Never Enough (9 page)

I actually pinched my arm
. Ouch, that hurt. Trevor was still watching me. I laughed at him and then replied, “I was checking to see if this was a dream. There is no way this is real.”

He was still laughing at me because well I‘m sure I did look pretty ridiculous standing on the sidewalk pinching my arm. “Well what do I need to do to you to prove that
it’s real? I’ll do anything you want me to show you I am dead serious. You have no idea how long I’ve been watching you and wanting you. And now that I have you, I’m not letting you go.” He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “I don’t care about your past. That’s why it’s the past. It’s over. You can’t undo it but I mean look at you. You’re an amazing woman. I know we could make us work, and well your Uncle Gary is just a hurdle we will have to get over but I think if we sat down with him and talked to him like adults it would work.” Everything he just said sounded just like the dream I had before I had waken up.

Wow, he had a whole plan. I was still trying to convince myself this was still a dream while we began walking to a
nother cafe a block away. There were so many different places to eat down here, but of course we ended back up somewhere that had sandwiches. Maybe they had gumbo here, that would be really good. I glanced at my bracelet and smiled. I absolutely loved it and I vowed to only take it off to wash dishes and shower. The cafe was small and quaint. There were maybe twenty tables in there. They had the best sandwiches I’d ever tasted anywhere. I don’t know if it was the provolone cheese or the sweet bread but they were amazing. I could eat sandwiches any time. Doesn’t matter that we just had poboys for lunch, but they did have gumbo on the menu so I was more than happy to order a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo. I’d heard good things about it from people around town. He pulled my chair out for me and I sat. The waitress came to take our order then quickly came back with our drinks. I was just getting ready to thank him yet again for everything he’d done so far when a very familiar voice said my name. Surely it wasn’t what who I thought it was. Please anyone but him. Any other day I would be ok with it being him, just not today please. Slowly, I turned to see my Uncle Gary standing right behind me.

Oh great. This wasn’t happening either. Maybe this whole entire day was a dream. Trevor and I never went to the park this morning and Mom never called and talked to me and he sure as hell didn’t know my past and this moment just wasn’t happening right now.
Gary was not in this same café standing right behind me. Part of me wanted to play stupid and have a Spanish moment and say ‘No hable’. That typically worked with Halley when I didn’t want to tell her something. She would just roll her eyes and walk away pissed at me but knowing my luck though Gary would slap me out of my chair. Trevor nudged my leg under the table and gave me a suggestive look that I needed to talk to my uncle and possibly we could sort all this now. As bad as I wanted to, I was wondering if it were worth all the potential trouble that we were about to cause. Either Trevor or I would be out of a job and I was ready to fight for Trevor until the end. I wouldn’t let him not be able to play at The Lounge. It made him happy and if it came down to it then I already knew I’d have to find a real job. I drew several deep breaths trying to figure out how to begin talking or what to even say. We could always say we were just out eating as friends and nothing has happened between us. Nothing has happened though, just a few hot kisses. A few hot, amazing kisses.

I decided to turn ever so slightly and my eyes met Uncle Gary’s. I couldn’t read his expression at all and that scared me.
I stared at his newly grown salt and peppered goatee trying to figure out how to start this conversation. He’s always had a mustache but recently thought he’d extend his facial hair. The look was good on him, he looked like he was in the pre-grandpa stage. He never married or had kids though, so the only chance of little kids coming around would be from me. He was a war veteran. That’s all he ever had time for, it was his life until The Lounge. “Hey, Uncle Gary. What are you up to today?”

He eyed Trevor and I rather suspiciously
, scratching his chin then replied, “Just grabbing something to eat. What about you guys? Anything you guys need to talk to me about?” He was still eyeing both of us. He was no fool.

I gulped and hoped no one could hear it. It seemed so loud to me. “Do you want to sit down with us?” He looked at Trevor
for second and sat down.

“Trevor.”
Gary wore the most serious expression on his face. Part of me waited for the bloodshed to begin. We’d probably get kicked out of the café and banned for life, if we made it out alive.

“Gary.” Trevor stuck out his hand and Uncle Gary
hesitated before shaking his hand. The bloodshed hadn’t begun yet. I crossed my fingers and prayed it wouldn’t. Trevor began speaking, “I don’t want to play any games Gary. I respect you so much, you gave our band a home and I appreciate that more than you know. Macy and I have not been sneaking around behind your back; we just began seeing each other today.” He stopped to see if Gary wanted to sneak a word in but he didn’t. The waitress sat our food down and walked off but neither of us touched it. My gumbo smelt so delicious, I just stared at the bowl waiting to see what was going to happen. Waiting to be able to eat it. Trevor continued. “I know you have your rule about us not getting involved with each other because of the backlash it could bring but with all due respect, I would like your permission to see your niece. I swear I’ll never hurt her or doing anything to hurt your bar. It’s my second home.”

Gary kept watching him,
still scratching his goatee I guess to see if he were finally done talking. “You done talking, son?”

They were making me nervous. My palms were beginning to sweat and I was utterly scared for what may happen.
Maybe we would both be out of a job by the time this who thing ended. So much for anyone being a good luck charm. Trevor replied, “Yes sir.”

Gary looked at me but I was too intimidated to meet his eyes.
“Macy, are you sure you’re ready for something like this. You know I’m only protecting you but you are a grown woman and I can’t protect you forever. I won’t stand in your way if this is something you want.”

I
took a deep breath and met his eyes and replied quietly, “He knows everything Uncle Gary. That’s why Mom called earlier. Did she tell you she left him? She said you knew. She even said she’s going to call a lawyer and see about filing charges.” My brain told me not to sound too excited but I couldn’t help it. Things finally seemed to take a turn for the better. This was long overdue for me.

“She didn’t tell me all that but
it’s about time she left that asshole. I could have killed him but you were more important to me. The jail wouldn’t have been able to handle me.” He smiled at me and squeezed my hand and changed the subject. “But you didn’t answer me if you’re sure you want this with Trevor.”

Without hesitation, my eyes stayed with his and I replied,
“I do. If I didn’t think we could make something work then I wouldn’t even try. I know your rule so I am fully prepared to go look for a job. Please don’t make the band leave.”

Trevor smiled at me
as if he couldn’t believe I just said all that. Gary replied, “You two are adults. I hope I’m not cursing myself by saying this but I think you two can make it work and not run my bar into a hole. I’ve seen how you two look at each other for a while now. I may be old but I’m not stupid. Don’t make me regret this decision though.”

I couldn’t help but laugh and I got up and threw my arms around my
uncles’ neck. He really was the best. “Thank you so much for everything!”

“Gary, thanks man. We won’t let you down.”

Gary looked at Trevor with a serious look on his face and said, “I’m serious you hurt her, I’ll hunt you down and that’s a promise. This is my baby girl.” He set his hand on my shoulder and watched Trevor.

“Yes sir. You have my word.”

This whole day definitely was a dream now. I never thought in a million years that my uncle would allow this but yet he had. Having his trust was so important to me. I wanted nothing more than to be able to prove to him that I was fully capable of being an adult. I tried to open my mouth to say something but none of the words would come out.

Gary stood up and said, “Enjoy your day, you both better be at work tomorrow.”

We all laughed and he left. We finally began to eat our food. The bowl of gumbo was still warm and it took no time to devour it. The town was right; it was amazing but still not as good as Gary’s. Trevor leaned over and gave me a kiss on my cheek. I don’t know if I ever believed in happy endings before but I prayed there was such a thing. A happy ending for this screwed up life was exactly what I needed.

Chapter 7

Trevor and I had been officially seeing each other for about two months now. It had also been about a month since I’d heard from my mom. Can’t say I was shocked or anything. I expected nothing less from her. Honestly I didn’t expect her to call on a regular basis all of a sudden. At least there was something positive in my life right now. We started hanging out a lot with Halley and Marcus either going to eat or sitting around the apartment. Everything at The Lounge stayed the same. I still sang karaoke in between taking shots and the band playing. When Trevor wasn’t performing, he was glued by my side. Gary really did trust us and he never gave us any problems. I never imagined he would have been so amazing about all this. Believe it or not, I hadn’t been drinking as much as I used to. I still enjoyed myself whether I was drinking or not, but I never left and woke up unable to remember anything. Trevor brought a much needed peace to my life and every day I was more and more thankful for that. He had been so patient with me in the past two months. He brought no pressure to our relationship at all. He just enjoyed me and us hanging out. Most guys would have started complaining by now but not Trevor. I was glad he was so understanding.

He called me earlier and said he wanted to see me before we went to The Lounge. This was a norma
l affair but his voice had a rather excited tone to it. I had no idea what he was up to but I could tell he had something up his sleeve. He asked if he could pick me up so I told Halley that she and Marcus could go ahead and leave. I had just finished spraying my wavy hair when I heard a knock at the door. I had decided to pull it half back tonight; I was pretty pleased with the way it turned out. I opened the door to find Trevor standing in the doorway wearing a cheesy smile. “Hey beautiful. I missed you.”

“It’s only been a few hours silly.”

“I know, forgive me, but I’m crazy about this girl. I can’t stand being away from her. Maybe you know her? She’s about well, she’s average height I guess you could say and she has this amazing smile and these beautiful eyes. The girl can sing. I’m telling you, like knock your socks kind of singing. Tell me you know her or I just may die.” The cocky grin on his face about made me think he was really crazy and not just about me. Crazy in general, crazy like I’m going to call the mental ward.

I rolled my eyes and laughed.
“I missed you too. I’m not sure if I know her though. She sounds amazing I must say.” He leaned in and kissed my lips. My arms wrapped around his neck and I let myself get lost for a brief moment.

He pulled away and asked,
“So can I come in, or you going to make me stand outside?” Damn, I’d forgotten my manners again. I just couldn’t resist those soft lips of his.

“You shouldn’t be kissing me. Don’t you need to find this girl you were telling me about?”

He kissed my cheek and made a trail down my neck then back up to where he started. His lips brushed over mine just lightly enough to make sparks fly and he whispered, “I just found her thank God. So you going to let me in or what?”

My breathing was ragged as I looked up at him trying to find the words to say when all I wanted to do was kiss those lips. Finally I took a breath and replied,
“Well of course!”

He walked in and embraced me in
another long hard kiss. He made all my insides melt. His hand brushed against my back and rubbed along the hem of my shirt. That’s as far as he took it. He didn’t try to feel me up anymore, but sometimes I wish he would try just a little more. His touch was electrifying to me. Our kiss ended and he led me to the couch.

“Sit by me, Mace.” I
sat on the lumpy couch that I usually tried to avoid sitting on and he looked at my bracelet. “Can I see your bracelet?”

“Oh, uh sure.” I removed the bracelet and placed it in his hand. He pulled a small
black jewelry box out of his pocket and opened it. There was a charm inside of the box sitting so neatly. The charm was shaped like a heart. I let out a small gasp. I wasn’t quite sure what he was saying but a heart was something pretty serious.

“I haven’t gotten you a new charm lately and I’m sorry about that. But I wanted to find the perfect one and this one says it all. Macy, this heart charm represents my heart. I can’t deny it any longer
, I don’t know that I’ve ever been able to deny it at all, but my heart belongs to you and only you. So will you please accept this charm and my heart?”

I stared at the heart and played his words over and over again in my head while he placed it on the bracelet then placed the bracelet back on my wrist.
It was so cute but really corny the way he said it. Almost like a wedding proposal from a really nervous guy. I wish I had a filter on my mouth because instead of just saying a simple yes, I whispered, “I love you.” I tried to put my hand over my mouth but he took my hand in his and looked deep into my eyes. I really hoped this was love. I’d never known what that feels like but I prayed this was it. He made me so happy and the butterflies that were in my stomach; gosh I lived for the moments I was able to feel those. Those moments when everything stopped and he did something as simple as gazing into my eyes. He hadn’t said anything yet. I sat there hoping I didn’t say it too soon or what if he was supposed to say it first? Who knew how this was supposed to go? Great, I may have just messed things up. But I looked up at him and met his eyes; he was just watching me, staring back into my eyes. His eyes were smiling.