“The aircraft canopy comes off, an explosive charge goes off under his seat, and he and his chair are propelled at twelve g’s into the air where a parachute deploys, sending them safely back to earth.”
“And then the plane blows up,” said David.
“It definitely crashes,” Larry agreed.
“What if there are people underneath?” asked Jennifer, her forehead furrowing.
Larry cast a worried glance into the rearview mirror. “There usually aren’t,” he said in a cheerful voice. “A very small percentage of the earth’s surface is populated. Add up all the deserts and jungles and farmland. Did you know that seventy-one percent of the world is covered in water?”
Jennifer went from worried to impressed. “Do you know everything, Uncle Larry?” she asked.
Crystal’s and Larry’s eyes met over the honorary title. She wasn’t touching it with a ten-foot pole.
“I know a lot of things,” he told Jennifer. “Mostly scientific things.”
“Arithmetic,” said David with a scowl.
“Arithmetic is important,” said Larry. “You can’t be a pilot without learning arithmetic.”
“I guess,” said David, drumming his feet against the back of Larry’s seat.
“Anybody up for South Park Mall?” asked Larry.
“Milkshakes,” sang David.
Jennifer sat straight up, looking to Crystal. “Can we?”
AT THE ELECTRONICS STORE, Larry urged David toward the toy section, leaving Crystal alone with Jennifer.
“Do any of your friends have cell phones?” Crystal asked, as they slowed beside the display case.
“Melinda Bergman has the AS-207, so she can take pictures. And Alicia Wong has a Blingbot. But her parents are rich.”
“Have you ever thought you might like one?”
Jennifer looked at her curiously. They both knew Amber wasn’t into extravagant gifts, and Grandma thought a land line worked perfectly fine, thank you very much.
“I was thinking,” said Crystal, lifting a slim, pearlescent pink model. “That having one might be handy.”
“Mom would just say no,” Jennifer sighed, her attention going to the shiny black one at the far end.
Good taste, that girl. It was top of the line.
“It would be very practical,” Crystal continued. “Like, I could call you. And you could call me. It wouldn’t matter where you were, or what you were doing.”
Jennifer looked at her, a light obviously going on in her brain. “Like when Mom was late or something.”
“Yeah,” Crystal admitted. “If Mom was ever late.”
Jennifer chewed her bottom lip.
“You could call your friends,” said Crystal.
“It’s not my birthday.”
“No, it’s not.”
“And it’s not Christmas, or even Easter.”
“Mayday?” Crystal tried.
“It’s June,” said Jennifer.
“Special Secret Surprise Present Day?”
Jennifer giggled.
“I just decided when that should be,” said Crystal. “Right now.”
Jennifer looked at the phones and sobered.
Crystal crouched down so that they were eye level. “We both know your dad can be unpredictable.”
The young girl nodded.
“So, just in case. Just for emergencies, like when you practice fire drills at school. Mostly you’ll be calling your friends at recess. But we can put my phone number on a speed dial button. And you can call me. Anytime.”
“Like, if David has a bad dream. And Mommy won’t wake up?”
“Sure,” said Crystal, forced to blink back tears for a second.
Jennifer nodded. “David might need you.”
“He might,” said Crystal. “And he’s too young to take care of a phone.”
Jennifer nodded again.
“So, does it seem like a good idea to you?”
“Melinda Bergman would sure be surprised.”
“She will,” Crystal agreed with a smile, just as Larry and David appeared.
“So, tell me,” said Larry. “Which is the coolest phone here?”
Jennifer’s shoulders squared, and her chest puffed out ever so slightly. She pointed to the slim black phone with the touch screen.
“Excellent taste,” said Larry, lifting it up.
Crystal silently and sarcastically thanked him very much on behalf of her credit card provider. It was going to take her a few months to pay the darn thing off. Still, if it meant Jennifer would keep it charged and with her, it was worth it. You couldn’t put a price on safety.
“The LG-Quantum it is,” said Larry, flagging down a sales clerk.
Before Crystal knew what was happening, Larry had handed over his credit card.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” she muttered to him, following one clerk toward the cash register, while another walked Jennifer to a demonstration counter to go over the phone instructions.
“You said I could,” Larry countered, putting an arm around her shoulders to slow her down.
“I did not.”
“You said I couldn’t spend money on you unless we were dating.”
“That’s ridicu-”
“Well, we’re dating now.” His voice went lower. “By any benchmark, we are totally dating.”
“I never said you could spend money on my niece.”
“The phone’s not for your niece. It’s for you. To give you piece of mind.”
“That’s the lamest, most convoluted-”
“Most logical argument you’ve ever heard.” He talked right overtop of her.
“Would you care for one of our prepaid plans?” asked the clerk.
“Yes,” said Larry.
“No,” said Crystal.
“There’s a fifteen percent discount on plans over twelve months.”
“Sounds good,” said Larry.
Crystal gritted her teeth. “I’m paying you back.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, good luck with that.”
“You are impossible.”
He nodded toward the kids. “Look.”
Jennifer stood with rapt attention, watching the phone demonstration. The clerk handed her the phone, letting her try something. Another phone, somewhere in the store, rang, and she grinned.
Then her phone made a chiming noise, followed by a screeching rock song.
“Pick that one,” said David.
Jennifer shook her head, while the ring switched to symphony music.
“Your card, sir,” said the sales clerk, and Crystal admitted defeat.
Jennifer had her phone. That was the important thing. And Crystal would figure out how to pay Larry back somehow.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A FTER THEY PURCHASED THE phone, Larry wanted to make sure that David didn’t feel left out. So he’d offered everybody a ride in his airplane.
Crystal graciously wedged into the backseat with Jennifer, and David spent the entire hour in the copilot’s seat with his nose pressed up against the glass.
Afterward, they stopped for burgers at a fast food restaurant. It was nearly bedtime when they stumbled laughing up the stairs to Crystal’s apartment.
“Can Rufus sleep on my bed again?” David called as they piled through the doorway.
Feeling unaccountably good, Larry draped his arm loosely around Crystal’s shoulders. Then he stopped short at the sight of Crystal’s mother standing in the kitchen.
She took in Crystal and the kids, and then her gaze stopped on Larry.
“Larry Grosso,” she confirmed, her expression not nearly as welcoming as it had been the last time they talked.
“Stella,” he responded with a nod, guiltily removing his arm.
“Grandma, Grandma,” David cried, breaking from the pack. “Uncle Larry took us for a ride in his airplane.”
All three adults froze on “uncle.”
“It was awesome,” said David.
; “Hi, Mom,” Crystal quickly put in, moving forward.
“I see you have the kids,” said Stella.
“They’re staying over,” Crystal explained.
Larry gestured behind him to the door. “I guess, maybe I’d better-”
“Nonsense,” said Stella, eyes glittering. “Since you seem to be part of the family.”
Larry looked to Crystal, and she sent him a clear “it’s now or never” look back.
“I’ll put the kids to bed,” Crystal said, ushering the children toward the spare bedroom and closing the door behind them.
In mere seconds, Larry was alone with Stella, and the silence boomed hollowly around them.
She folded her arms over her chest. “I didn’t realize you were dating my daughter.”
Well, that certainly cured the silence problem.
“We started off as friends,” Larry said honestly.
“Uncle Larry.”
“I don’t think David knew what to call me.” He thought about offering Stella coffee or tea, but realized she was more the hostess than he. Pretending otherwise might offend her.
“I know your brother,” said Stella.
Larry nodded his acknowledgement.
“And I know your nephew.” She paused. “And I know you’re a lot older than my daughter.”
Larry moved toward the living room, uncomfortably hovering in the entryway. “I realize that, too,” he said.
“And what are your intentions?”
“I have no intentions.” Right now his only intention was to spend as much time as humanly possible with Crystal. He hadn’t allowed himself to look beyond that.
“She wants children,” said Stella.
“I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves.”
“So, you’re only interested in a fling. Is that it?”
“No.” He realized the word had been sharp and forced himself to tone his voice down. “No. I’m not only interested in a fling. I like your daughter very much.”
Stella harrumphed her skepticism.
Larry glanced toward the bedroom door, willing Crystal to join them again.
“Stella.”
“You like my daughter?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You want to do right by her?”
“Of course.”
“Then don’t encourage her in this.”
Larry took offense. This relationship was hardly one-sided, and Crystal was perfectly capable of making up her own mind. “I don’t think you understand.”
“I understand perfectly,” said Stella. “You are not good for my daughter. Oh, she might be bowled over by your family and-”
“Wait just a minute.” Larry had hardly used his famous family to entice Crystal into his life. Crystal, quite frankly, wasn’t the slightest bit in awe of his family.
“No, you wait a minute,” said Stella, gesturing at the center of his chest with her index finger. “Crystal is my daughter. She’s already had her heart broken when Simon died. She doesn’t need that to happen again. Her life is just starting. You are nearly ready to retire.”
Larry drew back at that. “I am nowhere near ready to retire.”
The bedroom door opened. “Wash your face and brush your teeth,” Crystal called as the kids trotted down the hall.
Smiling, she looked at Larry, then to her mother, then back to Larry. Her smile disappeared. “What?”
He glanced to the open bathroom door and gave his head a slight shake.
The three stood in silence for a moment, then David raced down the hall, arms out, making airplane engine noises. “Come on, Rufus,” he called to the dog. “We’re going in for a landing.” He flung himself onto the bed.
“Come on, boy,” Crystal called to Rufus as a flannel-clad Jennifer made her way more slowly down the hall and into the bedroom.
Kids settled, Crystal reappeared, clicking the door shut behind her. “Something wrong?”
“I was saying-” Larry began, but was cut off.
“You’re too smart to be getting yourself into something like this,” snapped Stella.
“Mom, we’re not-”
“Where can it possibly lead?”
Crystal moved into the living room. “You’re embarrassing me, Mom.”
“What’s embarrassing is you taking up with a man twice your age.”
“He’s not twice my age.”
But Larry had already done the math. It wasn’t that far off. He and Crystal were ready to accept the difference, but if Stella and Steve’s reactions were anything to go by, how well was the rest of the world likely to react?
Larry didn’t care for himself, but Crystal shouldn’t have to put up with it. And there was the question of children. Even if he did want to start over, which he didn’t, he’d had a vasectomy. After Steve was born, the doctors told Libby that her high blood pressure might make it dangerous for her to have more children. Larry had made sure there was no risk to Elizabeth’s health on that front.
“Mother,” said Crystal. “Larry and I have had exactly three dates.”
He made it four, but wasn’t about to quibble.
“So now you’re saying it’s just a fling.”
“I’m saying it’s a date.”
“Four dates,” said Larry, earning a glare from Crystal.
“It’s too soon for you or anybody else to press the panic button,” she said.
“What about children?”
Crystal held up her hands. “Stop. I know you want more grandchildren.”
“This isn’t about me.”
Crystal started to laugh. “Then who is it about?”
Stella looked affronted. “You, of course.”
“Good. Then we can stop talking. Because I’m perfectly fine with dating Larry.”
Stella opened her mouth, but she seemed to have temporarily run out of arguments.
“Was there a reason you’re here, Mom?”
Stella blinked. “Kenny Carmichael.”
Larry knew Kenny was the major player in the Softco purchase.
Crystal sighed. “He wants to let me go.”
Stella gave her head a little shake. “There you go. Jumping to conclusions. Just like you always do.” She looked to Larry. “You see why I worry about this girl?”
Under no circumstances was he taking a piece of that.
“Kenny wants you to work more hours.” She glanced around. “And you can stay in the apartment, of course.”
“I can?” Crystal asked in a small voice.
“It’s in the sales agreement.”
“That’s very generous.”
Stella nodded. “We’re your parents. We want what’s best for you.” She gave Larry a pointed look.
He wanted what was best for Crystal, too. But he didn’t know how to convince Stella that was true.
“Good night, Mom.” Crystal moved forward to give her mother a kiss on the cheek.
Stella didn’t look happy, but most of her anger seemed to have abated. With a warning glance in Larry’s direction, she headed for the door.
When it shut behind her, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry about that,” said Crystal.
“Nothing for you to be sorry about.”
“She’s always been, well, a straight shooter.” Crystal flopped down on the couch. “She’s never put much stock in emotion. You know, I think she’d have gone with arranged marriages if she’d had her way. The man’s job, his family connections, family history of diseases and longevity.”
Larry eased down next to her on the soft sofa. “You know, my son reacted in much the same way the other day.”
Crystal twisted her head. “Steve doesn’t want you to date me?”
“He thinks I’m having a midlife crisis.”
She was silent for a few heartbeats. “Are you?”
He reached up, smoothed back her hair and smiled. “You mean am I going to come to my senses one day soon and realize you’re not good enough for me?”
&
nbsp; “Something like that.”
“Never happen.” He paused. “You on the other hand, could easily, and quite rightfully, come to your senses.”
She shook her head, taking his hand in hers. “Never happen,” she whispered.
“It’s way too soon to know that.”
“No, it’s not.” She kissed his hand and rubbed it up against her cheek. “I’m falling in love with you, Larry.”
“Not the greatest idea,” he warned.
“That’s what you have to say back?”
“No.” He turned to fully face her. “What I have to say back, is that I’m already in love with you. But that doesn’t mean our detractors are wrong.”
“They don’t understand,” said Crystal.
“On the contrary. They understand perfectly. They just don’t happen to think we’re a good idea.”
“Good thing they don’t get a vote.”
“They’re our families.” And they’ve made some perfectly valid points. “You want children.”
“Someday,” she agreed.
“I can’t have children.”
He could see the surprise in her eyes. “You have Steve. Men can-”
“I had surgery,” he explained.
“Oh.”
He tried to gauge how the revelation had affected her. “Nothing about this is simple.”
She put on a brave smile. “It’s simple at the moment. We’re not going to do what my mother did. People don’t go on three dates-”
“Four.”
“-and decide their entire future. We’re going to Pocono. We’re going to have a great time together. And we’re not going to worry about anything else.”
Larry hesitated. She was right. People didn’t have to decide their future up front. But he also knew that the more time that went by, the greater the risk one of them would get hurt.
He could handle it, if it was just him. He couldn’t handle it, if it was Crystal who paid the emotional price.
“Things can change,” she continued. “Look at my employment and my apartment situation.”
Larry couldn’t help but smile. “Wasn’t that a waste of a day?”
“We learned a lot about the seamy side of Charlotte.”
“Sweetheart, those were things I didn’t really want to learn.”
“Pocono,” she repeated. “I’ll even stay in that fancy-ass castle suite with you,” she cajoled.
“You will?”
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