by Shay Savage
“Are you afraid they’ll bite?” Nate grins, and I shake my head.
I take a deep breath, trying to figure out how I can possibly let him down after everything he’s done for me today. Nate’s lips press against mine again, warming my mouth with his kiss. He moves from my lips to my jaw, kissing his way up to my ear.
“I’m the only one you have to worry about.”
I shudder as I feel his teeth on my earlobe.
“That’s not fair,” I say breathlessly.
“Not intended to be.” He pulls back, the hint of a smile still on his face. “It really would mean a lot to me, and you already know Antony. He’s as nutty as any of them.”
“I don’t know…” I can feel my resolve crumbling around me.
“Please?” He presses his lips to mine once more. “I really want you to be there.”
“All right, Nate.” I can’t fight it any more. “I would like to meet them, but all of this is happening kind of fast.”
“Fast? Is meeting my family such a big step?”
“Yes, it is. At least, it feels like it is.”
“Is it because of who we are?”
“Maybe a little.”
Nate pauses and looks out across the street, staring at nothing. He takes in a deep breath and then sighs heavily.
“I…I hoped you wouldn’t think of me like that,” he says quietly. “I don’t want that to be the first thing that comes to your mind.”
“It isn’t,” I say quickly. “At least, it isn’t with you, but…well, I think I’m intimidated by the idea of a big family dinner. I have no idea what to expect.”
“Well, you can expect Antony to crack jokes, Nora to go off on someone, and Jude to pour perfect drinks to go with whatever Andrea has cooked up for us. After dinner, we usually shoot pool.”
“Where do you do that?”
“In the billiard room.”
“With the candlestick?” I laugh nervously. “Do you have a library as well? A conservatory? Secret passages?”
“Yes to the library, no to the rest. At least, if there are any secret passages, they’re very well-kept secrets since I’ve never heard about them. There’s a creepy basement if you want to go hunting for clues.”
“Any chance we’ll find a clue about my parents?”
“Not much, I’m afraid.” Nate continues to stroke the side of my face.
“It really is strange, isn’t it?”
“Very,” Nate says, “but if there is anyone who can dig up the truth, it’s Antony. Maybe he’ll even have something to share with you Wednesday night. You are agreeing to be there, yes?”
“Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Great!” He gives me a big smile and another deep kiss. “Now get into the car before you freeze to death.”
He opens the door and helps me inside.
“Have fun counting trees,” he says when I roll down the window, not quite wanting to say goodbye just yet.
“I’m sure I will.” I snicker, then look at him more seriously. “Do you really think Antony will find something?”
“I don’t know, Cherry,” Nate says. He reaches through the window and runs his thumb over my cheek. “None of it makes much sense but I promise—we’re going to figure it out. We’ll find your family together.”
My heart skips a beat.
Chapter 14—Meet the Fam
I sit in my car in front of the Orso family home. It’s a large neoclassical-style house with tall columns lining the porch though it’s not as grand as I feared it might be. It’s certainly an impressive place, but somewhere in the back of my head, I think I was expecting a castle.
Over the past two days, Nate and I had spent every free hour in each other’s company. We had dinner at local restaurants, met each other for coffee, and he even went with me to browse the local library for a new book. When we walked together, he held my hand, and I couldn’t help but notice the stares from the community. At first, it made me extremely nervous, but I found I grew accustomed to it pretty quickly.
Nate insisted on paying for everything. Though I ultimately gave up my protesting, it made me very uncomfortable. I remembered how Melissa basically called me his whore—at least in my own mind—and wondered if that might be what I was becoming.
We had talked on the phone or texted into the late hours, and it was a wonder I hadn’t been late to work. I didn’t care. Every time he touched me or said something sweet on the phone, my heart pounded faster, and the rest of my body simply melted like warm syrup.
He ended our conversations by saying, “Goodnight, Cherice.” Last night he had included a bit about not being nervous about dinner, but that hadn’t helped much.
I continue to sit with the car’s motor running. The semicircular driveway has left me confused about where to park my car. There’s a large garage on one side of the house but no cars in the driveway. Should I just park in front of the door, or should I move around the semicircle to the farthest point? Are there additional guests expected, and will they need a space to park as well? I don’t want to take up the prime spot.
“Might as well park in front of a fire hydrant,” I mutter.
“Are you ever coming out of there?” Nate is suddenly standing right outside the car, looking in at me with his amused, lopsided grin.
“I wasn’t sure where to park,” I say after rolling the window down a little more.
“Just leave it here with the keys on the seat,” he says. “If it needs to be moved, someone will take care of it.”
“Isn’t that a little reckless? Someone could steal it.”
Nate just laughs, shakes his head, and opens my door. I’m not sure if he’s laughing because no one wants to steal a beat-up Civic or because no one would dare steal from him.
I’d asked him a lot of questions about his family business, but I never got more than vague answers and redirections to other topics. It was clear that the Orso family owned a huge portion of Cascade Falls and ran several businesses in the area, but I could never get a clear answer about what Nate actually does for any of these businesses. What’s his actual job? Whatever it is, the people of Cascade Falls treat him like royalty.
I didn’t like it much. It made me feel like I didn’t belong, and now that I’m standing in front of this beautiful house, I feel absolutely inadequate.
“Is this outfit all right?” I ask as Nate takes my hand and helps me out of the car.
“I told you it was casual,” he replies. “I’m in jeans, too.”
“I still feel underdressed for an official family dinner.”
“You aren’t,” he insists. “You look absolutely stunning, as always.” He leans over and gives me a gentle kiss on the lips. When he backs away again, he looks into my eyes so intently that my knees buckle a little. He runs his thumb over my lower lip and smiles. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
“I’m nervous,” I admit.
“Don’t be.” He trails his hand from my face, down my arm, and then laces our fingers together. He starts to lead me toward the house when I suddenly remember something.
“Oh, wait!” I open the passenger door and pull out a little gift bag.
“What’s that?” Nate asks as we start toward the door again.
“Um…” I look down at the bag in my hand, feeling silly for even bringing it now. “It’s banana bread. I made it with the syrup you left for me.”
I hold up the little bag, and Nate stops his progression and looks down at me.
“You baked for me?” He peeks over the top of the bag and pushes aside the tissue paper.
“Well, you made me pancakes, so…yeah.”
“Thank you, Cherry.” His eyes glisten for a moment. “Come on in. I’m afraid I’ve been going on about you quite a bit today, and everyone is excited to actually meet you.”
“What have you been telling them?”
“Oh, just the usual.” He winks at me as we step inside.
Nate leads me into an open, tastefully deco
rated foyer. A large stairway curls up one wall, turning abruptly halfway up to lead to an open second floor. I see a sitting room to the left and an absolutely huge office to the right.
A small woman with a rather grand presence walks into the foyer. Unlike Nate, she’s dressed in an evening gown, complete with pearls. She eyes me for a moment before walking up and looking pointedly at Nate.
“This is my Aunt Kathrine,” Nate says with a smile. “Kate, this is Miss Cherice Bay.”
Kate pauses, and I swear her eyes flicker for a moment. She grasps the end of her pearl necklace as she looks quickly at Nate and then back to me.
“I thought you said her name was Cherry,” she says in a husky alto voice.
“Cherry is just short for Cherice,” I say, trying to smile as I offer her my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Your dress is beautiful!”
“Thank you, dear.” She looks me up and down as she takes my hand briefly. I’m not quite sure about her expression, but I don’t think she’s pleased. She looks rather shaken, and I wonder if I should have gone ahead and worn a dress despite Nate’s advice to go with something comfortable.
“Nate told me to…to wear jeans.” Why the hell did I say that? I sound like a complete dolt.
“Well, yes, the younger generation.” She rolls her eyes as she flicks her wrist dismissively, but then she smiles a bit. “I won’t hold that against you. Please, join us in the lounge.”
The lounge. This really is the house from Clue. As we enter the sitting room, I look around for possible secret passages.
“Hey there, Cherry!” Antony smiles and tilts his chin in my direction. “Jude’s working tonight, so I’m in charge of drinks. Can I make you one?”
“Take my advice,” Nate says, “and pick a wine. Antony has no idea what he’s doing.”
“Hey, now! I’ve been practicing!” Antony holds up a martini shaker and tosses it quickly from one hand to the other before dropping it with a bang on the hardwood floor. “Shit!”
“Language!” An absolutely gorgeous woman wearing a slinky black dress walks into the room. She slides up to Nate and looks pointedly at Antony. “What will our guest think of us when you’re throwing dishes around?”
Nate reaches down and squeezes my hand.
“This is my sister, Nora,” Nate says. “Nora, this is Cherry.”
“So you’re the one who’s been occupying my poor brother’s head these last couple of weeks, hmm?” She takes my offered hand but doesn’t shake it or let go. Instead, she takes a step back, still holding my outstretched arm, and looks at me unabashedly. “She’s adorable, Nate. How old are you, dear? Eighteen yet?”
“I-I-I’m twenty-five!” I stammer out as I pull my hand from her grasp.
“She’s just fucking with you,” Nate says, glaring at his sister. “Nora, cut it out. We’re the same age.”
“And you stop with the swearing!” Nora snaps at him. “So rude! Now give me a minute to get to know her before you start trying to show off.”
Nora grabs my hand forcibly and drags me over to a small, Queen Anne loveseat. I glance at Nate, but he only gives me that half smile and lets his sister drag me away. She plops herself down next to me and takes my other hand in hers as well, holding them both as she stares at my palms.
“I see.” She looks up at me, her eyes narrowed. “Have you ever had your palms read?”
“No.”
“See this line here?” She points to the long crease running from the space between my thumb and forefinger to my wrist.
“Yes.”
“That is your love line…or maybe it’s the life line. It’s a really important one, I think. Or maybe the other one is the important one. This one here, hmm? I don’t know. I’ve never had my palms read either. I think we should go get it done. Wouldn’t that be fun? I wonder where they do such things.”
I try to pull my hands back, but she keeps her grip.
“I have another question for you,” she says as she stares at me with her dark brown eyes. “Have you ever been in love?”
“I don’t think so.” I clear my throat.
“Are you going to break my brother’s heart?”
“I-I-I…” My mouth opens and closes a couple of times. I look to Nate for help, but he’s leaning against the wall near the doorway, grinning. “I wasn’t planning to.”
“Wasn’t? Does that mean you didn’t want to plan such a plan before, but now you do, or that you don’t want to plan such a plan now?”
“No!” I shake my head as I try to count the number of negatives in her sentence. “I’m not planning to break his heart!”
“Well, okay then!” Nora yanks my arms forward just before releasing my hands, then wraps her arms around me in a tight, brief embrace. “Let’s open a bottle of wine, shall we?”
She jumps up and scampers over to a large rack of wine occupying the corner of the room. I look up at Nate and shake my head. I have no idea what just happened.
“She thinks she’s cute,” Nate says with a shrug. “I ignore most of what comes out of her mouth.”
“Rude!” Nora calls out from the other side of the room.
A blonde woman in her mid-forties bounces into the room and announces that dinner is ready. She looks at me for a moment before walking up and extending her hand.
“I’m Andrea,” she says. “Mr. Orso—”
“It’s dinner night, Andrea,” Nate says. “Keep it casual.”
“Right. Sorry.” Andrea grins. “Nate asked me to make something extra special for you for dinner.”
Nate hands her the bag with the banana bread in it, and she pokes her nose in the bag before heading right back out of the room. I don’t get a chance to speak at all. Nate takes my hand once again before leading me to another doorway. Antony and Nora follow, arguing about which wine to open first.
The dining room is—in a word—insane. I’ve never seen a room like it. Red and gold wallpaper lines the room but manages not to look garish. It fits perfectly with the huge wine rack that covers half of the far wall—far more than what was displayed in the sitting room. Two matching Victorian buffets line another wall, and they would have captured my attention if it hadn’t been for the item looming in the middle of the room.
The dining room table absolutely astounds me. I recognize the furniture immediately; it’s a nineteenth century mahogany table surrounded by fourteen balloon back chairs. I can’t help but gasp as I look a little closer at the table.
“This is handmade!”
“It is,” Kate says as she takes a seat. Nate leads me to sit across from her, and he takes his place at the head of the table. “1860, if I remember correctly. Made by a man named Sheraton.”
“Thomas Sheraton?”
“I believe you’re correct.” Kate raises an eyebrow.
“He did a lot of work with flame mahogany.” I check the edge of the table. “This one has been restored beautifully.”
“My dear brother’s wife, Nataniele’s mother, did love her antiques. You seem well versed.”
“Cherry’s aunt had an antique store,” Nate says. “You’ve probably seen a lot of pieces like this one.”
“This is pretty rare,” I tell him. “The Victorian buffets are much more common.”
“I guess that’s why we have two of them.” Nora moves around the table, pouring wine into glasses before claiming the seat next to me. Apparently, she won the argument with Antony. “Furniture is boring, I think. What do you do aside from spill your drinks on it or plop your ass on it?”
“Language!” Antony laughs, and Nora flips him off.
In quick succession, a man and woman—clearly the Thrace twins Nate has told me about—enter the dining room and take their seats on the other side of Nora. My landlord, Reid, also enters and sits across from them.
“Hello, Cherice,” Reid says with a smile. He’s a deeply tanned, somewhat chunky man with dull green eyes. “I hear you’re one of my tenants.”
“Yes, I am. I
met you the day I moved in.”
He nods, clearly not remembering me from the lease signing, but I suppose he has a lot of tenants, and he can’t remember them all.
“I think this is everyone tonight,” Andrea says as she sweeps in with trays of fruit and cheese. She places them in the center of the table within everyone’s reach. Nate sticks out a hand and grabs some grapes from the tray.
“I’m famished!” he announces.
Nate introduces me to Tawny and Trey—Twos and Threes, he calls them—and they start arguing immediately about how the two of them came into the family.
“We were in foster care first,” Twos says. “Then Andrea told your mother about us.”
“No, you were definitely sent here by the county,” Kate says. “I’m sure of it. If you want me to go find some documents to prove it, I’d be happy to do so.”
“If you can’t find any,” Antony says with a smirk, “I’ll make some for ya.”
Nate gives him a harsh look, and Antony quickly drops his gaze to the table.
“Regardless,” Nate says, “they were foster kids here for years and basically never left.”
“No matter how much you tried to get rid of me.” Threes raises his glass in a toast.
“We were here long before Nora and Nate were born,” Twos tells me. “I practically had to raise those hellions, and I was only a child myself.”
“You were fourteen,” Nora says, “and you know you loved taking care of me.”
“You, maybe. Nate was a pain in the ass.”
I spend time just watching and listening to their interactions. Kate is obviously the oldest in the family though it is clear they all defer to Nate when it comes to decisions. Though Twos and Threes were obviously related to each other, Nate, Nora, and Antony didn’t look a lot alike. Reid didn’t look like any of them, either, but they were all so clearly a part of the same family.
They all pick on each other—Nate and Nora in particular—with quick, witty jabs and insults, but everyone ends up in smiles even when the words sound hurtful to me. At first, I don’t know how to take it, but eventually I realize that it’s all in fun, and no one is ending up with hurt feelings.