George - Chapter Twelve: It's About Time

***I released this chapter and chapter 11 together. If you're reading this one first, some things may not make sense. Just thought I'd warn you. Also, this chapter was very much inspired by two songs, and even though the lyrics don't appear anywhere in this chapter, I wanted to include them somehow. I've included them at the end of the chapter in case you'd like to listen to them.  Thanks for reading!***
 

****Steph****

I woke up the next morning and got ready for what I was sure was going to be an emotional day. We were all going to meet in the family room and then walk over to the ranch. Once everyone arrived there we were then going to walk to the family cemetery. I looked one last time in the mirror and couldn’t help but notice how tired I looked. I hadn’t slept much the last couple of days and I wondered if I was this tired, how tired the Davila and Hobble families must be.

I had hoped to get some sleep the night before but all I did was think about how George had reacted to reading the letters. He had been grateful and I was glad that I had shared them. I had been surprised that he had hugged me but what baffled me was how he acted after we hugged. He seemed to almost be in a hurry to get away from me. I knew he was going through a lot, but I had made up my mind while lying awake, staring at the ceiling, that maybe we were just meant to be friends. Or at least that’s all he was interested in since even though we had almost kissed once, he hadn’t shown any indication of wanting to do anything like that again. 

I walked out into the family room and saw George standing there wearing a suit. I knew it was probably wrong to think it during such a solemn occasion but I couldn’t help but notice how amazing he looked in it. He noticed me walking into the room and he sadly smiled at me as he walked over to where I was standing. I tried to hide my surprise as he reached out and grabbed my hand.

“Thank you again for sharing those letters with me. I understand why you wanted to share them, but I can also understand why you kept them to yourself for a while. I’m. . .touched that you shared them with me, trusted me enough to share them with me.”

“Like I said last night, you don’t have to thank me, but you’re welcome.” I heard footsteps on the stairs and was stunned when he continued to hold my hand for a moment as people made their way downstairs. As Charlotte, Trev, and Ethan made their way into the family room, George let go of my hand and walked over to Trev and Charlotte. They spoke for a moment together and it was hard not to notice how devastated they all looked.

“This is going to be the hardest day. Charlotte keeps mentioning having to go to the cemetery and being there for the first time in so many years. It’s like this has opened up the wound that was made when their dad passed away.”

I nodded. “It has.” I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed to reveal their different levels of acceptance of it also; Trev being on one end, George on the other, and Charlotte being somewhere in the middle. They stopped talking and Trev walked outside by himself. Charlotte walked over to Ethan and he put an arm around her to comfort her. I started walking into the foyer and felt a hand on my back. I couldn’t help but be puzzled by the change in Geroge’s behavior. He had been almost distant the last several days, which I understood, but now he seemed to be doing the complete opposite. He kept his hand on my back until we walked out of the house and we were all bombarded by the clicking and flashing of the paparazzi cameras. Thankfully the police were still present and helped us make our way across the street to the ranch.

We walked inside and even though the house was jammed full of family members, it was very quiet. As we made our way to a corner of the family room we heard their mom’s voice.

“Did you have any problems getting into the ranch?”

“No, having the police out front has really helped with that.” George informed her.

“Yes, I’m so glad that they agreed to do that.” I noticed her look over at Charlotte and she started hugging her.  She whispered something to her and then gave her one last big squeeze before letting go. She moved to Ethan and shook his hand while saying something to him. She then hugged Trev and then George and whispering something to each of them. She moved over to me and started hugging me. I could feel tears starting to fall and tried my hardest to not let them escape from my eyes. I wanted to be here for them, offer them support, not the other way around.

“I’m so glad that you got to know her and that she got to know you. She often mentioned how she enjoyed writing to you.” She said and then gave me one last squeeze before we stopped hugging. She pulled away and looked at all of us before turning to join her brothers and sister.

A few minutes before we were to walk to the cemetery, their grandfather appeared in the hallway and the little chatter that had been occurring, stopped. He looked back and forth between the family room and living room where everyone had gathered and then spoke.

“I suppose it’s time.” We all quietly walked out of the house and walked towards the back of the ranch. There was a walkway that led from the back of the property to the family cemetery which allowed the family some semblance of privacy from the paparazzi. We walked into the back of the cemetery and over to the chairs that had been placed near the gravesite. As we approached a row of chairs George motioned for Trev to go first and then as he moved into the row, he reached down and gently held my hand. Charlotte and Ethan filled the remaining seats in our row and we waited for the service to start. 

Eventually a minister came up and spoke for several minutes and then I was surprised that their grandfather got up. I figured either their mom or one of the uncles or aunt would speak. He walked up to the podium and stood their silent for a moment. He eventually took a big breath and spoke.

“Fifty years ago a beautiful, feisty woman from the city moved to Appaloosa Plains. She didn’t know a thing about living in the country but she had always had a dream to move there; and being the brave woman that she was, she listened to her heart and moved here. After some convincing, and some pretty bad horse riding on her part,” There were several chuckles. “I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to propose and then marry her forty nine years ago. I had always hoped that I would one day marry, have a couple of children, and hopefully one day some grandchildren; providing them with the love and support that I didn’t have growing up. I never could have imagined though that forty nine years later that we would have four wonderful children, fourteen amazing  grandchildren. . .I’m sorry, she would want me to include another in that number and I would have to agree with her. . .” He paused and briefly looked at me. “. . .fourteen grandchildren and one “adopted” grandchild, and one great grandchild soon to be born.” George reach over and grab my hand and squeeze it.

“I have been blessed more than I could ever tell all of you, and it was all because all those years ago she threw caution to the wind and made her dream a reality. I know that if there is one thing she wanted all of you to know and pass on to your children and grandchildren it would be to not only listen to your heart, but to also follow what it’s telling you; even when you’re scared, unsure, or think that maybe you can change what your heart wants. By doing that, you’ll be honoring her memory and you’ll be blessed more than you could possibly imagine.”

He walked over to his seat and sat down. I looked over at George and he was fighting back tears. I squeezed his hand and he looked over at me and smiled sadly. I next looked over at Trev and he was sitting there with a glassy look in his eyes. I knew that their mom had told me that was how he seemed to deal with things but I was still worried about him. I turned to look at Charlotte and Ethan was trying to comfort her. I lightly reached over and touched her arm and she put her hand over mine for a brief moment.

 

Their aunt Scarlett sang and then the service was over. Everyone stood up and I noticed that their Mom started to walk over to the section that was next to the one we had been sitting in; the section where their father’s gravestone was. George, Charlotte and Trev watched her walk over there and then joined her. Ethan and I stood several feet away and watched as the four of them stood around the grave, looking down at the headstone.  Eventually George moved toward Charlotte and put his arm around her. After several more moments, they walked over to where Ethan and I were and soon Charlotte was asking the question that I was sure some of the family members had.

“Who’s the adopted grandchild?” She asked her mom and she bit he bottom lip.

“Well. . .” She looked over at me and then quickly looked away. “They didn’t ‘adopt’ a child or anything like that. More so that they recently started to include someone else in our family.”

“Who?” Trev asked.

“I suppose that would be me.” I quietly said. They all turned to look at me and I told them about the letters and how she had been very encouraging to me. I also tried to explain why I hadn’t told them about it before now.

“I’ve also been in contact with Steph since Christmas. As I explained to George we didn’t want you all to put any pressure on her to accept our offer. . .”

“We wouldn’t have done that.” Charlotte tried to argue.

“Oh really? You wouldn’t have tried to convince her that we were serious about wanting to include her in our family. . .?” Their mom asked.

Charlotte looked over at me and then back at her mom. “I suppose we might have tried to do that. . . wait, you explained to George?” She looked at George. “Why did you know?”

“I didn’t know until last night and I had the same question that you did about Mom and Grandma not telling us about it.”

“You do know that they were serious, right? Mom and Grandma didn’t go around offering to include people into our family.” Charlotte asked me.

“I know that now.” I admitted. I wished that the conversation would turn to something else at that point. I felt very uncomfortable with the conversation revolving around me.

“It looks like some of the family is heading back to the ranch. Maybe we should head that way.” George suggested and I was glad for it. We walked in silence back to the ranch and were overwhelmed by the sight that awaited us. There was food everywhere; tons of casseroles, breads, and desserts. “This is what happens when someone passes away in the country. People send food.” George whispered as we looked at all of the food in the kitchen and dining room. 

We each grabbed a plate and then sat at one of the tables that had been set up in the family room. Once we were done eating, we made our way into the living room and then everyone started to socialize. At one point I noticed their mom talking to Trev and neither of them looked happy. He had his arms folded across his chest and eventually stormed off. I was pondering what all that had been about when George started to talk to me. 

“He’s not handling this well; partly because he never really dealt with things after dad died. He’s gotten very good at pushing it down and pretending that he’s okay.” 

I nodded. “I had wondered if that’s why he’s been so distant these last several days. Charlotte seems to at least be acknowledging her feelings. . .”

He looked over at her and Ethan. “Yeah, and she hadn’t done that before. Hopefully she’s coming to terms with all of that.”

“What was he like, your dad?” He looked down at the floor and I immediately regretted asking. “I’m sorry, this is probably the worst time I could have asked.”

“No, it’s okay.” He sighed heavily before continuing. I was surprised as he talked about his dad that he began to somewhat smile. “He was a fun, patient, kind, athletic, loving man. He was fun because he could literally make any situation fun; even doing laundry. I remember doing laundry with him one time when Mom was out of town for an art show and he turned on some music and we jammed out while folding laundry. He was probably the most patient person I’ve ever known; not only with Mom but with all of us. He was the laidback parent, the one that even though you messed up he didn’t freak out but calmly waited for you to make the right decision. He never met a stranger and was kind to everyone he met.  If you’ve ever wondered where Trev gets his athleticism from, that would be Dad. He and Uncle Charlie played high school football together and if he hadn’t had an injury his senior year, he would have played college ball and probably gone pro. He was really good. But he never complained about his injury, instead he realized that from his experience, he could help others with similar injuries and became a physical therapist.”

“Something that seems to run in this family. . .” I offered and he nodded. 

He continued. “He not only loved us kids, but I’ve never seen a man love a woman more than Dad loved Mom. We used to complain when we were younger whenever we’d see them kissing or holding each other but I’d give anything to see that again.”  As we stood there for the next several moments in silence, I couldn’t help but wonder about the change in him from even just the previous night. He had even been open about his dad which I had never known him to do. He usually would just say a couple of words about him and then change the subject. I looked over at him and saw that he was looking at me with an expression that I couldn’t read.

“I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have asked about him right now. You’ve got enough to think about without me bringing up your dad.”

“It’s okay. I told you before, I don’t talk to people about personal things unless I’m comfortable with them. If I didn’t want to talk about it, I would have politely changed the subject.”

I was still baffled by his behavior though. Maybe it was like his Mom had said, when the time was right he’d share how he was feeling. But then there was the couple of times that he had held my hand.

“Something’s bothering you.” He stated.

I furrowed my brow. “You act like you know that as a fact.”

He smiled. “Whenever you’re pondering something you bite your bottom lip. When it’s really bothering you, you start to chew on it.”

I tried to remember if I had done that when he started chuckling. “You’re biting your bottom lip now.”

I realized that he was right. I stopped and consciously tried to keep myself from doing it again. “So, what’s bothering you?”

I didn’t want to have this discussion now. Not with all of the family around and he had enough to think about without me starting to question how he was acting. “It’s something that needs to wait.”

He looked troubled. “Why would it need to wait?”

“This just isn’t the. . .right place or time to talk about it.”

“Will you talk to me about it later?” I looked into his eyes and I knew if I continued to I would waiver in my stance to wait.

“At some point, yes.” I didn’t specify when, but I had no intention of talking about it in the near future.

We heard what sounded like something falling in the hallway and looked to see what the noise was. Several people, including their Uncle Charlie, walked over to where the noise had come from and it looked like they were helping someone stand up. I was floored when I saw them help Trev stand up. It was obvious even from our distance from him that he was impaired. The room grew quiet as we watched him being helped out of the hallway and I assumed to a different room. I glanced at George and he looked mad.

“Are you going to go talk to him?” I asked.

“No, it wouldn’t do any good. It never does. Maybe if someone else talks to him it might knock some sense into him. He just gets pissed and stops talking to me when I try to reason with him. Same with Mom, he just doesn’t want to admit that he has a problem, and until he does, nobody’s going to be able to help him.”

 

I nodded and noticed that his mom was walking over to us. “Would you mind giving us a moment Steph?” She requested and I walked over to where Charlotte and Ethan were standing.

“What are Mom and George talking about?” Charlotte wondered. 

“I don’t know, but she asked to talk to him alone. . .”

****George****

“What are we going to do about Trev?” Mom asked.

“I was just telling Steph that I don’t think we can do anything for him, not unless he’s willing to admit he has a problem.”

“But how? What if he doesn’t see that without our help? Are we just supposed to wait around and hope that he realizes it before he hurts himself or someone else?” Mom pleaded. “What if we all talked to him, together?”

“Are you suggesting an intervention?”

“Yes! That’s what it’s called! Why can’t we do that? You could help with that, couldn’t you?”

I technically could but in this case it wouldn’t be helpful since I myself was involved with the person who needed help. “Mom, I don’t think that would be a good idea. I’m too involved in the situation. Maybe this will be the thing that helps him turn the corner. We could at least wait a little bit and see what happens.”

“But if he doesn’t get better, do you think an intervention would be something that we might try?”

“There are pros and cons to doing an intervention. Each family and group of friends has to weigh the consequences and decide if they feel it’s worth it. Let’s just see what happens in the next couple of weeks and then talk more about it. Okay?”

She agreed and I was glad that she seemed to accept my suggestion. I really did want to believe that Trev would on his own realize that he had a problem and needed to get help, but I also needed time to think about an intervention. I knew from experience that they could cause the person to do the complete opposite and get worse.

The rest of the afternoon I walked around and talked to some of my cousins that I didn’t get to see often and checked on Charlotte and Steph. I didn’t know what was bothering her, but I hoped that once we got back to my house that she would talk to me about it. We ate some more food around dinner and I noticed that Trev was around for that and even seemed to be in better condition. Soon after dinner we said goodbye to Mom and the others and headed back to my house. I noticed that there weren’t as many reporters and paparazzi hanging around outside the gate and was thankful that things seemed to be quieting down. As we entered the house Trev made a beeline to the stairs and Charlotte called after him.

“Trev, wait!” He didn’t listen though, and proceeded to walk up the stairs and into the bedroom. “What are we going to do about him?” She asked me.

I shook my head. “Charlotte, just let him cool off. He’s probably embarrassed about what happened at the ranch and he’s trying to deal with what happened.”

“He’s not dealing with it at all! He’s just drinking, trying to forget it!” She yelled up the stairs, I guessed so he could hear.

“I know, but just let it be, at least for today.”

She reluctantly agreed and both she and Ethan made their way upstairs to change. I noticed Steph heading to the guest room and tried to intercept her.

“Hey, can we talk now about what is bothering you?”  I asked her right before she was able to walk through the doorway. She stopped and I noticed that she was biting her lip again.

“George. . .” She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. She stood like that for several seconds before looking at me. “This isn’t the right time to talk about it. It’s not a huge deal, just something that I’ve noticed. . .it’s just not the right time to talk about this.” She turned around and started to walk into the bedroom but I grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Steph, I don’t usually push people to tell me what’s wrong, but something is obviously bothering you and I can’t help but think that talking about it would help.” I noticed that she looked down at our hands and I let go of hers. I hadn’t even thought about it bothering her.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized.

She looked at me. “You don’t have to be sorry. . .I’m just confused.”

 “About what?” I asked her and then heard what sounded like Charlotte and Ethan coming back downstairs. I grabbed her hand again, pulled her into the guest room and closed the door. “What are you confused about?”

She looked back down at our hands again. “This.” I looked down at our hands together and was about to say something when she continued. “And the change in how you’re acting.” 

I slowly let go of her hand which caused her to look down at her hand and then quickly back up at me, looking confused.

“I guess I just assumed that holding your hand was okay after what almost happened at the birthday party.” I admitted.

“I didn’t say I had a problem with that. I’m confused by it. I know you’ve been going through a lot the last couple of days and that’s why I didn’t think that this was a good time to talk about this. You have other things on your mind right now, so it made sense that we wouldn’t have talked about it. . .but after last night I started to wonder if maybe, I don’t know, that it had passed. That maybe it was an in the moment kind of thing.”

I was stunned and confused. “First of all, it wasn’t an ‘in the moment thing;’ at least not for me. But what happened last night that made you think that it might have been?”

She shifted uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. “It just seemed that one moment you were fine being around me and then you acted like you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

I hadn’t really thought about how that might have appeared to her. I knew it was because hugging her the night before had caused feelings to stir in me and I didn’t think that was the right time to express them; so I left before what I was feeling became evident. I could see how that would look like the complete opposite though. 

“Steph, I know that’s what it looked like and in a way, I was trying to leave but for the complete opposite reason then you think. Just like you kept saying that you didn’t think that now was the right time to talk about this, I didn’t think that last night was the right moment to act on what I was feeling so I quickly left. All of this has caught me completely off guard. For months now I’ve been in denial; trying to convince myself that what was happening could be explained away or ignored. When we met, all I was interested in was figuring out a way to get my family back together and my work.  I felt anything else was a distraction that I didn’t need. What I did that night we met, stepping in and playing ‘superhero’ as you like to say, is just normal for me. I’ve done stuff like that since I can remember. That night, I figured it would be like all the other times that I’ve stepped in to help someone; I’d do my good deed, make sure the person was okay, and we’d go our separate ways. But that didn’t happen. Every other time I’ve been able to step away but I haven’t been able to do that with you.”

I took a big breath before I continued and took the leap of faith. “The last time I felt anything close to this, things ended horribly and I was so scared that I would make the same mistakes again. You remember how Grandpa mentioned listening to your heart and not trying to convince it that it wanted something else.” She nodded. “That’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been so scared of messing up, of being wrong about my feelings that I’ve let it keep me from acknowledging what I’m feeling; because what happened over a year ago was painful enough. I didn’t even want to think about what it would feel like if something like that happened with the stronger feelings that I have now. I’ve been scared about what would happen if I acknowledged how I felt, but what’s changed is that instead of being scared of what could happen if I did, I’m more scared now what will happen if I don’t. One of the biggest regrets Mom has is that she fought what she felt for Dad for so long. I don’t want to make that same mistake again.”

I watched her as she kept looking at me, blinking repeatedly with no expression on her face. I could only assume from her lack of response that she was trying to think of a way to let me down easy.

“I. . .” She started and then stopped.  I realized that I had never seen her at a loss for words and I was convinced that it affirmed what I thought about her not feeling the same. “So. . .” She started again. “. . .I had completely prepared myself for you to say one thing and you said the complete opposite. So what happened last night wasn’t because you don’t have feelings for me, but because you do?”

I nodded. “Shitfire. . .” She whispered while looking down and I couldn’t help but smile a little at her choice of words. She quickly looked back up and her expression turned serious. She took several steps towards me. “And what happened on the night of your birthday party wasn’t just a passing moment?” 

I moved towards her and we were now standing inches apart. I leaned forward and very gently, kissed her.  From the second our lips touched, it felt like my breath had been taken away and it seemed as if time stood still. I didn’t know how long we had kissed before I eventually pulled away and we both smiled at each other.

“George! Where are you?” Charlotte called from the family room.

“At least she didn’t interrupt us this time.” Steph said.

I laughed. “She still needs to work on her timing though.” I looked at her seriously again. “Are you and Ethan really leaving tomorrow morning?”

She nodded. “Pretty early too. I’m covering for Charlotte’s shift tomorrow so we’ll need to get back by late morning. He was talking about leaving around six.”

 “I wish there was a way that you could stay longer. . .”

She sighed. “Me too, but I didn’t want Charlotte to have to make up a bunch of shifts so I’m trying to cover for her as many times as I can.”

“Does she know that you’re doing that for her?” 

She shook her head. “I knew that this was going to be hard on her and I didn’t want her to feel like she had to rush back.” 

“Where the hell did he go?” We heard Charlotte ask.

I looked over at the door and then back at Steph. “Should we put her out of her misery?”

Steph laughed. “I guess we could.”

“After you” I said as I motioned toward the door.

“Why thank you.” She said and I opened the door for her. We walked into the family room together and the rest of the night listened to Charlotte ask every question imaginable about Steph and me. She had gotten suspicious after Steph and I had come out of the guest room together. I was glad that we were providing her with an escape from what had been happening the last several days, even if it was for a short time. We didn’t stay up long since Ethan and Steph were leaving so early and we wanted to say goodbye to them in the morning.

The next morning I woke up around five and got ready. I wasn’t looking forward to this day, for one since Steph was leaving but this was also the day that Grandma’s will was going to be read which just made her passing even more real.  I stepped out of my room and looked next door and saw that Steph’s door was open. I walked over to the door and saw that she was packing a few things in her bag. I stood there for a moment watching and admiring her before quietly walking up behind her.

“Morning.” I whispered in her ear.

“Shitfire!” She screamed and whirled around.

“Score one for the tiger. . .” I joked with her.

She smiled. “You just got lucky since I was preoccupied. It wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”

“Oh but I’ve already snuck up on you once.” She looked confused. “In the kitchen that morning that you were getting ready to make yourself some tea. . .”

She blushed. “Yes, I do remember that morning. . .” She trailed off and got a distant look in her eyes.

“Something you want to share. . .?”

She blushed again and looked at me. “Just that I might have admired your chest a little that morning when you weren’t looking.”

“You just thought you were being discreet. . .” I countered.

“I was! Or, at least I thought I was.” 

I chuckled. “Do you want some tea? I was going to make me some.”

She nodded and I went into the kitchen and was surprised to see Trev in there. He looked like hell; he had dark circles under his eyes and I couldn’t help but noticed that he reeked of alcohol which I wondered where he had gotten some since I didn’t have any in the house at the moment.

“Did you get any sleep?” I asked him.

“No.” He said as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Are Steph and Ethan leaving today?”

“Yeah, their leaving in less than an hour. You’d know that if you hadn’t closed yourself in your room last night.”
 

He turned around and glared at me. “Look, you deal with things your way, I deal with them my way. I’ll be down later to say goodbye to them.” He grabbed his mug and went back up to his room. I sighed as I made Steph and me some tea and I took it back into her room.

“Did I hear someone on the stairs?” She asked as I handed her the tea and she took a sip. “You remembered how I take my tea.”

“Of course I did. Yeah, Trev was in the kitchen, he said he’d be down in a little bit to say goodbye to you and Ethan.” 

She put her cup down and put her hand on my arm. “He’ll be okay; and we’ll watch out for him when he returns to Bridgeport.”

“No one should have to watch him.” 

We heard footsteps on the stairs and the front door opening at the same time. “Where is everyone?” Mom asked as she entered the house. Steph and I looked at each other and I knew that our time was very limited. She grabbed her mug and I grabbed mine before going back into the family room.

Charlotte, Ethan, and Trev were coming down the stairs and everyone was standing in the family room.

“I wish you both could stay longer.” Mom said to Steph and Ethan.

“So do we but we need to get back.” Ethan told Mom and then looked at Steph. “Are you packed?”

“Yeah, I just finished.”

“I’ll get your bag and put it in the car.” I offered and after getting her bag I followed Ethan to the car. We walked back inside and it was time for them to leave. We all walked outside and I was glad the paparazzi had left so we could say goodbye without others watching. Trev said goodbye to both Ethan and Steph and then Mom hugged both of them, telling them that she hoped they would come back soon. I walked over to Ethan and shook his hand.

“Thanks for coming. We’ll all have to get together the next time I’m in town.” I told him.

“Thanks for letting us stay with you. We’ll definitely have to get together the next time you’re in town.” He said and I moved so Charlotte and he could say goodbye.

 I walked over to Steph.“Will you call me when you get back?” I asked her.

“I will.” She quietly said.

“I’m going to miss you.”

“Me too.” She said and looked down at the ground. We hugged and stood like that for several moments before stopping.

“I’ll talk to you soon.” I said and leaned down to kiss her and she gently kissed back.  When we finally broke apart she sighed and smiled up at me.

“Well. . .okay then.” I heard Mom say under her breath and Steph and I both chuckled.

“I’ll talk to you later.” Steph said and I opened the car door for her to get in. She thanked me and sat down right as Ethan and Charlotte were finished saying goodbye to each other. We all stood there watching them pull away and I was about to make my way back into the house when I heard Mom.

“It’s about time. . .” She said to me and I smiled at her.

“You’re right, it is about time.”

******