Love Her Right (8 page)

He pressed his forehead against hers. “Either way, you have the people who truly love you in your corner. Hold on to that. I think you should ask Mac to stay.”

She shook her head. “That would be too embarrassing.”

With a coy smile he said, “But he can break a few heads if you need him to.”

She chuckled at the memory of Mac pinning her father to the wall. “That was funny to watch.” She stood up, pulling her brother up. “Let’s go face the truth.”

“I need to ask, how did you explain the baby being inside your belly to Miles?” he asked with a cheeky smile.

She chuckled. “I told him to ask his daddy. You’ll have to ask Mac how he made it through that mine field.”

They’d barely gotten halfway down the stairs before they heard the yelling coming from the living room. Jase turned to her with a worried look, probably wondering if the shouting would set Jolie off. That’s what she’d become, someone that needed a warning label—‘
beware, will explode when triggered
’. Jolie lifted her chin and pushed her shoulders back. It was time to show them she was saner than any of them.

“That’s my girl. Go show them who’s boss,” Jase cheered with a beaming smile.

It gave her more courage to know that someone always had her back. If she had leaned on him from the start, that thread that tethered her would have held in the face of Mac’s betrayal. She wasn’t super human. She needed support even if it hurt her pride.

She marched into the living room, her hands resting on her belly because she had no idea what to do with them and stood watching the screaming match between the men in her family and her husband while her mother and son stood to the side watching with wide frightened eyes. With them were three other ladies. Leah, the beautiful redhead, Jase’s girlfriend, she knew and was close to. One of the other two looked like she’d walked out of a society magazine and the other looked more down to earth as she held a little boy to her chest. The boy she recognized from the pictures her mother had sent, but the ladies, though she could guess who they were, she’d had no good pictures of them to recognize.

“I’m not sure how you run things in your homes, but in mine, guests don’t engage in a shouting match with their hosts,” she spoke directly, her voice loud enough not to be a shout. The room went quiet and they all turned to face her. Jolie smiled at the room, looking each one of the men in the eye. Her confidence almost faltered when Mac quickly looked away, giving her his back.

“Good, I like silence. It’s calming. Now, why don’t we all take a seat—after proper introductions have been made, of course.”

The room stayed quiet as everyone stared at her like she’d grown two heads.

Jase chuckled behind her before stepping forward. “Why don’t I start? Hi, my name is Jase Simmons and I’m a recovering transplant patient and a college graduate.” He signaled to Leah who moved to stand by his side. “This beauty here is my girlfriend Leah O’Connor. She’s a graduate too; aspiring to be an architect like me. She took great care of me and Mom while we were recovering and I love her for that. Leah, say hi to this dysfunctional clan you’ll be joining sometime in the future.”

Leah’s cheeks were close to the red of her hair as she gave the room a short wave with a shy, “Hi”

Jolie bit her lips shut to keep from laughing. God, they were such a dysfunctional family.

Jake cleared his voice, gaining attention of the room before he stretched his hand out to his wife. She took it and stood by his side, shifting the boy to her hip.

“I’m Jake Simmons, I own a construction company in Nevada. And this is my wife Katie. We’ve been married for three years and have a son,” he chucked the boy’s chin provoking a giggle from him, “JJ—Jake Junior. And this is officially the first family gathering we’ve attended.”

And with a cocky smile on his face, James stepped forward with his fiancé’s hand in his, “I’m James Simmons, paralegal and soon to be a successful lawyer. This is my fiancé Amy Deschanel, daughter of the owner of the best law firm in Washington DC. We will be married in three months.”

Jolie looked Amy over. She looked a little embarrassed and peeved. It was sad she was going to move from ‘daughter of’ to ‘wife of’, never to be known for just being herself. And to think that was the life she had wanted with Mac. She turned to her husband, wondering if that was who she was for the past five years.

No. I’ve been Jolie Masters, mother of Miles Masters. He never gave me a chance to be a ‘wife of’.

“And I guess our wedding invitations got lost in the mail?” Jake snickered.

Now Amy’s cheeks resembled Leah’s hair as she glared at her fiancé. James was going to pay for that in some way.

“I’m John Simmons. Father to these three ingrates and husband to that traitor, Ana Simmons!” her father’s voice boomed as he pointed at her mother, and Miles visibly flinch.

Jolie moved to stand next to Mac, who was visibly surprised by that and beckoned Miles. He ran across the room and right into his father’s waiting arms. Pressing his head to Mac’s, his arms tightly wound around his neck, Miles looked around the room with big eyes. She couldn’t blame him for being scared. She stroked his cheek and gave him a reassuring smile before she turned to the rest.

“As much as you deny it
Dad
, I’m your kid too, but that’s a topic for later on. I’m Jolie Masters, formally Simmons and that’s a heart break for another time.” She placed her hand on Mac’s arm. “This is my husband of five years Mackenzie Masters. He’s an aeronautic engineer, and even though he also flies for the Air Force he has this thing for helicopters. He can build one from scratch and that’s what he currently does for Uncle Sam.” She moved her hand to Miles’ who wrapped his fingers around hers. “This is our son Miles, named after his grandfather. The best man I’ve ever known.” She caressed her belly tenderly with her free hand. “This little Masters doesn’t have a name yet, but she is my turning point.”

“Why are we here?” her father barked—that’s all he seemed to do most of her life and the years hadn’t changed him.

The doorbell rang and Jolie lifted her finger before she walked to answer it. Dr. Patel had finally arrived and she looked ready to take on the crazies.

“Are you ready?” she asked as she stepped in.

Jolie closed the door and faced her. “There are a lot more people here than I anticipated. I’m actually shocked to see the ones I did invite let alone that they brought their other halves along. Stranger things have happened.”

Dr. Patel smiled patiently at her. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay.”

Jolie didn’t want to dispute her so she just led the way back to the living room. Everyone had taken a seat, leaving one single chair and space on the love seat next to Mac. Miles and JJ weren’t in the room though.

“They are watching cartoons in the TV room,” her mother answered her silent question.

Jolie nodded her appreciation before she made final introductions. “Everyone, this is Dr. Patel. She’s my psychiatrist and she’s going to help me get through some stuff with all your help.”

Mac blanched while everyone else looked around confused.

“Yeah this isn’t a barbecue but a family counseling session,” she added and immediately her father shot to his feet. She moved in his path intercepting him and that brought Mac up on his feet. She appreciated that because she wasn’t so sure her father wouldn’t hit her to get her out of his way. “I just want to find out why you hate me so much. Once I get that answer, I promise you’ll never see me again if you don’t want to.”

His hands clenched into fists as he glared down at her and Jolie unconsciously took a step back. It brought too many bad memories of another time when she was pregnant and his fists clenched in the same way but were swinging.

Jase was immediately by her side, placing himself between them. “This time Mac’s here to break your neck and I’ll help,” he whispered harshly.

“What does that mean?” Mac demanded.

This wasn’t what she wanted, or needed. It was all going wrong.

“Please, Dad, just answer me that and I swear I’ll never bother you again.” she pleaded close to tears.

“When James was three and Jake five, I left your father,” her mother blurted out.

“Shut up, Ana!” her father barked making her jump.

She spared him a quick glance before she faced Jolie again. “I couldn’t take his controlling me anymore. His jealousy was driving us apart and one day I left. I just needed a break, just a few days to breathe. We got married so young, a year older than you. I never got a chance to find myself.”

Her father snorted. “Yeah, you found yourself in the arms of another man!”

Jolie felt her heart jump. Even though his voice and face showed so much rage, she could see the hurt in his eyes. It was amazing to see her father actually possessed a heart that was broken.

“We talked about this, I thought you understood! I thought you forgave me!” her mother cried.

“I never did! And this was the product of your adultery!” he bellowed sneering at Jolie.

Jolie felt the room tilt. She needed to sit down.

She felt a hard mass press against her back as large arms wrapped around her holding her up on her shaky legs.

“I’ve got you,” Mac whispered in her ear.

Jolie’s head dropped back on his chest with relief. They may not be on good terms but she really needed him to tether her to the ground. She couldn’t fall apart, not now.

“So...does this mean...I’m not his kid either?” Jase asked with a shaky voice.

Her father placed his hands on his shoulders with a wide smile. “Of course you’re my son! You look just like me, a true Simmons!”

“But the DNA results showed—”

“They made a mistake,” he cut Jase off. “You are my son, but she is no daughter of mine.”

Jolie sagged against Mac. How was it that still hurt as much as it did the first time?

“Jake, James, is this also the reason why you despise your sister?” Dr. Patel’s calm voice filled the room.

Jolie looked at her two older brothers as they stared at each other. She chuckled shaking her head. “You should have just asked Jake that question because James does whatever he does.”

James’ lips twisted in a sneer. “I have a mind of my own. That, always calling me Jake’s puppy is one of the reasons I hate you. And Dad always complained about feeding and clothing a kid that wasn’t his. All those things I never could get I would have had if he wasn’t supporting Mom’s bastard!”

Mac quickly released her and she had to hold on to him to keep him from ripping her brother’s head off. His words may have hurt but she didn’t want him dead.

“You fucking asshole, I’m going to kill you!” Mac hissed.

“And you, Jake?” Jolie’s voice broke as she stared at her eldest brother.

“Hate wasn’t exactly what I felt for you, but when I found out you were pregnant after my best friend disappeared, I did hate you then. You always had a crazy crush on Mac and I knew you’d try to trap him with a baby and that’s why he took off so quickly. Dad kept saying you were a wh—ah, just like Mom. She abandoned us then came back pregnant and Dad had to recognize you if she was to stay.” He took a step to her and Mac took a step back pulling her with him, pressing her to his rigid body. Jake took his eyes off her for a minute to look up at Mac before he turned back to her. “I know what I did, or didn’t do that day was wrong and I regret it.”

Jase snorted. “Regret but not sorry. Just typical.”

“I need to sit down,” Jolie whispered, completely drained of strength. Mac led her to the love seat and sat down with her, his arms still wrapped around her.

“John, is that what you told them? All these years they’ve hated Jolie and me because you lied? Was your ego that bruised?” Her mother moved to kneel next to her, giving everyone else her back. “I spent those months with Lee—”

“I told you to never mention his name in front of me!” her father bellowed but this time her mother didn’t even flinch.

“—doing stuff on her bucket list. We went skiing, climbed a mountain in the Caribbean’s, skydived and a lot of other crazy things. I was free to be myself those months and I will forever be grateful for that opportunity.”

“Why?”

“I was dying inside and Lee was literally dying. She was terminally ill—”

Mac jolted against her. “Wait a minute,
she
?”

Her mother nodded as tears ran freely down her cheeks. “Lee was a woman I met on the road. She gave me a lifted when my car broke down and invited me to spend her last few weeks with her. She hoped watching her die happy would help me live happy. Lee—Jolie Clerk helped me see that even though life was hard, I couldn’t run from it. Instead, I was to take what gave me joy and live for that. My joy is my children. The day I went back to your father was the day you and your brother were conceived. I never in my life have ever cheated on that asshole.”

Jolie laughed, feeling the weight on her chest grow lighter. She took her mother’s hand and held it to her cheek. “I believe you. I always have. What I can’t believe is that, even with all the evidence, he still rejects me.”

“He’s channeled his anger toward you because he loves your mother too much to hate her. And your brothers, he turned them against you and your mother to punish her because he couldn’t.” Dr. Patel spoke as she packed her things into her leather bag.

The entire time they were yelling at each other, she’d been taking notes. Jolie hoped whatever she saw would help her because...she was lost. At least she finally knew. It didn’t feel great, in fact it cut her deep. She now understood why things were the way they were growing up.

“I’ll be leaving now. Mrs. Masters, I’ll see you on Monday. I believe I’m well equipped now to help you. Don’t forget to bring your husband along. I’ll show myself out.” She turned and walked away, the opening and closing of the front door echoing her departure.

* * * *

“I
think you should all leave now,” Mac barked harshly as he pulled away from Jolie to stand up. His stomach churned with disgust after hearing all they had to say. He knew there was something going on with this family, but he always chalked it up to being normal. Every family has its fights even though it annoyed him how badly Jolie was treated sometimes. Hearing they hated her over a lie Mr. Simmons had cooked up made him mad beyond words!