Chapter 23
Malcolm
I killed the engine, pausing before getting out of my truck. Ginger and I hadn’t talked much since her breakdown. I’d been trying to give her the space she needed and wanted. I knew we needed to have a conversation about what she’d said prior to her panic attack, but so far, I’d been too much of a coward to bring it up.
“Fuck!” My fist pounded the steering wheel. Every time I thought about her words, I got pissed at myself. I took a breath, knowing I needed to get my head right before knocking on her door. Macy had decided to host a couple’s dinner, and I could only pray she wouldn’t pick up on the tension, but knowing her, she’d sniff it out like the bloodhound she was.
Not able to put it off any longer, I climbed out of my truck.
“How are you this evening?” Dorian asked when she opened the door.
“Good. You?”
“Can’t complain.”
“How’s the house hunt coming?”
She smiled. “Calida complaining about me?”
I shook my head. “No, not really.”
She raised one of her perfectly arched brows. “That’s surprising. But I did put in an offer on a place that was accepted.”
“Congrats.”
“Da-da.”
I turned to see Ginger and Shawn standing in the hall. I did a double take when I saw her. She was wearing a dress, something I’d not seen her in since everything happened. Damn, she looked good. After not seeing her for a week, I realized how much I missed her. Wasn’t sure if she was wearing lipstick or if her lips seemed pinker just to taunt me. My first instinct was to kiss her.
“I know what you want, Malcolm. You make it clear every time you can’t keep your hands to yourself.”
I didn’t move from where I stood.
Shawn wiggled, trying to get out of her arms. She put him down, and his little legs carried him over to me as fast as they could.
I took my eyes off her, and knelt to receive Shawn. “What up, Lil’ Man?” He balled up his tiny fist, ready to give me a pound.
“Thanks for coming to get us.” She could barely look at me.
I picked up Shawn as I stood. His chubby fingers started pulling at my dreads like always. “No problem.” I looked around, noticing Dorian had made a quiet exit. “Are you ready?”
Ginger nodded and grabbed the diaper bag. She walked past me without throwing a glance in my direction. This was going to be a long night.
Shawn’s constant talking was the only thing to fill the damned awkward silence between us. No way in hell Macy wasn’t going to give me the third degree while trying to figure out what was going on between us. I glanced over at Ginger. She chewed on her thumbnail, her leg bounced, and she kept her attention on watching the passing scenery.
“The furniture was delivered today. Thanks again for doing that for me.”
She turned, giving me a small smile. “I’m happy to help. Do you like the pieces? I was going to send you pictures, but Macy thought it was best to leave it as a surprise.”
I laughed. “I’m sure she did. The pillows?”
Her smile got bigger. “Macy’s idea.”
I nodded. “Right.”
“You can send them back, or shove them in a closet.”
I reached for her hand, but stopped myself, and planted both my hands firmly on the steering wheel. “I’ll just give them to her for Christmas.”
She nodded, turning her attention back to the window. How did I misjudge everything?
“I’m sorry.”
I glanced in her direction. “For what?”
Her knee continued to bounce. She turned her attention to me briefly before looking down at her lap. “For what I said.”
My hands momentarily tightened on the steering wheel. “You only told me the truth about how you feel. Nothing to be sorry for.”
“Malcolm—”
“Look, we can talk about this—I mean we probably should—but now is not the time.”
Her lips clamped shut. She didn’t say anything else.
Shit!
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap. It’s just that conversation isn’t one that can be resolved in the next five minutes.”
“I understand,” she replied softly.
∞∞∞
When we arrived at Macy’s house, I realized it was more than just some couples’ dinner; our parents were there. No way I’d be able to fend off both Macy and my mother, they were too much alike.
“Shit!”
“S’it,” Shawn giggled from the backseat.
Ginger frowned at me.
“Sorry. Let’s just get this over with.”
I started to get out of the truck, but stopped when she touched my arm. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
I looked back at her. Her eyes were pleading with me. Shawn started fussing, wanting out of his car seat. “I’m not,” I answered before getting out to tend to him.
Over the course of the evening, I watched Ginger with a new set of eyes. I saw her—the real her—clearly for the first time. She smiled, she laughed, she appeared okay. She gushed over Macy’s news that she was expecting again. But none of it was real. She wasn’t real. I didn’t know who she was, as much as I thought I did. The woman I watched was a mystery to me. When she thought no one was looking, her smile faded, and an exhausted look took over. She drank glass after glass of wine. Faking it the whole night. I thought back to our times together, and now questioned everything. Where there any times when she’d actually been happy to be with me, or was it all one big act?
“So what are you two fighting about?” Macy asked as she followed me into the kitchen.
I closed the fridge, popped open the bottle of beer, and took a drink. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah right. Lee has had like four glasses of wine, and she won’t look at you to save her life. So, spill it.”
I took another drink. “If anything is going on between us, it’s between us, Mace. You don’t get to weigh in.”
I attempted to step around her, and she promptly stepped into my path. “Like hell, Mal! I told you to be careful with her.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I had to try not to lose my temper with my baby sister. Any other day, I could easily brush off her meddling ways, but today was not that day. Sitting my beer down on the counter, I stepped forward, and wrapped my arms around Macy. I picked her up, and moved her off to the side, then picked up my beer again.
“It doesn’t concern you.”
Ginger sat on the floor playing with London and Shawn. She looked up at me when I stepped back into the room.
“Malcolm!”
I dropped my head, hearing Macy’s annoyed voice behind me. I looked over at our parents who both stared in our direction. “Mom, will you please explain to your daughter that I am in fact an adult who doesn’t have to answer to her.”
“Can you tell your son he shouldn’t manhandle his pregnant sister.”
“I didn’t manhandle you. I simply, and gently, removed you from my path. You were in the way.”
She stepped in front of me, looking madder than hell. “We weren’t finished talking.”
“Yeah, we were.”
“You two are too old to still need us to run interference,” Mom stated.
“Not when someone still acts like a Neanderthal.”
“Or when someone doesn’t know when to mind her own damn business!”
Mitch walked over, placing London in Macy’s arms. “I think your daughter needs a new diaper.”
“Why can’t you change it?”
“Because you need to walk away and leave your brother alone.”
I gave Mitch a grateful look. I liked him. He was good to Macy, and very level-headed. Just what she needed in her life. He gave me a pat on my shoulder, and shook his head as he walked away with her.
“Honestly, what is it with you two? This is a happy occasion and here you are acting like you’re both kids,” Dad said.
I looked over at Ginger, who quickly avoided my gaze. “I...I’m going to go change Shawn.”
I drained the rest of my beer as I watched her scramble from the room.
Mom waited until she was gone before speaking. “I noticed some tension between you two. I’m guessing Macy did as well.”
I briefly considered bringing up the panic attack. Dad could possibly give me some insight, but I held my tongue. I didn’t know how long it would be before Macy came back, and I knew that Ginger most likely wouldn’t appreciate me discussing that issue.
“It’s nothing.”