Review: Be Here Now

The only person who hadn’t said anything (…) was Tommy. He was standing separated from our big group, leaning against the railing, his eyes assessing and broodily on Jason. “Tommy?” I called his name. His eyes came to me and they warmed a little, though it didn’t erase his scowl. “You okay?” I asked.

“Depends,” he answered as his eyes went back to Jason.

“On what?”

“On if he’s staying this time.”

I could feel Jason tense beside me, but he wisely didn’t say anything and let me handle this. Jason didn’t know Tommy, though he knew about his mother abandoning him when he was just a baby. I had told him all about it years ago when we shared about our families. Jason abandoning Jesse and I would hit too close to home for Tommy, as he had proven at dinner last week when he stormed off after learning who Jason was and what he had done. It was understandable that he’d need some reassurance.

“He’s staying.”

“You sure about that?” His eyes were still narrowed on Jason. God, I loved that boy.

“Yes, Tommy, I’m absolutely sure about that. He didn’t abandon me before. It was a misunderstanding,” I explained.

“Yeah, that’s what dad said, too. Still, he should have tried harder.”

I opened my mouth to defend Jason, but Jason beat me to it. “You’re absolutely right. I should have tried harder. And because I didn’t, I missed not only six years of being with the woman I love, but also being a father to my son. I’m gonna have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

Tommy’s eyes grew wide at Jason’s confession. He was impressed. His eyes flickered to mine and I gave him a small reassuring smile. Everyone around us was quiet as they watched the scene unfold before them. Then Tommy gave Jason a small quick nod.

“We good?” Jason asked.

Tommy repeated his nod. “We’re good.”

My God, Tommy was so much like his father it was scary sometimes.

I felt tiny arms wrap around my legs and when I looked down, I saw Noah smiling up at me. He was the quiet one of the bunch and always hung out with me. He reminded me a lot of Jesse.

“Hi, Lore,” he said through his smile. “I wanna sit with you.”

“You wanna sit with me, huh?” He nodded happily. “All right big guy, go find us a chair and you can sit on my lap.” Without delay, Noah scuttled off in search of a chair.

Jason’s arm around my shoulder pulled me in closer. “What if I want you to sit on my lap?” He whispered in my ear.

“Sorry, but Noah’s got dibs. He always sits with me.” I gave him a wide smile.

“I see.” He nuzzled my nose with his and kissed me softly. “You’ve got quite the male following.”

“What can I say? I’m a fun person to be around,” I grinned at him.

“Can’t argue with that.” He returned my grin.

“I’m gonna marry Tommy when I grow up,” Lucy announced from across the deck. All eyes went to her and the boy in question she was now standing next to.

Tommy chuckled a boy chuckle and said. “You can’t marry me, Luce. We’re practically family.”

Lucy scrunched up her face, not liking his answer at all.

“You’re not my brother,” she stated.

“No, I’m not.” Tommy answered.

“Or my cousin.”

“No.”

“Or my uncle.”

“No.”

“Then how are we family?”

Tommy shrugged. “We just are.”

Lucy scrunched up her face again. Then she had a thought. “Wait! If you’re family, then I can kiss you! Mommy and daddy say I can only kiss boys if they’re family.” Macy, Ivey, and I tried not to laugh. This wasn’t the first time that Lucy was trying to get around Larry’s no-kissing rule.

“Drop it, Lucy. You’re not kissing anyone but your brothers and me.” Larry growled.

“But you said—”

“I know what I said and now I’m saying this.”

“That’s not fair,” she pouted and crossed her arms on her chest. “Either Tommy is family and I can kiss him or he’s not and I can marry him.” The three of us couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. All the men chuckled.