"She does."
Tony looked up the stairs then and saw her sitting there, but she shook her head at him. She was not going to get weepy now because her stepdad had a heart. Yeah, probably when she went back to bed she thought, but not now.
"So we're gonna make a deal. You take care of that pretty girl. And if you ever need any assistance in doing that you give me a call even after the divorce is final. Tory's got my numbers so don’t hesitate to call."
"No, I don't think she does."
Langston sighed. "I'll make sure you have it before you leave then. I think I'm gonna make myself a stiff drink and then head up to bed."
"No problem. Do you think Lindsey will be okay if she took off when she was drunk?"
"Oh, she was way past drunk Anthony. But she can't be heading far. You go too far south and the dollars start dropping off of the real estate."
After he had cleaned up the broken ashtray and dumped the mess in the garbage can, Tony headed up the stairs. Soft jazz was playing from the radio in the kitchen. Tory figured they had at least a few minutes before Langston made it upstairs.
"How much of that did you hear?" Tony said softly, walking with her towards his room.
"Pretty much the whole thing."
"So he's not such a bad guy after all huh?"
"Yeah, yeah. And my mother's an even bigger bitch than I thought. Yaay!"
"Do you think we should leave tomorrow with your mom being gone? Or at least go stay at the motel?"
"Oh, she'll be back. She's got to get her stuff doesn't she? Nah. This place beats that crappy motel room any day. And we wouldn't want to miss the fireworks when Lindsey does come back, right?"
"Sure Tor. You better go back to bed hon. I'm sure Langston will be up soon."
She nodded, giving him a quick kiss. "I love you Tony."
"Love you too Tor." He yawned.
She hurried down the hall since the music had faded and she heard Langston's footsteps heading toward the stairs. She slipped inside her room and shut the door silently behind her. Let Langston think she'd slept through all of the theatrics with Lindsey she thought. She'd deal with it in the morning.
Chapter 15
She awoke a little after ten the next morning. She got out of bed and ran her hands over what she thought was a cute suede outfit hanging in her closet. She pulled it off the hanger and looked at it more closely.
It was pale green, only a shade or two off from the color of her eyes. She thought she had a pair of panty hose shoved in the back of her underwear drawer. She had a pair of flats that she'd only worn twice in their original box in the back of her closet. She might as well look nice and not embarrass Langston if they were still going out to lunch and to see that stupid play she thought.
She used the bathroom and brushed her teeth and her hair, deciding to leave her hair down. She went back to her room, put on a sleeveless white sheer blouse and pulled on the suede jacket and skirt, having managed to put on the panty hose without snagging them.
Slipping her feet into the flats, she took a last look at herself in the mirror. She thought that she looked pretty good. The outfit brought out the green in her eyes. Tony was always bugging her to leave her hair down because he liked the way she looked. And she did not look like Lindsey. She stuck her tongue out at her reflection at the thought, and left her room, shutting the door softly behind her.
She was glad she'd dressed up. Tony was sitting on the couch across from Langston dressed in a collared shirt and a pair of dark slacks. Langston looked up when she came in the room, giving her a nod. "I'm glad you remembered we were going out to lunch today Tory. You look very pretty."
"Thank you Langston. Is my mom here?"
"No, she hasn't been back. So I guess we'll be going out to lunch ourselves, and then on to the play. Oh, Tory I almost forgot, merry Christmas dear." He handed her a set of car keys. "I wanted to wait to tell you until graduation, but since you're mom and I am very likely divorcing, I might as well tell you now. You don't need to worry about money for college. I've got you covered."
She knew that it was coming but it still felt funny to be taking the keys from Langston's hand. "You shouldn't have Langston."
"It was no trouble. I traded a car in that I hadn't driven in years for something that you could use when you go to school. You can take it now if you like if you've got somewhere to park it at school."
"Uh, not really.”
There were girls at the school that had cars of course but she didn't want to be another spoiled girl with a fancy car. She was still holding the keys. Tony was grinning at her. Langston was looking at her in the way that she figured Lindsey should look at her. Kind of sentimental with a trace of pride.
"Aren't you going to look at the car Tory?" Langston said.
"Sorry Langston."
She got up and followed him out to the garage, where two cars still sat under covers. To the left was a shiny red mustang.
"Do you like it? I had one when I was in high school. I'll cover you on my insurance for six months or so after you leave for school. If you need any help with it after let me know okay?"
"Uh, sure."
Tony had a huge grin on his face. He looked like he was stoned she thought.
"Do you want to take her for a ride? We've still got some time before we have to leave for lunch."
"Uh, okay."
"Don't look so thrilled Tory." Langston gave her an amused smile.
"Oh, no Langston. I love it. It's just too much. With the car and the money for college, I'll never be able to pay you back."
"You don't have to Tory. I would never ask you to do that. Since I don’t have children of my own you're the closest thing I have to a daughter. I know that we've never been close. I know that it's been hard for you. Your mother certainly doesn't make it easy for anyone to love her. But I'd like to think that even if your mother and I do get divorced that you'll feel free to come to me if you need anything."
"I wouldn't feel right." She looked at her shoes.
"Why not dear? I want to do this for you. Besides, if I thought you were going to spend four years partying, I wouldn't be willing to pay for your schooling. You're a smart girl. I know that every penny of that money will be well spent."
"But. . . “ She didn't know how to put it into words without offending him.
"I know that I'm not your mother's first husband and I know I probably won't be her last, though there was a time when I had hopes that I would be. I see the way your mother makes you feel, and believe me; I've talked to her about it. She won't listen. That woman is as stubborn as the day is long. She takes advice from no one, even if it's for her own good. If I ever father a child, I could only hope to have one as bright and beautiful as you are. I like to think that maybe I haven't been the worst stepfather you've ever had."
"Of course not Langston. It's just that I. . ."
"You don't want to accept anything from anyone because you don't think you deserve it. Don't sell yourself short Tory. It kills me to say this because I've never loved a woman the way I love your mother, but you are twice the woman she is already. Sometimes I wonder if you were switched at birth kiddo."
"I only wish. I wouldn't feel right taking the car and having you pay for college. It's too much money Langston."
"I'm not a young man. I'm not exactly an old man either thank god, but I'm beginning to doubt that I'll have the heart to get married again. So what am I going to do with my money? It was your mother's idea to buy this huge house, when there's enough room for ten people. I'll probably sell it. I'd be perfectly fine with a one bedroom place, maybe two bedrooms in case I have visitors. I've got four cars, two that haven't been driven more than a few miles for damn near two years. Even with the way your mother spends money, I've still got more money than your average man can spend in a lifetime. Let me do something that matters with the money. You deserve it for having to put up with your mother for eighteen years.”
"You're probably right."
/>
But it still didn't feel right she thought. She's not sure if it would feel right anymore taking something like that from her father. It felt like she was getting something for nothing. She didn't want to be like Lindsey. Even if this was completely different than marrying a man for his money, it still felt like it was wrong.
"I'm not going to take no for an answer Tory. You take the car, you go to college and you do your best. Send me a letter now and then, let me know how you're doing. Make me proud. That's the only repayment I want from you. Do something worthwhile with your life."
"Okay."
"Go on now; take your car for a spin. If you're going to be leaving it here until you go to college, you should at least drive it before you have to leave town."
She wanted to throw the keys to Tony because she didn't want to drive. She didn't want to look at it. It reminded her more of how much of a bitch her mother was. And if Lindsey had been married to any other man right now she thought, she probably wouldn't be holding the keys to a new mustang in her hand, and she'd have to work her ass off to pay for college. Looking at the shiny car made her want to curl up in a ball and cry.
"It's okay Tory. Take Tony for a ride in your new car."
And he was calling Tony, Tony now. She was going to get sentimental and end up giving him a hug she thought. Damn.
"Do you want to come?"
"No, you two go on. I'm too old to be riding around in a mustang. Just make sure you're back by 11:30 please. We have reservations for noon."
"Okay."
She got behind the wheel of the car, sitting there for a minute while Tony practically bounced around in the passenger seat, like a little kid who needed to use the bathroom. She couldn't smoke in the car because she'd feel guilty, knowing that Langston wouldn't like it.
She backed slowly out of the garage, looking at Tony's car with longing. She would much rather be driving Tony's car right now. Hell, she'd be more comfortable driving Tony's old car right now. And wouldn't it have looked so funny sitting in Langston's driveway she thought.
"Tor, I think you can probably stand to go a little bit faster.”
"Sorry. Do you want to drive?"
"Are you seriously telling me that you don't want to be the first person to drive your new car?"
"I don't want the car. I'd give it back to him if he'd take it."
"C'mon Tor. It made him really happy to give it to you. He was so messed up about what your mom did that it's the only thing that's keeping him together."
"What did I do to deserve it? Gee, I screwed your mother for a few years so that means I need to give you a car and pay for your college education."
"Do you think that you're the only person whose stepparent had more money than their blood parent? Plenty of kids get cars and money for college from their stepparents."
"Most of those parents probably don't sit on their asses and spend their spouse’s money all day long like it's nothing."
Tony snorted. "You really are naive aren't you Tor? Your mother is not the only gold digger. Far from it."
"But they're going to get divorced. That makes it feel even weirder."
"He wants to do this for you Tor. You're not going to talk him out of it so just deal with it."
"What if I crash it on purpose? Wrap it around a tree while doing something really stupid. Then there's no way in hell he'll get me another one."
"Don't even think about it Tory. You'd probably end up killing yourself in the process."
"Yeah, yeah."
"You're still driving slower than my grandma Tory. The hundred year old man behind us looks like he wants to give you the finger."
"You drive then. I'm not in the mood to drive."
"You wanna trade me cars?"
Tory pulled over in a parking lot and they got out of the car and switched seats.
"Don't tempt me. I notice he seems to have decided that it's okay to call you Tony."
"We talked for a while this morning while your lazy butt was still in bed."
"What did you have to talk about with Langston?"
"Mostly we talked about your mom. He really loves her."
"Dumbass."
"It really messes him up that she's cheating. He said that he thinks that she's with this young guy, this computer genius who made millions off of some software he invented."
"You are so kidding me. What the hell does a smart guy want with Lindsey?"
"I don't think your mom's stupid Tor."
"No, she's just a money hungry bitch. How young is this guy supposed to be?"
"Langston wasn't positive, but he's pretty young. In his twenties."
"I am so glad that in four months I'll be able to pretend I don't have a mother, like she's been pretending for years that she doesn't have a daughter. Now she's going to marry someone who's young enough to be her son? Well, practically."
"It's not like she's the first woman who hooked up with a younger man."
"I always thought that she'd marry some old guy with no family, and screw him into a heart attack so she wouldn't have to be worried about being married. I don't think she's ever cared a bit about any of the men that she's been married to. You'd never see her hugging or kissing them. It surprised as well as disgusted me to hear her having sex with Langston."
"He's really broken up over the whole thing. He was watching the door all morning, waiting for her to come back."
"She threw an ashtray at his head. What is he, crazy?"
"No, just in love. Love can make people do stupid things sometimes."
"He's just as bad as some stupid woman who stays with her boyfriend until he kills her because she loves him. I heard him telling you that that wasn't the first thing she'd thrown at him or the biggest. If she'd have thrown something bigger at him and hit him with it, she probably would have killed him."
"It's his life Tor. He's lived with her for this long and is still in love with her. I doubt there's anything that you can say to convince him otherwise."
"Blah. Sometimes I think my dad's still stupid enough to love her. He throws a shit fit when I say one bad thing about her."
"And that's a bad thing? I had a good friend in high school, his parents were divorced. His dad was kind of an ass but his mom was like the worst ex-wife you could ever ask for. She constantly talked his dad down in front of the kids, no matter what he did. She never got over the fact that he divorced her for a younger woman, had another kid and then ended up married to this woman that was a few years older than her. His third wife made my high school English teacher of the world famous blow jobs look like a beauty queen. It's something that your dad won't let you say anything bad about your mom. That takes integrity."
Tory snorted, glancing at her cell phone to check the time. "I don't think that they call it integrity when he won't let his daughter say bad things about her mother that are true. I don't know what they call the misguided sense of loyalty that my father feels toward Lindsey, a woman who bore his child, has been married four times but was always too good to marry him. Men are so stupid."
"Gee thanks Tor."
"I didn't say YOU were stupid."
"Last I knew I still had the equipment that qualified me to be a man."
"Don't remind me about any of your equipment." She sighed. "You look really good kinda dressed up. Dig out your glasses and you'd pass for some rich guy's hot son."
"And you are gorgeous. Didn't you see my jaw drop when you came down the stairs? I felt like a guy waiting to take his girlfriend to prom."
"I'm not that dressed up. And don't get used to it. I'm a jeans and a t-shirt kinda girl. Don't get used to dressing like that either. I like you in t-shirts so tight I can see your muscles and old faded jeans that make me want to smack your ass."
"I love it when you let you hair down. Of course I love it even more when your hair's down and you're naked on my bed but. . ."
"You shut up. I don't think Langston would appreciate it if we parked this car in his garage smelling lik
e sex."
"No, probably not. He did apologize to me about the whole threatening to cut my penis off thing, though."
"Great. Now we can fuck in my bed right?"
"My god girl, you've got the mouth and the mind of a sailor."
"You know what's ironic?"
"A lot of things are, but what Tor?"
"I didn't expect to like sex. That's why I didn't want to do it with Jude. I didn't want to lose my virginity in his smelly pickup either, but other than that, that's the only reason I didn't do it with him. I knew it would piss it off if I wouldn't sleep with him and turned around and slept with someone else."
"So you came to my house looking to get laid? I thought it was my sparkling wit and hot body that talked you into bed. What would you have done if some other dude had come on to you? Would you have gone to bed with any guy that asked you that night?"
"Geese, Tony, chill. You intercepted me the minute I walked in the door. No one else had a chance to come on to me."
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 123