She seemed to catch herself, or maybe the fact that I wasn’t returning her embrace finally registered, and she started to pull away in embarrassment. I warned myself not to, but I couldn’t stand the thought of putting a damper on her mood, so I pulled her back into my chest for just a few seconds more.“You’re happy with your surprise; I take it.”“Yes, very. I don’t know how you did it but thank you. I’ve always been afraid of something happening to the car before it came to me.”“Now, you no longer have to worry. We’ll see about getting your permit sometime this week, and I’ll teach you how to drive; until then, you may drive up and down the driveway.”“You’ll teach me?” How does she get that light in her eyes?“Of course, who else?” She seemed overly pleased by that, and alarm bells started going off in my head. I cleared my throat and released her, turning to walk into the house. “There’s more inside if you can pull yourself away from the car.”“More? What more?”“Why don’t
“What’re you doing here?”“What? I can’t just drop by anymore now that you’ve got a new friend?” The jackass grinned.“Funny! What’s up?” I got up and pulled on the lightweight down vest that I’d thrown over the back of my chair as he stood there smirking at me.“Nothing’s up. I got bored. Where are you going?”“Come.”Not like I was going to shake him anyway. I wasn’t doing much, just making a quick stop since the Alden woman wasn’t answering her phone. I’m not afraid of her going around me, the woman had taken her kid out of school after all, but I needed to make sure all the same. “Wait here.” Of course, he didn’t, not once he realized I was going to the twins’ room and not Gianna’s.We could hear the three of them from outside the door, laughing. She was laughing. The sound rushed through me like sleigh bells at holiday time. Yes, I admit I have a weakness for that season, just like everyone else who indulges. Something about the warmth of a fireplace, the excitement in the a
By the time Lance and I made it back to the house, it was time for dinner, but there was someone waiting for me, someone I had almost forgotten. “Tell Ma and Pop that I’ll be right in.” I slapped Lance on the shoulder, sending him on his way. He’d only nag me to death if he knew what all I’ve been up to.“Did you get it?” The other man held out a sack for me to take.“It was easy; she left it in an underwear drawer of all things.”“Thanks.” I took his offering and headed inside and up the stairs to hide it before heading down to the dining room.Ma was in her element, having all these people to fuss over for dinner. It’s the Italian in her, I guess, that finds so much pleasure in having a crowded table. I noticed Gianna had remembered my place and had taken the seat next to mine. I’m getting way too into this sappy shit, but it felt good.The conversation was light and playful. No one mentioned anything too heavy, and there were only a few moments when I noticed a bit of sadness l
“What’s the matter? Can’t sleep?” The house was quiet when she crept into my room later that night. I was up on the computer, which I switched to sleep mode as soon as she walked in.“No, I can’t. I think I want to call my dad.” My face must’ve given my thoughts away because she rushed to explain herself.“I think there might be something going on with him. I can’t explain it; it’s just a feeling I have like something’s wrong.” Yeah, a lot is wrong with him right now, but don’t you dare start feeling sorry for him; he doesn’t deserve it. I’ve turned the situation over time and again, and no matter what angle I look from, there’s no excuse sufficient enough for men like him. It would’ve been wrong for him to have neglected Victoria after marrying her mother and taking on that role, but what he did instead is nothing less than an abomination, and unless he’s a complete moron, there’s no way he didn’t recognize any of the signs of what was going on with his own blood right under hi
I sat in the dingy booth in the rundown diner someplace in New Jersey, listening to the man who claimed to be my father speak. He seemed overly excited, reminiscing about things I’d long forgotten if they ever really happened; meanwhile, I’m just here for information. He’d tried getting me to go home with him, which I staunchly refused. No doubt home for him is a grimy apartment somewhere in the city. That much I remember from my childhood, messy, broken-down apartments and the smell of onions and burnt food in the hallway.A vast difference from the life I live now, and I have no plans on going back. I just need to know why she lied. “Where’ve you been?”“About that…uh, your mom didn’t tell you?”“She told me you were dead.” No, she hadn’t, not exactly, but that’s the story she’d drilled into my head when we bounced, and it kinda became my reality after a while, until now.I was too young back then to know much of anything, but hunger is something that sticks with you no matter
The morning was chaotic, to say the least, due to her newfound popularity. I’ve never been surrounded by so many of my fellow students before and was quickly reminded why. I can’t wait to go back to the way things were because, well, people are stupid. I’d forgotten how much so.Another aspect of her rise to fame that I’d overlooked was the attention from males. I didn’t think of it because I never expected that it would affect me one way or another. Lucky for them, she seemed just as wary of their presence as I was, but I still had the urge to tell them to get bent. All it took, though, was my patented glare to get the point across, and the more daring of the bunch got the message and kept their ass out of my sight.By the time lunchtime rolled around, I’d had enough and only allowed her enough time to eat before dragging her away from the table where Lance and I were the only males allowed. I’d been out of sorts all morning, feeling out of my element a bit. Something was niggling a
I left the house and took a long drive so I could mull over everything that was going on. Something doesn’t seem right about either of their stories. I don’t believe for a second that the Feds had made a mistake, so what exactly is going on? Who’s the man that picked Victoria up from the station, and how can I find that out?I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know the name of Becky’s dead husband; I just never got around to asking as it never seemed important. Such is the way of our relationship, and it has ever been this way. She knows we didn’t get married for love that I was just trying to give my daughter a stable home while she was looking for the same.Intimacy between us has never been an issue; I’m still alive after all, but there was never any great passion between us, and she knows and has been fine with this. In fact, after the crisis bonding period right after Adrienne passed, the guilt had been so strong that I may have neglected my new wife there in the beginning.
I didn’t quite know what to do with my hands when our dance finally came to an end, so I left them resting gently on the curve of her ass. “Don’t ever dance with anyone else like that.” My head cleared after I said the words, but it was too late to take them back. Her eyes were still clouded, so maybe she missed the words and the meaning behind them. Feeling boyish after that little faux pas, I distracted her with the ice cream. “This probably isn’t as good now as it was when I bought it.” It was pretty much a melted blob in a soggy waffle cone, but she didn’t seem to care.Thank goodness I’d had the foresight to have the cone turned upside down in a cup which had made it easier to drive with the thing. She acted like I’d given her gold. “For me? Thank you.”“I wasn’t sure what flavor you’d like, but you look like a strawberry girl to me.” What the hell are these things that keep popping into my head and right out of my mouth?She’d zapped me with the dance; that’s the only explan