Complicated Relationships (The Southern Devotion Series Book 3) (14 page)

Around the holidays, I get sentimental and wish my parents were here. Reality sets in, and I realize how much was wrong with my father that I eventually feel better about the way Macy and I turned out.

Mary Jane leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Are you alright?"

I draped my arm over her shoulder and whispered back, "I'm great. Thanks for what you said to Lanie before." Without saying a word, she smiled then kissed my cheek and nodded in understanding.

At this moment, I did see a flicker in Lanie's eyes. It disappeared when she noticed me looking. I'd have to be sure to remind her how strong my feelings are getting for her. Mary Jane's phone rang, and she beamed with excitement as she asked, "How are you?" She paused a moment and glanced at me, "Yeah, he's right here. Hang on." She handed me the phone and said, "It's Angel."

Lanie's face fell when I excitedly took the phone and gave my normal greeting without thinking, "Hey beautiful, how are you?" Mary Jane kicked me under the table, and as I rubbed my sore shin I tried to maintain my conversation with Angel. "We're all good, hun. Can Macy and I come see you next week?"

"Please do, Tristan, I miss you two so much," Angel spoke sadly.

"We miss you too. It's very quiet around the house without you," I teased.

"I'd smack you right now if I were close," Angel teased back. "I can't talk long. I wanted to thank you for helping me get here. It's been eye-opening."

"Glad to help. I want you back good as new. And as for the next visitor's day. We'll be there."

"Thanks, T. I love you guys."

"Love you too, Angel," I said glancing up at Lanie, who squirmed uncomfortably. Once again, Mary Jane kicked me under the table. After hanging up, I turn to MJ and through gritted teeth I spout, "Do you have a twitch?"

Mary Jane pursed her lips in anger and said, "Why don't you take Lanie outside to get Macy's stuff out of our car."

Lanie took the hint immediately though I still felt confused. "Now?"

Lanie grabbed my arm and said, "Come on."

Once outside, she crossed her arms chilled from the cool air. I took my jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. "What did I miss in there?

"I think Mary Jane thought I felt a little insecure at your conversation with Angel. And, to be honest, I did. It's odd the relationship you two share but I get it. Mary Jane wanted to help by having us talk about it which is sweet. We're still new, Tristan, and it's okay that we don't know if we're forever yet."

My lips answered with actions instead of words. I pulled her against me and planted a kiss on her. "You don’t need to be jealous of Angel. We're friends only. I care about you, Lanie. My feelings for you are new, and they're exciting and scary at the same time. We have to go into this with our eyes and hearts open and our walls down. We need to trust each other if this will work. I have a lot of women friends, but there's only one woman I want to spend romantic time with and that's you."

"That's what I needed to hear," she smiled and gave me another kiss before insisting we go back inside.

Chapter Twenty-five

A lot to be thankful for

I knew Thanksgiving Day would be hectic, but I couldn’t have prepared for everything that would happen. The morning started off fine; I woke up as normal and had breakfast with Macy. We cleaned the dishes and began to make our contribution to the potluck dinner at Ashton and Gracie’s this afternoon. Macy decided she wanted to be in charge of the sweet potatoes. I’d never made them before, and neither had she so we started early in the morning so we could taste test and possibly make another one if the first turned out gross.

“Do we want to put pecans, marshmallows or cornflakes on top?” I asked as I searched for the multiple recipes online.

“Marshmallows, of course. Eww, cornflakes, really? That sounds too weird,” Macy said with a soured look.

“I agree,” I commented while tossing her a bag of mini-marshmallows out of the cabinet. “What’s the next ingredient?”

“Brown sugar,” Macy called out. I grabbed a bag from the pantry and sat it next to the marshmallows. “Lastly, sweet potatoes.”

My face dropped open in utter shock and how dumb I felt. “I forgot the sweet potatoes.”

Macy started laughing, “How do you forget sweet potatoes when making sweet potato casserole?”

A knock on the door made me cringe. “Great, Lanie’s here to see what a doof I am.”

Macy rolled her eyes, “A big doof.”

Lanie greeted me with a smile and handed me a casserole dish.

“What is this?”

Lanie glanced over my shoulders at Macy, and I turned and caught her waving her hands frantically. When she saw my head turn, she dropped her hands but it was too late. “Sweet potato casserole,” Lanie stated timidly.

Macy sighed, “I forgot to tell you not to tell him.”

“Tell me what?” I asked curiously, still confused about the situation going on.

“Neither of us are great cooks, T. This is our first Thanksgiving with a big group of people. I asked Lanie if she had ever made it before and she said that she’d made them for school, and they all loved her recipe. So I asked her to make a casserole for us in case ours was a disaster.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, squirt.” I felt defeated that my younger sister had no faith in my cooking abilities, but I had to admit she was probably right in feeling that way.

Gracie's house was filled with excited voices when I arrived with Macy and Lanie on each arm. Mary Jane sat at the kitchen table filling eggs with the deviled egg mixture. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

I bent to kiss her cheek and said, "Happy Thanksgiving gorgeous. What are you doing in here alone?"

"I was ordered to stay off my feet and this is the only way I can help."

"Mind if I keep you company?" I asked just as I felt my arm being tugged.

Gracie interrupted us, "Nope, sorry T, I need you in the kitchen. Lanie is our guest today; she can keep MJ company."

Lanie grinned, "It would be my pleasure." She handed me the sweet potato casserole as Gracie continued to drag me away.

"You're making the men slave away in the kitchen?" I teased as I saw Derrick, Ashton, and Gavin all working on a separate dish.

Gracie put her hands on her hips and gave me a seriously scary look of distaste at my choice of words. "You think the women belong in the kitchen instead?"

"It was just a joke, Gracie."

She chuckled, "I know, mine was too. I suck at cooking though, and I think the more time Lanie and Mary Jane spend together the better. You two are getting serious, they have a weird history, it seems to be the best solution to everything."

"I agree. Thanks for that. Now do I have a bird to stuff or potatoes to peel?"

"Step over here to my station, T. I can use some help with this veggie tray," Gavin said. He handed me a knife and led me to the counter full of carrots, celery, broccoli, and tomatoes.

"Been a while since we've seen each other. How are things with you and Macy?"

"Pretty good. She's doing well in school, and I think she has her first boyfriend. They went out a few times; I don’t know if they've decided to go steady or whatever kids call it these days. "

Gavin snickered, "I don't think people 'go steady' anymore. I'm glad you're both happy though."

"Where's Cam?"

"He's on baby watch. He's in Gracie's bedroom keeping Autumn and Addison entertained. Things must be pretty serious for you and Lanie if you invited her for the holidays." Gavin pressed for information.

"Yeah, they are, I think."

Gracie moved over next to us, sliding a large dish with separate bowls for each vegetable. "Here guys, fill it up and we'll set it out for dinner. Mrs. Collins will be here soon, as will Marcus.

"Marcus? My bartender?"

Gracie nodded, "That's the one. Ash found out that he'd be spending Thanksgiving alone, so he invited him to join us. I think he might be bringing a date too, a girl that frequents the club who'd also be spending it alone."

The doorbell rang, and a few minutes later Marcus came into the kitchen. "Happy Thanksgiving, T." He gave me a one-armed hug, and then grabbed a carrot and tossed it in his mouth.

"Good to see you outside the club, Marcus. What girl did you bring?"

"The one you introduced me too, the gymnast, Bailey," he said, grabbing another handful of veggies.

I dropped the last bit of vegetables into the bowl and cleaned my hands off. "Gracie, I need to get in the living room. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Bailey and Lanie weren't exactly friendly toward each other. Bailey throwing herself at me, even after knowing I had a girlfriend, didn’t sit well with Lanie, and I completely understood why.  I didn’t want our first holiday to end with a cat fight. The moment I walked into the room the temperature dropped. Bailey sat on the couch and when she saw me she jumped up.

"Tristan, hi," Bailey said, coming up and kissing my cheek. I pushed her away politely greeting her.

"Bailey did you meet Mary Jane, Derrick's wife?" they shook hands, Mary Jane kept glancing over at Lanie nervously. "And Lanie, my girlfriend."

It seemed to dawn on Bailey suddenly why Lanie and Mary Jane had barely spoken a word to her. "Oh, um, hi."

Lanie glanced at Mary Jane, took a deep breath and said, "Nice to meet you, Bailey."

Sighing with relief, I asked Lanie to join me outside for a minute. "I had no clue she'd be here. She's dating Marcus, I guess."

"It's fine, Tristan."

"You're being extremely nice to her."

"When I went out with Derrick, I said things to Mary Jane that I wasn't proud of, thinking it would get me a second chance with Derrick. Granted, I didn’t get naked and throw myself at him," she said distastefully, "but Mary Jane granted me a second chance. I feel this is my way to pay it forward. If she happens to rip her clothes off again and try to have sex with you though, I swear I will…"

I yanked her forward, capturing her lips with mine and interrupting her threat against Bailey. I'd make sure there was no need for jealousy over anyone today. Pushing my fingers through her hair she ran her hands up my back then grazed her fingernails down my shirt sending shivers along my spine. I pressed my forehead to hers and said, "I love you, in case I haven't said it today."

Things took a turn for the worst when we stepped back inside and overheard Bailey explaining to Mary Jane about our one-night-stand and about throwing herself at me the other night. Lanie stormed over to Bailey and said, "I cannot believe you'd spill that story over Thanksgiving dinner."

Bailey scoffed, "I don't see anyone eating dinner yet. I thought MJ would want to know why you two went outside."

"Look, Bailey. I'm trying to be as gracious as I can by asking you to please keep our business private. What happened between you and Tristan before we met is nobody's business but yours and Tristan's. To speak about it with strangers shows very little tact on your part."

Bailey rolled her eyes, "Don't be a prude, Lanie."

Lanie gritted her teeth, "I'm not a prude. I'd like you to leave."

Bailey smirked, "You have no right to ask me to leave, this is Gracie's house, and Marcus invited me as his date."

Gracie stepped into the room, glanced at Lanie and me and asked, "Is everything alright?"

Lanie's eyes were misted over with tears as she tried to keep herself composed. It tore at me that this moment of discomfort for her was my fault. "Everything is fine, Gracie." After I had said the words, I noticed the hurt on Lanie's face deepened. "If you don't mind though, Bailey isn't feeling well and said she needs to go home."

Bailey wore the hurt expression now. It seemed I was on a roll for the day. "Thank Ash for the invitation, Gracie. Tell Marcus I'll see him at the club sometime."

As she was leaving, Lanie sighed and followed her out.  At first I wanted to chase after them, and Mary Jane stopped me. "They're adults, let them work it out."

After ten minutes, the two girls walked back inside laughing at something. "Feeling better, Bailey?" Gracie asked as she looked up while setting the table.

"I am. And I'm starving."

Lanie followed Gracie into the kitchen to help while Bailey stepped over to me and offered a sincere request for forgiveness. "I'm sorry for how I acted earlier, Tristan. Lanie's a sweet person, and I apologized to her too."

"Tristan, come help me with the rolls?" Lanie beckoned, peering back into the living room. When I entered the kitchen, she whispered, "Bailey has no family. She was crying when I stepped outside. We talked, and she had a similar upbringing to mine. We worked things out, she even apologized when I explained to her my luck with men and trouble in trusting people."

"Thanks for fixing things. I don’t want to ruin the day for Gracie and Ashton."

"I didn't want it ruined for us, either. It is our first Thanksgiving together," she reminded me with a sly grin.

Dinner went perfectly. Ashton carved the turkey, and the rest of the food was passed around the table until our plates were overflowing. I stood up and tapped a fork against my glass. "Ashton, Gracie, I wanted to thank you for including Macy, Lanie, and me in your family dinner today. Since the moment Macy and I moved here, you guys have been the family we never really had. I think I speak for Macy too when I say we love you. I'm very thankful for everyone at this table, in fact. Though we are missing one of our members, this feels like a perfect day. Happy Thanksgiving," I ended the toast by holding up a glass. 

Cameron stood up next and said, "I have a surprise. Gracie, can I use your laptop?" Gracie grabbed her laptop from her bedroom and brought it to the table. Cameron checked his watch and then urged, "Ooh, sign in, please. We only have about a minute." Gracie logged in, and Cameron grinned when a ringtone sounded. He pushed some buttons and greeted the face that appeared on the screen, "Hello, beautiful."

Lifting the laptop, he turned it to face everyone, and they saw Angel smiling back at them. "Happy Thanksgiving everyone!" she exclaimed with a wave. Everyone cheered and returned the sentiment. "For the holiday they allowed us to Skype our families. I only have ten minutes, but it's so good to see you all," she choked back tears.

As Gracie and Mary Jane dominated Angel's attention for a moment, Marcus leaned over to me, "Who is that gorgeous creature?"

"Angel, my roommate. And don't forget you're here with Bailey."

Bailey waved nonchalantly, "Marcus and I are just friends who didn't want to spend the holidays alone."

Hearing my name mentioned pulled me from this awkward conversation. I moved closer to the screen. "You are very much missed today, Angel. In your honor though, I'm eating a plate for you."

Angel chuckled softly, "Thanks so much, T. That means the world to me." She rolled her eyes playfully. "Only one week to go and I'll be home with all of you. I only have about two minutes left today though. Is Macy there?"  I was confused as to why she didn't see her if she could see me until I noticed Macy wasn't in her seat.

"I'll go get her real quick." I found Macy in the guestroom pretending to be engrossed in a magazine article.

"Hey, come say hello to Angel. She's on the computer asking for you."

Without looking up, she said, "Tell her I said hi."

"She has one minute left now, come tell her yourself."

"No." Macy had never acted like a stubborn teenager before this moment. Before I could deal with her, I had to say goodbye to Angel. I went back to the dinner table and peeked my head in as everyone was saying goodbye. "Sorry Angel, Macy's in the restroom. She said to tell you she loves you and can't wait for you to come home."

Angel gave a teary wave goodbye and blew a few kisses our way before the screen went black.