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Chapter Fourteen

Trey

I grin when I pull up outside Mom and Dad’s house and see Addy sitting in her car, playing on her phone. She may have spent last night and two nights before that in my bed but she wanted to drive to Sunday brunch separately. It sucks that she still wants to hide this from people but I’m also just glad that she’s giving it a real shot even though there is still something that scares her. Hell, I’d settle for her not pushing me away anymore.

Jumping out of my car, I sneak up to her window and pop my head in, making her scream and jump. “What are you doing?” I ask as she presses her hand to her heart and tries to calm down.

“Now, I’m trying not to have a heart attack,” she snaps, shooting me a glare that only makes me smile. She’s so fucking cute when she’s all fired up.

“You comin’ in or what?” I ask, motioning to the house, and she nods.

“Yeah, just give me a couple minutes.”

“Addilyn, they are not going to know about us just because we show up at the same time.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because brunch is at ten, and people tend to show up around the same time. Come on, it’s fine.” I pull open her door and guide her out of the car as she grumbles something that I can’t make out. But she lets me wrap an arm around her shoulders and walk with her up to the house. Just as we reach the bottom of the steps, the door opens and she tries to pull away from me.

“Hey, Mom. Look who I found out here,” I say, squeezing her to me tighter, and she sighs.

“Hi, Mrs. Ha… I mean, Charlotte.”

Mom beams at her, and as soon as we hit the top step, she’s pulling her in for a hug.

“Where on earth have you been, sweetie? We were beginning to think that we needed to send out a search party. For your Mama, too.”

Addy’s body locks up at the mention of her mom, and I study her, wondering what the hell is up with that and if it could have any connection to the things she’s hiding from everyone.

“You, too, young man,” Mama says, slapping my chest, and I look up at her, “I thought I’d have to go down to the bar just to get five minutes with you.”

“Sorry, Mom. I’m here now.”

“Well, get inside, ya’ll, or Tucker and Nix will eat everything.”

We step into the house and are immediately surrounded by laughter and happy chatter. This is what I always dreamed of home being like when I was a kid. On nights when I was hiding in my filthy closet and praying that my dad didn’t decide to pay me a visit, this is what I envisioned. When we enter the dining room, Emma and Daisy both squeal, jumping up to hug Addy and she laughs.

I can’t help but watch her as she leans down and talks to Emma’s belly, Nix shaking his head and laughing behind her. I’m assaulted by the image of Addy pregnant with my child, and I like it more than I care to admit. The things she said to me the other night about how I would never hurt anyone – I would love to believe them but I’m just not sure. Watching my dad take his anger out on my mom and then me was such a huge part of my childhood, and it’s not like it was a cakewalk when he was gone either. I may just need to accept that I’m too damaged to be any good to a child. Or hell, Addy for that matter, but I don’t know if I could ever leave her.

“Hey,” Nix says in front of me, snapping my attention away from Addy, and holds his hand out. I shake it, and he pulls me in for a half hug, slapping my back.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Can’t complain.”

He looks over at Emma, and I smile. The dude may be as big as Moe but he’s mush when it comes to my baby sister, and I couldn’t be happier for them. When he first came into her life, I was convinced it was a bad idea, and it took me a long time to trust him. I’m not as obvious in my objections as Tucker is but I watched him closely for a while – until I decided that he truly cared for her. And when she was taken, the agony in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. He loves my baby sister more than anything else in the world and would do anything for her.

“Hey, jackass, where the hell you been?” Tucker asks, coming up to us, and I laugh.

“Working. You save some pancakes for me?”

“Only ‘cause Mom made me.”

“Fucker,” I say, laughing, and he joins me as Mom walks back into the dining room and instructs us all to sit down. Once we’re all seated, I look up and meet Addy’s hazel eyes right across from me. I smirk, and she blushes before looking away. As I glance around the table, I wish that I could sit with her the way Nix and Tucker are each by their women.

What the hell do I gotta do to get her to give me a chance?

“So, Addy, Michael and I were just talking the other day and realized we haven’t seen your mom around in awhile. Where’s she been hiding out?” Mom asks and that same unease washes over her face. She forces a smile that’s good enough to fool anyone at this table – except me. Not anymore, at least. What is going on with her mom? I’m almost convinced that whatever this is, is also keeping us apart. I’m not a big believer in coincidences. I think things in this world are a whole lot more connected than people give them credit for. And, hey, maybe I’m wrong but if I’m right, I need to find out what the hell is going on with her mom.