Anchor - M. Mabie Page 0,29
blurred with memory.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t think. Did I hurt you?” he asked, his eyes flashing with concern as the realization of what just happened dawned on him.
I needed a minute. I saw my dad on the other side of the room, but he was the only one who’d noticed us.
“I need a minute, okay? I’m going to go to the bathroom.” I forced my legs to go and marched as fast as I could to the ladies’ room.
What just happened?
He wasn’t hurting me. He wouldn’t ever … it wasn’t his fault. His grip on my arm was only guiding, not forceful or dominant. He’d been so gentle. I washed my hands and took a few deep breaths. I just needed to get my racing heart to chill out and I’d be fine.
After a few minutes, I felt my insides settle back into their places. I came back to myself. Back to reality.
I was safe. I was happy. I was moving forward.
When I came out of the door, I noticed Casey sitting on a bench at the end of the hall. Head down. Hands locked, thumbs spinning around each other. When he saw me he stood, but he didn’t walk to me. He waited and I came to him.
“I’m sorry, Casey,” I apologized. The expression on his face was pure worry and guilt. I hated that I’d reacted like I did, but it was out of my control. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Don’t apologize. I should have known—” he started, but I shut him up with a kiss. I tried to tell him I was okay. That it was over and I was fine in that kiss. I tried to kiss away the discomfort the situation caused. We were there to celebrate, not to freak out over nothing.
“Stop. I’m fine. Let’s go have dinner. They’re waiting on us.” I took the lead and linked our fingers together and pressed my lips to the top of his hand. “I’ve wasted enough time freaking out, now let’s have some fun.”
When we got to the table, everyone stood and I hugged my dad first.
“Everything all right?” he asked privately in my ear.
“Yeah, I just had to go to the bathroom.” It wasn’t a complete lie. I did have to go in there—to get my shit together.
After all the hand shaking and hugging, we sat down to a family meal. Everything fell back into place. Casey was a great fit with everyone. They talked with each other like they’d known one another for years. I watched as my mom and dad held hands above the table. It looked so different than it had a few years ago. When I was comparing what I wanted to what they had. Or what it looked like.
Things had changed. It wasn’t about “being like that” anymore. It was about how I felt, not how it looked like I felt—and what I felt was unquestionably right. I think they saw the difference, too. No, not saw, felt. We felt the difference.
We ate dinner the Warren way. Appetizers and shared plates of entrees. I think Casey liked it. He sampled everything like the rest of us.
“We have some news,” I announced toward the end of the meal and the table fell silent. They were probably expecting what I had. “I’m moving to San Francisco. Casey and I are going to live together in his house.”
Casey ran his hand over my thigh under the table and the combination of that moment being real and his big hand against my skin thrilled me.
“Congratulations, you two. He showed us pictures of it a few weeks ago when you were sleeping. It looks beautiful,” my mother noted with a big smile. “And I love your necklace.” She winked at Casey. Those two had been shopping together.
You don’t take your girlfriend’s mother to shop for necklaces.
“Thank you, it was a gift,” I explained, but my mother, the secret keeper already knew.
My brothers and I gave my parents the present we’d planned to give at the party, a trip to Vancouver. It was a wonderful night. We drank champagne and laughed.
“Would you like to see our dessert menu tonight?” the server asked as we were winding down. I wanted dessert, but I was stuffed. Plus, I wanted to get home and celebrate our milestone in private.
“Boys, do you want anything? We’re fine,” my mom said.
“No, I’m good,” Shane answered, rubbing his stomach.
“No, thank you,” added Reggie.
“Well, what about us?” I asked. What if we wanted