The Guarded Widow (20 page)

“Come on, Mom,” he groaned.

Shrugging it off, she figured he’s twelve now and he’s bound to stop wanting to be touched quite so often. I’m not going to take it personally, she thought. So to give him his space, she lightly patted his knee before walking off to start dinner.

But Gavin had overheard the entire exchange.

“Hey Tommy, give me a hand carrying these back down to the basement?” Gavin asked, gathering up the empty storage boxes.

However the question may have been proposed, to an irritable twelve year old it sounded like a demand and Tommy wasn’t about to take it.

So he stared directly at Gavin and flashed a surly smirk.

“Nah, I’m too tired.”

Gavin understood exactly what was going on and gave him a knowing grin.

“Of course you are. I’ll ask one of your little brothers for help then. You guys will probably want to turn in early after the big hike today.”

Tommy watched Gavin from the corner of his eye. Who does this dude think he is? Then on second thought, he conceded to helping, because who wants to go to bed early on their first night of Christmas vacation.

Between the two of them, it only took two trips up and down the basement stairs before Tommy tried to head back up from their final trip.

When Gavin laid a gentle hand on his shoulder to stop him, Tommy realized there’d been a hidden agenda all along.

“I want you to know how much I appreciate how you and your brothers take care of your Mom. How you listen to her. She’s so proud of all her boys and she loves you so much.” Gavin paused, and when he spoke again there was sincere understanding in his voice. “You know, I saw how you were watching me earlier, in regards to your mom.”

Tommy cast his eyes downward to his shoes and acted like he was studying his laces. “Yeah, so what?” he grunted.

Gavin gave his bony shoulder a sturdy, friendly squeeze.

“You can tell I really like her, huh?”

Tommy finally looked up and shrugged.

“You know, you’re growing up, Tommy. You can see these things while your brothers are still a bit too young to take notice. I do like her. I mean I really care about her. She even shared her beliefs with me and I fully intend to honor her wishes.”

Tommy raised his eyebrows, asking him, “So you are going to get married?”

Gavin tousled his hair. “I’m definitely open to the idea. But, I know your Mom’s first priority is you guys so I need to know if you’d be comfortable with the idea too.”

The young man’s eyes widened in shock. “You care about what I think?”

Gavin laughed, hooking an arm around Tommy’s neck, he playfully rubbed his knuckles over the boy’s head. “Of course, I care about what you think.”

Tommy’s grin was swift and Gavin immediately returned it.

“This is just between the two of us right now, though.”

Tommy, understanding the importance of their conversation, nodded his head of wavy brown curls in agreement.

Then they locked hands, man and child, and shook on it.

She wasn’t sure what changed Tommy’s attitude but his mother was grateful to whatever it was, because the rest of the evening went smoothly. Gavin followed her upstairs when the boys headed to bed and went into their bedrooms to wish each child a good night. When he entered Tommy’s room, he thanked him for their previous conversation.

Olivia overheard him as she walked in the doorway and offhandedly asked, “What conversation?”

Tommy glanced warily at Gavin.

“Nothing, Mom” he stated and caught Gavin’s quick nod of approval as he exited the room.

After witnessing their brief, curious exchange, she wondered to herself, what’s going on with those two?

Then she looked at her son, whose mood had improved dramatically, and decided to shrug it off. She wished Tommy a good night and made her way downstairs.

Olivia hurried into the kitchen with the intention of completing a few remaining tasks before settling down for the evening and found Gavin already seated at the kitchen island. As she went about starting the dishwasher and sweeping up the taco remnants off the floor, she noticed him watching her.

After a few unnerving seconds, she finally turned around and shot him a questioning glare.

“What are you doing, Gavin?” Olivia asked him, flushing from embarrassment under the weight his relentless gaze. “Why do you keep staring at me like that?”

He casually leaned back against the wrought iron stool and grinned at her.

“I like watching you, Olivia. I really enjoy being here with you and your boys. I want you to give some serious thought to what I mentioned earlier today.”

Suddenly, an enormous weight seemed to have magically appeared on her shoulders, physically burdening her. Her heart heavy, she wanted to explain, needed him to understand.

“Gavin, I enjoy having you in our lives too. But marriage or even a relationship is something I’ve sworn off until the boys no longer live at home.”

As he began to interrupt her, she stopped him by slightly raising her hand.

“Please Gavin, hear me out. I‘ve been married before so I know how a couple starts out all happy, excited, and in love. I also know how it feels to live separately in a marriage, to feel completely alone. Tom was the father of these children, but we failed to maintain our relationship. I’m partly to blame for that and I don’t ever want to carry that burden again. Tom and I didn’t walk together down the same road and before he even died, I’d already experienced tremendous pain and loss. Then to find out that he lied to me during the last five years of our marriage. Well quite frankly, I’m terrified to trust any man again.”

As she spoke, Gavin listened. His eyes slowly becoming a darker more foreboding shade of blue.

“You know, I can understand why you’re afraid. I really do, but let me just say one thing.”

He stood up and walked around the island to stand in front of her. Slipping the palm of his hand along her cheek, he tilted her face up so he could look into her eyes. Then he gently brushed his lips over hers.

“Olivia, I am not Tom Jones.”

He brought his remaining hand up to fully embrace her face within both his palms.

“Just think about it and try to start getting used to the idea of marrying me. I’ll never be able to walk away from you and your sons. Not now, not after experiencing such an intimate part of your lives.”

With that final statement, he dropped his hands and left her standing in the middle of the kitchen as he retired to the guest room for the night.

Olivia was not a woman to be reckoned with as they prepared for the arrival of Gavin’s parents. At one point, Gavin even stopped Tommy in the upstairs hallway to ask him if his mother always gets this upset when guests are going to arrive. Tommy solemnly nodded his head, and then went to hide because he heard her footsteps coming back up the staircase.

Unfortunately, Gavin wasn’t quick enough.

“Did you strip the bed in the guest room?” Olivia fired off at him, racing by with her arms full of clean bedding for her room.

He smiled, sarcastically.

“Yes, you’ve asked me that two times already. I even went to the linen closet in the hall, picked out some matching sheets and pillow cases, and remade the bed.”

She swatted him with a pillow before throwing it back onto her freshly laundered bed.

“Seriously, you need to relax, Olivia.” He gestured toward the boys’ rooms. “You’re scaring all of us.”

Not feeling any sympathy, she rolled her eyes.

“You’ll all live. I believe everything’s done now anyway. What time do you think they’ll arrive?”

She’d barely finished asking the question when an unfamiliar car crested the driveway, heading slowly toward the house.

Gavin flashed a gallant smile as he reached forward to rub the tension out of her shoulders. “Relax, I promise they won’t bite.”

Hurrying down the stairs, she dashed into the powder room to assess her appearance in the mirror. She fluffed her hair, pinched her cheeks and asked herself as she continued critically studying her reflection. Why am I so nervous?

Gavin chuckled when he came down and caught her primping. It was then that he realized just how anxious she must be about meeting his parents. Good, he thought, maybe she’s nervous because she’s now considering them as potential in laws.

Over the last few days, he’d spent so much time contemplating marriage, the idea no longer sent ripples of fear spearing through his chest. Actually, he’d come to realize that Olivia’s acceptance was now his heart’s deepest desire. So brandishing his most charming smile, he whipped opened the bathroom door and tried reassuring her.

“Olivia, you look ravishing,” he said, smiling appreciatively at her pretty face.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Gavin, I don’t want to look ravishing to your parents. I want to look, I don’t know, acceptable.”

He grabbed her hand, pulling her along with him toward the front door. When the doorbell rang, he stepped out of her way as she gaped at him.

“It’s your house,” he dryly told her.

“It’s your parents,” she drawled out, slowly.

So they compromised. As Olivia opened the door to greet them, Gavin was standing directly behind her holding the door open as she stepped out onto the front porch.

“Mr. and Mrs. Rafferty! Welcome and Merry Christmas! I’m so pleased you decided to accept our invitation,” she said, wearing a warm, welcoming smile. “Please come in, you must be tired from the drive.”

Although Olivia missed the curious exchange of eye contact between the older couple, Gavin didn’t. And while he helped his parents remove their coats and hang them in the hall closet, his parents exchanged nods of acknowledgement with one another, which he also didn’t miss. He decided to wait to get their luggage, in case he needed an emergency escape plan.

Olivia stretched out her hand to his father. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both, I’m Olivia Jones.”

Mr. Rafferty gave her hand a vigorous shake. “Please call me Frank and this lovely woman is my wife, Elsa.”

But Elsa was not going to be satisfied with just a hand shake and Olivia quickly found herself drawn into an affectionate embrace instead. Clearly uncomfortable with his mother’s forwardness, Gavin frantically cleared his throat.

“Mom and Dad, Merry Christmas! I’m so glad you could make the trip,” he said as he placed a firm hand on his mother’s arm as he steered them toward the kitchen.

His mother patted his arm.

“I wouldn’t have missed meeting her,” she whispered. “When I called the station looking for you, Ron told me you were head over heels for a woman.”

Narrowing his eyes, he flipped on the coffee maker. “Oh Ron did, did he?”

His mother clucked her tongue happily and placed her hands together, looking around to see if Olivia was near by.

“Yes, he certainly did. He also said she has four children, all boys. Where are they? Can we meet them soon?” Elsa asked him, barely able to contain her excitement.

“Mom, you need to cool your jets. I know what’s going through your mind right now,” he stated in a low, firm tone of voice.

Not at all deterred, she only waved her hand to dismiss him. “Gavin, I am your mother and I know what I just saw.”

Then she turned and hurried toward the hallway because Olivia was approaching with her sons. Gavin watched in dismay as his mother became teary eyed as she affectionately shook their hands, giving each boy a peck on the cheek. He sent his father a look of exasperation. But his father only shrugged his shoulders as if to say, you know your mother.

Gavin sighed. He certainly did.

After her sons scattered in four different directions, Olivia breathed a huge sigh of relief and a weight seemed to lift off her shoulders. Everyone had been mannerly, no one had squealed in horror when Mrs. Rafferty or Elsa, as she wished to called, bent down to kiss each one of them.

Gavin and his parents were now settled in and visiting together in the living room. Perhaps they should have some privacy; she decided not wishing to interrupt them. But within twenty minutes Gavin was hastily rounding the corner of the kitchen, searching for her.

“Olivia, why are you hiding in the kitchen?”

She didn’t look at him.

Instead, she picked up a dish towel and folded it. Then she shook it out and refolded it a second time as she answered him. “I just thought I should give you some time alone with your family. I didn’t want to intrude.”

“My mother already loves you,” he told her with a smile as he led her gently by the arm down the hallway. “Please, come satisfy her curiosity about you. She’ll drive me insane otherwise.”

She was quite pleased by how easy Gavin’s parents were to talk too and before she knew it, she needed to excuse herself to put a casserole in the oven for lunch.

The moment Olivia stepped foot outside the room, his mother pounced on him.