The Hawke Family

Abigayle Hanson stood at the sink in her town house watching the squirrels chasing each other across the yard. Suddenly pain shot through her head, dropping her to her knees. It had been happening a lot lately, and with each new pain, a new memory. Six months ago, when it first happened, she’d learned the name of the man she’d been hiding from for 24 years. Jack. Jack Cullen. Was he her husband? Father to her daughter? Just a friend? She didn’t have any answers then. A couple weeks ago a particularly intense spell brought memories of what happened that night. She knew it was a mistake. She knew she could stop running and hiding. Maybe find love again. Maybe find Selena’s father. But still all she had was her brothers name. She didn’t even know her own.was “Call anyway, Mom. He can give you answers.” Selena argued nightly. But Aby held firm to her desire not to bother him until she knew who she was. Yet, once she started having memories of her other children it was hard not to pick up the phone. She remembered Jordon’s first Christmas. Analise’s first birthday. Jaiden taking his wobbly first steps followed by Jasper’s a short ten minutes later. Mostly she remembered little Sierra. Her last few days before she disappeared had been spent with her. She’d had a raging ear infection and refused to be comforted by anyone but Mama. With her big brown eyes and black curly hair, she was her Mama’s mini me, and close to her heart. Selena came in while Aby was on the floor. “Mama” She yelled, rushing to her side. Aby continued moaning and squeezing her head. “Oh, Sele, it hurts. It wont stop this time.” “I’ll call Doc” Aby weakly nodded.She could hear Selena talking to Doc Pete Simpson. Everyone just called him Doc. It made him sound older than he was. “Mama, Doc said lay down right where you are. I’ve got a cloth for your head. An ambulance is on the way.” “Thank you, Sele. She mumbled, the pain so intense she was close to losing consciousnesses. The EMT’s were quick to take her vitals and load her into the ambulance. She was unconsciousness when they arrived. Selena was terrified. Was her mom dying? What was causing her so much pain? Would this be the end of it?

He was glad he had insisted on a window instead of a wall. He could sit at his desk and watch her. He couldn’t spend more than five minutes with her without breaking into a cold sweat and stuttering. But he had no clue how to tell her how he felt. He wished he had Jasper’s smooth talking ability.
He glanced down, noticing his empty coffee cup, and headed for the office kitchen. Stopping to chat with several employees before returning to his office, he longed to talk to her so easily. He noticed a new file on his desk. Looking over the front page he headed to Jasper’s office.
“Good morning” he said
“Good morning, Jaiden” She smiled back and he felt as if the sun had come out. Jasper’s in his office if you want to go in.”
He nodded his head, “Thank you, Lorelee.” Too tongue tied to say more he just smiled at her.
She cocked her head to the side, giving a little laugh. “You can call me Loree like everyone else.”
“I’ll remember,” He threw over his shoulder as he walked into his brothers office. H shut the door and slumped back against it with a sigh.”
“You know, if it is so difficult to walk to my office because of my secretary I can move her to another office.” Laughter filled Jasper’s voice as he teased his brother.
Jaiden gave him a withering look, “Not a thing to joke about.”
“I can’t tell, Jaiden. Are you in love with her or disgusted by her?”
“Wait what?” he questioned, puzzled
“Jai, you act like she has the plague. People notice you go out of your way not to be alone with her for long. Bets around the office are between love and disgust. I’m going with love because your not like this around Uncle Jack. You can actually carry a conversation with him and no one disgusts you more.”
He sat down and put his head in his hands. “Do you think Lorelee thinks I find her distasteful?”He whispered,shaken at the thought.
“Ah, she probably thinks you don’t like her for some reason. No big deal.” Jasper threw out nonchalantly.
“Jasper, I am madly in love with that woman out there. She makes my knees weak and my tongue tied and I don’t want her to know that.”
“Jai, ask her out.”
“I mean, it would be horrible if she thought I was disgusted by her.”
“Just ask her out.”
“I just get so sweaty and nervous when I’m around her too long.”
“Just. Ask. Her. Out!” Jasper raised his voice and enunciated each word in order to get his brothers attention.
Surprised, Jaiden looked up, having forgotten he wasn’t alone. “Ask her out?”
“Yes” He nodded. “Go out there and ask her out.”
“No way.”
Confused by his brothers reaction he questioned, “Why not?”
“Well, she might say no and that would break my heart. But she could say yes and then I’d have to go out with her and talk to her. I wouldn’t know what to say.”
“How did you get to be this age and be so socially inept.”
“I just never had any girls I had a crush on.”
“Mine change every other week” Jasper replied with a smirk.
“I know” came the sarcastic reply.
Jasper laughed. “All in good fun. I’m not scared of love or anything. I just haven’t found it yet. When I do I’m going to run to it, not away from it.”
“Famous last words Bro”he laugh ed
Jasper turned a sardonic look on his brother. “Jai, ask her out. If she says no we’ll go out for drinks after work. If she says yes, then you tsake her out tonight to dinner and a movie.” The look he shot his brother was full of mischief, “She’ll be better dinner company than me anyway.”
He slapped his legs and stood up. “Ok, I’ll do it. I might throw up afterwards, but I’ll do it.”
“Good luck, Bro”He called after him.
“Lorelee, “He stated as he approached her desk. She looked up hesitantly. “Wouldyouliketogotodinnerwithme?”It came out so fast it was all one word.
Confusion clouded her features “What?”
He took a deep breathe and tried again. “Will you go out to dinner with me?”
She was smiling that sunny smile again. He was sure she ws going to say yes. Instead he heard “This is to stop the gossip about us right? To prove I don’t disgust you? I know you don’t. I know you are just shy.”
“No, Lorelee, that’s not it at all. I’d really like to take you to dinner.”
“Well, ok, if your sure. I can’t tonight. Maybe tomorrow?”
“Sure, ok, that’s good. Um, I might not be at work tomorrow so I can pick you up at your house around seven?”
She tucked her head down and gave a shy smile. “That sounds good, Jaiden.” She wrote on a piece of paper. “Here’s my address.”
He took it with a smile and wandered back into Jasper’s office. Glancing at his brother, who was on the phone, he simply left the file on his desk with a thumbs up sign and wandered back to his own office.