12. Mixed Feelings

12

MIXED FEELINGS

“ W ell, guess I can’t announce my engagement the way I wanted,” West said, walking into their mother’s living room the next day.

Laken had stayed the night at her mother’s along with a few of her other siblings. Braylon and Lily were at a hotel and West and Abby were at the little ranch house they’d lived in when she was younger.

This morning she’d gotten up early and helped her mother with the cooking. More like she prepared things while her mother cooked because she didn’t have the best reputation when it came to kitchen duties.

She wasn’t distracted like she normally was at home and trying to do twenty things at once.

“What happened?” Laken asked.

They’d worked so hard to keep West’s engagement private until he was ready to make the announcement. Not even telling Jamie when she’d seen the confusion over her hiring West’s girlfriend to start the first of the year. She couldn’t very well say it was West’s fiancée when no one outside of the family knew that.

“Celia just texted me. You know she’d never bother me on a holiday, so I knew there was a problem when her name came up.”

Celia was West’s publicist.

West moved over to Abby. “Oh man. That’s not even a good picture,” Abby said.

“What is it?” Braylon asked.

West tossed his phone and her brother caught it, then looked. “That’s a good picture,” Braylon said.

Laken rushed over to look at it too.

It was Lily and Abby sitting next to each other at the hockey game last week they all attended when Lily’s family was in town. Braylon on one side of Lily, West on the other side of Abby. Abby was brushing her hair from her face and there was a brief glimpse of a ring, but you couldn’t see anything else.

The headline said, “Did The Billionaire Get Engaged To His Cinderella?”

“It’s not really announcing it,” Braylon said.

“Nope,” West said. “I told Celia to ignore it. She’s been getting emails and texts from the press.”

“It’s the holiday,” Abby said. “They should leave her alone. Why does anyone care about it?”

“Let me see the picture,” her mother said, taking the phone out of her hand. “Oh, it is a lovely picture of you two girls. Why don’t you like it, Abby? You’ve got matching shirts on.”

“We do,” Abby said. “It is a good picture, but I expected something else if they were going to find out. I knew I shouldn’t have had my ring on.”

“You should wear it,” Lily said. “It’s a symbol. Who cares what other people think or say about it.”

“Well said,” Laken said. “So now what? You told Celia not to respond. That will buy a day.”

“Guess I need to decide what picture we want to release today,” West said, laughing.

Yesterday West and Abby had engagement pictures taken for the announcement of their engagement. Then more family pictures were included. Lily was in those pictures along with Abby’s father, Trevor, who flew here for the holiday too.

She had a feeling another brother was going to take the plunge soon.

“You know you’re going to get calls for an exclusive,” Braylon said.

“I am. That is why I asked Celia to keep it low key. No one knows but family at this point.”

She’d been told Abby didn’t wear her ring to work for her last few weeks.

She had mixed feelings about that and wasn’t sure why.

Yes, the ring was only a symbol, as Lily said and she agreed. But it was a symbol of love and commitment.

Her mother still wore her wedding ring on a chain around her neck. She’d only taken it off a few years ago when it had slipped off and her mother almost lost it.

It was one of the only times her mother called her in a panic and upset.

She’d been out of town and almost got a ticket to rush to North Carolina to help her mother find it. Thankfully it was found on the bathroom mat in the guest bathroom upstairs that her mother had been cleaning.

But she also understood that Abby and West’s relationship had been under the microscope a few times and she didn’t know how she’d feel about something like that either.

Could be she’d put more thought into it after that quick lip lock with Jamie weeks ago that she couldn’t get out of her mind.

When she watched him on TV Sunday, all she could do was stare at his lips and wonder if they were still as soft as she remembered or if was she making it up in her mind.

The only good thing in the past few weeks was that she was so busy she didn’t have time to meet with him and was able to avoid him and communicate only with emails and texts.

“I’m not interested in a cover story,” Abby said.

“Why not?” Trevor said. “Don’t people get paid for those things? Can’t you pick where you want to do it and donate the money? Now is your chance to show the world what you’re really like.”

“I don’t know,” Abby said.

“I think you should,” her mother said. Laken was nodding her head right there with her mother. “You know they are going to look into you even more. Braylon put a stop to it all before, but if you give your side, maybe it will shut people up. Take the bull by the horns. West knows that.”

“I’m with our parents,” West said. “I can have Celia shop it around. We’ll use the pictures from today. We’ll have the say and give what we want. Donate the money to whatever mental health foundation you want. Do it for your mother.”

“My mother doesn’t know about you,” Abby said. “Not really. We’ve kept it as quiet as possible.”

“It will be fine,” West said, reaching for her hand. “She’ll be fine. We’ll make sure of it. We don’t have to list names, just say that you have strong ties to mental illness in the family and there is so much that can be done. Think about it.”

“But think fast,” Braylon said. “That is what West is trying to say.”

Hours later, food had been eaten, gifts were open and all talk about the news leaked in regards to West and Abby had ended.

Laken knew Braylon and West would be leaving soon to go back to where they’d stay for the night and she could relax with her mother. Her brothers staying here would go watch TV in the loft upstairs. Talia said she might have a glass of wine with her and her mother, but she expected her younger sister to change her mind.

“Before I forget,” Nelson said, “we’ve got to meet with Jamie soon to go over a few things. I’ll send you what I can before then.”

“Sure,” she said. “I’ll look at my schedule and figure out some times.”

Nelson turned back and talked with Rowan, Elias and Foster after that.

Laken got up to go into the kitchen and help her mother clean up the rest of the food.

There were cookies in there she wanted too.

“What are you doing?” her mother said.

“Getting a snack,” she said. “And I thought I’d help you clean up.”

“I love spending time with you,” her mother said. “But what is on your mind? Something is.”

She should have figured her mother would notice that. “Not much. Work is crazy like always. It’s nice to have a few days off, but then I get thinking about everything I need to do when I get back.”

“Stop working yourself into the ground,” her mother said. “You do it to yourself more than West or anyone expects of you.”

It’d been told to her more than once.

“I love what I do,” she said.

“I believe it. But maybe you can find other things in life to love too,” her mother said, smirking.

She rolled her eyes. “Be happy you’re going to have a daughter-in-law soon. Maybe two with the way Braylon is going.”

“I do hope so,” her mother said, pulling the wine bottle out. “The boys are upstairs now.”

She’d heard the voices trailing off, then turned when West, Abby, Trevor, Braylon and Lily came into the kitchen.

“We are leaving,” West said. “Thought we’d give you a kiss and hug now.”

Her mother moved around the room hugging and kissing everyone. Even one for Trevor. “I’ll be talking to you soon about wedding plans,” she told Abby’s father. “Let West have his way. I know it’s going to be hard, but he loves your daughter and wants her to have the best.”

Abby came from a middle class upbringing very similar to her life. Heck, Abby probably had more than she did growing up because there were only two kids as opposed to eight to provide for.

“I’ll try,” Trevor said.

When everyone was out the door, she grabbed two wine glasses, but Talia came rushing in. “Don’t start without me.”

“I thought you were going to go talk to some of your friends downstairs,” she said.

“I will after one glass. It’s not often us three girls get time together. It will be nice, don’t you think?”

“I do,” she said, grabbing a third glass.

Her mother poured the wine and the three of them got settled in the living room with cookies.

She started to grin and Talia asked, “What’s funny?”

“What?” she asked.

“You’re smiling as if you’re thinking of something funny.”

Laken didn’t want to admit she was thinking of how Jamie was strict with a diet with his daughter. Her mother and sister would want to know more than she was willing to say if that was the case.

“Nothing,” she said. “Just enjoying this time with my mother and sister.”

Her mother’s expression softened and she knew it was the right thing to say.

Hours later she was lying in bed after two glasses and feeling pretty relaxed.

She was just ready to doze off when her phone dinged. She should have shut it off today but could never really disconnect.

She picked it up and had to read it twice.

Merry Christmas. Stop hiding from me. The kiss wasn’t a mistake. At least I didn’t think so. When you’re back in town I want to talk...not about work.

Oh my.

She wasn’t sure how to reply to this.

She didn’t know if she should either.

But then she realized he’d know she read it since she had her fingers over the keyboard and it might look as if she was typing.

That is if he was watching after he hit send.

Nah, he wouldn’t be.

Or would he?

She didn’t know what to think and started to wonder if the wine was clouding her judgment.

She took a deep breath and replied. Merry Christmas...and we should talk.

There. That would leave him guessing on what they’d talk about.

Because the truth was, she didn’t know herself.

But she knew she wouldn’t mind another kiss.