“The one and only. Let’s go. I want to get back to everyone,” I said.
I almost leaned over to give Grant a kiss but stopped myself and patted his arm instead. Jennifer caught it. She eyed Grant and then me, and then the matching coffee mugs, and a small smile crept over her face. No. There was no way she was that good.
I saw her take Grant’s arm and start to lead him to his house.
“I guess I’ll be taking all these bags …” Joe chuckled.
“Oh, Dad, sorry.” Grant ran to grab all the bags.
He looked up at me and smiled a sexy grin. I smiled back and grabbed one of Jack’s bags and headed towards my house.
When we got there, Jack walked in and just looked around.
“You’ve really made this place look amazing, Lanie.”
“Thanks, Dad. You want coffee or a snack to hold you over?”
“Just sit with me a while and tell me everything that’s been going on around here.”
“What? What do you mean everything that’s been going on around here?” I said a little too quickly. Damn, could all the parents be that perceptive?
“Umm. Yeah. I want to hear what you’ve been up to.”
“Oh. Nothing. Just work.”
“Just work. No man in your life? Not dating anyone?”
“Really? You want to talk about men I’m dating?”
“Well, yes and no.” He reached into my fridge to get the milk and pulled out something else.
“Lanie, what is this?”
My stomach went into a knot. Holy crap. That was not something I wanted Jack to …
Chapter 20
Yes, I Know, Dear
… eat. He was holding my half empty jar of chocolate hazelnut spread. There were nasty-good things put in that jar.
“Oh! That’s chocolate spread. But it’s really bad for your cholesterol. You shouldn’t eat that. Nope. Bad for you.”
And I grabbed the jar out of his hands and threw it back into the fridge.
“I’m sure Lori has all sorts of goodies for you. Don’t want to ruin your appetite.”
“But you just said … forget it. I’ll wait. I’m going to go get my things upstairs and then we can head over.”
“I didn’t change your room. It’s still yours. Everything just like it was.”
“You didn’t have to do that, Lanie. I figured you’d want to move into the bigger bedroom.”
“Dad. That was your room with mom. I didn’t want to take that away from you. It’s exactly like you left it.”
He just looked at me. I could tell he didn’t have the words. He smiled, turned and headed upstairs.
I was so glad he was here. But in the same moment, I was missing Grant terribly. We had been spoiled, spending every waking moment together. It would be hard not to have him next to me in bed every night; not make love every chance we got. I ran to my room to fix myself up. It looked like I had rolled out of bed this morning. Technically, I had and still had Grant’s scent all over me. I planned to keep that for the rest of the day. But there was no way I was going over to Dane’s for breakfast looking like a wreck. I was sure Lori would be all spiffed up. I pulled the tie from my hair and let it fall in waves across my shoulders and put some light make-up on and changed into skinny jeans and a royal blue thumbhole shirt. I knew Grant loved me in blue. I stopped to look in my full-length mirror. Good enough. I headed downstairs to wait for Jack. He sure was taking a long time. I started to pace. Damn, I thought it was women who were supposed to take forever getting ready. Come on, Dad. I want to get back to Grant. I don’t want him over there with Lori without me there. Come on!
Finally, I heard Jack making his way down the stairs.
“Dad. What took you so long?”
He didn’t answer me. He looked a bit shaken.
“Dad? Is everything all right?”
“Oh don’t go worrying about me, Lanie. I guess being home makes me miss your mom a lot more than I thought it would. All her things are still up there.”
“Oh, Dad. I’m sorry. I thought keeping everything here would comfort you. Make you feel closer to her. I can move them.”
“No need. They do. I guess it just—I don’t know. I want you to have what we had. I feel like I left you on this cliff alone. Forced the business on you. Forced the house on you. Now you only have this. That’s no life. You should have been able to choose.”
“Stop it. I’m so happy here. You gave me everything I needed to have a good life. You provided me with everything. You’re the best dad in the world. The best. I love you. I’m so lucky to have you.”
“But, Lanie, you’re all alone here.”
“No I’m not. I have Grant, and Dane.”
“That’s not what I mean. I mean love. You’re alone. You don’t have love in your life. No one to share all this with.”
Now I was in a shit place. Did I want to tell Jack everything was perfect? That I had more love than he could have ever hoped for? Or did I wait for Grant and I to tell everyone together? I didn’t want Jack to hurt for me. I didn’t want him to think he failed me.
“Dad. I … I’m seeing someone.” Crap! How the hell was I going to get around telling him who?
A huge smile came over his face. “You are? How come you haven’t told me about him? Is it serious? Is he coming to meet me while I’m here? He’d better be.” Why couldn’t parents just leave things alone without having to know every little detail?
“Umm, I wanted to wait until it was more secure. You know. It’s heading toward serious, yeah, very serious. And I’m sure you’ll get a chance to speak with him while you’re here.”
“Well, tell me all about him. What does he do? What’s his name?”
“Dad, we’ll have tons of time to talk later. I want to get over to Dane’s. I’m famished.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Let’s go get some grub. I’m pretty hungry myself. But I want to hear all about him later. And I want to meet this man.”
“Sure, Dad. Come on. Let’s get going.”
“Oh, one last thing. I noticed this black thing running around. You got yourself a cat?”
“That’s Woof. He was a gift.”
“Woof? You named your cat Woof?”
Why did everyone have a problem with his name? I loved his name. “Yes. I named him Woof.”
“And I supposed he was a gift from whatshisname?”
“Yep. Now let’s go.”
As we headed over to Dane’s, I kept glancing back to see if Grant, Jennifer and Joe were coming. I really didn’t want Grant anywhere near Lori. It wasn’t him. I just hated her.
“Did you forget something?”
“Oh, no. I just couldn’t remember shutting the door is all. Don’t want Woof to get out.”
“Oh. So when do I get to meet this guy?” He wasn’t going to let this rest. I had to figure out how to keep him at bay.
“You’ll meet him after I’ve had plenty of time with just you and me.”
We grabbed Dane’s mom’s knockers, swung them once and then just went in. When we got to the dining room, everyone was already milling around, getting food, and gabbing.
“I thought you two would never get here,” Grant said as he came over and handed me a cup of coffee.
I blushed, batted my eyelashes and smiled at him.
“Thanks. That’s good service.”
“Yes. I’m good for servicing.”
Jack cleared this throat and walked over to shake Grant’s hand. “Hey, Grant, didn’t get a chance to say hello to you when I got here. All these women with their hugging and kissing.”
Grant grabbed his hand and then pulled him into a manly back-patting hug. “Nice to see you, Jack. How’s the fishing down south?”
“Good, but not like cliff fishing. I hope you’ll join us menfolk for a few casts while we’re here.”
“Of course, wouldn’t miss it.” I liked watching Jack and Grant. It was altered for me now. They were already bonded, but this was dif
ferent. Grant was trying to bond with Jack on a completely new level.
I sat down at the table and Jack sat down beside me. I saw Dane on his way over with his plate and suddenly Grant was on the other side of me. I turned and winked at him. Jennifer positioned herself directly across from us. She still had that smile on her face and she was watching us like a hawk. Lori walked over with a plate of bacon.
“Can I offer you something, anything at all?”
“I think I have everything I need right here,” Grant raised his eyebrows at her when he said it.
“I see. Fine. How about you, Lanie?” Lori’s tone was sweet, but hiding more. That condescending I-am-better-than-you tone.
“No thanks. I’m perfectly satisfied.” But my eyes were on Grant when I said it. I heard a little noise from across the table, and when I turned toward it, Jennifer’s face was all lit up. Damn. She had to know.
I leaned in and whispered into Grant’s ear, “Your mom looks like she already knows about her future grandchildren.”
He leaned over to whisper back, “Yes, she’s annoyingly perceptive. That’s why I never got away with anything as a child. I haven’t said anything and neither has she, yet.” And then his tongue darted out and grazed across my earlobe.
I saw Jennifer nudge Joe with her elbow and then mimic our secret sharing tactics with him. He started to giggle and then looked up at us and immediately whispered something back to her. They both smiled at us and then at each other. Great. Now they both knew. Maybe that would be helpful when we needed someplace to make love tonight. My dad was oblivious, which was fine by me. After a while, everyone was just picking and talking and laughing.
“So, how about we order from Hung Lo’s tonight and have a huge movie night over at our place?” Joe offered. “A pajama party?”
“Oh that would be great,” I heard Jeff say. “I could use some good Chinese food. Lori, breakfast was wonderful. Thanks so much. Will you be joining us for dinner as well?”
“Well, of course I will, Jeff, I wouldn’t miss it. Besides, I sort of live here now.” She was purring and Jeff was blushing. She had him fooled.
I saw Haley roll her eyes and she looked over to me. I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders.
“Let me help you clean up,” I offered and started to grab some of the plates. Grant immediately stood up and started to help me clear the table.
“Wow. Helping with the dishes are we, Grant? This girl you’re dating must be an excellent influence on you.” And Jennifer smiled at me. I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders again. I turned to Grant so he could see my deer-in-the-headlight-eyes.
“You men go sit down. You always just get in the way, anyway.” Jennifer got up and started helping Haley and I gather the dishes.
“We do that on purpose, Haley,” Jack said, and quickly retreated to the TV room.
Lori started to grab a few things but Haley quickly stopped her.
“Oh, Honey, you’ve done enough this morning. We’ll take care of the rest. Besides, we want some time alone with our Lanie. She’s a daughter to us.”
I smiled a nasty ha-ha smile at Lori and she retreated to join the men. I watched her warily, knowing she was making a beeline for Grant. But Jennifer had my back.
“Grant?” she called, “Could you put garbage out for us? I have a feeling it’s full of crap and in need of some space.” She shot a glance toward Lori’s direction and then she winked at me. Haley smiled, too. Were they all in on it? I loved my moms. When we got to the kitchen, I was waiting for a ton of questions, but not the kind I got.
“How long has that woman been lurking around my son?” Haley asked, her voice bitter.
“She got here when I was traveling. According to Grant, about four or five months.”
“Isn’t that the girl who stole your prom date, Lanie? I remember Grant taking the car to go rescue you.” Jennifer smiled sweetly at me.
“Yes. Same one. Good thing she did. I was better off without that one. I had a much better night because of it. She did me a favor.”
“Yes, I’m sure you did, Dear.” Jennifer squeezed my shoulder.
“Well, how do we get her to leave again? I don’t like her. I want her hooks out of my Dane.” Haley’s motherly instincts were sharp. And she had two very strong allies in Grant and I.
“Haley, I’m right there with you. But it’s not Dane she’s really after. She’s after Grant. She’s using Dane.” I wanted to spill the beans on the whole thing, but I bit my lip instead, literally.
“Don’t think we don’t see exactly what’s going on.” Jennifer smiled at me.
“What do you mean?” I stuttered.
“She’s bad news, that one. She’s a bad influence,” Haley added. “And I can already see she’s having a bad effect on Dane. He’s not himself.”
“No, he’s not himself. At all.”
“Lanie, I need your help.”
“Anything you need, Haley. I’d do anything to get her out of here.”
“I can see there’s a lot of tension between you and Dane. Grant and Dane. And of course lots of tension between you and Grant.” Jennifer wasn’t coming out and saying anything, but her hint dropping was saying it all.
“Oh? No, Grant and I are fine.”
“Yes, I know, dear.”
Haley looked up at Jennifer, then over to me, then back to Jennifer. Jennifer gave her a look and Haley grinned and shook her head. Once Grant and I had kids, I was signing up for whatever mom school they went to. I wished Nicole were here to join in on all the looks.
“We’ll talk more about all this, but I think we best get back in there, don’t you agree?”
“Yeah, sounds good to me.” I was desperate to be back in the same room with Grant. I knew garbage detail was more than completed by now, so just knowing he was on the other side of the wall had me heating up and ready to pull him into the bathroom with me for some loving.
We headed back to the men. Dane was sitting on the couch next to his dad, and Grant was sitting with Joe. Lori had positioned herself directly across from Grant and was trying to do her best to get his attention. She made me sick. I wanted to grab her by her hair and toss her out the front door. Instead, lucky for her, Dane’s mom’s knockers were being fondled, so I went to answer the door.
“Well, hello you guys! So glad you guys came!” I exclaimed as Samantha, Chelsie, Dylan and Steve gave me high fives, kisses, and hugs as they entered the Voight house.
“Where’s the little shit and is his bitch still here, too?” Chelsie said under her breath.
“In there. But no one knows. We’re all playing nice for the parents. Do you think you could actually try to play along?” I shot Chelsie a please-help-me look.
“Fine. But Steve is ready to …
Chapter 21
This Whole Charade Is Driving Me Insane
“… rip him a new one and I’m going to let him if he does one thing out of line.”
“That’s right. I’m going to kick his ass. Next to me, he’s still a scrawny little fucker.” Steve was grinning ear to ear. I guess the thought of Chelsie wanting him to kick the shit out of someone was more like getting the Christmas present he’d begged Santa for.
“Okay, Slugger. He’s all yours. But not here and not now.”
Apparently this was a huge turn-on for Chelsie, because she was now running her hands all over his huge arms.
“Lanie, you’re like a little sister to me. No man is going to hurt you. I can’t believe Grant hasn’t kicked his ass all the way to Fiji by now.”
“Oh he wants to, but she won’t let him,” Chelsie said, her irritation at the whole thing showing.
“Why the fuck not?” Dylan chimed in as he passed me to enter the house.
“Parents?” I said.
“Well, I’m in. I want a piece of him, too.” Dylan gave Steve a low five and they bounded inside to find any leftover scraps from breakfast.
“Samantha, Chelsie, you promised not to tell them. Now you
both owe me.”
“We couldn’t help ourselves. What do you need?” Samantha said.
I pulled Samantha aside and asked her to send Grant to meet me on the side of the house where there were no windows at ground level and to keep everyone occupied.
“Oh, I’m always up for covering for a little nookie break,” she giggled and she pranced into the house.
The Cliff Page 16