Love Resisted (The Real Love Series) by Melanie Codina Read Free Book Online

ridiculously oversized bundle of balloons as she made her way into Gillian’s house. The party was due to start in the next hour, and she wanted to make sure she was there early enough to prevent Gillian from doing more than she was supposed to be doing. Making her way into the kitchen, she found Gillian crouched down talking to Ryan.
    Ryan was Jake’s son from his brief fling of a marriage to a complete idiot, who took off and left him without a mom. Not that the little guy was left without motherly-type love, oh no. Since he was attached at the hip to Dylan, Gillian’s son, he got plenty of attention from Gillian. And of course from Morgan, herself, and any other woman in the group they considered family. Ryan was an easy little boy to love. Allie watched for a moment while the two of them shared what looked like a private moment, then she couldn’t help the smile and simultaneous heart clench when Ryan threw his arms around Gillian’s neck and hugged her.
    Gillian closed her eyes and embraced the young man tightly, a look of complete adoration on her face as she accepted his affection. When Ryan pulled back, he kissed her on the cheek and said, “Thanks Mom,” before walking out of the kitchen. Allie watched as he strode out of the room with a big smile on his face, before turning back to her best friend.
    Gillian was still crouched down close to the ground, staring in the direction of Ryan’s retreat as she saw a tear roll down her cheek. Looking up to Allie, she said, “It doesn’t matter how many times I hear that adorable boy call me Mom, it still chokes me up.”
    Allie moved to help Gillian stand up and said, “No kidding. This lump in my throat is going to require a serious dose of sarcasm and alcohol to get rid of it.” Gillian gave her a knowing look as she wiped away the remaining moisture around her misty eyes.
    “It can’t be as bad as mine was on Mother’s Day.”
    “Pretty sure that lump was visible from space,” Allie said as she recalled the emotions she felt that day.
    Gillian huffed a little laugh as she said, “You’re telling me. It took the whole day to get me to stop crying. Then it took another two days before that damn lump finally disappeared.”
    “I do believe Ryan had all of us chicks in tears on Mother’s Day.”
    Allie remembered it well. They had gathered at Gillian’s house, as they always did. Her place was just set up to accommodate the whole crew, including the grandparents. The men had all put together a Mother’s Day brunch and set it all up in the backyard. It was sweet, because even though Allie wasn’t a mother, they included her in the celebration because they didn’t have an Aunt’s Day. As they had all gathered around the table, the women were all seated and chatting when the kids and men carried out the food and gifts.
    Each kid stopped and gave flowers to their grandmothers and aunts, before making their way over to their mothers. This was something they all did together and Allie loved it since it allowed her to celebrate the holiday with all of them instead of everyone doing it individually. She happily accepted flowers from Jonathan, Madison, Dylan, and Ryan as well as a card full of scribbles from Morgan and Sean’s kids. It was beautiful and touching to be loved by so many adorable kids. She had been taking a whiff of her flowers and thanking her oldest nephew when Jake tapped her on her shoulder.
    “You might want to watch this,” he said as he gestured in the direction of where Gillian sat, while he squatted his large frame next to Allie’s, camera in hand.
    The noise level around the table slowly died down as they all became aware that something big was about to happen at the end of the table. With all attention directed toward Gillian, Jake was filming it as his son handed Gillian a single gerbera daisy with a bow tied around it. Gillian said, “Thanks, buddy. You remembered that these are my favorite, didn’t you?”
    Ryan nodded proudly