“You mean Jax?”
“Jax. Jinx. Jox. Whatever his name is, he smells like trouble.” No fooling on that one. Any kid who couldn’t find the manners to say hello to his elders and acted like they weren’t in the room? Well, that was just plain cockiness and a sign he thought he could make his own rules. Pop didn’t miss the way this Jax character didn’t say a peep to Teresina, didn’t even look at her. No, he only had eyes for Lucy, or for her womanly attributes, to be exact. Did he think Pop couldn’t see him ogling her behind or her tiny breasts? Gut said the boy was not Teresina’s father, but gut also said if Lucy didn’t wise up fast, he could be the father of the next one.
“Jax is my friend, Grandpa.” Lucy removed a dozen eggs from the brown grocery bag, opened the lid of the container to check for cracked ones the way he’d taught her to do. Why couldn’t she follow the rest of the guidelines he’d taught her, like be careful who your friends are and trust has to be earned? “You don’t like him because of the earrings and the tattoos.” Her pink lips flattened, the blue eyes shooting sparks. “You’re judging him, Grandpa, and that’s not right.”
“Judging?” Angelo Benito had been accused of a lot of things back in the day before he simmered down and met his Lucinda, but judging a person had never been one of them. “I don’t care if the boy paints himself with a crayon every morning or gets his body pricked with those hoops and circle earrings you young people fancy. Don’t matter to me.” He clutched the spoon in his hand, squeezed until his fingers hurt. “What I do mind is one person disrespecting another, no matter if it’s to an elder, a child, or a supposed friend. That’s what I see when I look at that boy who’s been sniffing around you. He don’t respect you, Lucy.” He paused, narrowed his gaze on his granddaughter, wished she were Teresina’s age again so he could protect her. “You’re following a dangerous path, and I know it’s exciting and interesting, but that path you’re following is gonna lead you to a cliff.”
She huffed and said, “Jax cares about me.”
Pop let out a sound that might be labeled a laugh if a person didn’t recognize the pain in it. “Sure, sure he does, right up until you saddle him with ‘You’re gonna be a daddy’ and ‘The baby needs diapers.’ Open your eyes, Lucy. This boy is like a bag of marshmallows. Sweet, addicting, but he’ll leave you with a bellyache and indigestion.” He paused, waited for just the right second, and dropped another possibility between them. “Keep playing games and you’ll miss your chance with someone who does respect you, who would do right by you and Teresina.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You don’t know? You can’t tell?” He shook his head, sighed. “Jeremy Ross Dean is in love with you, Lucy, and you’re gonna lose him.”
* * *
If Bree Kinkaid hadn’t sought her out for advice on men, makeup, and the art of attracting a man, Natalie might not have made the monumental decision that it was time for Robert to meet her parents. Bree might want to avoid anything smelling like a relationship with a man, but Natalie felt the exact opposite. She wanted it all; the trust, the honesty, the man, the ring, the family. One man, that’s all she needed and his name was Robert Jeremiah Trimble, but how was she going to get to the next step in this relationship if she didn’t make a move? At this rate, they’d still be dating ten years from now! She understood his need for order and timing. After all, he was an accountant who relied on numbers and calculations to provide answers for him. But talking with Bree made her see that life was short and sometimes you really did have to take a chance, even if it meant jumping out of your comfort zone.
She dreaded the meeting between her parents and Robert, but it was going to happen and another thing was going to happen, too. For once in her life, she was not going to let her mother tell her how to think and feel and what was attractive and what wasn’t, as in Robert’s thinning hair and what she’d call a small-boned body. Natalie loved that thinning hair and small-boned body and she wanted to marry the man attached to both. Once he met her parents, she’d broach the subject of meeting his mother.
“Who’s the new guy in town?” Marissa pushed back a lock of purple hair and reached for a towel. She and Natalie were on towel duty today and that meant washing, drying, and folding every single towel in the salon and that meant chat time.
“New guy?” Had to be Bree’s Adam but Natalie had learned to keep her mouth shut until the other person divulged enough information to support the question. No sense offering up bits and pieces that were better left unsaid.
“Yeah, the new guy.” Marissa sighed, her purple lips pulling into a smile that said fantasy and lots of it. “Tall, blond, tanned, not my usual type, but I could make an exception for this one.” She hugged a towel to her chest. “He is a fine specimen and one I’d definitely like to study.”
Yup, Bree’s guy. “Haven’t seen him.”
“No? When you do, you’ll know what I mean.” She slid a smile at Natalie. “A bunch of us are heading to O’Reilly’s tonight. Why don’t you come? Mack’s been asking about you.”
Mack Chesterfield could ask about her until he didn’t have a voice left because she wasn’t stepping foot in that bar again. Ever. Too many memories, all of them from a past she’d been trying to forget since she met Robert. But some people just wouldn’t let it go. They believed a person didn’t change, no matter what. Some people, like her mother, believed a person shouldn’t change, especially a child who had a certain role in a family. Natalie’s role had always been that of a princess, one who followed the bidding of the queen. Lydia Servetti was the queen all right, more like the Queen Bee, sending the rest of them to their duties while she ruled. How long did a child have to pretend she was still a child, still belonged in the pecking order she’d grown up in?
“Natalie? Did you hear me? Mack Chesterfield’s been asking about you, like regular.” Those blue eyes glittered, the voice turned softer than the paraffin wax in the manicure tub. “I wouldn’t mind his attention. Fancy man, a few nice dinners, maybe even a trip to Bermuda.” She sighed. “He’s got the money, and he doesn’t mind spending it.”
“He’s married.” Mack Chesterfield had been married when she’d hooked up with him, too, and he’d been about to have his first baby when she drove to New York City with him for the weekend, showed him how grateful she was for the designer handbag and wallet, stuffed with three one-hundred dollar bills. But that was a lifetime ago. She was not that person anymore. She wasn’t! Natalie placed a folded towel in the laundry basket, sucked in a breath. “Don’t do it. You’re so much better than that. There’s a guy out there for you, one who’ll respect you, cherish you.” She paused, her voice dipped. “Love you.”
The look on the girl’s pale face said she wasn’t buying the words. “You mean like Robert, the boyfriend nobody’s ever met?” She toyed with a bangle on her left wrist. “Are you sure he’s not married with a set of kiddies, a dog, and a nice little house you don’t know exists?”
“No!” Marissa’s words tore at Natalie’s insides, worked their way to her heart, settled in her soul. Robert wasn’t married with another family: he was going to marry her, Natalie Servetti. He would never do that to her. Never. But a tiny speck of doubt remained long after Marissa shrugged a purple-clad shoulder and walked off to greet her next client. Hadn’t Natalie wondered the same thing every once in a while? What if Robert Trimble weren’t really who he said he was? People pretended all the time. Look at Brody, playing house like he didn’t have a wife who loved him and three daughters who needed their daddy? Bree had never known. Or had she? Had she suspected something was off with Brody and not been able or willing to dig deeper? If Robert had a secret family or were cheating on her, Natalie would know, wouldn’t she? His touches would be different, his looks less intense, his words false. Wouldn’t they? She was not going to let doubt or fear stand in the way of a life with Robert. He loved her. They were going to be together. Natalie lifted the laundry basket, made her way to the cupboards and the fo
lded stack of towels. All her guy needed was a gentle nudge to get things started and that nudge would come tonight when she invited him to her parents’ home for dinner.
If disasters in Magdalena could be categorized like hurricanes, the first meeting between Robert and her parents would be a category five. Robert showed up fifteen minutes before the designated 6:00 p.m. arrival because, as he later told her parents, he hadn’t been able to anticipate traffic, unfamiliar roads, or weather conditions. Natalie’s mother pasted a smile on her face and said if he’d come any earlier, she’d have thought he was coming for lunch, not dinner. Poor Robert, he wasn’t used to sarcasm aimed at another person and when her mother smiled, he believed it was filled with compassion and good-naturedness. If he only knew.
“So, you’re an accountant?” Lydia dabbed her mouth with a napkin, fixed her gaze on Robert. “You must be awful smart to handle people’s money business.” She forked a piece of meatball and said, “Figure out how to keep your customers from paying all those taxes.”
Customers? Natalie cringed, slid a glance at Robert, and then fixed her gaze on her mother. “Mom, they’re clients, not customers.”
“Clients?” The extra skin under Lydia’s chin jiggled as she turned to Natalie. “Oh, well, he knew what I meant. Clients, customers. All the same in the end, isn’t it, Robert? And here you are with your brains and your skill, helping them save money with your strategies. That’s better than winning the lottery. Isn’t that what I always say, Ernest?” She pointed a finger at her husband, waited for him to nod, and went on. “Takes a good accountant to know all the rules of paying and not paying, filling out this form and that. It’s not how much you make, now is it?” Her thin lips pulled into a half smile. “No, Robert, it certainly is not. It’s how much you get to keep!”
Natalie wished she’d convinced Robert that bringing wine and flowers to her parents was over-the-top unnecessary. Her mother loved her wine a bit too much, and when she had a few glasses, her words flowed and her self-censorship stopped. Like now.
“Yes, ma’am.”
He had no idea she was setting him up. Natalie could tell by the way her mother shoveled compliments at him, piled them high as though she really cared. It’s what she did when she was getting ready for the big score. How many times had they all witnessed Lydia Servetti play the game better than any con man? She’d tricked all of them to do exactly what she wanted, convincing them it was for their benefit, not hers. Robert had just taken a bite of meatball when Natalie’s mother revealed her “con.”
“Ernest and me don’t have tax strategists,” she said, her voice smothered with sadness and self-pity. “We’re just average people trying to get along, but it’s always something, isn’t it? A medical bill, a broken faucet, a roof that needs repair. Hard times. How’s a person supposed to make it through?” She sniffed, pulled a lace handkerchief from her shirt pocket, and wiped her nose. “I told the kids, we’ve always done our best by them, but there might come a time when we’re gonna need their help.” Another sniff, a sideways glance at Robert. “When that time comes, we’ll see which child remembers us.”
“Nat will remember us,” her father said, lifting his wineglass in salute. “Won’t you, Nat?”
What to say to that?
“Of course she will,” her mother said. “Natalie’s always been there for us.” She reached over, patted Natalie’s hand. “Like we’ve been for her, from the very first beauty contest to the singing lessons, we’ve put our dreams and our money on our youngest.”
“Damn straight we did!” Her father saluted the table, downed his wine. “Who wants more wine?”
Robert made the mistake of holding up his glass. He was no match for two “experts” like her parents, but he hadn’t figured that out yet. Give him another glass and a few more comments from her parents about “obligation” and “doing our best” and Robert would offer up not only his accounting services but maybe a chunk of his next paycheck. She couldn’t let that happen, not when he was so innocent to the ways of people like the Servettis.
“Mom, Dad, I have some good news I’m excited to share.” Natalie clasped Robert’s hand, smiled into his flushed face. “I’m going to tell them, Robert.”
“Tell them?” He scratched his head, squinted at her. “What are you going to tell them?”
She leaned close, held his gaze. He said when he looked at her, he lost focus. Good, maybe he’d lose focus and forget what her parents were talking about. “I want to tell them about the loan you’re giving me to start my own spa and beauty salon.”
His eyes glazed. “Huh?”
Natalie squeezed his hand, gave him a peck on the cheek, and turned to her parents, who stared at her like she’d just told them she’d joined the convent. “Robert’s been after me to go out on my own for a while now. He says with my talent and his business savvy, we could be a huge success. I am so excited,” she gushed, leaned forward, and kissed Robert’s hand. He had just enough wine in him to register a delayed response, and that’s all she needed to shut down her parents’ conning. There’d be no borrowing money from Robert, not if she had a say. “Oh, Robert, thank you for this wonderful opportunity. I’m so glad we could share the news with my parents.” She turned and met their stunned faces. “I know they’re delighted.”
10
Bree realized something about Adam Brandon after their fourth day in the office, and the discovery was as refreshing as it was disturbing, seeing that she wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship. But if she were, he’d be her man. No doubt about that. And why? Because the man was an all-around good guy. Period. He had a kind heart and the words and smile to go with it. Have a bad day? He was your man. Need a pick-me-up because you’d just spent three hours working with the wrong formulas on the spreadsheet? No problem. According to him, there was no such thing as an idiot, unless you didn’t learn from your mistakes. Yup, overall good guy. The other women in the office must have thought so, too, because they stopped by with homemade brownies and chocolate chip cookies, giggling when he threw them a dimpled smile and thanked them. One brought him a coffee mug stuffed with truffles, and surprise, she snuck her phone number in there, too.
But Adam didn’t seem interested in them, at least not as more than casual acquaintances. He didn’t study them with those gray eyes the way he studied Bree, like he might actually want to take a nibble out of her as if she were a cookie. Goodness, but the man had a look about him. And that smile? It said, interested and available, and it was mostly aimed at her. She fanned herself, tried to settle her crazy pulse, but when the man was in the room, it was not possible. Natalie had given her a few tips, though she hadn’t wanted to, but what was the point of making friends with a former bad girl if you couldn’t learn a thing or two about attracting the opposite sex in five seconds or less? Direct eye contact. Skimming his body with your eyes, stopping at the “hot” spots. Licking your lips. Bree sighed. They all sounded like plain foolishness. Could a man not know when he was being played? Were they all really that caught up in themselves? Brody had been, no denying that, but an intelligent, well-traveled, educated man like Adam Brandon? No. Absolutely not. She hadn’t tried any of these tactics on him yet because they seemed silly, but maybe she would. Just to see.
Another quality she enjoyed about Adam was his ability to teach. He didn’t judge like Daddy did if she didn’t understand an issue. Adam explained, and if that didn’t work, he found another way to show her. That was a sign of a great teacher. Plus, she liked the tone of his voice, all soft and even, not the sighs and grunts her father used when he’d shown her how to calculate prices and profit margins. Nope, none of that with Adam. The man was a born teacher with a kind heart.
Then there was his sense of style. Gracious, but the man could be on the cover of a magazine. It didn’t matter if he wore a suit or jeans—he was perfect. His brother might be a looker, but he had nothing on Adam. Bree sighed, darted a glance at the object of her infatuation. Head down, glasses
on, tanned hands resting on the desk. He’d been in a meeting all morning with the shop supervisors, gathering information on the number of employees, the processing steps, and how much time each step took. Why did he need to know about that? She’d straight out asked him and he’d explained the different measures of efficiency, sales per employee, and cost-per-labor hour. This consultant business was complicated and the fact that he had it all organized and could tell her what he was doing and how to analyze it, impressed the heck out of her. She’d never been infatuated with another person’s brain before, but she was head-over-heels crazy about his. Too bad she’d sworn off relationships, or she’d be after him like bees in a flower patch. Bree let out a sigh, tried to focus on the calculations he’d asked her to look at, sighed again. The man even liked her children, had asked about the girls every day, said he’d like to see them again. Darn, what man did that unless he were truly special?
“Hey, why all the sighing? What’s wrong? Did you get stuck on the formula?”
Bree looked up and pretended that handsome face didn’t affect her. “Nope. I’m fine.” Hah! That was absolutely the last thing from the truth. How could she call herself that when the man’s smile singed her insides?
“Let me know if you need any help.” He checked his watch. “But not until after lunch. Want to grab a bite to eat?”
Of course she did. Bree never missed a meal, never missed thinking about a meal either. “Sure,” she said before she could think about the gossip that would swirl around town once people saw her with Adam. “I know the perfect spot.” She tossed her pen on the desk, opened the bottom drawer, and grabbed her purse.
Bree should have known the lunch crowd at Lina’s wouldn’t be polite enough to sit by and keep their comments in their heads. Oh, no, not the Magdalena crowd. She should also have known that sooner rather than later she’d run into her old friends because you could only avoid them so long, especially when you put yourself in the limelight at lunchtime. Phyllis had just handed out the menus and given Adam an extra smile when Christine, Tess, and a slightly pregnant Gina entered the diner. They all spotted Bree at about the same time. Tess and Christine offered smiles and made their way toward her; Gina did not.
A Family Affair: The Wish: Truth in Lies, Book 9 Page 13