Patrick's Promise (Cloverleaf #3) (17 page)

“Nothing’s wrong, hon,” Amber lied. A lot was about to be wrong, especially once they arrived.

Dylan eyes her suspiciously. “You’re acting weird. Do you not want to go to dinner?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing, I promise.”

He shrugged and continued to tie his shoes. “Well, I think it’s pretty cool we are going to see Patrick. You said he’ll be there, right?” Her son looked up at with a hopeful smile. Her precious boy, he needed to be around other men; sometimes being a mom was not quite enough. Sure, she tried to fill both positions as mom and dad, but a boy needed other men, some natural instinct which she didn’t quite possess.

“I want us to leave soon. I’d like to stop at the store for a couple of things.” Amber checked her outfit one more time in her full-length mirror. The dress was pale blue, with very feminine little pink flowers all over it. She wore a light white sweater to help cover her up, but she was now suddenly conscious of the thin straps and how exposed her arms were.

Her hair was a whole different matter, and she was beyond annoyed, as her dark hair was not cooperating. Amber ran her brush through it again. There was officially nothing it would allow her to do, so she just left it. But as she passed her dresser, she snagged a hair tie, just in case she couldn’t stand it being down.

“You ready to go, kiddo?”

Dylan jumped up quickly from the couch. She hadn’t seen him this excited for a while. She just prayed that tonight went well.

***

Patrick

The O’Brien house was always loud on Sundays, but this had to be some kind of new record. They were at capacity. Leave it to his mother to invite everyone to dinner. The one advantage was the enormous deck that allowed people to move about and not be isolated inside the home.

“Here, can you take this out to that table?” Mary pointed to an extra table that had been set up to act as a buffet.

“Sure, Mom.” Patrick carried the large glass bowl that was filled to brim with potato salad. He watched the kids playing, laughing, and giggling. He was tempted to join them. Patrick felt oddly lonely today. Maybe it was the mild remnants of whiskey working its way through his system from the night before, but he felt out of sorts.

Rachel and Liam were sitting in their cloud of wedded bliss, chatting with her mother and brother. Things appeared to be going well, from the happy looks on all their faces. Chelsea was sitting as close as humanly possible to Ethan, ignoring Patrick completely. Maggie and their mother were busy in the kitchen. Michael and Daniel sat with Grandpa Paddy and their father. Everyone looked content and peaceful. Patrick just wasn’t one of them. He felt his mood darken, and then he heard the distant sound of the doorbell. His mother had more people coming to dinner?

***

Amber

She pressed the small button by the door. She could hear it chime through the home, even with her standing on the porch of the adorable Craftsman-style home. Dylan was close by, holding some of the goodies she had brought with her. Her own hands were clutching a large bouquet of flowers—a delightfully cheery arrangement of sunflowers.

Amber watched the door open. Mary greeted them wearing an apron with American flags all over it. It was festive and adorable, just like Mary.

“My, those are lovely. Please come in,” Mary said as she ushered them inside.

Amber followed her and stood at the entrance of an enormous living room. It could easily accommodate the large family, and Amber could only imagine all the memories they probably had made in that room. It was warm and comfortable, tastefully decorated in a rustic feminine manner that also made it feel cozy. The large brown leather couches had throw pillows of varied colors, all pleasing to the eye, and candles sat next to family pictures, encased in mix and matched frames on the mantle of the giant fireplace. Mary directed them to the kitchen, where Amber simply fell in love. The kitchen was beautiful, a cook’s dream with the double oven, the large range, and the insane amount of counter space.

“Mary, your kitchen is incredible.”

“Thank you, dear. I seem to like it.” Mary smiled and reached to accept the flowers from Amber.

“I can only imagine having a kitchen this amazing. Mine back in Portland was pretty great, but this, this is what I’m talking about. Oh, the baking I could do in here,” Amber rambled.

Dylan nudged her and asked, “Hey, Mom, what about this stuff?” He gestured to the paper sack he had been holding.

“Thanks, sweetie, sorry. Mom was just admiring Mary’s kitchen,” Amber answered as she relieved her son of his carrying duties.

“Mary, your home is very nice,” Dylan complimented, his eyes searching for something, or rather, someone.

“Why, thank you, Dylan. That’s very kind of you.” Mary squeezed his shoulder tenderly. “Everyone is outside. Let’s go say hello, and then we can come back in the kitchen. Amber, I could certainly use your help.” Mary weaved her way back to the hall they were in just moments earlier. They followed her to a door which led them to an expansive deck and onto the greenest grass she quite possibly had ever seen. Before she could take it all in or be able to survey who was there, her eyes connected with Patrick’s. His eyes were wide with bewilderment, and he immediately walked toward her and Dylan. His expression was one more of confusion rather than anger.

“Amber, hi, what are you doing here?” He then looked at his mother, who had suddenly disappeared.

“God, I’m so sorry. I ran into your mom and sister. They invited us over.” Amber wrapped her arm around Dylan, pulling him close to her side.

“Hi, Patrick,” Dylan said shyly. He looked at the ground and asked, “Are you mad that we came?”

“No, buddy.” Patrick softened his tone. He extended his hand to Dylan, who quickly reached for it. “I want you to meet my brothers.” He tipped his head to look at Amber, winked, and dragged Dylan away. Her son was off to join the pack.

***

Patrick

He couldn’t express the range of emotions that were bubbling inside of him right now. But seeing the possible hurt and rejection in Dylan’s face somehow made him react completely opposite of how he wanted to. The poor kid had lost his father, and he was getting to that age where it was important for him to be around other men. Amber was a great mom; he never doubted her abilities for a second, her son had manners and respect, two things that showed Patrick that she had done a remarkable job raising him, despite their loss.

“Hey, guys, this is Dylan,” Patrick announced as he approach where all his brothers were now sitting. Patrick gripped Dylan’s small shoulder. “That guy there, that’s Daniel. Watch out for him. That weird looking, tall guy, that’s Liam. The guy that looks nothing like the ones I just pointed out, that’s Michael. He’s my sister’s husband.”

“Nice to meet you, Dylan,” Liam said as he stood to shake Dylan’s hand.

Daniel grinned and gave Dylan a more modern handshake. “Cool to meet you, Dylan.”

Michael extended his hand and said, “Great meeting you, Dylan. Care to join us?”

Dylan beamed, and his excitement wasn’t lost on any of the guys. But they all wore a confused expression, except for Liam, who gave Patrick a knowing stare and playful grin.

After a couple of minutes of getting Dylan comfortable with his brothers, Patrick offered to get Dylan a drink, but what he wanted to do was find Amber. Then maybe his mother.

Patrick walked by the kitchen to find both his mother and Amber huddled over some food. It was an odd sensation seeing Amber there. She seemed relaxed and at ease around his mother as he watched them, not wanting them to realized he was only a few feet away. He wanted to see how they interacted. Could Amber fit into this family? Did Patrick even want that? After last night, he was so confused again, he felt like any progress he had made in moving on from Beth’s death had been halted. Now, as he stood there, seeing Amber so perfectly at home, it worried him. Amber was no longer his secret. Now his family would become involved, pushing him to open up about her, to answer questions he had no answers to, at least not yet. The opportunity was now lost for Patrick to take the relationship at his pace, without the pressures of the family. Instead of being happy that Amber was being easily accepted, this almost had an entirely different effect. Now, he wasn’t so sure that this was what he wanted.

Chapter Seventeen

Rachel

Saying goodbye was hard, a lot harder than she realized. Rachel and Liam were standing outside the airport terminals. Her mother had her Louis Vuitton rolling suitcase next to her, and Ethan had his backpack slung over one shoulder, his luggage next to him. Chelsea’s eyes were hidden behind her large Hollywood-style glasses, her bags at her feet. Hugs had been exchanged multiple times; Rachel could feel tears threatening to spill each time she touched either of them.

“So, Mom, do you think you might be able to come back for the birth?” Rachel subconsciously placed her hand protectively on her belly, which was now starting to finally bulge. She had been grateful it had waited until after the wedding to start growing visibly round.

“You just tell me when those little precious darlings are to be born, and I will fly up,” Evelyn promised as she hugged Rachel again.

“I’m so glad you made it up for the wedding. It meant so much to me.” Rachel felt the tears; they were already running down her face as the words left her mouth.

Chelsea pulled herself hard against Rachel. “I’m going to miss you so much. But I’m so happy for you.”

“You’ll come up for the birth too?” Rachel asked as they clung onto each other.

Through bubbling sobs, Chelsea assured her that she would. “They need to meet their Auntie Chelsea. You guys are going to have the cutest babies.”

“Aww, thanks. God, this is so hard. I hate goodbyes.” Rachel struggled to talk, her chest ached, and her make-up was ruined.

Chelsea tried wiping the smeared eyeliner from under Rachel’s eyes. “You are a mess. You need to stay pretty.” Her own voice was sad and watery. They hugged once more.

Liam and Ethan stood a few feet away, and they shook hands, even making plans for hanging out in the future. Evelyn pulled back, sucked in her stomach, not that there was even an ounce of body fat on her, straightened her posture, and hugged Liam one final time. “You be good to her,” she told him.

Rachel grabbed her brother one more time, forcing him to hug her.”Come on, we got a plane to catch. Just make sure you are happy, Rachel. You can call me anytime if you need help,” Ethan said quietly in her ear. She nodded and squeezed him once more.

They all faced each other in a semi-circle. This was it. Rachel noticed Ethan started to wheel his bag and his mother’s toward the automatic doors. Leave it to him to make the first move; that was his style. Chelsea followed closely behind them, turning back to give Rachel one final half smile and blew her a kiss. They disappeared through the large glass doors. Rachel stood there watching them as they fell into line with the other travelers. Liam wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“You want to get something to eat or go shopping before we head back home?” Liam asked once he was able to convince Rachel to get into the car. They had taken Patrick’s large SUV, and now he was pulling away from the loading curb.

“I just want to go home.” Rachel wasn’t hungry, her stomach was in sad knots, and she felt depressed. She hadn’t realized how much she had missed her family. She looked at Liam, who was staring straight ahead, watching the slowing traffic. Rachel focused on his handsome face; the light start of stubble along his jaw was already growing back despite having been shaved that morning. She reached over and brushed her lips against his cheek.

“What was that for?” He smiled at her. His green eyes darted toward her, then back to the road.

“Because I’m happy I married you.”

“I’m happy I married you too,” Liam said as he carefully switched lanes and then continued, “I know you miss them, Rachel. I am so glad they came up for the wedding.”

“I do miss them. It’s great we got to spend the time we did.” She placed her hand on his thigh. “But we’re married now, and we need to enjoy it before these babies are born.”

“Oh, trust me, I intend to.” He shot her one of his famous sexy grins, the same one that got her there in the first place. The same one that would keep her next to him forever.

***

Patrick

It was Monday, again. He had slept terribly the night before, his coffee had not quite worked its magic yet, and the boys were fussing about their oatmeal; they had wanted waffles instead. It was going to be that kind of day, he could just tell.

It had all started yesterday. He’d woken up moody and irritable the morning following Liam’s wedding; hell, he had been fairly miserable at that too. But he was pretty sure he knew why he had slept so awful again last night—Amber. Leave it to his mother and sister, who were again meddling in his life. They had invited her over, of course without telling Patrick. He knew it wasn’t Amber’s fault; she even told him that she’d tried calling to warn him. He did appreciate that, but unfortunately he hadn’t checked his phone. The dinner itself was only partially uncomfortable and actually went better than he expected after being blindsided by Amber’s arrival. She did her best to keep her distance from him; she understood his concerns and tried hard to not give the impression that they had anything romantic going on. During dinner, when the time had come to sit down and eat, Amber made small talk with everyone and really seemed to get on well with his mother. That scared him.

Patrick was headed to work, his brain still groggy as he pulled into the driveway of the shop. God, he needed more coffee. It was pointless to drink the stuff; he needed to have it intravenously, then he might actually get the much-needed caffeine buzz. He parked his SUV and walked up to the building. He could already feel the sun’s heat bouncing off the metal. Today was going to be a hot one.

“Good morning, Patrick,” Maggie called out to him the moment he stepped inside.

He nodded and hoped he could quietly retreat to his office, but he knew that she was going to hound him about Amber. Now it was just a waiting game. Maggie didn’t approach Patrick about running into them at the grocery store; she didn’t say anything after Amber left dinner last night. The whole thing made him uneasy. What was she waiting for?

“Hey, Patrick,” Daniel said as he rounded the corner.

“Morning,” Patrick muttered.

“Oh boy, someone’s in a foul mood. What’s going on?” Daniel asked as he leaned against the counter. Maggie left her desk and went to the counter.

Patrick swallowed. They were like raptors, working as a team to strike at him. “Nothing’s wrong,” he lied.

Maggie’s lips curled into a smirk. “Well, I think we have a lot to discuss.”

“Not now, Maggie.” Patrick raised his hand up, hoping to stop her.

She placed her hands on her hip and cocked her head to the side. “Really? Then when?”

“Never,” he answered.

She huffed, her growing pregnant belly moved as the air escaped her. “Patrick, what’s going on? I mean, you lie to me the other night about watching the boys, I run into you at the store with her. Are you guys dating, how long?”

Daniel looked confused. “Lied? You saw them at the store together?”

Maggie turned to Daniel. “Yes, I ran into Patrick with Amber the other night. He’d said he was going to play poker with you guys. Apparently not.”

“What?” Daniel looked at Patrick.

“Oh, get over it. You guys lie about stuff all the time. I just didn’t want to have to explain myself,” Patrick stated, his annoyance growing by the moment. He still hadn’t had enough coffee to deal with this confrontation.

“I just don’t get why you feel the need to keep things from us. I would have gladly watched the boys knowing that you were going to be on a date or whatever. I just don’t see the sense in lying about it.” Maggie directed her fiery glare at him.

“Because you guys get into my business, you hound me with endless questions, and honestly, I don’t even know if I want to date Amber, or anyone for that matter. I just wish you guys would leave me alone.”

Daniel rubbed his jaw; his skin was turning an off shade of red, silent anger clearly burning within him. Maggie swung her head back and laughed. “Are you seriously going to act like this? Amber seems really nice. I’m not sure what she wants with a guy like you, always moping around,” she mocked him, making an exaggerated sad and pouty face.

“Real mature, Maggie.” Patrick was beyond agitated now. He moved to go to his office. Daniel blocked his way.

“I think it’s ridiculous, Patrick. Here you finally meet someone who’s beautiful and sweet, and you act like you don’t care if you even date her. How unfair is that to her? Now Mom invited her to the house, you introduce her son to us guys, and what, now you want nothing to do with her, because we might have a couple questions for you? That’s just stupid, Patrick.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?” Patrick squared his shoulders and planted his feet firmly on the polished concrete floor.

Daniel shook his head. “You got a lot of nerve, Patrick. We have been nothing but loving to you and supportive when Beth died. We gave you your space. We tried to walk on eggshells for years. Well, I’m fed up. This needs to stop. You can’t treat us like this. It’s not right after everything we have done for you.” Daniel was seething.

Patrick knew his brother had a point, but he was not interested in hashing this out right now.

“Daniel, I get where you are coming from, but you haven’t been in my shoes,” Patrick tried to explain.

Daniel rolled his eyes. “That’s right, none of us know. We’ll never know how hard Patrick has it.” He swung his arms out wildly, his eyes burning with anger. “Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and get on with your life, man. It’s been four years. It’s time to move forward.”

Patrick felt the frustration well up inside him. Daniel didn’t understand the half of it. He hadn’t even been in a serious relationship, let alone been married. How could he get them to understand? Not a single one of them had been where he had. “I’m not getting into this with you, Daniel. We’re done talking about this.” He shoved past his brother and stomped toward his office. Daniel trailed him, acting so unlike himself. Maggie stood there with her mouth open, completely shocked.

“So you think just because you say you don’t want to talk about it, that’s how it’s going to be?” Daniel was in the door frame, his voice raised and his temper flaring.

Patrick stood there, staring at Daniel, who was growing more pissed off by the second. “Daniel, once you actually have been in a relationship, then you can talk to me about this. Until then, you can’t possibly understand and really need to back off.”

Daniel smacked the inside of the doorway, rattling the wall, causing a picture to drop to the floor. He gave Patrick a hard glare that spoke volumes. Patrick had crossed the line. Daniel turned around and stormed out of the shop.

“Dammit, Patrick,” Maggie said as she came from behind the counter. “Honestly, why? Daniel has always defended you. He didn’t deserve that.”

“Maggie, you started it, again. This is why I don’t need you or anyone else in my business.” Patrick sat down in his chair. The day was turning out to be fan-friggin-tastic.

***

Amber

The dinner rush was finally over. Amber couldn’t be happier as she looked outside through the large front windows of the diner as the last customer pulled away. She had sent her mother home a little while ago, and Dylan was in the back helping with the dishes. It had been just a terribly long day, and she was more than ready to go home.

“Mom, what else do you need me to do?” She turned and saw Dylan stand behind the counter, wearing an apron that was too large for him, his cheeks red and his hair wet with sweat. He had been helping them out the last couple of days. It was fun working with him and reminded Amber of the times she spent with her dad at the diner.

“You did all those dishes?”

“Yep, I even mopped the back and everything,” Dylan added proudly.

Amber smiled. “That’s great, then let’s get ready to head home.”

They did a couple more tasks before they pulled their bikes through the door and mounted them. The cool evening breeze felt amazing after sweating all day. The sky had traces of orange, red, and pink as the sun started to set behind the mountains. Amber relished the quiet sound of the bicycle tires spinning against the asphalt. She looked over at Dylan, who looked relieved to be out of the diner.

“You did great today, Dylan. I’m really proud of you.”

He smiled, and she saw his cheeks grow pink from blushing. “Thanks, Mom. You were right, you know?”

“Oh really, about what?” They coasted on a slight down grade and let the natural force of momentum carry them.

“About working at the diner. I can see now how you did enjoy it as a teenager. It’s not so bad, I guess.”

“Well, I love you being there.” Amber pedaled as the approached a slight incline, and they rounded the corner to their street.

“Hey, Mom, when do you think we will get to go over to the O’Brien house again?” Dylan asked as they stored their bikes in the garage.