BRIAN
Ella squealed as I left the room and headed downstairs. “Brian! Oh my gosh, Brian! I was joking! Don’t you dare!”
One of the things I do like about my house is that it’s very open. The whole front half has huge vaulted ceilings. The staircase leads up to a loft that overlooks both the living and dining rooms. It makes the place feel a lot bigger than it is.
At the moment, it also meant that Ella could hear me banging around in the kitchen from the master bedroom. By the time she got to the loft railing and leaned over it to yell down at me, I’d already shed my pants and purposely left them hanging over the back of the living room couch where she could see them from upstairs.
“Brian?” The same voice that had just spouted a string of Spanish that I was pretty sure would earn a film an R rating now sounded as if it were auditioning to play a mouse in an animated feature. Not a grown mouse, either, but a tiny little scaredy-mouse. “Brian, you aren’t really naked right now, are you? Please tell me you have something on.”
Have I mentioned how much I love that she’s shy? I was grinning like an idiot when I called up to her from the kitchen. “You know, I don’t think I actually have an apron. We’ll have to pick one up next time we go shopping. But if you come downstairs and sit at the bar, you probably won’t see much with me behind the counter. Why don’t you come on down? I’m starting some coffee. It’s excellent stuff. Some kind of fancy French roast.”
“I’m not coming down until you put your pants back on!” she called out in a haughty voice.
I smirked. “I’m wearing boxers, babe. And I know for a fact that you’ve seen both of the teen comedies I did a couple years ago. Which means you’ve seen me in nothing but briefs before. The pants are staying off. Come downstairs! I’ll make you some eggs and toast.”
“That is different, and you know it!”
“Do you need some help? I can come get you if you want.”
That earned me a frustrated groan. Damn, she was fun. “I’m going back to bed. You can bring me breakfast there when you’re done being a brat.”
My bedroom door clicked shut a few seconds later. I chuckled and rummaged around until I found a tray. Breakfast in bed sounded like a wonderful idea. I got right to work and managed coffee, juice, scrambled eggs, toast, and yogurt for two. I sighed a little as I slipped my pants back on. Another time, I’d be stubborn and leave them off, but she just got here, and I didn’t want to push her too much. I wanted her to have fun and relax with me, yes, but I also wanted her to trust me and feel comfortable and safe in my home.
“I’m wearing my pants,” I called as I entered my room. The dishes clanked quietly on the tray as I walked around to the bed. Ella wasn’t in it.
“That’s good,” she called from out on the balcony, “because it’s a little chilly out here, and I stole your robe.”
Her voice was playful again as it drifted inside from the open sliding glass door. I carefully set the tray down on my bed and went to my closet. Lucky for her, I had more than one of almost everything. I found another robe, and then took Ella her breakfast outside.
The sun was shining, and there were only a couple of puffy white clouds in the otherwise blue sky above the canyon my house backed to. It was a little chilly, but just enough to nip at any exposed skin and make the robe feel warm and comforting.
Ella was sitting at the small patio table outside my bedroom door, with her eyes closed and her face turned to the sun. A small smile played on her lips, as if she loved the feeling of the sun rays hitting her face. She was swimming in my bathrobe, and her hair was a disaster, but she’d never looked better.
I could get used to this.
I set the tray on the table in front of her and kissed her cheek. “You are positively bewitching right now.”
Her cheek lifted beneath my lips as she smiled. I waited for her to make a joke or call me cheesy, but she simply looked at the food in front of her and said, “Thanks for breakfast.”
Not only did she accept my compliment; she rewarded me with a kiss. I laughed as I sat beside her and split up the food on the tray. “That was much better.”
She slanted me a wry look. “I liked that one.”
“Good to know.”
I sipped my coffee while Ella salted and peppered her eggs and dug right in. We’d both skipped dinner last night. After a couple wonderful moments, I decided to get to the heart of it. “So today…do you want to worry about going to get some of your things, or do you want to just go shopping for some stuff and give it a week or so before you try to contact your family?”
Ella scowled at her plate. “I don’t know. I’ll call Juliette later and feel things out. Part of me never wants to go back there, but I have some things—like my mom’s things—that I definitely want to keep.”
“Okay. Well, why don’t we—” I forgot what I was about to say when the ringtone for the front gate started to sing. “Who in the world…?”
Ella set her fork down. “What’s going on?”
I held up my phone before unlocking it. “I have it programmed to ring whenever someone buzzes the front gate.”
“Someone’s here? Who?”
I grinned. I’m not much of a techie, but I have fun with my security system. “Check this out. When I answer it, it’ll show me the feed from the surveillance camera down there.”
I answered the “call,” and a little screen popped up on my phone, showing me the last person I ever expected to see. “Mom?”
“Hello? Brian, honey, is that you? Hello?”
I nearly dropped my cup of coffee. My mother was here? I couldn’t believe it. My mother hates to travel almost as much as she hates my father. Traveling to the city where my father actually lived was the worst of both worlds, in her mind. She never came to L.A., if it was at all avoidable. She always made me come see her. She hadn’t been to visit me in L.A. in three or four years.
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
When I spoke, she turned toward the sound of my voice coming from the small speaker on the gate box. She found the camera and gave me a petulant frown. “What do you think I’m doing here? I’m surprising my son for Christmas.” She reached out her window and pressed the buzzer several more times before finally huffing in annoyance. “Brian, sweetheart, this thing is not working. The gate won’t open.”
I shook my head and swallowed a laugh. “That’s the buzzer, Mom. It’s like a doorbell. It doesn’t open the gate.”
“Oh. Well, how in the world am I supposed to open the gate, then?”
I glanced at Ella. She was watching my phone with fascination while biting her lips, as if trying not to laugh. I was glad to see her excitement. Though the timing wasn’t ideal, I was sure Ella was going to love my mom, and I couldn’t wait for them to meet. I shot her a wink and laughed at my mom. “You can’t open the gate. I have to let you in.”
Mom balked, as if personally offended. “Well, would you mind letting me in, son? We had to be at the airport at 4:00 a.m. our time—it was the only flight they had for two days. We have been traveling for hours, and I would like to come in, put on a fresh change of clothes, and rest someplace comfortable.”
“We?” I squinted at the tiny screen on my phone, trying to see past my mom to the passenger seat. “Is that Doug with you?”
“Well, of course it is. Who else would it be?”
“Hey, Doug!”
“Hello, Brian,” my stepfather called out and then muttered, “You see? I told you we should have called him first.”
“For heaven sakes, Douglas. How were we supposed to surprise him if we called him first?” She turned back to the camera. “Are you surprised, honey?”
“I—” Not surprised. I was stunned. Speechless. “Yeah. I’m surprised.”
“Too surprised to open the gate for your dear old mother?”
Beside me, Ella slapped a hand over her mouth. Laughter spilled from her eyes.
I’m sorry, I mouthed.
“You’d better open the gate soon, or your mother’s going to put you in time-out when she finally gets in the house,” she whispered back, laughing.
I rolled my eyes, but Ella wasn’t that far off, so I hit the code to open the gate and hung up the phone. I set it on the table and just stared at it for a moment. “Did that really just happen?”
“She seems fun.”
“Fun.” I blew out a breath and raked a hand through my hair. “If we survive, yes.” I looked at Ella, wondering how to properly prepare her for what was about to hit us. My mother was…a handful. “I love the woman,” I promised. “And you will, too, but she’s…”
“Enthusiastic?”
I snorted. “Tenacious.”
The doorbell rang four times in a row, eliciting a groan from me. “So much for a peaceful week.” I shot Ella another look. “I apologize in advance. You have nothing to fear, but you will quickly see why the apology is necessary.”
The doorbell rang again, as did my phone. “I’m coming, Mom,” I grumbled when I answered it. “Let me just throw on a shirt, and I’ll be right there.”
“Throw on a shirt? Brian, it’s ten thirty. Are you still in bed?”
“No. Sort of. Just hang on a sec. I’ll be right there.”
Ella followed me inside—our breakfast forgotten for now—and laughed as I put on yesterday’s rumpled shirt. “Shut up,” I warned. “It’s not funny.” At her evil grin, I added, “You mock me now, but her attention is only on me because she doesn’t know you’re here yet. She’s not really here to see me.”
That wiped the smile off Ella’s face. I should have felt bad when she bit her lip and tried to run her fingers through the tangled mess of hair on her head. But I didn’t. She didn’t have anything to worry about except being smothered to death by motherly affection, and I got the feeling Ella wouldn’t mind that after the year she’d had. I kissed her forehead before heading out the door. “You look fine, and she’s going to love you. Promise.”
My mother was standing with one eyebrow arched, her arms folded tightly across her chest, a designer boot tapping impatiently by the time I got the front door unlocked. I wanted to be annoyed with her, but the second I saw the tiny brunette spitfire of a woman, I was a little kid again, giddy with excitement. “Hey, Mom!”
I threw my arms around her, and she melted, suffering from the same anticipation as me. “There’s my baby boy!” she squealed, squeezing me in as tight a death grip as she could manage.
I let her go and gave Doug a quick, slightly awkward hug. I liked the guy, but we’d never spent enough time together for him to really feel like a father figure. “Good to see you, Doug. I hope the trip wasn’t too strenuous.”
Doug snorted, casting a glance at my mom, and I laughed. I could only imagine Mom having to fly coach on a crowded flight at an ungodly hour in the morning. Doug was probably exhausted and very eager to pass Mom off to me.
I pulled back and just looked at them again after they shuffled into the entryway and I shut the door. “Wow.” I was still trying to recover from the shock. “I can’t believe you’re here. Thank you for coming.”
“Are you kidding?” Mom’s giddiness was gone, and her you’re-in-so-much-trouble face was back. “After you canceled your trip on us last minute? What else were we supposed to do? We had to wait until after Christmas, of course—Doug couldn’t skip out on his kids—but Brian, I can’t believe you ditched your mother for Christmas.”
This time, I didn’t hold back my groan. “Mom. I told you why I couldn’t go. I couldn’t leave Ella when I’d just thrown her into the spotlight.”
Mom huffed. “I’d hoped you’d be able to convince her to come to Wisconsin. Did you even try?”
I rolled my eyes. “You know I didn’t, and I told you why. It’s not that she didn’t want to come. She was just too overwhelmed with everything. We needed some time to ourselves.”
My mom harrumphed her disapproval and led me by the arm to the living room couch, still in a lecturing mood. “Honestly, Brian, what kind of ungrateful son are you? My only child declares to the entire world that he’s found the love of his life, and he couldn’t take the time to call his own mother and let her know about it first? Then you don’t even bring her to see me for Christmas?”
I laughed. Liz Crawford was a formidable woman—stubborn, opinionated, and determined. I think that’s why she ended up married to my dad all those years ago. Also probably why they ended up divorced less than three years later. How she ever settled in a place like Green Bay, Wisconsin, with a quiet math professor I’d never know, but I was glad she was happy.
“Mom. Give me a break. We’ve only been dating for a week.”
“Love, Brian. You used the word love. People don’t fall in love in a week. You had three years to tell me about this mysterious young woman, and you never breathed a word of her. I am your mother.”
She had a point, but I didn’t feel bad that I’d never told her about Ella. I’d never told anyone about Ella. Ella had been too special from the very start. She’d been my secret. Mine alone. To completely geek out on you and borrow the words of Gollum—she’d been my precious. She’d been my One Ring that I needed to keep secret and safe.
I hadn’t been embarrassed that I was talking to a stranger online. It was more that my life had never been normal, and Ella was so…regular. Not that she was ordinary. I always knew she was special. But she had a normal life. She was a link to a world I’d never qualify for but one I’d secretly longed to be a part of. She seemed too good to be true, and I was afraid if I told anyone about her, she’d disappear. Now that I knew she wasn’t going anywhere, I was ready to show the entire world what a treasure I’d found.
“Okay, okay, I get it. I should have told you about her. And if you will quit lecturing me long enough to let me get a word in, I’ll introduce you to her.”
Mom’s jaw dropped. “What are you—is she here?”
I relished the look of shock on my mom’s face—it was her turn to be surprised, after all.