Stay With Me (The Montgomery Brothers) by Samantha Chase Page B

another glass and proceeded to fill it.  Stepping over the remnants of her previous glass that was spotted with blood, she headed back to her bedroom with her newly filled glass and the bottle.  There was one small lamp lit and she started to sway to the now slow sounds of Rod Stewart.  “Maybe I’ll order a pizza,” she said out loud and looked around the room for her phone before remembering that it was back in the kitchen. 
    Turning too quickly, she banged her knee on the bedside table and cried out in pain. 
    And then she just began to cry.
    If anyone was there to ask, Gina knew she wouldn’t be able to put into words what the exact cause of her tears were.  Maybe it was the pain from hurting her knee, maybe it was the fact that she was away from home and visiting her dying father;  maybe it was because there wouldn’t ever be enough time for them to make up for all of the time they had lost.  Or maybe, just maybe, it was because she knew deep down that she was never going to get her mother’s approval no matter how hard she tried.
    She cried harder.
    Gently placing the glass and bottle down on the offending table, Gina collapsed onto the bed and curled up in the fetal position.  She was a mess.  None of this was fair.  She had done everything she could to please her mother and yet nothing ever did.  She missed out on years with her father and now they weren’t going to have even one more together.  She didn’t know who she was or where she belonged and right now Gina felt like she was completely alone in the world.
    Turning her face in to the pillow, she cried even more.
    ****
    Mac slammed the car door and cursed.  All he wanted was some peace and quiet and to just have the final say in how he spent his time.  Unfortunately, his father had called and found out that he was working late at the office and reminded him of their deal.
    Dammit.
    When William had asked how Gina was doing, Mac told him that he hadn’t seen her in days.  Of course he didn’t elaborate on why he hadn’t seen her but his father had been livid just the same.  “Her father is dying and she has no one there to help her through this!” William had lectured.  “I expected a little more from you, Mac.  I thought I could trust you to make sure that Gina was okay.  Maybe your mother and I need to cut our trip short and come home.”
    Mac groaned.  True, they were due back in three days but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he was the reason they had to come home.  “That won’t be necessary,” he had assured his father.  “I just thought that Gina might want a little time to herself and to not feel like we were watching over her like we were afraid she was going to steal the family silver or something.”
    They had argued a little more and in the end, Mac had promised his father that he’d leave the office immediately and go and check on her.  So here he was, in his parents’ driveway against his will, going to see a woman who he both dreaded seeing and yet couldn’t wait to feast his eyes on.
    The first thing that he noticed as he approached the guest house was that all of the lights were on and there was music playing.  He knocked on the door and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Trying the doorknob, he found it to be unlocked and cursed.  Didn’t the woman ever lock a door?  “Gina?” he called out with a sense of de ja vu.  He stepped inside and took a look around the room.  There was no sign of her.
    Mac walked over to the paintings lined up against the wall he was currently facing and admired her work.  He could clearly pick out his mother’s garden and the view of the sunrise coming through the French doors.  He smiled at her abstracts and then turned to the easel and stopped.
    It was him.
    Gina had painted him.
    Why?
    He stood there for countless minutes staring at his own face and was in awe of her talent.  If this is what she was like after not having picked up a paint brush