The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(75)

“You, I think.”

“Nah, that’s too simple. With her looks and apparent money, she could find a guy who has a lot more to show for his life than I do.”

“Oh, Dakota,” she said with a headshake and a smile, wondering when was the last time he looked in the mirror. “I’m not going to flatter you.”

“Good, then could I have a club sandwich with chips and a cold beer?”

“Yes, you can. And I told Rob a little about her. I told him it appeared she was stalking you but there didn’t seem to be proof.”

“Any chance he’s going home to have dinner with his boys?”

“I could ask,” she said.

“You might want to tell him that I just pissed her off and to check on your car.”

*

As July passed, Tom and Lola planned a family gathering—Lola’s sons and parents and her sister’s family; Tom, his kids, his parents, brother and brother’s family. It was a very large group and there was a purpose. So they put out two grills and Lola made extralarge salads and a big pot of beans and got the families together. And made their announcement. They planned to combine their households in the fall.

“Why the fall?” Tom’s mother asked.

“Once all the kids are in school and we have a good fix on where everyone is headed for the year, we’re going to reconfigure bedrooms. Jackson is going to be living in an apartment in Denver, Cole is taking a dorm room at the university, Nikki is saving for a dorm suite with her girlfriends, Trace is starting at the community college and Brenda is entering her senior year of high school. We think we can combine households here without crowding too much,” Tom said.

“Except it won’t be our house,” Trace muttered under his breath.

Tom seemed to be the only one who heard him, but Tom was an expert and well practiced in hearing the mutterings of kids even in a noisy house. He heard Trace say he didn’t want to live in a big house with a ton of people and at some point maybe he’d go live with his dad.

Other than that, there seemed to be a real air of celebration. The families had known each other for years. They hadn’t been close exactly, but when you grow up in a small town, you tend to know at least a little bit about a lot of people. Tom’s parents and brother were delighted that at long last he was settling down with a woman he could actually share his life with. Lola’s parents were thrilled that after so many years of raising her sons on her own, working two jobs and managing her home, she would have a partner she could hopefully grow old with. Tom’s family liked and admired Lola; Lola’s family liked and admired Tom.

Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time; there was a great deal of laughter and a few stories were told about Tom and Lola growing up. When the guests had all departed, when the kids finished their chores and Cole and Trace had gone back home to Lola’s house, Lola and Tom finished the dishes that were left.

“We have a small problem, I think,” Tom said.

“Trace,” she replied.

“So you know?” Tom asked.

“There’s been a little grumbling. I can’t really explain it because I know he likes you. He doesn’t disapprove of us.”

“Then let me handle this. Just let me try, and if I run into trouble I’ll back off.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure. I think he has some anxiety about a lot of things. Starting college. His brother leaving home. You giving up your house, which has always been his home base. Not just his home, but his security. He might be asking himself, what will happen if you give up your house, move in here and it doesn’t work out? Then what?”

“I told him we’ve talked about that—that I’m not going to be without a home. That I’ll never be without a home. That we hope to buy and sell more homes, maybe keep my house as a rental. That when we combine households we combine everything and you would never leave me broke and homeless. And he asked me how I knew that and I said that I knew you. And sadly, I didn’t really know his father that well. I thought Trace was adjusting to the idea.”

“Well, the kids come first,” Tom said. “Let me talk with Trace. Maybe I can put his mind at ease.”

“I’m sorry, Tom,” she said.

He put his arms around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. “Shh. You don’t have anything to be sorry about. Six kids, Lola.” He laughed. “If you think they’ll stop throwing us a curve now and then after we get married, you’re naive.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m surprised it wasn’t Brenda.”

“Why Brenda?”

“Oh, she’s the most like her mother and a little spoiled. Fortunately for us, Brenda’s dying to share space with Nikki. Nikki has great clothes. And Trace is a handsome kid. Great selling point.”

“Oh God, what if—”

“Don’t borrow trouble.”

“I just had a shudder run through me,” she said, leaning against him again.

“They’re fourteen to twenty-one. We’re going to shudder a lot for about ten more years. Then we get to start shuddering over the grandkids.”





   Make yourself necessary to somebody.

   —RALPH WALDO EMERSON