Tipsy

Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Mikah

While Chicago was the home of Mulligan's, Galena was home for the Mulligan family. Just three hours west of the windy city, and one fork in the road led to the family farm where I'd grown up with Ollie and Kit not so long ago. It by no means was the biggest farm in the area. In fact, it was one of the smallest and was now considerably smaller that it was when I lived there. The balance of my mother's farm and my father's restaurant was a battle that dated back before any of us were born. Ultimately, no one won. My mother lost major acreage and my father lost his mind in debt to keep his family's legacy afloat.

Life took every Mulligan in a separate direction, but we always returned for holidays. I think it helped convince my mom that we enjoyed each other's company when we were all meeting for the same reason... her. After Dad died, that seemed to change. She was once the one who held our family together, and while things were better than they had been the last few years, the family still felt broken. Ollie and I were on the mend, but I wasn't driving home with him and his pregnant wife. Kit was not speaking to me after calling her about the therapist situation. That left me in the truck with my thoughts for the second year in a row.

Last year, I wallowed in self-pity during every holiday. It's how I always managed caving when Shelby would show up somewhere or call. I missed her. I knew she missed me. And yet we still couldn't fix what she'd broke. I promised myself that if she called over Thanksgiving, I wouldn't answer. But I knew I would, because I loved her.

So it was really no surprise when I found Shelby out walking the lane on a brisk November afternoon. Somehow I knew she would make herself seen. And there was no ignoring her when she stepped into the road and waved me down. Now it was time to regret not driving in with Ollie and Sloan. I could have handled three hours of newlywed and first baby bliss if it meant missing out on this encounter. I pulled over to the side of the lane and put the truck into park. Shelby excitedly walked around the front and waited for me to unlock the passenger door.

I sighed and hit the lock, and she took the spot as if it was rightfully hers.

"Your mom said you were coming home today. I've been trying to call."

"Yeah." I ran my fingers through my hair and tried at all costs to avoid eye contact. "It's been crazy since I got back from Mexico."

She bounced enthusiastically in her seat and slapped her mittened hands on her lap. "How was the wedding? I bet it was gorgeous!"

Any other day the comment would have made me irate. She always managed to bring Ollie into our conversations. But as soon as she mentioned the wedding, Ollie and Sloan were not who came to mind. Fucking Hallie in the elevator that night did. And that led to thoughts of the shower, and how we fucked in this very truck. We'd been fucking every day since then for a week, with the exception of today when I woke up to find Hallie had already left for her parent's house.

"Yeah." I nodded. "It was nice. It ended with a baby announcement."

I waited to gauge the reaction. I waited for her to ask whose it was. To see the hurt I knew she was going to try and hide from me. Instead, Shelby took my face into her hands and kissed me hard, holding me in place as if I would move away. I didn't kiss her back, but I also didn't fight it. When her cold lips left mine, she didn't pull away, but instead held us where I could take them again within a second.

"That should have been us," she whispered.

I sighed and turned my head to view her parent's farm across the road. Maybe it should have been. I'm not the one who made sure it wasn't.