for Gavin’s reaction.
He looked over at her. “What?”
She took another drink of wine and then set the glass on the table. “You asked about my dad and brothers earlier,” she said. “They’re a mess.” She took a bite of lasagna and watched Gavin process that.
He muted the TV and turned to face her, and it hit her that he was taking this very seriously. “How much of a mess?”
“Charlie’s quit five jobs in the past year. Danny’s failed three classes and is considering taking a year off. Which will mean he’ll never go back to college.” She hated that her brothers were constantly taking the easy way out. Charlie quit jobs when he didn’t want to show up on time anymore. Danny dropped classes if they required more homework than he felt he was able to fit into his very busy social calendar.
“They’ve had a tough year,” Gavin said.
“Yes,” she agreed. Her mom had done everything for the boys. Allie was trying to help them out, but there was only so much she could do. “But they’re making things even tougher with their choices. Charlie doesn’t have health insurance or money for his bills, so he moved back in with Dad and I. Danny will have a hard time finding anything over minimum wage without a college degree, and he’s already lost his girlfriend because she got sick of him slacking. And he’s living with us too.”
“I’m…sorry,” Gavin offered.
She was too. “I just wanted to…tell you something. Since you asked.”
He leaned in. “Thanks.”
“Yeah.” She took another bite of the best lasagna in the world and admitted that telling Gavin that much hadn’t hurt at all.
“How about your dad?”
Now that was a more painful subject. She swallowed and pushed a piece of pasta around her plate. “He’s a mess too,” she said. “Of course.” He and her mom had been married for thirty-four years.
“Of course,” Gavin echoed. “I guess that’s a dumb question.”
She looked up. “No. It’s not.”
Her dad had been completely lost when her mom first got sick. It had taken Allie a week or so to fully and competently take over organizing his routine—something he hadn’t been able to do since the motorcycle accident twelve years before. But once Allie understood Lily’s method for keeping Owen on track, he did okay. By the time Lily had passed away, Allie had taken over the bill paying, the scheduling, the shopping, the laundry and…everything. “He misses her terribly but…” She trailed off, realizing where she’d been about to go with the conversation.
“But what?” Gavin pressed.
“Nothing. Things have been getting better.”
Because of the wedding.
Allie put her hand against her chest and focused on not freaking out. Josh was there. And Greta was back for a little while now. And Sophie. They would make sure Owen was okay. Yeah, Charlie and Danny might be on their own—and in some trouble—but at least Owen had people to lean on. Josh knew the details, he knew the things Allie took care of. He’d step in, she knew it. Yeah, he might be mad at her, but he’d never let Owen down.
“Allie?” Gavin leaned closer, his eyes full of concern. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Just…” She wanted to say it. She wanted to tell him. It would be the first time she’d said it out loud and suddenly she wanted to tell someone.
“Just?” Gavin prompted.
She bit her lip, then said quickly, “I said yes to Josh because he can like my family when I can’t.”
Gavin watched her, considering that. He didn’t seem shocked by her confession. “What’s that mean?”
She sighed. “I love my family but…” She shrugged, trying to ignore the twinge of guilt over what she was about to say. “Sometimes it’s hard to like them. Josh gets that and he kind of takes over for me sometimes. He’ll take my dad out to do something or listen to my brothers whine. He just…makes things easier.”
Gavin worked on not swearing. Or scowling.
Josh had been there, helping Allie. That was good. At least someone had.
But it had, obviously, helped win her heart.
More than that, it was something Gavin had never done.
He’d helped her, but not with her family issues. Not only did they not interact with each other’s families, they didn’t talk about them much. Gavin knew that Allie and her mom took care of her dad and the boys, but he didn’t know the details. He’d never asked.
The details hadn’t mattered.
Or he hadn’t realized they mattered. Or maybe they hadn’t mattered until about the time Josh