#1 Lie

by T Gephart

  He rested his hand on my knee and gave me a smile. “Jess, I’ve got this. Seriously, don’t worry.”

  “Oh, and my mother’s assistant, Tammy, is going to be there tonight too.” She wasn’t an unusual addition to family dinners but I had hoped she wouldn’t be joining us. Not because I didn’t like her, she was lovely, and I firmly believed she would take a bullet for my mother. But the fewer eyes we had on us, the better. Besides, she was a little friendlier than I would have liked. “You need to watch out for her, though. She’s just come back from some Christian camp so she’s either going to be preaching the Good Word or end up face first in your lap.”

  His brow scrunched in confusion. “Excuse me?”

  “You know.” My voice lowered as my eyes widened. I wasn’t expecting to spell it out for him.

  He laughed, looking at me like I was a crazy person. “I assure you, I don’t.”

  “So, she loves Jesus but she also likes to suck cock.”

  “Okay, that, that is new information,” he choked out before adding, “So tell me, do you love Jesus?”

  I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh as I shook my head. “Oh shut up and keep driving.”

  The drive wasn’t far with us arriving at my parents’ home quicker than I expected.

  A huge double story on a spacious block, it was the largest and most elegant house on the street, and my mother’s pride and joy. As we traveled up the long coral-colored driveway, we were greeted by the smooth white exterior and green roof of the grand house my father had built. The lawns were immaculate of course, every hedge and bush trimmed with not one leaf daring to be out of place.

  “Nice house.” Dave parked, tilting his head to get a better view as he cut the engine.

  Shit . . . it felt so real.

  I’d brought boys home before, but the key word was boys. High school, college—boyfriends I’d really just been killing time with. Most of them had grown up in the same neighborhood or even gone to the same church. But that had all stopped when I moved to L.A.

  Suddenly bringing someone home with me had connotations they hadn’t before, like smuggling a man across state lines meant I was going to end up taking his last name and start procreating. It was not an undertaking to be accepted lightly.

  “You know, maybe we could come back tomorrow. Say our flight was delayed.” I glanced at the window, the undisturbed drapes hopefully indicating our arrival hadn’t been noticed.

  “Not sure that would work considering Darla has seen us. Surely she’s already worked her way through the greater Shreveport area. And the sooner we get it over with, the better you will feel.” He popped open his door and got out before I had time to argue.

  He was around my side of the car, opening my door while I’d made no effort to move. “Besides, it will be easier tonight with just your family than at the wedding on Saturday, sweetness.”

  Ugh, we were back to the names again. “Sweetness?” I stepped out of the car and joined him on the driveway. “What’s next? Baby cakes?”

  “It distracted you, didn’t it?” He locked the car with a smirk. “And no, next was doll.”

  I grabbed his hand awkwardly and led him to the large wooden front door. It was too late now; we—or at least I—had passed the point of no return. With hesitation I pressed the doorbell, its distinguished and baritone ring echoing as we waited.

  “They don’t trust you with a key?” Dave chuckled as he leaned into me. “Did they think you joined a gang when you moved to L.A?”

  “I thought it would look better if we rang the bell, wiseass.” I jabbed him in the ribs. “Make a big entrance so they can stare at us like zoo animals all at once. They’ll appreciate my efficiency.”

  “We’re visiting your parents, how bad can it be?”

  Oh, honey. I almost felt sorry for him.

  “Hold onto that optimism,” I whispered.

  The door flew open, my sister’s seven-month pregnant belly hurtled toward me as her arms tried to wrap around me in a hug. “Jessica, why the hell are you ringing the bell? We were beginning to think your flight got delayed.”

  See, I knew it could have been a valid excuse.

  “Nope, we’re here.” I tried to sound enthusiastic as I squeezed her as best I could. “Just wanted to check in to the hotel first.”

  She pulled away, looking at me and then to Dave. “I can certainly understand that. Well aren’t you just a tall glass of water. So nice to finally meet you.” She held out her hand, her smile not in any way discreet.

  “Thank you.” He accepted her shake, wrapping his other hand around my waist. “It’s nice to finally meet you too.”

  “Just look at you two.” She stood back, examining us like we were a bunch of carolers showing up on the doorstep on Christmas Eve. “I don’t ever think I’ve seen anything so adorable.”

  “You’ve got the whole weekend, Melanie,” I warned her. “Pace yourself.”

  “Oh hush.” She waved me off, tipping her head to the open doorway. “Come inside, the family has been dying for you to get here.”

  Dave brought me closer, kissing my temple as we walked in together. We hadn’t even planned it that way, the man proving how proficient he was and adlibbing on our loosely drawn up script.

  We followed Melanie down the hall where the noise grew louder, everyone had gathered in the living room with different voices fighting for position.

  “All I’m saying.” My older brother Dalton was in a heated debate with my younger brother Travis. “If you’re going to eat Mexican, you should go to Miguel’s. That other place near Pierre Bossier is a Texas steakhouse with sombreros and watered-down margaritas.”

  My sister stepped into the room ahead of us, clearing her throat dramatically before she announced, “Jessica and Dave are here.”

  The talking abruptly stopped as every set of eyes focused on us.

  Wow, who knew all I had to do was walk in with a man to get them all to go quiet. I was going to have to remember that party trick for later.

  “Look what the cat dragged in.” My older brother smiled, his interest in arguing over Mexican eateries clearly shelved. “About time too, I was getting hungry and we were about to eat without you.”

  His wife Lisa jabbed him in the ribs. “Don’t mind him, Jessica, dinner isn’t even ready yet.”

  “Hey, everyone.” I waved awkwardly, the room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

  “Oh quit staring, it’s rude.” My mother walked in from the adjoining dining room, swatting my younger brother, Travis, with a tea towel as she made her way over. “Welcome home, baby.” She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed.

  “You too, young man.” She turned her attention to Dave, his turn for a hug. “If you come into this house you can expect to be hugged and fed, exactly in that order.”

  Dave didn’t falter, accepting the affection without batting an eye as he greeted my mom. “You will get no complaints from me. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Dawson.”

  My father laughed, earning him a sharp sideways look from my mother. “You can go ahead and stop the formality as well. We don’t subscribe to those city conventions. LeeAnn is perfectly acceptable.” She smiled, eyeing Dave up and down despite telling everyone it had been rude to stare not two minutes before.

  “LeeAnn, give the kid a break.” My dad joined the fray, holding out his hand to Dave. “I’m Arlo Dawson, Jessica’s father and we’re glad you made it out.”

  It was like my soul had left my body, watching in earnest as the scene played out in front of me while I sat on the sidelines like a spectator.

  “Pleased to meet you, sir.” Dave grabbed my dad’s hand and gave it a firm and respectable shake, completely unaffected while I stood next him like a taxidermied pig.

  “Come here, sweetheart.” My dad engulfed me in a hug that only a daddy could give. “I’ve missed the hell out of you.”

  Travis rolled his eyes, shooting me a grin. “You just saw her a couple of months ago.”
He’d moved off the sofa and managed to avoid another tea towel swat from Mom. “I’m Travis, Jessica’s younger and favorite brother. Oh, I’m the better looking one too.”

  “Bullshit,” Dalton added, slinging his arm around his wife. “Everyone knows I’m her favorite.”

  “Can we keep the cussing until after dessert?” Mom chided. “Anyone would think I raised you boys in a barn.”

  “Soooooooo.” I rediscovered my voice and my confidence. “Let’s do introductions one at a time.”

  Wrapping my hand around Dave’s arm, I went to every member of my family and introduced them properly. My older brother, Dalton and his wife Lisa, my sister, Melanie, her husband Sam and my niece Anna, my younger brother, Travis and his girlfriend Amy, and of course Tammy, my mother’s assistant, who looked at Dave like she was on a diet and he was a slice of cake.

  My mom went back into the kitchen to check on dinner while my dad grabbed Dave a beer, the conversation kept fairly normal considering it felt like there were a hundred people in the room.

  “So how’d y’all meet?” Melanie predictably asked.

  “At work, Dave is one of Jeremy’s clients and we just kind of clicked.” I squeezed Dave’s hand trying to look adequately in love.

  Dave squeezed back and grinned. “We’ve actually known each other for a few years.”

  “Well isn’t that sweet,” Amy added. “It’s amazing what’s just under our noses.”

  I didn’t even need to elaborate, Amy going on to tell Dave how she’d been friends with my younger brother since kindergarten but they hadn’t fallen in love till after she turned fifteen. Amazing how quickly my brother went from seeing her as his friend to a girl as soon as she grew a pair of boobs. No big mystery in what happened there.

  Mom called us to the dining room where we sat in front of enough food to feed the whole of Caddo Parish. My ass gained about ten pounds as I looked at the mountain of brisket, homemade Mac N Cheese and cornbread, not even counting the lemon icebox pie Mom had hidden away in the refrigerator.

  “Larsson, Scandinavian, right?” my dad asked as we tucked into dinner.

  I cringed at the mention, hoping the origin of it would be the last we’d talk about it. “Yep, originally,” I answered for him. “Mmmm this brisket is delicious.” I tried to turn the conversation back into safe territory.

  “Thank you, baby.” My mom glowed in appreciation. “I bet you can’t get food like this in California.”

  I didn’t bother arguing with the grunts of approval from around the table, letting them believe there wasn’t anything decent to eat in my adopted home state.

  “Larsson, like that other actor Eric Larsson?” Amy giggled, smiling a little too much for my liking. “His latest movie was amazing, too bad he got married recently.”

  I coughed, swallowing hard as I tried to shove the mouthful of cornbread down my throat and still be able to breathe. Dave passed me a glass of water while placing his hand on my thigh and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

  “You okay, baby?” He rubbed my back in concern—either for my inability to get oxygen or for the topic of conversation, I hadn’t decided which—as I tried to not die in front of my family. Still, a resuscitation call to 9–1-1 would make sure all talk of Dave’s brother ended. It was a sad state of affairs, but I had considered it.

  “Sweetheart, take it easy.” My mom rose out of her chair, itching to get involved even though Dave seemed to have it handled. “Take another sip of water.”

  Travis barked out a laugh, ignoring my possible impending suffocation as he shot a glance at his girlfriend. “Now what do you care if he got married? You got a man right here.”

  Oh thank you, Jesus. My silent prayer of gratitude offered up to the heavens as for the first time my younger brother’s arrogance paid off for me.

  “Funny, I don’t see a ring.” Amy held up her hand, displaying her wiggling fingers.

  Travis rolled his eyes. “Ring or no ring, we’re getting married. So you can stop looking at movie stars.”

  My lungs burned as I slowly regained a regular breathing pattern, Dave’s hand still on my thigh as I reassured him I was okay.

  “Sorry,” I wheezed out. “Must have gone down the wrong pipe.”

  “So.” Amy ignored my brother and his assumptions of marriage, forking her cheese-covered mound of elbow macaroni. “Do you know him? Eric, I mean.”

  The hand on my leg squeezed, my heart drumming so hard in my chest I was positive I was going to crack a rib as Dave cleared his throat. “Yeah, I do know him. He’s my brother.”

  What?

  WHAT?

  My body twitched in what I could only describe as an internal seizure while my eyes tried to not bug out of my skull. My full-body spasm and mental freak out only increased by the sound of silverware dropping onto china.

  “Brother?” my sister Melanie asked, her eyes peeled so wide they resembled saucers. “Are you kidding?”

  Yeah, Dave, are you fucking kidding? I mentally screamed as I recalled the conversation in the car where I told him, verbatim, not to mention his brother. He was supposed to segue, redirect the conversation or cause a freaking diversion. Not admit the fucking truth.

  “He’s my older brother.” Dave shrugged like it was no big deal. “I’ll let him know you liked his latest movie.” He winked at Amy, which earned him a smile.

  “Hey, hey, hey.” Travis waved his hands in the air, all the amusement from before completely gone. “Don’t be telling nobody nothing. And no winking at my girl either, she is spoken for.”

  He was completely serious, like Dave telling Eric about Amy would somehow jeopardize his relationship, and a stranger on the other side of the country would leave his wife to steal his girlfriend. Meanwhile, I was wondering if it was too late to throw myself on the floor and fake an aneurysm, although given the current amount of pressure in my head, faking was not going to be required.

  “Relax, dumbass.” Dalton punched Travis in the arm. “Did you not hear the part where the other guy was married? He’s no threat to you.”

  “Wow, Eric Larsson’s brother. We’re eating dinner with someone famous,” Lisa repeated in case anyone had missed it the first time, reminding me any hope of salvaging the conversation was slim.

  “I’m not famous,” Dave answered with zero acrimony. “He is, but we’re still just a normal family.” He nodded his head and smiled. “Like you guys.”

  Firstly, he clearly did not read my notes as thoroughly as he claimed if he was categorizing my family as normal. We were a lot of things, normal wasn’t on the list.

  And secondly, I still wasn’t sure why the hell he’d decided to go off script and throw in a bootleg play.

  The truth was not our friend.

  I cleared my throat, taking a sip from my wineglass—the time for water had well and truly passed. “Besides, Dave’s his own man and a talented actor in his own right.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t implying.” Lisa had the decency to blush. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend.”

  Dave shook his head with a warm grin. “No offense taken.”

  “Hey, baby.” My hand gently draped across his shoulder. “You want to go down to the cellar and help me choose another bottle of wine?”

  There was still at least a glass in the one sitting on the table, but I needed an excuse to confer privately. I didn’t think asking him to join me in the bathroom would look good in front of my parents.

  “Oh, Travis can go get that, can’t you?” My mom shot him a look of warning.

  Crap, if my brother went, then my excuse for leaving the table would be gone. I tried not to choke again as I stood up quick. “Really, I’ve got this.”

  He frowned, making no effort to move from the table as he continued to shovel food down his throat. “Why do I have to go? If she wants to drink that fancy stuff, then she can go get it. And besides, she said she’d do it and I’m still eating.”

  “Because your sister is visiting and I asked you to,�
�� Mom said through a tight smile, the ice from her glare and her tone, unmistakable.

  “It’s fine, Momma. I am happy to go. Come on, Dave.” I silently thanked my brother for his lack of apathy, yanking lightly on Dave’s arm. “I’d love your input.”

  He took the hint, rising from his chair as he dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “Sure, lead the way.”

  “Don’t be long,” Dalton warned, eyeing Dave hard. “We wouldn’t want your food to get cold.” I was positive my brother had little concern about the temperature of our dinner and more about us making out in the basement.

  I nodded, looping my arm through Dave’s as I dragged him away from the table. “Mh-hmm. We’ll be right back.”

  We didn’t speak, smiling silently like we were under surveillance as we made it to the stairs that led down to the cellar.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” I closed the door behind us and flicked on the light. “I thought we agreed.”

  He laughed, pulling me closer. “Relax. I decided avoiding it would only make it worse, so I went with the truth.”

  I felt myself get lightheaded, wishing there was somewhere to sit down. “The truth? You don’t think that giving them information like that isn’t going to send my whole story unraveling? You think that I’d be dating the brother of someone famous but fail to mention that part?”

  My brain tried to reconcile it but still came up empty. I was in deep, deep shit.

  “I’m my own man, remember, and talented in my own right.” He grinned, regurgitating the same line I had given at the table. “Besides, ten seconds online is all it would take to find the family connection. It’s not exactly a state secret that we’re family. I don’t wear a sign saying I’m Eric Larsson’s brother, but lying about it wasn’t going to fly.”

  He was right of course; their other brother Roman had deliberately used his mother’s maiden name to avoid the attention. Not that any of that was helpful, the truth complicating the plan with the extra degree of intricacy.

  “We don’t know that,” I tried to argue. “And what if someone talks to the press, tipping them off that Eric Larsson’s brother is down in Shreveport dating his agent’s assistant?”