All I Want (15 page)

Protective

Carly couldn’t believe she’d fallen asleep. She didn’t think it was possible. Not after what she and Sean just experienced and not after they’d just said they loved each other. And there she went, falling asleep on his chest.

She stretched slightly, untangled herself from his arms and got dressed. She was just hitting the last step when someone knocked on her door.

Rushing forward, she pulled it open. “Grandma, Mom, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to get your mother out of the house. She was looking too gloomy to me,” Theresa Smith said, wrinkling her nose at her daughter and pulling Carly into a hug. “How have you been, sweetie? I haven’t seen you in at least a month.”

Carly winced. It was true; she hadn’t visited her grandmother in over a month. She talked to her a few times a week but still hadn’t made the time to visit. It was so unlike her. She always visited her grandmother and mother. Her single excuse was that she was spending the free time she had with Sean, and now she felt guilty about that.

“Don’t harass her, Mom,” Trisha said, sounding grouchier than normal. Carly eyed her mother carefully. First her grandmother said Trisha was gloomy, and now she sounded grouchy. “You know she has a boyfriend. She’s entitled to her own life.”

Carly giggled. That sounded more like her mother. Always defending Carly. Even in the darker periods of their lives, her mother was always protecting and looking out for Carly. Maybe her mom was just annoyed with her grandmother. That had happened plenty over the years. Just in case, she asked, “Everything okay, Mom?”

Trisha walked forward and kissed Carly on the cheek, leaning down a bit to do it. Carly was only an inch taller than her grandmother, but Trisha was easily four inches taller than her. “Yes, I’m fine. And before you ask, I’ve been taking my meds. Everything is fine. You two need to stop hovering over me.”

“It’s because we care so much, Mom.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Trisha said, waving her hand.

“So what really brought you by today?” Carly asked.

“Your grandmother wants to meet your boyfriend.”

Carly choked on that. Her mother knew she had been dating Sean. She’d explained about Sean when she told her mother about the ceramics project and dropped off all of the information when she volunteered at the assisted living home her mother worked at. And obviously her mother told her grandmother about Sean.

It’s just that Carly hadn’t felt they were at a place yet where she could introduce Sean to her family. First off, a month ago, they were still in the early stages of dating, tiptoeing around each other for lack of a better word. Then, with trying to juggle teaching with her volunteer work and seeing Sean, she’d just lost track of time.

“Nice, Trisha. Why don’t you just blurt it right out?” her grandmother complained. The two of them were always bickering with each other. It was good to see her mother stand up for herself now. It was a long time coming, and as much as it got on Carly’s nerves when the two of them bickered, Carly suspected her grandmother did what she did on purpose. Her way of forcing Trisha to be assertive.

“Why lie or beat around the bush?” Trisha stated plainly. Good for her, Carly thought. Maybe they finally got the right meds for her mother. Maybe now she could start living life the way she used to.

Carly heard a creak upstairs and remembered Sean was in her bed. Crap, how could she have forgotten? Well, that was easy enough, she was too busy watching her mother for any signs of problems and too amused over her grandmother.

No time like the present, not that Carly had much choice. She just hoped Sean dressed before he came downstairs. On second thought, she better run up and warn him. “Excuse me a minute, please.”

She turned and ran upstairs but still heard her grandmother say in a loud whisper, “I think we’re about to meet him now.”

Carly opened the bedroom door that she’d quietly shut when she made her way downstairs, to see Sean pulling on his jeans. “Where did you go?” he asked her.

“Just downstairs.”

“Did I hear you talking to someone?”

She gulped. Well, she knew he loved her. Time to meet the family, right? She could handle this, she hoped. “Yes. You see, the funny thing is, my grandmother and mother decided to stop in for a visit.”

“Really?” he asked. Was that amusement on his face? She really hoped it was and not apprehension, or worse yet, annoyance.

“Yeah. They knocked on the door before I got off the last step.”

“Guess it’s better timing than if they knocked an hour ago. We might not have heard them. You got pretty loud there for a few minutes.”

“Sean,” she said, gasping, horrified he’d just said that. “Don’t you dare say anything like that in front of my mother.”

“Oh, so you think she’s going to be shocked to find me coming downstairs now? Should I say I was up here cleaning your pipes?” He burst out laughing at that statement. “Get it…cleaning your pipes? I’m pretty good at it, aren’t I? Admit it.”

“Oh my God. What has come over you? You’ve been hanging around Alec and Brynn too long. Please don’t say those things,” she begged him, even though she was laughing right along with him. And blushing. She knew she was blushing because she felt the heat rising up her face again. He was just something else.

She watched as he finished getting dressed and then walked down the stairs with him following behind. “It took you long enough, Carly,” her grandmother said. “What, did you decide to have a quickie?”

She was completely mortified her grandmother just said that. She’d never expected her sweet old granny to voice anything like that before. How embarrassing.

“Mother,” Trisha said. “What is wrong with you? Why would you ask that and embarrass Carly in front of her boyfriend?” Trisha rushed forward and offered her hand. “I’m so sorry for my mother’s rude behavior. I’m Trisha Springfield. That old coot relaxing on the couch is my mother and Carly’s grandmother, Theresa Smith. Just ignore her.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sean said, returning her handshake.

Then he walked over to shake hands with Carly’s grandmother, only to have Theresa say, “I’m too old to shake hands. Come give this old lady a kiss on the cheek. Aren’t you a treat for the eyes.”

If Carly thought what her grandmother said before was embarrassing, it was nothing to the humiliation she felt right now. Her grandmother had been outrageous over the years, but never like this.

She wondered what her mother thought of Sean. It always amazed Carly how Trisha ended up with Joe Springfield. Was it his dangerous side that attracted her mother? Or did he act nice when they were dating and then reveal his dark side after their marriage? Either way, Trisha finally found her courage when she up and left in the middle of the night during a snowstorm, taking Carly with her.

With the embarrassment riding high on her face, Carly turned to see Sean’s eyes laughing over the entire situation. Then she remembered how controlling the women were in his life. She’d bet none of this was new to him, and she was actually a little thankful for it.

***

Sean set his coffee cup down and looked at the three women across from him at Carly’s table. He was glad to know that he didn’t have the monopoly on crazy dominating women in his family. The funny part was, Carly was the complete opposite of her grandmother and mother.

Not so much in looks. Carly looked very similar to her mother, even the same smile, when he caught one brief smile from Trisha. They shared the same color eyes and hair, but that was about it. Trisha was several inches taller than Carly and curvier.

Carly clearly got her build from her grandmother, who was an inch or so shorter than Carly, and one hundred pounds on a good day. That was the only thing they had in common. Carly’s grandmother was a clip. The things that came out of her mouth—she definitely wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.

No, Carly was nothing like her grandmother. Half the time Sean felt Carly was hiding what she wanted to say, or stumbling and embarrassed if she actually said it.

Then there was Trisha, who barely smiled, and half the time was scowling at her mother. Though honestly, Sean felt it was all a game the two women had, because he had seen the one brief smile Trisha had sent her mother when she made a funny remark about Carly being a homebody.

“So you are the baby of the family, you say? The lone boy?” Theresa asked.

He wasn’t offended by the question. It’s not like it was the first time it was said to him, or it would be the last. And it was the truth. “I am.”

“See, Trisha, he is probably used to being pushed around by women. Carly’s sweet nature has to be a breath of fresh air to him.”

Sean laughed at Carly’s snort. “Grandma, that is rude. You have no idea how the women are in Sean’s family.”

“Ignore my mother,” Trisha said. “She has no manners.”

His eyes darted around the table like a Ping-Pong ball. He was used to following conversations by multiple people and had no problem keeping up. Just because he was shocked by their behavior—the complete opposite of Carly’s—didn’t mean he couldn’t follow along. “It’s not a problem.” He turned to Theresa. “You’d be right. I’m from a big Irish Catholic family. The women rule the roost.”

“So you need to feel like a man, and that’s why you are drawn to Carly?” Trisha asked, her eyes turning a little cool.

He didn’t know what that was about and tried not to be offended, but he couldn’t help it, he was. Carly jumped in quickly before he could answer. “Mother, you know better. You of all people.”

Trisha’s face turned white while Sean was trying to figure out what was going on. Just as quickly, Theresa came to Carly’s defense. “Trisha, not everyone is you. Don’t make judgments on your mistakes.”

Trying to defuse the situation that was getting out of control, even though he had no idea why it was, he played the peacemaker. He’d done it enough growing up between his sisters. Hell, even now he did it. One of his sisters was always calling and putting him in the middle of their arguments. “Your daughter is a beautiful woman,” Sean said to Trisha. “A strong independent woman who doesn’t need a man. She makes me feel like a man because I want to cherish her…for the fact she doesn’t
need
a man in her life.”

He looked over at Carly, saw her eyes water and felt foolish for saying it. He didn’t even know what possessed him to make that declaration just now, and even though he didn’t know what was going on with the three women, he felt the need to make his feelings known.

“Are you happy now, Mom?” Carly asked, and Sean could she there was sadness mixed in with the mortification of the situation.

“I’m sorry,” Trisha said, contrite and showing signs of distress. “I shouldn’t have said that. It came out wrong.”

“No, Mom,” Carly said, jumping up and running to her mother’s side. “It’s fine. You’re just looking out for me. I know that. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

Why Carly was apologizing for her reaction was beyond Sean. He felt she was justified. His sisters would be having an all-out screaming match if one of them said anything remotely close to what Trisha had said.

“No, you have every right to be upset with me, Carly,” Trisha said, standing up. “Mother, I think it’s time we left. We’ve imposed long enough.” Trisha turned to Sean. “I’m sorry, this night got away from us. My mother and I meant no harm and if we’ve said anything to insult you, we both apologize. Right, Mother?”

Theresa stood up and nodded. “Yes. We’re pretty protective of Carly, so if we’ve insulted you, we do apologize.”

He was insulted, as much as he didn’t want to be. More so because of Carly’s reaction to it all. It bothered him more than he cared how upset she seemed over the whole conversation. He was feeling pretty protective himself at the moment. “No worries,” he said sincerely.

“It was nice to meet you,” Trisha said. “Next time I promise we will be on better behavior.”

“Think nothing of it,” Sean said.

After the door was shut on the two women, Sean blew a breath out and asked, “Okay, what did I miss?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, not really looking at his face and then walking back into the kitchen to clean up the remains of the dinner she’d thrown together for everyone.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was slightly insulted by your mother’s comment, but that was quickly overridden by what you said back. Not to mention what completely unfolded after. It was clear that you were terrified you upset her, when maybe she even had it coming.”

She stopped wiping down the counter and looked at him. He could tell she was weighing her words. “My mother is fragile.”

“Not tender?” he asked.

“No. Not tender. I know Brynn uses that word to describe me, and as much as it bothers me, I know it’s true. I wear my heart on my sleeve and it’s plain for people to see. My mother doesn’t do that.” She took a deep breath. “She is fragile; her moods can swing fast and we try to avoid that.”

“We, meaning you and your grandmother?”

“Yes.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

She put the sponge back in the sink and turned to lean on the counter. “Sean, I love you. I know I just said it to you for the first time a few hours ago, and it’s the truth. The last several hours have been a whirlwind of emotional upheaval. I’m not really ready to go into more personal things.”