Chapter 16
The one-story brown house, with the huge oak tree in the front yard, looked just like every other house on the street. Yet the mere sight of the house sent his gut into a tailspin, and his breakfast threatened to make a reappearance. What did you say to a twelve-year-old anyway? The last time he’d had a conversation with a twelve-year-old he hadn’t been much older himself.
“It’s going to be fine,” Mia said from the passenger seat of the truck.
“What am I supposed to say to her?”
“She’s a girl not an alien, Sean. Ask her about the kind of music she likes or if she plays sports. Didn’t you say she takes karate? Ask her about that.” Mia reached over and pulled the keys from the ignition. “Come on let’s go.” She dropped the keys in his hand.
The keys dug into his palm, but he fought to kept himself from using them to start the truck back up. Exiting the truck, he walked around to help Mia down.
A dog’s bark sounded after he rang the bell. Through the open window, Sean heard his father command the dog to stop before the door swung open.
“Come on in. Ignore Duchess, she’s harmless.” His father gestured toward the medium-sized dog seated near his feet.
The two times Sean had seen his father, anger had ruled his emotions. Today the anger was more of a dull noise in the background. Knowing the full story lessened the hatred he’d carried around for years and replaced it with something bordering on sympathy.
“Taylor’s in her room changing her outfit again.” Seamus gestured toward the bedroom off to the left. “She’s been talking about this since we last spoke. Have a seat, and I’ll get her.”
“See, I told you this would be okay.” Mia’s breath skimmed across his skin as she whispered in his ear.
A knock reached them from down the hall, followed by his father’s voice. Mia’s right, she’s just a kid. His fingers tapped against his thigh.
“Relax, will you?” Mia’s hand covered his as the young girl appeared in the doorway.
Once again he noticed how much she resembled him and his father. All three of them possessed the same green eyes and dirty blond hair. And like both of them, she was tall. A sharp elbow in his side reminded him he’d yet to speak. Clearing his throat he stood and took a few steps toward Taylor, who fidgeted from one foot to the other in the doorway.
“Happy birthday,” he said as he held out the wrapped gift. “I’m sorry we missed the party yesterday.”
A small smile spread across Taylor’s face. “That’s okay. Dad said you had another party.” She accepted the gift he held out. “Thank you.”
Dead silence again reigned. What now? He ran a hand through his hair. “Mia picked it out, but if you don’t like it we can get something else.” He didn’t even know what the gift was. Mia had not only picked it out but wrapped it, too.
The smile on Taylor’s face grew a little wider revealing a mouth full of metal. “I can’t believe you know Mia Troy. I watch the old episodes of Family Life all the time. Is she your girlfriend?”
Before now he’d not used that label on Mia, but he liked it, for now at least. Someday he’d like to make her more. “Yeah.” His gaze locked with Mia’s and her eyes told him she was thinking the exact same thing as him.
“I have a new boyfriend.” Taylor sat down in the armchair across from the couch, but remained perched on the edge.
An unexpected surge of protectiveness jabbed him in the chest. “You just turned twelve. You’re not old enough for a boyfriend.”
“I had my first boyfriend when I was ten,” Mia said. “His name was Eric Devlin.”
“You’re not helping,” Sean muttered, as he took a seat next to her again.
When Mia just laughed, he couldn’t contain his smile.
“I heard you take karate,” Sean said. He’d leave the issue of boyfriends and dating to his father for now. “I did it for a long time, too.”
Taylor eased back against the chair. “Really? I earned my blue belt right before we left Florida and I just started classes again at a new school. My Sensei, Steve, said he knows you.”
“Steve and I graduated together and his father taught us both at that karate school.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his dad pause by the doorway, but he didn’t enter. When he’d thought about this visit he’d envisioned his father with them, yet Seamus held back as if to give them time to get to know each other without raising any negative feelings with his presence.
“Let me know when you’re hungry. I thought I would order pizza for lunch,” Seamus said with a hint of curiosity in his voice.
“Sounds good,” Mia answered before anyone else.
His father disappeared into the kitchen and the last of Sean’s tension disappeared.
“What belt did you get to?”
He looked back over at Taylor, she’d folded her legs up on the chair and sat leaning forward with her elbows on her legs.
“Third degree black. I had to quit before I got any further because—” Just in time he stopped. Whatever existed between him and his father didn’t apply to Taylor. “I got a job.”
“Dad said you played a lot of sports. Charlie, too.”
Her statement surprised him. What other information had their father shared with Taylor? “Um, yeah.”
“Me, too. My mom wanted me to do dance, but I hated it. My favorites are football and basketball. Dad just signed me up for town football. They told him I’ll be the only girl. I was the only girl last year when I played, too.”
He’d played town football before middle school and not one girl had ever played. When Charlie was about seven she’d asked to play, but their mom refused to let her. “What position do you play?” Sean asked.
The next hour or so disappeared in the blink of an eye as they discussed sports and shared information about each other. The amount that they had in common floored him. Before that afternoon he’d expected Taylor to be like the young girls he saw on the rare occasion he went to the local mall. With the exception of perhaps her outfit, she wasn’t anything like the giggling girls who hung out with their friends.
“I really want to learn to hike and ski,” Taylor said, once they’d finished talking about their favorite professional sports teams. “Dad said there are some great places in New Hampshire to do both.”
He’d not considered any future meetings with Taylor before today, now, after getting to know her and connecting with her, he wanted to include her in his life. “There are some decent places here, too. I’ll show you if you want.”
“You will? Really?”
Her excitement and enthusiasm fueled his own. “Of course. What are brothers for? Next weekend I’m busy, but the one after that we can go for a hike if Dad says it’s okay.”
Seamus appeared in the doorway a few pizza boxes in his hands. “If what’s okay?”
Taylor bounced out of her seat and jumped in front of their father. “Sean said he’ll take me on a hike in a few weeks. Can I go?”
His father’s eyes met his as he nodded. “Fine with me,” he said with his mouth while his eyes said thank you.
“Thank you.” She hugged her dad, then turned toward Sean again. “I can’t wait,” she said as she hit him like a high speed train.
Caught off guard, only shock registered at first, but once it wore off he embraced her. “Me either,” he admitted.
“The pizzas are here. Lets eat and you can talk more about your plans,” Seamus said.
Taylor followed their father into the kitchen, her mouth going the whole time. “Colton, that’s my boyfriend, goes hiking all the time with his dad. Last time he went he saw a rattlesnake. And once he said their dog got sprayed by a skunk. They had to give him a bath in tomato juice.”
Even after Taylor disappeared from sight, her voice reached him as she rattled off all Colton had told her about hiking.
“Want some help up?” Sean asked as he extended his hand toward Mia.
Mia’s hand disappeared in his and h
e pulled her up. “I’m proud of you,” she said as she kissed him. “You’ve done great today. I think you just made her day.”
Sean planted a light kiss on her lips. “She’s a good kid. Besides, you were right. She’s family.”
“I’d love to go with you,” Mia said with a pout.
“Next time.”
“I cannot wait to get this stupid cast off.”
Uneasiness raised its ugly head when he thought about her return to California to complete her movie once the cast came off. “I can.” The words slipped out before he caught himself.
“You could always quit and come with me.”
As tempting as it sounded, he couldn’t do that. For the first time in his life he had a job doing something he loved. The work at the lab challenged him every day and he got along well with the people he worked with. Even if he hadn’t loved his new career at the lab, he couldn’t let his girlfriend support him. “We talked about that. You know why I can’t.”
“I know, but I expect to see you every weekend. No excuses. Once filming is done, I’ll be home. Then you’ll never get rid of me.”
“Sounds perfect.” Just the way he wanted it.