybe luck just wasn’t on her side and that this was never meant to be.  She was used to disappointments; this would just be one more to add to the list.

Walking into the bedroom, she changed into a pair of yoga pants and an oversized t-shirt.  Her feet were bare and all she decided to do was to put on a little bit of lip gloss.  The night was a total loss so she might as well be comfortable.

It wasn’t long before she heard the knock on the French doors and she yelled out for him to come in.  Her first thought had been to set them up to eat outside as they had the previous evening but that seemed like too much of an effort and she was physically and emotionally wrung out for the second night in a row.  Simplicity was better. 

“I hope that you don’t mind eating in here,” she said as she set up paper plates and napkins on a coffee table in the small living room area.
  Then, reaching into the small box she had carried in, she fished around until she found what she was looking for and then popped a disc in the DVD player.

Mac watched in fascination as Gina moved around the place.  She had changed her clothes and clipped up her hair and seemed to be doing everything possible to downplay her beauty.  It wasn’t something she could disguise.  The fact that they were eating inside didn’t bother him, the fact that she clearly didn’t seem to want him there did.

“Are you all right?” he finally asked as he placed their bag of food down on the table.  “I mean, I know I kind of invited myself over but if you’d rather be alone, I can take my share of the food and go.”  He wasn’t being mean; he was simply offering her an out if she truly didn’t want him there.

“What?  No, why would you even think that?”

Mac reached for the remote and shut off the television.  “We don’t need to have the TV on while we eat, for starters.  I don’t know about you but I kind of enjoy talking with you.  You asked me a question before we left your father’s place and I thought we were going to talk about it when I got here.”

Gina’s shoulders dropped from their stiff and defensive position and she visibly relaxed.  “I enjoy talking with you, too.  I just feel bad about monopolizing your time.”

“Ah,” he said with a chuckle as he began to dole out their food.  “I believe that was where we left off.” 

They sat on the floor and feasted on cheeseburgers and fries and milkshakes.  Gina was in junk food heaven!  If they kept up this pace, she’d gain ten pounds before going back home!  She wasn’t going to focus on that tonight, however.  Tonight was about relaxing with a friend; a friend who she wanted to be much more with, but
clearly that wasn’t on the agenda.

“So how am I saving you from yourself?” she asked before indulging in her chocolate milkshake.

Mac shared with her how his father was concerned about his work habits and how his brothers had all been like him at one point and now had wives to go home to.  “I used to pick on Jason for being such a workaholic but my dad swears that I put him to shame with my hours.”

Gina nodded in understanding.  “I work a lot, too.  Do you like what you do?”

Now Mac nodded.  “I love what I do and working with my father and brothers really isn’t a hardship.  I love being able to put my ideas out there and knowing that if they’re good, I’ll get honest feedback and if they’re bad, no one is going to hold back.”

“That must be wonderful.  I hate my job.  It’s boring and not particularly challenging.”

“So why don’t you quit?”

Gina shrugged.  “I don’t know what else I’d do.”

“Anything you want, I’d imagine.  You’re an intelligent woman; I’m sure you’d be an asset no matter where you went.”

She beamed under his kind words and she could only hope that he truly meant them and that they weren’t empty words just to keep the conversation going.  “So what do you do in your spare time?”

Mac laughed.  “That’s the problem; I don’t seem to have spare time.  I work all the time.  That’s why my father has been after me.  He wants me to find a hobby or something to do that isn’t work related or he’s going to make me take a leave of absence.”

Gina almost choked on her fries.  “He can’t make you do that, can he?”

“He’s the boss; he can do whatever he wants.”

“So I’m saving you by…?”

“Making sure that I have something to do and leaving the office while the sun is still out.”  He took a bite of his burger.  “It’s not as painful as I thought it would be.”

“I’m sure your father’s heart is in the right place and that you’ll find something to do that relaxes you and brings you joy.”  Gina looked around the room.  “My father asked me to paint while I’m here.  I’m trying to figure out where the best place would be to set up.”

Within minutes they finished their meals and began bringing all of the supplies in from the car
s
. 
Mac did all of the carrying while Gina told him where to set everything up.  The guitar went into the bedroom along with the cowboy hats.  The cameras and laptop went on the coffee table and Mac set up her easel and paints next to a large window that overlooked his mother’s garden.  The room was large enough for all of the supplies without overwhelming the space and once everything was inside and set up, they stood back and admired their handiwork.

“Thank you, Mac,” she said with a smile.  “I couldn’t have done this without you.”  Gina stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek at the same time Mac turned his head to look at her.  Their lips met and held for just a second before his arm snaked around her and pulled her flush against him.