Chapter 25

25

Connor

Straining his muscles, Connor gritted his teeth as he stood up straight, forcing his arms to rise into the air to the delighted screams of the children hanging from them. He had four hanging from each arm.

They'd been adding one kid on each lift, and he wasn't sure that he could take five on each arm. He also wasn't sure they'd be able to fit, anyway.

Holding the pose for a moment, he dropped back into a squat, so their feet were back on the ground—though the shortest ones had to drop an inch or two when they let go. Applause broke out around them from the watching adults—sadly, Julie wasn't one of them. She was across the yard, talking to some of her cousins.

John was there, though, scowling at Connor. Likely because his conversation had been interrupted when the people he'd been talking to had turned to see what was going on. Connor ignored the man. He could tell a bitter ex when he saw one. John wasn't his problem, though, other than the obstacle he posed to Connor's goals.

He wanted to make this afternoon nice for Julie. John's presence had definitely thrown her and made the afternoon more of a chore than a joy. Why the man was still hovering around, Connor didn't completely understand.

The only conversation Connor had overheard him having had been bragging about a particularly difficult surgery he'd performed recently. Which was impressive, but Connor had overheard the story at least three different times now, and he wasn't even trying to listen to the man. Quite a few people seemed impressed by him, though.

He did notice that Sandra and her husband weren't part of any of the groups talking to him. Whether that was in support of Connor or just because they didn't like John, he wasn't sure.

"You're so strong!" One of the little girls, he was pretty sure her name was Mari, wrapped her arms around his leg, beaming up at him. "How did you get so strong?"

"Eating lots of veggies," he said, winking down at her.

There was a whole play area set up for the kids, but somehow, he'd become the more interesting toy. He wasn't sure how it had happened. One of the little boys had asked him how much he could lift, and it had snowballed from there.

"I need some veggies! Where are the veggies?" One of the other kids yelled and started running toward the food table. It started a bit of a stampede, which made Connor laugh. As he was watching the kids, he noticed Julie's dad at the very full trash can on the edge of the patio, pulling up the edges of the plastic bag, then struggling to actually pull the bag from the trash can.

Connor headed over, crossing the distance in a few short strides.

"Can I help?" he asked.

"If you can get it out, I'll put the new bag in. I think I accidentally vacuum-sealed this one in the can." Daniel chuckled, straightening up and stepping back.

He had, but it still only took Connor a few seconds to work it out of the trashcan.

"Thank you," Daniel said, shaking out the new bag and eying Connor.

"Of course." He hefted the full bag. "What should I do with this?"

"I've got it. I just needed help getting it out." Daniel slid the new, empty bag into the trashcan, pulling the edges over the lip to keep it in place.

"Are you sure? I don't mind."

Pausing, Daniel looked up at him. "Are you trying to impress me?"

"Well… yes," Connor replied honestly. "But not with the trash. It just seems rude to pull it out, then run."

That made Daniel laugh.

"Okay, well, you can take it around to the side of the house." He pointed to the side that didn't have the gate. "We'll deal with it after the party. If you're still around, I'll let you take it to the front then."

"No problem, we don't have any other plans for today." Hefting the trash bag up, he took it around to the side of the house. It wasn't hard to tell where it went since there was already a full bag sitting there. He set his bag down next to it.

When he turned around, John was standing on the side of the house, fists planted on his hips, between Connor and the party.

"Do you need something?" Connor asked, walking toward the other man. He wasn't worried about getting around John if he needed to, but he'd really rather this not turn physical. Julie wouldn't like that. Her parents probably wouldn't either. They seemed pretty attached to the guy, even though he was no longer their son-in-law.

"From you? No. I just want to be clear; I'm not going anywhere. Deep down, Julie knows we belong together. She only brought you to try to prove a point to her parents. She's fighting the inevitable, and that's why she's fighting so hard. She doesn't like to feel out of control… but us getting back together is inevitable." Clenching his jaw, John nodded firmly as he crossed his arms over his chest. The fact that he had to tilt his head back to keep his gaze level with Connor's as Connor got closer clearly irked him.

"Okay," Connor said easily, stepping around the other man as his jaw dropped with shock.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me?"

He didn't look over his shoulder to see what John's expression looked like, but he could hear the stupefied shock in the man's voice.

"Yup."

There was no point in talking to a blowhard like him. He was so wrapped up in his own self-importance, it wouldn't matter what Connor said. So, he wouldn't waste his breath. John didn't matter; Julie did. If she still had feelings for John, she wouldn't have started dating Connor. And she sure as hell wouldn't have brought him to meet her parents just to prove a point.

All John had just proven was that he didn't actually know who Julie was at her core. Didn't matter that he'd been married to her. He clearly thought she was something she wasn't.

Why he was so wrapped up in getting her back was no hardship—she was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him, then he'd lost her. Connor had sympathy but no patience for it.

Walking back out into the backyard, he found himself immediately mobbed by children, all showing him the veggies they'd gotten to eat.

"Wow! You're all going to grow so big and strong!" he said, holding his hands out in front of him. Two of the kids grabbed his hands, and he found himself being pulled along. Which was fine. He loved playing with kids and didn't mind at all being their personal playground.

Julie

"So… is everything… you know. Proportional?" Sandra asked in a low whisper, watching Connor getting mobbed by the kids.

"You. Are. Married."

"I'm still curious. Not to find out for myself, but like… he's a freaking mountain. Just because I'm not attracted doesn't mean I'm not curious." Sandra raised her eyebrow at her. "You've never seen a guy that you're like, ‘well, I'm not into him, but I'd go for some curiosity sex?'"

The urge to facepalm was strong. That was Sandra, though. They weren't particularly close in that they didn't hang out or talk much outside of the family gatherings, but they were close in that during family gatherings, they tended to band together. Part of it was just being the same age and both girls. Part of it was that she normally enjoyed the outrageous things that came out of Sandra's mouth.

If they'd been talking about anyone but Connor, Julie would have found this conversation much more entertaining. However, since they were talking about Connor, she wasn't sure she wanted to think about how many women would want to have sex with him just out of curiosity.

It didn't help that she was still annoyed with him and getting more so, even though she knew the emotions weren't entirely rational.

Things would have been so different if John wasn't here. If John wasn't here, she would have enjoyed seeing her family slowly falling for Connor. She would have preened with how well he was getting along with everyone, would have been laughing at his antics with the kids, and would have felt pride at how he jumped to lend a hand.

In contrast, John was wandering around the backyard bragging about his recent promotion to each of her relatives in turn. He hadn't lifted a hand to help with anything the entire time he'd been here—hell, for the entirety of their relationship. He definitely wasn't interacting with the kids. He never had unless he had to, and most of the kids didn't want anything to do with him.

She didn't think he'd ever gotten either of her parents' cats within five feet of him the entire time they'd been together.

The fact she couldn't just enjoy how amazing Connor was being pissed her off even more.

Because they should have left.

But he'd pulled her outside because that was where he wanted to be. And now she had to question everything he was doing. Was he playing with the kids to make himself look good? Was he buttering up her parents to make a good impression? Or was he actually enjoying playing with the kids and was his first impulse to step in and help where he could?

Before today, she would have unequivocally said the latter.

Before he'd ignored what she wanted, before he hadn't given her the time to think and make her own choice, she would have been absolutely certain of his motivations.

Now, she was second guessing everything. Second guessing how well she could read him. Second guessing how well she really knew him.

As her mother walked up to her, Julie stiffened. She was still righteously pissed at her mom for inviting John. Sandra coughed, obviously unwilling to continue the previous conversation with her aunt there.

"I'm, uh, gonna get something to drink. And then maybe see if Connor wants to be saved from being buried under a pile of kids." Giving Julie a cheeky little finger wave, Sandra fled the scene. Just as well. If she was there, Julie would have felt obligated to be civil to her mom to help save face.

Because that's what good daughters did.

"Go away, Mom," she said through gritted teeth, pushing a smile onto her lips, so anyone watching them wouldn't realize how angry she was at her mother. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Well, I want to talk to you. I'm sorry."

The apology was so unexpected, it hit Julie like a blow to the stomach, knocking the breath and the retort she'd been about to sling back at her mother right out of her. She'd been about to say "no" and walk away, but instead, she stared at her mother, trying to remember the last time she'd heard her apologize.

If she'd ever apologized to Julie before.

"You are?" she managed to ask, feeling more than a little dazed. "For what?"

Her mother's lips tightened, her voice lowering just in case anyone might overhear, even though everyone was paying attention to their own conversations.

"I'm sorry for inviting John today. I…" Her voice trailed off, and she looked away. Her expression was blank, but she seemed maybe, just a little, ashamed. "Your Connor seems very nice. Your father likes him a lot."

Connor was nice. Or at least he was putting in a lot of effort to be nice. It was a different show than the kind John put on to impress people, but… was it a show? That's what she couldn't figure out, and she didn't feel as if she could trust her gut right now.

It burned her gut that she couldn't just enjoy hearing her mother say this. That Connor had to perform like he was in a circus to get her parents to approve of him. On top of the fact he shouldn't have to perform, her parents should just be happy for her and who she brought over, and she should have gotten this apology a long time ago, but only got it now because she'd brought a replacement for John, and it turned out her parents liked him…

There was not enough void, and she could not go scream into it right now, even if there was, but she felt like she was about to explode. Every single thing that happened was another shake, another jostle, and when she finally did get to release, she was going to spray everywhere and all over everything.

Which was why she smiled instead of exploding like a soda all over her mom and the rest of her family.

"Thanks, Mom." They were the only words she could get out, but thankfully, her mom didn't push her for more.

"A very nice boy." Her mom said, nodding approvingly as she turned to look at the backyard, frowning when she looked over at John. "He is a very important man, but I am starting to think he is more important in his head than anywhere else."

Great mom. Thanks for noticing.

Finally.

It had only taken bringing another man around to get there.

Julie was getting a headache.