by Tracy Ellen
Her frown was fierce at first, but at his cajoling smile and clowning puppy dog eyes, Anna slowly relented. She finally grinned at my brother, punching him lightly on the shoulder.
“Axelrod, you’re such an a-hole. Like I can’t take a little teasing from you bunch of yokels.”
“We’d never do it if you couldn’t,” Tre J agreed. Her classically beautiful Nordic features lit up with the warmth of her generous smile. “You know we all love you, Anna.”
“Yeah, except for the mouse thing, and the jacking off the dog thing, you won’t be too bad a new sister.” Jazy eyes crinkled over the top of her coffee cup.
“Bad? I think she’ll raise the bar,” Mac stated, throwing a small moue of disgust Jazy’s way.
“She couldn’t do worse as a sister, that’s for sure,” Kenna agreed with a wry chuckle.
“Ah, guys, that means so much to me to hear you say that,” Anna replied, dabbing at the corner of her eyes with a knuckle and smiling tremulously. “I love you all, too.”
“Of course you do,” Reggie cut in quickly while lifting his coffee cup, “but don’t even get started with all that teary-eyed, lesbian love crap--not unless I’m going to get to see some girl on girl action.” As we all booed and called him a male pig, along with other fun names, he held his cup up higher and proclaimed with a big grin, “Enough with the compliments, my fine-feathered family, because it’s time for toasting with brother Reg!”
That announcement only increased the decimal level of boos and catcalls. I caught Stella’s glance and we shared a quick smile. The poor kid looked so worn out, I wanted to insist she go lie down on the sofa, but I knew she wouldn’t agree. Instead, I turned around and quickly poured her a glass of orange juice.
“Here, drink this, sweetness. It’s just how you like it--pesticide/fungicide free and full of pulpy goodness.”
“Thank you,” Stella said gratefully. After a sip, she added in bafflement, “But when they have a choice, why do some people in our country buy orange juice any other way?”
“That is a question you should definitely put to Diego tonight at the dinner table.” I looked around and then whispered, “I’ve heard your stepfather likes his OJ pulpless and thinks a squirt of carbendazim helps grow hair on his chest.”
I nodded sagely as Stella giggled and chided, “For shame, Auntie Bel!”
We both grabbed our drinks and dutifully looked at Reg when he exaggeratedly cleared his throat our way. “Are you ready to hear your birthday toast, Sister?”
“If I must,” I agreed meekly, as Stella giggled again.
He gave me one more disapproving look before intoning, “As the token, but very manly man of the Axelrod family,” the loud groans were unanimous, “I want to point out that for all my life I have been subjected to inhumane ridicule from my family, their friends,” he leveled a poignantly pained look at Tre J and then Anna, “and even from my fiancée.”
Anna made a sad pouty face while we all taunted Reg that he deserved every moment of his abuse.
His voice rose to override our heckling. “Now, on this special occasion of Bel’s twenty-ninth birthday, as she balances on the edge of being an old lady with a rapidly diminishing hotness factor, I just want to say,” Reg’s wide smile showed off the MacKenzie dimples when I flipped him off, “ha ha, bitches, here’s to always being the youngest!”
Jazy lifted her coffee. “And the slowest!”
Tre J touched her cup to Jazy’s. “And the weakest!”
Mac toasted, “And the dumbest!”
Stella raised her cup to her mother’s and scoffed at Reg. “Ditto, because I’m the youngest, Uncle Ding-Dong!”
With an impish smile, Kenna joined in, “Here’s to dumb little boys!”
They all looked expectantly at me.
I looked back at them in helpless confusion. “Wait a sec. How did we get back on the topic of Diego again?”
Reg stopped his blustering protests to burst out laughing. Everyone else howled as well, except my oldest sister. Smiling, I gave her a quick hug and then dodged behind Tre to avoid Mac’s shaking fists as she threatened my imminent death.
Tre J blocked her and pointed out gently, “Mac, see what I mean? It’s just too easy.”
Chapter VIII
“All of Me” by John Legend
Tuesday, 12/18
10:25 AM
Amidst the babble of female voices joking around while Reggie tried unsuccessfully to get a word in edgewise, Luke strolled into the kitchen.
He stopped by my brother and clasped his shoulder. “Reg, for a minute there I thought you might need reinforcements from the harpies, but then I remembered you’re a battle hardened warrior.”
At Luke’s teasing grin, Anna and Stella didn’t come after my boyfriend at the reminder of the harpies comment. Instead, I was disgusted to see they simpered like groupies to a rock star.
Luke put his arm around my waist, smiling a little at my obvious surprise at seeing him back so soon and crashing our little party. I smiled back into compelling eyes that spoke volumes to me without one word being said. With a start, I realized our intimate family celebration was complete for me now that my Dark Prince was here.
Previous to Luke entering my world, if I had to rate the daily quality of my adult existence, I’d say my default emotion was happily content. I woke up most mornings with a smile and thought, ‘Bring it on, life.’
I still woke up that way but ever since Luke and I had agreed to our first date out at my brother’s house on the lake, my days have also been filled with excited anticipation.
Deny or hide my emotions all I wanted, the truth was I had allowed Genghis overwhelming power. I not only wanted him with a passionate craving, the depth of which I never dreamed to feel towards one man, but I needed him. His presence was now vitally essential in my life.
If falling in love was comparable to running the gauntlet while being prodded along with a knife at my back, then being in love was like tripping to my knees halfway through and being cudgeled repeatedly about the head and shoulders.
In other words, it’s painfully terrifying.
Trust is necessary in a healthy relationship, but that didn’t make it any less petrifying to place my personal happiness in the hands of another human being, even if those strong hands belonged to my war-god.
So as extra insurance, I muttered in a low voice to Luke that vibrated with fierceness, “If you ever leave me or die, I will kill you.”
Black pupils dilated a fraction at my sudden declaration, but otherwise he showed no reaction.
I’d wager half ownership in Bel’s Books that my beloved’s daily default emotion was cynical amusement. If I could read his diabolical mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn he woke up to face each new day with the thought, ‘I wonder how the world will entertain the mighty Khan today.’ Seeing his lips curve now as he watched my face, I frowned at him in response. ‘Or more specifically, what will Anabel say or do next to amuse me.’
While I faced the terrifying prospect of loving a man, Reg had grabbed Luke’s right hand and was pumping it enthusiastically.
“Dude, you’re here just in time. Even the toughest badass can use a brother at his back to fight off the harpies.”
“Oh yeah, wimp ass? What about a sister on your back?” Without further warning, Jazy jumped up to piggy-back on Reggie, masking his eyes with her hands.
With a shocked yelp at Jazy’s unexpected lunge, Reg stumbled forward a few steps. “Help! Harpy attack!”
Reg blundered around blindly while trying to twist and throw Jazy off. She clung to his back and rode him like a bull in a rodeo. Anna played announcer and counted down the seconds that Jaz stayed seated. Tre clowned around and pushed Reg back into the ring when he got too close to the furniture.
Hand massaging her forehead, Mac looked up. “Welcome to my hell, Luke.”
Luke’s expression turned into one of total empathy when he smiled at my sister. “It’s hard being the eld
est, and the mature, responsible adult.”
“Truer words were never spoken.” Mac the Martyr smiled bravely back at her ally.
“Ha!” I laughed grimly. “I’m sorry you both find it hard to be mature and responsible adults, but try walking a mile in my middle child moccasins.” I blamed the residual terror lingering in my heart for loving Luke when I added, “Then you’ll know the true meaning of martyrdom.”
Mac raised long-suffering brows in Luke’s direction and he shrugged in reply. Right when I started to offer their pity party of two the bakery box, so they could have some cheese Danish to go with their whine, Mustang decided he wanted in on the fun.
Astonishment streaked across Luke’s face when Mustang appeared without warning in my kitchen, as if conjured out of thin air. The dog had been lying quietly at Kenna’s feet out of sight on the other side of the island. For all Luke knew, it was a creature summoned from the darkest pits of Hell. Astonished or not, my war-god had a microsecond to process a beast with a monstrously large head hurtling towards him, baring sharp teeth and growling ferociously.
“Down!”
Mid-air, the one word command was all it took for the ginormous dog to plunge back to earth in a skid of gangling legs and big paws.
“Luke, meet Mustang,” Mac deadpanned.
With a curse under his breath that soon turned into a soft laugh, Luke bent to pet the dog prostrate at his shoes. Mustang rolled over and exposed his underbelly.
Kenna knelt next to her groveling charge and stroked him before looking up at Luke. Her grayish-blue eyes were sharp with interest while she studied the man at her side for a moment.
“Okay, that was impressive. Have you had dog obedience training then?”
“No,” Luke’s cheek creased when he smiled at Kenna, “I just date your sister.”
A snorting giggle escaped past Kenna’s hand, which had involuntary shot up to cover her mouth at Luke’s response. My second sister’s eyes slid over to me to gauge my reaction. She wasn’t sure how to take Luke’s comment. They had met for the first time only last night and exchanged the briefest hellos before someone else was introducing themselves to Luke. Maybe Kenna thought I’d be offended at Luke’s flippant attitude.
Worry over my reaction was no problem for Mac. She guffawed openly, and even Stella’s smile was almost normal when she caught me trying not to laugh at his words, too.
Luke arched a black brow in question. “Is Mustang your dog?”
“Yes.”
I caught Kenna’s hesitation at that eyebrow move. She quickly looked my way again. Before last night, Kenna’s main source of information regarding my new boyfriend was the ex-cousin. When Crazy spewed her hatred into my face on the side of an empty highway a month ago, she had called my boyfriend ugly. Maybe now that the un-cousin was Luke’s employee, it had changed her opinion.
I could be wrong, but I think the appraising sparkle now in Kenna’s eye when we shared that quick glance was in acknowledgment of Luke’s hotness factor. Unlike mine, being over thirty hadn’t diminished Luke’s HF even one degree. I’d have to ask my brother for his expert sexist opinion, but I had a sneaking suspicion he would confirm HF loss didn’t occur in males until their seventies, if then.
Kenna’s eyes dropped back to her dog as she enlarged upon her abrupt answer. “Yes, he’s mine, alright, whether I wanted him or not. Bel found him wandering out lost on a country road. The poor puppy was frozen and starving, weren’t you, sweet boy?” Affection for her new pet softened her caustic tone. “I drove up and Bel told me his name was Mustang. Then she said ‘Merry Christmas’ and dumped him into my back seat.”
“Huh, so Bel found him first out on a country road,” Torquemada repeated softly, “and you were there, too? That was lucky, or maybe it was on your way to a Christmas party or something?”
Luke’s tone was so easygoing that Kenna didn’t look up from what looked like an impromptu dental inspection of all the big, sharp incisors in Mustang’s mouth. “Oh, there was no party, I had followed…”
She paused in a show of sudden confusion, looking up to me for help, and although I wanted to kick her, I smoothly interjected, “Weren’t we on our way back to Northfield?”
“Yes!” She breathed out. “That’s true, we were and…”
I had no idea what else Kenna intended to say, but I wasn’t taking any chances she would blurt out something incriminating to Luke, or just TMI.
I continued to cut her mouth off at the pass when I laughingly teased, “Now Kenna, admit the truth once and for all. Isn’t Mustang the best Christmas present you’ve ever had forced into your back seat?”
Kenna’s return laughter was unexpectedly deep for such a tiny person. “Except for Kevin Nulty during Winter Carnival, you’ve got me there.”
All the girls laughed and reminisced about Kenna’s high school obsession for poor Kevin. He was several years older and tried desperately to stay far away from my jail-bait teen sister whose pursuit was downright stalkerish.
I was relieved the diversion worked. Kenna has a weird quirk. She lies easily and often, but then she’ll get insistent about telling the truth at the most inopportune, awkward moments. Not that it’s her truth she’ll divulge, but yours.
I learned long ago never to share anything personal with Kenna that I wouldn’t care if the whole world found out the next day. Despite that vow, sometimes shit happens like last Saturday night on the road near the dead farmer’s place. I was left with no options but to work with Kenna. When she was in honesty-at-any-cost mode, speaking a version of the truth she could agree to, and then diverting her, was the only course of action I found that worked to shut my second sister up.
My life would be easier if Luke knew the truth about Jazy and Tre’s illegal rescue operation, and about Crazy’s role in sending the farmer home to cause trouble, if not worse. But I’d given my word to keep their secret and my word’s golden. It was tempting to allow Kenna to blab about that night and give Luke more clues. Unfortunately, no matter how I tried to justify I couldn’t control what Kenna said, that was specious reasoning at its finest.
Luke gave Mustang a final pat and stood up. I doubt he was thrown off the scent that easily by my diversion, if his fleeting, measuring glance at Kenna meant anything, but I was relieved when he stopped with the questions.
Luke’s eyes moved over me and with a small smile, he lightly touched a curl hanging loosely from my updo. He spoke directly to me for the first time since arriving. “Hello, Anabel. I got your text.”
Aware of my sisters and niece listening avidly over the background noise of Jazy and Reg’s rowdiness in the dining room, I replied nonchalantly, “Hello, Luke.” I yawned a little and stretched, as I smoothed my hands down the sides of my T-shirt to rest on my hips. “Did you like what I had to say?”
His eyes followed my hands. “It gave me something pleasant to think about while I worked out.” Over a black T-shirt, Luke wore a V neck sweater the color of evergreens. His distinctive eyes glowed with a reflective green fire. “I hope you haven’t been doing anything too vigorous since I left you?”
Anna came over and reached for her water bottle off the island. She was in time to hear Luke’s question and harrumphed loudly.
“I’m an eye witness she’s vigorously eating donuts, Danish, and éclairs, if that counts.” She chortled at my reproachful eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that look, Junior. You know how you are. Before you eat all the sugar cookies in Rice County this Christmas, don’t forget you have to get your ass into your maid of honor dress, and get it zipped up, on New Year’s Eve. That’s less than two weeks away, Junior, TWO WEEKS.”
Anna’s teal bridesmaid dresses were off the shoulder and the bodice was fitted to the waist before it flared out into a skirt. The dress was not skin tight. I could eat a few dozen sugar cookies and still zip up no problem. Anna was being bitter about the dog lesson.
Stella, on the other hand, sucked in a panicked breath and anxiously checked out my wa
istline. Her bridesmaid dresses were straight, tight sheaths chosen for trendiness rather than comfort. Only an eighteen-year old fashion design major would choose such an unforgiving fabric and style. Only an anorexic, or another eighteen-year old without an extra ounce of body fat or any boobs to speak of, could wear such a dress with impunity. In Stella’s bridesmaid dress, I could possibly be mistaken for a sausage flattened and stuffed into a coral pink casing.
En route to the fridge, Jazy took the words right out of my mouth. “Hey, pregnant harpies, worry about your own zippers and asses.”
Reg headed off any indignant retorts. “Alright everyone, come on and sit down, so Bel can open her gifts.”
Anna and Stella needed a bathroom break. Then so did Kenna and Tre J. Waters and coffees were passed around while those of us remaining got situated on stools at the island. The bakery box started making its way in my direction, and I urged them all to hurry before the zipper police returned, but Reg was taking his sweet time making selections.
Luke’s hands around my waist got my attention. He murmured in my ear, “I love all your curves.”
“Thank you,” I whispered back in his, “and the answer is yes.”
Our faces were a few inches apart. “You’re welcome, what was the question?”
I did a sibling survey to verify big ears weren’t eavesdropping. “I agree to your idea of a quickie before I go to work.”
Luke’s lips twitched. “Sweetheart, I think you must have misunderstood me because I have an appointment shortly.”
I looked away to cover my surprise at his blunt refusal, especially when he offered no more information. I turned back with a smile that was only a little forced. “Well then, I’ll have to demonstrate my modeling skills some other time.”
Luke stroked his chin. The sexy black stubble from this morning was gone and his olive skin gleamed from his workout. I smelled the wonderful combination of soap and maleness that worked on my senses more powerfully than any aphrodisiac.