“At first she was averse to the idea, but I wore her down,” Dean Grant explained. “I told her you’d be in Ottawa this weekend, so brace yourself. She’ll be surprised to see you.”
“Well, maybe I should leave now, before Mom—” Daniel started, but he was interrupted by his mother’s arrival in the vestibule.
“Daniel! My handsome boy, I just heard your message on the answering machine. How wonderful to have all my boys together under the same roof. Now what are you two whispering about? Come into the living room, there’s someone we want you to meet!”
I heard the sound of the French doors opening and several voices echoed through the front hall, as Penny, Bradley, and Jeremy greeted Daniel. Everyone was speaking at once, and then I heard them moving off somewhere.
Holy shit! What had I gotten myself into? Obviously Daniel was appalled to find me here, and Dean Grant sounded just as distressed, but in all fairness, I’d thought Daniel was going to be away. I’d been genuinely looking forward to spending time with Dean Grant and his family, but now? Things couldn’t possibly get more awkward. But one thing was certain: I couldn’t stay in the powder room any longer.
I opened the door and made my way through the front hall, my heels clicking conspicuously on the wood floor as I neared the living room, in time to hear Gwen say, “She’s using the powder room. I hope she’s all right. Did you tell her about the lock, Jeremy? Oh, wait, yes, here she comes.”
In the living room, Penny, Bradley, Jeremy, and Gwen were relaxed and completely at ease. On the other hand, Daniel and his father both looked like they’d been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, united in the realization that I’d heard their entire exchange from inside the bathroom. Gwen approached me and took my hand in hers, leading me to where Daniel was standing stiffly beside his father.
He was clean shaven and in full Mr. GQ mode today, not a single hobo in sight. I quickly took in his open-collared white shirt and tailored black pants. And was that the mystery sandalwood again?
“Aubrey, we have a surprise addition to dinner. This is my son, Daniel. His plans to visit a friend in Ottawa fell through, so he’s joining us for dinner after all.” She then turned to Daniel. “Aubrey works for your dad at Vic. She’s your father’s Girl Friday, by all accounts.”
I smiled at Gwen and turned to Daniel to say something, but he beat me to the punch.
“Mom, we’ve actually met at the office,” he explained, his eyes silently imploring me to allow his explanation of our knowledge of each other to stand.
“That’s right,” I said. “Dean Grant looks forward to Daniel’s Monday morning visits.” I inclined my head toward him. “It’s nice to see you, Daniel.”
“And you…Aubrey,” he responded, looking me squarely in the eyes.
My heart thrummed as he said my name for the first time.
“Daniel, your dad tells me Aubrey is a literary aficionado. Apparently, she has quite an interest in Shakespeare. I’m sure you two will have so much to talk about,” Gwen said with a meaningful glance at her son.
The rationale behind my invitation to dinner came quickly into focus. Dean Grant was “scouting” on behalf of his son, and he’d brought me home to meet his wife for a second opinion. And now that her son had actually arrived on the scene, she wasn’t wasting any time. While her approval of me was comforting, the turn of events was causing Daniel grave discomfort. Before I could consider the situation any further, Bradley interrupted, clapping Daniel on the back.
“You’re not going to start boring us all with your literature mumbo jumbo, are you, man? I was hoping we could play some pool or darts or something.”
Gwen smiled at her sons. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Why don’t you all take Aubrey down to the game room? There’s plenty to drink in the wine chiller and the fridge. Dinner will be at five thirty, so you have a little while to relax. David, your help in the kitchen, if you please,” she requested with a sly wink.
Dean Grant followed his wife, but not without shooting a worried glance at Daniel. Penny squeezed her way between the boys to link her arm through mine, walking with me to the basement stairs.
“Well, I must say, you’re a busy girl,” she said suggestively. “First charming the pants off David, and now Gwen’s practically measuring you for the bridal gown. Nicely done, darling. All that and a dishy hunk wining and dining you on the side. I’m impressed,” she said, smiling in a self-satisfied way.
Matt. She thought I was dating Matt.
Daniel cleared his throat uncomfortably behind us while Jeremy and Bradley argued over whether we would play pool or darts first. As we reached the bottom step, I took in the massive game room. It was every man’s fantasy hangout. Pool table, dart board, foosball, ping pong, a huge flat-screen TV with gaming paraphernalia scattered about, and a fully stocked bar. Penny and I sat on stools while Bradley played bartender.
“Penny?” he asked, holding up a bottle of Shiraz.
“Mmm, that’d be bloody lovely,” she said.
Bradley uncorked the wine and poured a healthy glass for his fiancée. “How about you, Aubrey?”
I thought about the wine debacle of Valentine’s Day. Penny still had both her eyes, and I had a lot less motivation to deprive her of one of them, but hey, the night was still young.
“Um, do you have any beer?” I asked.
Bradley smiled broadly.
“Did you hear that, Daniel? Your lady friend wants to know if we have any beer!”
Your lady friend. Gah!
Daniel was turning ten shades of red and looking everywhere but at me. Bradley snorted, grabbing my hand and dragging me around the bar where he opened up a fridge. Inside, there were rows upon rows of different brands of beer, domestic and imported, cans and bottles, some lying down, some standing up. A beer hound’s booty.
I peered in and made a quick decision. “I’ll have a Stella,” I said.
Bradley leaned in and grabbed two, uncapping both, handing one to me and taking a long drink of the other. “Glass?” he offered.
I shook my head and took a large gulp. I was in dire need of some liquid courage.
He smiled and said, “Atta girl,” before handing Jeremy a Keith’s.
Daniel made his way behind the bar, maneuvering past me in the small space and then bending to open the cupboards underneath. He stood with a can of Guinness in his hand and reached into the overhead cupboard for a beer glass. I returned to sit beside Penny, beer in hand.
“When are you gonna get over that shit?” Bradley asked, gesturing to the can as Daniel poured.
Daniel took a long drink and sighed in satisfaction. “To each his own, Bradley.”
Penny smiled at Daniel before turning to me. “So how is that handsome friend of yours?” she asked. “You know, the one you were with on Valentine’s Day?”
Daniel lowered his beer, his mouth dropping open as his glass made violent contact with the marble surface of the bar.
“What, Matt? Oh, he’s fine. He’s been in British Columbia all week. He’s probably landing at Pearson right about now,” I said, sneaking a peek at my watch before looking at Daniel again.
“Isn’t that a coincidence, Daniel?” Penny said. “There you were the whole night sitting right across the restaurant from each other, and you didn’t even know it.”
“Wow, that’s really something,” Daniel said, the muscle in his jaw twitching. He downed half his beer before turning to Bradley and Jeremy. “So? We playing pool or what?”
“Yeah, let’s grab a quick game before dinner,” Bradley said. He moved over to the pool table to set up the balls.
“You guys go ahead,” Jeremy said as he headed over to the TV and messed around with the batteries in the Wii remotes.
Penny slid off the barstool, offering Brad a quick pre-game kiss. Realizing this was the first real opportunity I’d had to speak to Daniel, I leaned over the bar and whispered, “I’m so sorry. I had no idea you were going to be here.”
> “I think it’s safe to say this is about the last place I figured I’d find you, too,” he said.
“I tried to decline. Your father was very persistent.”
“Let’s just get through the night, all right?”
“Are you going to tell them?” I bobbed my head across the room.
“Three of us are already mortified beyond words. No point dragging everyone else down with us,” he said. “Whatever you do, don’t tell my mother.”
He swigged his beer and headed over to the pool table, grabbing a cue from the rack on the wall. Mortified beyond words? Is that how my presence made him feel? Nice.
Penny came back to sit with me. “Watch this. He’s brilliant,” she said.
“Who, Bradley?”
“Bloody hell, no, love. Daniel,” she said with a laugh.
I watched as Daniel unbuttoned and then rolled up his shirt sleeves. He may have been mortified, but I was too busy reining in my desire to run my fingers through the hair on his tightly muscled forearms to feel anything akin to mortification. With confident precision, he leaned over the table and smashed the white ball into the triangle of balls at the other end, scattering them all over the table. A purple striped ball rolled decisively into one of the corner pockets.
Penny raised her eyebrow as if to say, “See?”
“Right, I’m stripes then,” he said, pacing for a moment to decide on his next shot. This time when he leaned over, he hitched his leg up as he positioned himself behind the white ball. I watched his left hand create a sturdy bridge for the pool cue. Once more, his shot was carefully planned and perfectly executed. The yellow striped ball dropped swiftly into the side pocket.
Daniel continued his domination of the game for a few minutes, but finally he missed a shot and it was Bradley’s turn to begin working on the solid-colored balls. Daniel topped up Penny’s wine, offered me another beer which I declined, and then poured himself another Guinness.
“Bloody Nora, Daniel. That’s not even touching the sides, is it?” Penny observed as Daniel took a long swig.
“You have no idea how much I need this right now.”
“I love your sayings, Penny,” I said. “I’ve never heard that expression before. What does ‘bloody Nora’ mean?”
Penny shrugged.
“It’s most likely an old Cockney expression that’s evolved over the years as letters have dropped at the beginning and end of the words,” Daniel explained.
“What are you, fucking Google-on-legs?” Bradley said with a snort.
“Sex-on-legs” is more like it.
Before Daniel could answer, his father appeared at the top of the stairs. “Dinner’s ready! Come on up, please.”
“Thank Christ. I’m starved,” Bradley said, tossing his pool cue on the table. “Coming, beauty?” He took Penny’s hand. Jeremy, Daniel, and I followed, Daniel making short work of finishing his beer and depositing the empty glass on a table near the bottom of the stairs.
Dean Grant directed everyone to their seats and then helped Gwen bring the platters and bowls of food to the table. We were having turkey with all the fixings. Daniel’s parents sat at opposite ends of the table. Penny was in the middle of one side flanked by Daniel and Bradley, and I settled opposite Daniel with Jeremy beside me.
“You’ll say grace, dear?” David asked.
“Of course,” Gwen replied, bowing her head and crossing her hands in front of her. Everyone did the same, and I followed their lead.
“Dear Lord, we thank you for your bounty and for bringing us together as a family today. We strive to be deserving of your grace. Amen,” she said.
I sent up a silent prayer of my own. And, dear God? Thank you for creating Daniel in all his sweet-ass hotness. That’s probably sacrilege, but I mean it most sincerely. Amen.
Once the hush that had accompanied grace was over, Bradley and Jeremy began fighting over various parts of the turkey. Gwen slapped their hands repeatedly, urging them to use the serving fork instead of their fingers to grab pieces of meat.
Dean Grant moved around the table, pouring everyone their wine of choice while Gwen looked dejectedly at her sons’ appalling display of manners. “I honestly wonder why we spent all that money on private school, David. It doesn’t seem to have made a stitch of difference in their comportment.”
“We did what we could, dear,” her husband said with a smirk. “Unfortunately I don’t think UCC offers refunds.”
“UCC. That’s Upper Canada College, right?” I said, turning to Jeremy who was loading his plate with mashed potatoes. “Was it a good school?”
“Top-notch academically,” he said. “Kinda stifling, though. After being there from kindergarten all the way through, it was a relief to finally graduate and have a change of scenery, you know?”
“No girls, though, huh? How was that?” I asked.
“It sucked,” Bradley piped up, his mouth full of butternut squash. “Good thing all the Havergal and Bishop Strachan girls got their licenses and pretty cars for their sixteenth birthdays. It could’ve been worse.” Penny slapped his arm. He blew her an air kiss, and Jeremy laughed. Daniel shook his head.
“Bradley,” Gwen said, a note of warning in her voice. I can only imagine what a handful he must have been to raise.
“So do you work, or are you still going to school, Jeremy?” I asked, purposely avoiding Daniel’s eyes. Jeremy was so conciliatory; it was hard not to take advantage of his willingness to share.
“Jeremy wanth to be a danthah,” Bradley lisped.
Jeremy glared at his brother and threw a piece of roll at him.
“Boys, please,” Gwen pleaded. “We have a guest. I’d appreciate it if you’d behave civilly.”
She looked at me apologetically. I smiled back as if to say, “Oh, it’s okay, boys will be boys.” What I was thinking was, Please carry on. This is entertaining as hell.
“Actually, Aubrey, Jeremy is a freelance graphic artist,” Penny said, coming to her future brother-in-law’s defense. “He’s working on an ad campaign for the National Ballet of Canada. He’s brilliant.”
“Wow, that sounds cool,” I said.
“Yeah, it’s a good gig. I’m still figuring things out. Up until about six months ago I was an A-and-R rep for Sony Canada, so this is a real learning curve,” Jeremy explained.
“Why’d you leave Sony? I think it’d be amazing to do something like that. I love discovering new music.”
“Yeah, it was a good job, but it was kind of sucking the joy out of music a bit, having to listen to new stuff, you know, making it feel like a chore?”
“Oh, I get that. I feel that way with reading a lot of the time.” I tried to focus on my plate, figuring I’d monopolized enough of the conversation. Gwen wasn’t having any of it, though.
“So, Aubrey, you’re specializing in English, right?” she asked, shooting Daniel another meaningful look.
He rolled his eyes and looked back down at his mashed potatoes, studying them as if the Rosetta Stone had magically appeared under the gravy, offering him untold linguistic secrets. He was hardly eating anything. He was enjoying the hell out his red wine, though, refilling his glass frequently.
“Yes,” I said. “I’ll graduate with a specialist in English and a minor in French.”
“French? How wonderful. Are you fluent?” she asked.
“I can’t imagine studying French at university and not being fluent. I’d fail every course.”
“The boys all speak French too. My family’s always had a house in the south of France. It was important to us that everyone be bilingual.”
Oh my, the plot was thickening. The picture forming in my mind of these young men was pretty damned impressive. Private-school educated, musically gifted, fluent in French, well-traveled. And absolutely gorgeous, all three of them.
“And, Daniel, how is Professor Brown’s class going?” Gwen asked.
Daniel’s fork fell with a clatter onto his plate. Beside him, Penny jumped.
Mortified beyond words? I’ll say.
“Daniel is a TA for a senior English course,” Gwen said to me by way of explanation.
Well, you don’t say. Dean Grant looked at me, waiting for my response.
“I imagine that’s quite challenging,” I said vaguely.
“You did tell me it was a nice class the last time we talked,” Gwen said to Daniel. “Is everything still going okay?”
“Some of the students are bright and quite a pleasure to work with,” Daniel said.
I smiled at my potatoes.
“I gather you stayed in residence this week,” Gwen said, turning her attention back to me. “I hope you weren’t too bored. It must have been awfully quiet.”
“It was a bit of a ghost town,” I said. “It was nice, though. I went to the art gallery and the ROM. I was going to try to go to the Gardiner Museum too, but I didn’t get around to it.”
Gwen smiled at her husband.
“Oh, we adore the Gardiner, don’t we, David? I have a couple of complimentary tickets. Remind me to give them to you before you go. There’s a fabulous new exhibition in the main gallery.”
“That would be lovely. Thank you. Maybe I’ll try to go on Monday after class, before homework gets too crazy again.”
The easy conversation continued. What a wonderful family Daniel had. I’d adored Dean Grant from the first day I met him, but they were all so awesome. By the time everyone else had finished eating, Daniel had still hardly touched his food. He’d worked his way through several glasses of red wine, though, and was certainly starting to look a little more relaxed.
Gwen served dessert, finally having mastered the meringue nests. Fresh fruit was nestled inside each little frothy blob. It was divine. After dinner, everyone helped clear the table, but then Gwen shooed us out of her perfectly appointed kitchen, insisting we head back down to the basement. Dean Grant told me to let him know when I was ready to leave, and he would take me home.
We all headed back downstairs, Bradley rubbing his belly and belching loudly. Luckily his mother didn’t hear him.
The Weight of Words (The WORDS Series) Page 13