“I really like your grandmother,” I whispered to him and we took our own seats at the table.
He snorted, but otherwise ignored me to dish up his plate. Once we all had food on our plates, Grandma Helen looked up at me. “So Sadie, how did you end up with my grandson? You seem like such a smart girl.”
I choked on a laugh, “Eh, he’s not so bad and he generally behaves himself around me.” Sort of, but I left that part out. “My best friend just married Kyden, so we’ve known each other for a while now.”
“Kyden. He’s the drummer in that rock band with Andrew?”
“No Gran, Kyden is the pretty one with the nice butt,” Denise corrected her.
“They all have nice butts. I wouldn’t mind giving any of them a little squeeze or bite,” Grandma shared and my eyes shot up while Ace buried his face in his hands.
“The one who sings,” Denise clarified, not at all fazed by her comment.
“Oh, that one. Yeah, that boy sure is a looker. You’re friend is a lucky lady, because I just bet that he’s an animal in –”
“Geez, Grandma!” Ace cut her off. “I don’t need to hear that shit.”
She reached over and smacked him upside the head. “Don’t you swear at me. I’ll whoop your ass. Don’t think I won’t”
“Ow. Okay, just please, for the love of God, no more about butts or Ky and how pretty he is and especially no more about the other part.”
I was trying so hard not to laugh.
“Aww, don’t worry, you’re handsome too.” She pinched his cheek. “Yep, you’re a looker just like your granddaddy and your daddy.” Then she looked at me. “He’s a devilish, cheeky little bastard too, but he’s got a good heart, my grandson does, when he lets you see it. Yep, he’s a good boy, he just needs a good woman to keep him in line. Not like that last one, Josie. She was a two timing little whore and I never cared for her.”
I heard Denise “hmph” in agreement.
Ace groaned. “It was Jules, Gran, and can we just eat lunch? Sadie really doesn’t need to hear any of this.”
“I’m just trying to help you out. I can tell this one’s a keeper. I’ve got an eye for these things Andrew. I don’t want her to get away. She needs to know that you’re a good man deep down, even though sometimes you act like a jackass.”
I coughed, inhaling my orange juice down the wrong pipe. I coughed a couple more times, trying to get oxygen in my lungs and stop the laughter that was bubbling up.
“She knows Grandma, okay? She knows. We’ve been friends for two years and she lives with me. She’s figured all that out already.”
Of course the part Helen latched onto was the living together part and again smacked him upside the head. “You’ve got that poor girl living with you and you haven’t married her?” She asked shocked. “Andrew, you can’t shame a nice girl like that by living in sin. You have to marry her.”
I looked at Ace with wide eyes, but he didn’t seem all that flustered. “Calm down Grandma, it’s not like that. She needed a place to live and I have a big house. We have separate rooms and no one is living in sin.” He winked at me.
“Mm. This is really good,” I said trying to change the subject before this conversation got more awkward or uncomfortable. It really was good too. I’d never had homemade mac and cheese before. I’d only ever had the boxed kind and I didn’t think I would ever be able to eat that stuff again after this.
“Do you like to cook Sadie?” Denise asked, thankfully going with it.
“I do. I can’t say that I’m a great cook, but Jax loves to cook and after living with her for a while, I picked up some things so I like to think I’m at least competent in the kitchen.”
“Your mother didn’t teach you how to cook?” Grandma Helen asked.
“No, she didn’t. My mother isn’t exactly the domestic type. She only sets foot in the kitchen to harp at the maids and cooks she underpays.”
“You don’t worry about a thing child, you spend time here and we’ll teach you how to make mac and cheese and all of Andrew’s favorites. That boy likes to eat.”
The rest of our meal passed relatively smoothly. There was no more talk of marriage or my current living situation. I told Denise and Grandma Helen that I would love for them to share recipes with me and teach me how to cook.
When they talked about me coming back some other time, I actually looked forward to it and hoped I would really get the chance. Although, I was a little afraid that if I knew how to cook like this I would gain a good ten or twenty pounds. I might have to actually go running with Jax. I am a firm believer that the only time a person should run is if they’re being chased. I’m not completely opposed to exercise. I’m just opposed to exercise for the sole purpose of exercising. I like to hike and go for bike rides, but you won’t find me on an elliptical in a gym. I also turn a bright shade of red when I exercise, and I’m not just talking about rosy cheeks, I mean like my entire body flushes after like two minutes. It’s really not attractive.
“Why don’t you give Sadie a tour of the rest of the house while I take care of this?” Denise suggested. I offered to help her with the clean up, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She shooed us out of the kitchen and Grandma Helen hurried to the living room because General Hospital was about to start and she couldn’t miss it.
“So you’ve seen the kitchen and living room and most of the upstairs. Gran’s room is down that hall and so is the bathroom down here. It’s the first door, Gran’s room is the second.”
“I like your grandma.”
“Yeah, I bet you do. She’s apparently your number one fan.”
“Well can you blame her?” I gave him a teasing smile.
“Not even a little bit.” He looked over his shoulder before grabbing my arm and tugging me into his chest so that he could press a chaste kiss to my lips. “My grandma is a smart lady.” I was a little stunned that he had kissed me. Again. He was doing that a lot lately. Well twice in the last week, but still, it felt like a lot.
“Are we … are you going to keep kissing me?” I hoped he said yes.
He brushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “I like kissing you Sadie. I don’t think I could stop if I tried.”
“Does this mean …” I wasn’t even really sure what I was asking.
“This means I need to keep my promise and take you on that second date. What do you say, will you go out with me tonight?”
I bit my lip to keep my mouth from breaking into a huge grin and I nodded. “I’d like that.”
“Good. We’ll wait for my dad to get home so you can meet him and then we’ll go.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” He smiled. “For now, let me show you the rest of the house.”
“Fine. Lead the way.”
The rest of the house consisted of the family game room that had shelves of board games, books, DVD’s, a foosball table, one of those dreadful elliptical machines and a giant flat screen mounted on the wall. Next was the pantry, which also served as the laundry room. He made a point of telling me to help myself to anything in there. Then he showed me the door to the basement, but we didn’t go down there since it had been converted into the master suite that his parents occupied, and then he led me to the back door so I could look out at the rest of the yard.
After the grand tour, we sat in the living room with his mom and grandma while they watched General Hospital, but after ten minutes of hearing them argue about baby daddies, who Sonny belonged with, who was really behind the murder of some other character, and whether or not he was really dead, Ace and I couldn’t take it anymore. He made some excuse about needing fresh air and pulled me up off the couch.
Wrapped in jackets, gloves and scarves, we walked around the neighborhood. It was mostly just residential – homes that looked a lot like his parents’, and a small park just a few blocks away. The wind nipped at my cheeks, turning them pink. I shivered a little. Ace noticed and tucked me into his side, wr
apping an arm around my shoulder. It felt … nice.
We stayed that way until we were walking up the path to his parents’ front porch. I noticed there was an SUV in the drive that hadn’t been there earlier. I assumed Mr. Reid, or I guess Professor Reid, was home.
He greeted us when we got inside and I was struck by how much he looked like Marcus. Ace had his mother’s light eyes and hair, while his dad was tall, almost as tall as Ace, but with dark hair and brown eyes. They had the same jaw though. He was a very handsome, older man and he was just as warm and friendly as his wife.
After Ace told his parents we wouldn’t be around for dinner, we excused ourselves to go upstairs and get ready for our date. All he would tell me was that I should dress warm. I went with a pair of thick, black wool leggings, a long cream colored sweater and crimson scarf. I pulled a black knitted hat on over my hair, which I left down, and slid my feet into a pair of tan boots that came most of the way up my calf with little buckles around the ankle. I didn’t feel like bothering with make-up so I swiped a quick coat of mascara over my lashes and called it good.
When I went downstairs, Ace was waiting in the living room, wearing a pair of snug fitting, dark blue jeans and a black sweater. He also had a beanie pulled low on his head, the ends of his hair curled out from underneath it, brushing his neck. He had a few days worth of stubble shadowing his jaw. It was a very good look for him and dangerous for me.
We said goodbye to his parents and Grandma Helen and they all wished us a good time. Then I followed Ace out to his truck and climbed inside when he opened the door for me. He looked over at me with a mischievous grin before starting the truck. I knew then that I was in big trouble. This became even more evident when he pulled up outside of an ice rink. I’d never been ice skating in my life. Skiing yes, even snowboarding, but never ice skating. When I was a kid I had wanted to take figure skating lessons, well actually I had wanted to play hockey, but I knew there was no way my parents would allow that. Mom had said no to the figure skating as well. She wanted me to take ballet instead, so I took eight years of ballet.
Ace was a good teacher and after helping me get my skates on and laced up, he slowly led me around the rink with both of my hands in his while he skated backwards. Still I fell on my backside more than once. It was fun even though I was confident my butt was going to be bruised in the morning. It was obvious that a few people recognized him, but no one approached us while we were skating. I did see a few camera flashes go off, but Ace ignored it, so I did as well.
As much as I was enjoying myself, my numb butt and sore legs were grateful when he finally said it was time to leave so we could make it to our dinner plans. On our way out of the building I didn’t feel him beside me anymore. I looked back to see that he had stopped a few feet behind me. He was frozen in place, staring off to the right at something across the rink with a surprised look on his face. I looked, but couldn’t figure out what, or who, had caught his attention. There were several people around and I couldn’t tell if he was looking at one specifically.
“Ace, you coming?” I asked hesitantly.
He snapped out of it, whatever it was, and looked at me. “Yeah, sorry, just thought I saw someone I used to know, someone I wasn’t expecting to see, but I was wrong.” He grabbed my hand. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 21
Ace
Shit. Damn. Fuck.
My head was all sorts of screwed up and my stupid ass just about fell off the ladder because of it. I was still reeling from seeing her last night. She wasn’t supposed to be here anymore. Last I’d heard, she was living somewhere in New York with the joker asshole she’d left me for. When I saw her at the skating rink, I had to do a double take to be sure that it was her. It was. It fucking was. I had been too shocked to move and Sadie had noticed. I’d passed it off without telling her the truth, but it had left me unsettled the rest of the night. I hadn’t seen her since the last time I’d been on leave, before she left me, and it pissed me off that she’d smiled at me like we were old friends.
I didn’t like lying to Sadie, but things were just too new and uncertain between us. I didn’t want anything screwing it up, especially not my ex showing up. Sadie and I would be gone in a couple of days and then I wouldn’t think of Jules again. I just had to hope Sadie hadn’t noticed how off I’d been last night after the skating rink. I was distracted during dinner and we hardly spoke on the drive home. Who was I kidding? There was no way she hadn’t noticed. I wondered if my mother knew Jules was back in town and if she did, why hadn’t she mentioned it? That’s something I would think deserved mention.
“Get your head out of the clouds Drew and get those lights up.” Zander hollered at me from the ground where he was staking wooden reindeer in the yard. My dad was stringing lights along the fence and up into the tree in our front yard. It was like thirty six degrees out and I could barely feel my face, but the house and yard would be holiday ready in no time. That is if I could keep my head on the task and not smash my fingers or fall and break my neck. That would be unfortunate, especially since I had plans for Sadie that definitely involved being able to move and having full use of my hands.
For the next hour I hammered and strung lights all around the roof and windows. I was glad when I finally made it down to the first story windows and I no longer needed to climb all the way up the ladder. I was even more thankful when we were finally done, and put the ladder, tools and empty light boxes in the garage. With lights everywhere and Santa’s sleigh and reindeer erected in the yard, as well as candy cane poles and little wooden elf cutouts, my parents’ house had been transformed into the North Pole.
“Good work boys.” My dad slapped us on the back as we made our way inside and discarded our heavy coats, hats and gloves. It felt so good inside the warm house and I smelled …
Gingerbread. Mmmm.
While the three of us had been outside freezing our asses off, the girls and my nephews had been inside decorating and baking all afternoon. My sister, my sister in law and my nephews were still hanging garland in one of the doorways, but I found Sadie in the kitchen with my mom, grandma and niece, Hannah. There were racks of cookies cooling and it appeared that Grandma and Mom were mixing up more while Sadie and Hannah frosted and decorated gingerbread men.
Sadie hadn’t noticed me yet and I watched her. She was outlining the cookies with white icing and then dotting them so that Hannah could follow behind her and press candy buttons and eyes on them. They smiled and giggled while they worked, sneaking candies and popping them into their mouths. I grinned at the two of them.
I snuck up beside them and dipped my finger in the bowl of icing and then swiped it across both of their faces, leaving a streak of frosting on their cheeks. Hannah squealed, but Sadie retaliated, grabbing a hand full of powdered sugar and tossing it at my face. I turned my head in time for most of it to cover my hair instead. I started toward Sadie for a little payback, but Hannah latched herself onto my leg. “Get him Sadie. Get Uncle Drew!”
I reached down and grabbed the six year old by her legs and swung her so that I was holding her upside down. She screamed and giggled, which drew my nephews, who were nine, into the kitchen, ready for war. They charged me with a battle cry worthy of William Wallace and started wrapping a long strand of garland around my legs while Sadie stood back and watched with Grandma Helen and my mom, who finally broke it up.
“Okay boys, out of the kitchen. We’ve still got work to do. Take a cookie and get back to work.”
Austin and Zack both grabbed a cookie and left, taking the garland with them. I set Hannah back down and then licked her face to clean off the icing. She scrunched up her nose and pulled her head away. “Eww, Uncle Drew!” She started wiping her cheek on her sleeve and then walked over to stand by Sadie who grinned at me. She’d already wiped the frosting from her own face.
“You too mister,” my mom said, giving me a stern look.
“Hey I just came in here to get some coffee before we have to
go back out there to get the tree.”
“Mmhmm. Don’t think I didn’t notice you started all that. Did you boys finish up outside?”
“We did,” my father walked into the kitchen and answered, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek. Then he reached around her into the cupboard and pulled out three coffee mugs. He handed one to me and the other to Zander who had also come into the kitchen and was trying to steal a cookie from his daughter.
While my dad started brewing a fresh pot of coffee, I went and stood next to Sadie, who was once again icing cookies. “Having fun?” I asked her.
“I am.” She smiled at me. “Your family is great and this one,” she ruffled her hand through Hannah’s brown curls, “makes the best gingerbread men I’ve ever seen.”
Hannah beamed at her and then went back to pressing little gumdrops onto the cookies. I reached over and stole one, popping it into my mouth. Her eyes narrowed and she gave me the cutest little frown. “You can’t do that. They’re for the cookies. Grandma Helen will hit you with her rolling pin.”
“No she won’t. She loves me.” I stuck my tongue out and then stole another candy.
“I do, but if you don’t quit picking on those girls I most certainly will give you a thump with my rolling pin,” Grandma chimed in from across the kitchen. For almost eighty, she had excellent hearing.
I filled my cup and then sat down at the breakfast bar across from where Sadie and Hannah were working on the cookies. I kept my fingers out of the candy. I believed my grandmother when she said she would hit me with that wooden pin. While I drank my coffee, I watched them decorate the last of the gingerbread men before moving on to frosting sugar cookies. Every year my mom put together Christmas goodie trays to take to all the neighbors and then she would do it all again in a few weeks for the Christmas Eve party my parents hosted for our entire family.
Once my dad, brother and I had warmed up enough, we pulled on our layers again so we could go out and cut down a tree, but this time we took my nephews with us. It took us a solid twenty minutes of wandering the tree farm before we all agreed on the tree for my parents’ house. My mom was picky about her trees, they had to be full and big, but they also had to fit into living room without hitting the ceiling. That often meant trimming a little off the trunk and the top. After that, it was quick for Zander and the boys to find and cut down the tree for their house. While we paid, they ran the trees through a machine that wrapped them in a net so we could tie both trees down in the back of Zander’s pickup.
Chasing Ever After Page 20