Winter

by Michelle Love

  Her arms go around him as his eyes go wide and my father chuckles then he says, “She’s a hugger, Father.”

  “I can see that,” Grandfather says as he lets her hug him then looks her up and down when she lets him go. “My, you are a nice-looking young woman. What do you see in the hippy, here?”

  She laughs and comes back to me, taking my hand. “You mean this rascal? There’s so much to see in him. He’s sweet, kind, sincere, loveable. I could go on and on.”

  I have to grin and pull her into my arms and kiss her cheek. Another thing that has my grandfather’s eyes popping. “Sweet? Benjamin?” He shakes his head.

  “Come, let’s sit in the great room and visit,” Angel says as she pulls me along with her to the large room at the front of the house. She takes my grandfather’s hand with her other one and pulls him along too. “I’m so glad you could make time to come visit us. I’ve been dying to meet you, sir. It’s such an honor to have a man of your great accomplishment in our home. You’ve built such a wonderful legacy for your family. You see, I want to learn as much as I can from you, if you’ll indulge me, that is.”

  She makes us sit on either side of her as she pulls us down on the large leather sofa. My grandfather asks, “And why do you want to learn from me?”

  “You see, I’m about to hold a Master’s Degree in Engineering and want to build motorcycles. I’d like to have my own company and would love to learn how you managed to do such a remarkable job building yours,” she says as she leans back and I run my arm around her shoulders and have to kiss her cheek.

  “An engineer. I see. That’s something to be proud of, young lady. You have very high expectations.” Grandfather sits back and smiles.

  Wow, a real smile!

  Angel laughs a little then says, “I see no reason to have anything less than the highest expectations when you’re talking about the most important thing in your life. It’s the most important thing, providing your family with a firm foundation to build upon. Don’t you think so?”

  He blinks at her a few times then looks at me. “Don’t let this one go, Benjamin.”

  “I have no plans to, Grandfather.” I look at her and want to smother her with kisses.

  Angel snaps her fingers. “You know what would be fun?”

  I shake my head. “What, Baby?”

  “If we had us a big old bar-b-que.” She looks at my parents. “You all will be spending at least one night with us, won’t you?”

  “Well, I…,” Mom says then looks at my father. “It wasn’t a thing we’d planned on.”

  My grandfather continues to floor me as he says, “If you invite us to, then we will. It would be rude not to accept the invitation.”

  “Fabulous!” Angel claps her hands. “I’ll invite my grandmother. My parents live in California or I’d have them over to meet you all too. And I’ll hire a really great chef to make our dinner. He’ll be so over the top excited to cook for you all. He has his own restaurant in town and is famous for his steaks.”

  I’ve never been more certain about anything in my entire life. This woman is the one for me!

  Then Gage walks in with the floor plan of the house in his hand.

  “Hey, Angel, I overheard you talking about having a party. Am I invited too?”

  My grandfather looks at the man then back at Angel. “Who might this young man be to you, my darling girl?”

  My eyes go wide. My grandfather does not use such words.

  Angel answers, “Oh, he’s my old boyfriend. The story is crazy, and I’d bore you with the details. But he has a problem and we want to try to help him with it.”

  “Plus, I love her and want her back,” Gage says.

  “Dude!” I shout. “Not cool!”

  “Well, I do,” he says, a lot quieter.

  Angel pats my grandfather’s leg. “Don’t worry. I love Benny with all my heart.”

  “That’s good to hear, Angel,” he says then looks at Gage again. “Well tell us your big problem, Gage.”

  Gage sits on the floor, Indian style and starts telling his story. I’m kind of shocked and can tell he does have residual effects from his brain injury as a few words he says oddly and his eyes blink rapidly about every twenty minutes.

  Angel grips my hand as Gage tells us that this young woman named Melissa came on to him one day as he ate lunch at Bell’s Diner. She even came to their house once, telling him Angel said she could borrow some clothes. She put on some and said she needed to take a picture to send to Angel’s phone to see if it was okay to borrow them.

  It seems she tricked him into getting into the shot with her and somehow got him to put his arm around her and then she used the picture to blackmail him.

  He wasn’t about to give in until she threatened to kill Angel if he didn’t leave her. That was when he came up with the story about wanting to travel the world. Only he was going to go to Texas and stay with his family until he could figure out what to do about the crazy chick.

  But he was in the motorcycle accident only hours after leaving town and when he finally woke up, the crazy Melissa was there. Only she was telling him they had a strong love and he and she were leaving Sturgis together.

  She told him she was right behind him in her car and saw the accident that was caused by some debris on the road. She stayed by his side and made even his family believe her story.

  Sioux Falls is where she got a job and rented an apartment and he moved in with her when they let him out of the hospital. Little by little his memory started returning and Angel was the only person he remembered loving. And he knew he’d never leave her and had never really had anything to do with Melissa.

  As he ends his story, I look around to see my parents and grandfather captivated and cannot believe it. Angel holds my hand tight and looks at me. “Benny, what should we do?”

  I shake my head and find myself further surprised as my grandfather says, “We have to get this woman to admit what she did.” He looks at Gage. “And, I’m sure you do love Angel, but she had no choice but to move on and you have to accept that. I’m sure you two can remain lifelong friends. But nothing more than that.”

  Gage frowns then says, “You’re right. I know you are.” He looks at Angel. “The truth is, I never made you glow the way you do with him. You never looked at me like you look at him. Your eyes light up and your voice even changes when you talk to or about him. So, I’ll take your friendship if you’ll give it.”

  Angel looks at me and smiles as she asks, “Would that be alright, Benny? Can I be his friend?”

  I look at her a long time then at him. “Can you keep your hands off her?”

  His lips quirk up into a half-smile. “I think she’ll make sure I do.”

  I run my hand over the top of her thigh. “She damn well better.” With my cursing, I cut my eyes to be ready for my grandfather to tell me how it’s not allowed but am stunned when he smiles and sits back.

  Angel hops up and pulls me with her. “We have a few calls to make to get things ready. You are all feel free to look around the place.”

  She keeps going until we’re at the door to our bedroom where she takes me inside and closes the door then turns back and pushes me against it. Her mouth is hot on mine.

  I run my hands down and cup her ass in them, picking her up. She wraps her legs around me and I walk over to the bed with her. Pulling my mouth away, I toss her onto our bed.

  She’s panting as she looks up at me. “Strip.”

  I do as she’s said to, then push her dress up and this time I rip those white lace panties right off. I flip her over and yank her back to me then slap her ass, nice and hard.

  She moans out, “Oh, do it again, Benny.”

  I do it again and slam my hard cock into her soaking wet depths. “You’re so fucking perfect, Baby. So fucking perfect.”

  “No, you are,” she says. “Baby give me five more. I want to see your hand print on my ass when we’re done.”

  “You are one naughty girl
, Angel.”

  “That I am.”

  Chapter 6

  ANGEL

  After some much-needed Benny and Angel time, I managed to make the phone calls needed to get this party going and expect my grandmother to arrive any minute.

  Freddy’s already brought a small staff with him and is in the kitchen preparing dinner. It feels so odd being the hostess of such a shindig. I never saw myself in this role. Not ever!

  I also never saw myself sitting around with both my current boyfriend and my former either.

  The doorbell rings and I get up to answer it, sure that it’s my grandmother. Without looking through the peephole, I open the door and there stands a version of Sandy Whitehead. Or Melissa, as Gage knows her.

  “Sandy?” I ask as I look at the girl who’d been blonde but now is a brunette with dark brown eyes and pale skin.

  “No, I’m Melissa and I’m here to get my fiancé.”

  “You’re Sandy Whitehead. We went to school together. You were a couple of grades ahead of me but I do know you, Sandy.” I look her dead in the eyes and I can see she’s got a lot of anger.

  “My name is Melissa Cross. I’m only twenty-five so I don’t see how you think you know me.” She looks me right back in the eyes and I have to say this little nut job takes her crazy very seriously.

  So I try something a little sneaky. “How’s Patty doing?”

  “I just left her, she’s fine,” she says and her mouth does a little twitchy thing to one side but she quickly regains her composure. “Where’s Gage? I see his truck out there and I was told he followed you and some other man on a motorcycle out of town. My source followed you all and told me he’d be here. Now where is he?”

  Benny comes up behind me and runs his arm around my shoulders. “Hey, Baby, what’s taking so long here?”

  “This woman says she’s Gage’s fiancé. Melissa Cross here, I know her as Sandy Whitehead, but she insists I’m wrong, and wants to see Gage. What do you think about that, Benny?”

  He shakes his head. “I’m afraid, Gage, is our very dear friend, and he’s told us a little different story and you aren’t a fiancé in any of it. So, we’re going to have to ask you to leave. If he wants to talk to you, I’m sure he knows how to contact you.”

  “Well, he doesn’t know my address. Tell him I’m living at 313 Alpaca Drive. And tell him that I will talk to him and get to the bottom of whatever it is he’s doing. I didn’t put my life on hold for two years to sit with his ass in the hospital to lose him to this bitch now.” She eyes me and I fight the urge to knock the shit out of her.

  I narrow my eyes at her and speak in a very low and very threatening voice. “I’m not the woman to talk to like that. I’ll knock your ass clean into next week, Sandy. By the way, do you think I don’t know the address of your family home, idiot? Do yourself a favor and get some fucking psychiatric help before it’s too late. You need some help, bad. And as far as Gage goes, you will not be talking to him. I can see he still has a brain injury that he is recovering from and isn’t all himself yet. I’ll be calling his family to be sure they know the real story. Your little scam is about to end, sweetie.”

  My grandmother pulls into the driveway and I look past bat-shit-crazy here to see her. Benny looks too and says, “I don’t want to call the cops to get you to leave, but I will. Am I going to have to do that?”

  She shakes her head and turns to leave then looks back at me over her shoulder. “You can’t have them both, bitch. I will get Gage.”

  I start out after her. “You shouldn’t have called me that, Sandy.” But I feel a hand on my arm and Benny’s holding me back.

  He whispers, “Baby, she’s not all there. Don’t take it personally.”

  She laughs kind of hysterically and I really want to kick her ass. But Benny’s right. It’s obvious she’s not all there. And now I really believe Gage’s story. As farfetched as it sounds, I think he’s telling the truth.

  My grandmother, who’s is in her late sixties, but thanks to a life full of love with my grandfather, looks great. She keeps her blonde hair in shoulder-length waves. Sure, the blonde isn’t natural like it once was, but it’s not an obvious dye job. Her blue eyes are still sparkly and full of life.

  She looks at Sandy as the laughing chick passes by her then looks back at me with a, ‘what the fuck,’ look.

  I nod and wait for her to get to us as Benny isn’t taking any chances and not letting me go. “Who is that?” she asks as she gets to us.

  “That’s a woman who’s gone a bit insane. It seems she’s the one to blame for Gage leaving me,” I tell her as I pull her into a hug. “It’s nice to see you. I’m glad you came, Grams.”

  Benny extends his hand. “I’m Benjamin Worthington, it’s nice to meet you.”

  She lets me go and pulls him into a hug, ignoring his hand. “Nice to meet you too! My, you’re keeping my granddaughter in very nice surroundings, I must say. You call me Grams, Son.”

  He smiles at me. “Grams it is then.”

  I take her hand and lead her inside as we see the looney bird has left our place and we can hear her car jetting off down the road. In the great room, I see that Freddy has several trays of appetizers out and a few bottles of wine and a pitcher of what looks like margaritas.

  “Margarita or wine, Grams?” I ask as I lead her into the large room where everyone else is gathered and talking like old friends.

  Her footsteps falter and I see her eyes are set on Benny’s grandfather. When I look at him, I see him getting up and coming our way. He’s wearing a smile and an expensive suit.

  Benny’s grandfather is a very distinguished looking man as one can imagine a wealthy lawyer would look and he does not disappoint. Silver hair is neatly combed and light blue eyes look both strong and inviting at the same time.

  I feel a tremble in my grandmother’s hand as his grandfather takes her other one and lifts it to his lips, placing a kiss on top. “Hello there, I’m Samuel Worthington. And you must be this little angel’s very pretty grandmother. I can see where she gets her great beauty from now.”

  My grandmother doesn’t bat an eye. “She looks like her mother. I’m her father’s mother. My name is Rebecca Jennings. It’s nice to meet you, Samuel.”

  His grandfather looks at me and asks, “Might I steal her away from you, Angel?”

  I nod and release her hand. “Of course, you may.”

  He takes her to meet his son- and daughter-in-law and I’m seeing a light in my grandmother’s eyes I haven’t seen in some time and it has me wondering. A light has sparked in Benny’s grandfather’s eyes too.

  Benny whispers, “Oh my God, Angel. I’ve never seen my grandfather look like that in my entire life.”

  I giggle a little and pull him along with me to check on the food in the kitchen and whisper back, “I’ve seen my grandmother look like that before. When she was looking at my grandfather, though.”

  Gage jogs up behind us and puts his hand on my shoulder. I turn back and see him smiling. “Hey, Angel, what took you so long at the door? I thought I heard Melissa’s voice, but I wasn’t about to come see.”

  I look at Benny who gives me a nod. “Tell him.”

  Instead of the kitchen, I take his hand and lead him to a small sitting room where we all sit down. I look into his eyes. “Gage, that woman is mentally unstable.”

  He frowns at me. “I’m well aware of that. What did she say? Did she threaten you?”

  “Not really. Not directly. I do think she’s going to be a pain in the ass unless we do something about her. I think you should go to the authorities with what’s happened. Let them investigate the whole thing.” I pat his leg and see something in his eyes that tells me he’s left something out. “Do you want to tell me anything else, Gage?”

  “I probably should.” He looks at Benny and gets up to move away from me. “Hey, can you hold her over here and not let her go when I tell her this. She might try to hit me.”

  Benny’s hand takes
mine. “I won’t let her hurt you, Gage. Just tell her what you have to say.”

  Gage looks like a kicked puppy. “Angel, I kind of lied to you before.”

  “You did mess around with her before you left, didn’t you?” I ask as I hold tight to Benny’s hand.

  He nods. “I need your help, though. You’re one tough chick and I don’t know anyone else to help me. That woman is crazy. Even her friend, Patty, told me that she was worried about her mental state.”

  I find I’m clenching my jaw. Then Benny’s hand on mine makes me think that things happen for a reason. “That’s the past and I can’t hang onto that. I can help you. I do care about you and I can see the accident has taken some of you away. I’ll protect you, Gage.”

  He looks relieved. “Not mad, then?”

  “I am mad. But, I’m not exactly mad at you. I’m mad at me too. I was hanging on to you for selfish reasons. I didn’t want to be alone. Not completely. I’ve always kept to myself and you were the very first person I let in. I knew we weren’t really compatible. I knew I was heading a different direction than you were.” I look at Benny and smile. “And although I’m sorry you were hurt in that accident when you left. I’m glad you did leave me.”

  “Angel, you don’t know how good that is to hear. I thought the same thing the entire last year we were together. You were so into your schoolwork and learning as much as you could by watching the mechanics at your uncle’s garage that I knew you were destined for greatness. I was destined for just getting by.” He smiles at me. “And I knew I would never be enough for you. I knew you’d leave me one day when you figured that out on your own.”

  I look at Gage. The man I loved first. Not the most, just first and think to myself that he was a good guy. He was a stand-up guy who went to work at a fast-food restaurant so he could stay in this town to date me.