"He got over it fast." She glanced up as the server approached.
"What can I get you guys today?" The girl looked between Bethany and Philip, an odd smile on her face.
"I'll take a turkey sandwich with fruit." Bethany handed the girl the menu, trying to determine if she was trying to hold back a knowing grin.
"Burger and fries, hold the onions." Philip handed her the menu and turned back to Bethany as he let out a short sigh. "So how do I go about this with Damon?”
"Wait a minute." Bethany held up her hand and kept her attention on the girl. "Do we know each other?"
"No. I was in the coffee shop yesterday. You're Dr. Tarrington's TA, right?"
Oh... that's why she's holding back her smile. She saw Kendal and me together.
"Yeah, he's a great guy. Crazy strict, but a good accounting teacher. Are you majoring in business?" Bethany hated to carry on the useless conversation but didn't want to look like an ass.
"No, I'm theater, but we all know about Dr. Tarrington. We're just hoping we're his next slip up." She snorted. "Don't tell him I said that."
"I don't even know your name." Bethany smiled and turned back toward Philip as the girl left in a hurry.
"Next slip up? What the hell was that?" Philip took a drink of his Coke and leaned in as if she were about to share a secret.
"Kendal dated one of his students six years ago." Bethany glanced over at the girl who couldn't be more than a freshman. "How she knows about that is beyond me."
"Rumors that juicy last forever." Philip shrugged. "Back to me. What do I need to do?"
"Just stop by the office and tell Linda you're there to see him. I would offer to get involved, but something tells me that he wouldn't appreciate me interfering. He's already leery of something happening between you and me."
"Why is that? Did you make something up to make him jealous? Full disclosure here. I'm walking into the hornet’s nest. Don't cover me in honey." He chuckled, and she did as well.
"No, it was a misunderstanding that's too embarrassing to rehash. Just stop by and talk to him. He owes you the job after he fired you for being a good employee. He overreacted. Take advantage of it."
"Are you guys not together anymore?" He lifted his eyebrow.
"We are, I'm just saying. This isn't too difficult of a situation. Own it." She shrugged and turned to let her eyes move across the girl again. Why in the world would people still be talking about Kendal's indiscretions six years later?
Why did she care?
***
Another night without Damon in her bed made it harder to fight against the nagging sensation that he was battling far more than he should have been where they were concerned. She tried to remain positive and convince herself that everything was fine. Matt had been a good cheerleader during the latter part of the week, but nothing was going to fully set her right but Damon.
She needed him to say that he was sorry, that he loved her and they would work through things. The nagging need to be constantly reminded of his feelings was a pain in his ass from what she'd overheard in Jamaica, but it was what it was. He was a dick half the time and therefore could make it up to her by being the kind of guy she deserved the rest of the time, which he was completely capable of.
After packing for their flight later that day, she drove over to Kent's house to pick up Matt and have breakfast with her parents. They'd gotten home late the night before, and yet still found the energy to text her that they were safe. She needed to remind Damon that a text took seconds and yet would mean the world to her.
The smell of bacon filled her senses as she walked into the large ornate mansion. The sound of laughter from the kitchen caused her to exhale in relief. Normal people with no agendas or chips on their shoulders. Just what she needed.
"And then I told Karen that calamari was squid, but she kept fighting me over it." Kent laughed loudly as Bethany's mom swatted him.
Bethany stopped by the entrance to the dining room and leaned against the frame, not wanting to disturb the story.
"I thought they were just little fish rings." She shrugged. "They make fish sticks. I thought the fried rings Kent likes to order were fish."
Kent laughed loudly again as Matt's smile widened. "So we get the platter, and the Jamaicans don't use the tentacles for the dish, but baby-"
"Octopus. With baby feelers and little heads." Her mom squealed and glanced over toward Bethany as her cheeks turned pink. "Oh my gosh. It was so disturbing."
"Did you eat them?" Bethany asked as she took the seat beside Matt.
He reached over and pulled her into a tight hug, shaking her a little. "You ready for this trip?"
"I didn't eat them. I just couldn't." Bethany's mom shook her head and snuggled up against Kent.
"I'm as ready as I'm going to be. I feel like we just got back from traveling." Bethany pulled out of Matt's hold and reached for the big platter of breakfast meats and scrambled eggs that sat on the table between them.
"We got back on Sunday. It's been a whole week back here, silly woman. Time to hit the road again. Besides, my future is riding on this one." Matt wagged his eyebrows and picked up his fork.
"Your future isn't riding on anything. It's in your control to do or be anything you want to," Kent threw in his two cents.
"I agree with that," Bethany added. "But, this is an important trip. Have you packed up your portfolio, or can I see it before we head to the airport?"
"It's in the bedroom down the hall. I'll show you, and then we'll bubble wrap it together. It's a bitch to pack up." Matt shoved half a pancake into his mouth. "Bring your running shoes. We're going to keep in shape while we're up there."
"This from the guy with syrup running down his chin and a full pancake in his mouth." Bethany tossed her napkin to him and smiled.
"Half. It was only half. I can fit a whole one. You wanna see?" He smiled and licked at his chin, trying to get his tongue to lap up the syrup.
"Matt. Jeez, son," Kent barked and tossed his napkin across the table.
"You guys are prudes. Except you, Karen." He got up and ran another pancake through the lake of syrup on his plate before leaning over and folding it up. "Dare me?"
She shouldn't have, but she couldn't help it. He brought out the kid inside of her. "Yep. Double dog dare you."
"Oh brother. Not you too." Kent laughed as Matt forced the whole pancake in his mouth and motioned for Bethany to join him.
She contemplated doing it too, but the look on her mom's face said - just no.
Laughter bubbled out of her as she moved down the hall to find her brother.
"My brother," she whispered, letting the truth of her statement sink in. She and Damon had a fucked up situation to face, but she and Matt had nothing but good, clean times ahead of them. Both relationships were worth every ounce of effort she planned to put into them, but the one with Matt was just so much more straightforward.
"In here, Miss Thang." He reached out of one of the bedrooms and grabbed her arm as she yelped and lost her footing. He caught her and turned her to face the bed.
A large portfolio lay open with some of the most beautiful paintings spread out before her. Everything from the mountains to the beach at sunset to a woman dancing in a bright red dress with long black hair and eyes that begged the man she watched to make love to her.
"Wow," Bethany breathed out and moved closer to hover over the top of the bed. "Matt... these are incredible."
She glanced up to find him nibbling on his thumb by the doorway.
"Thanks. I taught myself to paint years ago. It's always been a passion of mine." He shrugged. "I did a one-off picture of Damon about three years ago, but I've never shown him."
"Can I see?" She moved back, not wanting to touch the paintings in case she messed anything up. The weekend was a big deal to Matt, which meant it should be to her and Damon too. Supporting him needed to come first on their list of things to get done in Seattle.
"Sure." He moved up beside
her and shuffled things around until the painting of a handsome teenage boy around fifteen or sixteen stared up at her. His eyes were locked on the camera taking the photo from what she could tell, his expression soft, and lips almost turned down. The sadness in his eyes was heart-wrenching. It was almost as if Matt had caught Damon at the moment of someone's death.
"When is this from?" She reached out and let her fingers hover above his cheek. "He's beautiful."
"It was the day after he caught mom with Barney, her work partner." He shrugged. "Fucking school pictures were the next day. He brought his home a few weeks later, and I gave him massive amounts of shit over this picture."
Bethany moved back as a hot lump of regret filled her chest. He wasn't an easy man to get through to, and she'd been treating him as if he were. She needed to do more than was expected of her to reach him. Waiting for him to reach out wasn't going to happen. It would do nothing but put large divots in the future they wanted together.
"Wow." She shook her head and turned her attention to Matt. "You didn't know."
"No, I didn't know for a long time." He shrugged. "I found the picture about three years ago and painted it with accents on his cheeks and eyes to show the pain I know he felt. It's not something he'd want to see, but it was my way of apologizing for not being there for him. I was dumb and high on the latest wave of reefer."
"You guys got through it though, and we're going to get through this weekend together. It's going to be great." She walked over and pulled him into a hug. "You're going to be great."
"You think so?" He smiled down at her, his blue eyes filled with the kind of hope that most people could only dream of.
"I know so."
Chapter 29
Damon
Fury burned through him at the fact that she'd ignored his request for her to join him at the house at ten the night before. Not only had he closed down shop early and left a ton of shit for the next day while they were traveling, but he'd skipped out on drinks with some old friends who just happened to be in town.
What was she trying to prove? That she was in control? That the promise of a future wasn't worth shit if it couldn't be instantly built before her eyes?
He pushed the door open to the tiny hole-in-the-wall breakfast joint on the east side of Dallas that he loved to haunt during his college days. It was quick, cheap and delicious. He pulled out his phone after glancing around and seeing that Charles wasn't there yet.
Having been a great mentor to him in college at UT, Damon tried to stay in contact with the old guy as much as he could. The last minute breakfast was the perfect excuse to save him from having to fly to Seattle sandwiched in between Beth and Matt. He loved them both but wasn't in the mood for Matt's positive attitude or Beth's questions over his devotion to her. He'd been a dick lately, but she had too, period.
After shooting off a quick text to both of them, he sat down at a booth and glanced over the menu that was all too familiar to him.
"Well, well... look what the cat dragged in." An older woman with a bright smile and platinum-colored hair stopped by the table. "Mr. Bryant. It's been at least three years since I've seen you in here."
Damon tilted his head to the side as a genuine smile spread across his mouth. "Heather, right?"
"That's right!" She let out a soft giggle. "You're not in college anymore from what we all gathered around here."
"Nope. I've been out six years now, but I'm meeting Charles-"
"Charlie, boy. How many times I gotta tell you to call me Charlie like the rest of the world?" The portly mentor pulled out the chair across from Damon and smiled up at Heather. "Nice to see you again, Pumpkin. Grab me a coffee, black, and a glass of fresh squeezed tomato juice."
Damon turned his nose up. "You guys squeeze your tomato juice?"
"We do for Mr. Darek. He's been keeping this place open by having breakfast here every morning for the last fifteen years." She laughed, patted Charles’ back and walked off.
"Well, tell me why we haven't gotten together for a quick meal in the better part of a year. You so busy that you can't spare an old man a few minutes?" Charles lifted his eyebrow and leaned back.
"Never. I guess our paths just stopped crossing so often, but that's my fault. Obviously with me locking myself in my office at M&B for sixteen hours a day, every day, my social interactions have almost ceased to exist." Damon pulled his napkin into his lap and pressed his forearms to the table, preparing himself for the lecture that was sure to come.
"And whose fault is that?"
"Mine, of course. How have you been, Mr. Darek? Still teaching with as much vigor as you did six years ago when I almost failed your finance class?"
He chuckled deep in his chest, the action causing his belly to dance around. "Of course I am, and I do. I love my job. They're going to have to kick my old ass out of there, and I have tenure, so good luck to 'em!"
Damon smiled and let his anger go. It wasn't well founded and only served to fuck up his day with the promise that he and Beth would have another explosive fight over nothing more than her being the strong woman that he wanted her to be. Funny when you got what you wanted, you weren’t quite sure if that's what you were after in the first place.
"I'm heading out to Seattle after this."
"Oh yeah?" The old man reached up and took his juice from Heather as she put a few drinks on the table. "I'll have three eggs, over easy, sweetheart. Bacon and sausage, well done on both accounts. Grits made with milk and loads of butter. I wanna die young and beautiful."
Damon smirked. "Me too. I'll take the exact same thing."
Charles shook his head and rubbed his belly. "I think you might actually have a chance at it. You only seem to be getting better looking as you're getting older. Good thing too, seeing that I remember you being an ass and a half with the ladies back at UT."
"Me? An ass? No..."
"Right. Why are you headed to Seattle? Got a lady friend up there, or is your father still holding on to his tax practice in that area?"
"Both, but the trip is to work on an audit up there. We have some people not doing their jobs. Go figure?"
"Kids nowadays. Entitlement. That's what it's all about."
Damon smiled and kept his thoughts to himself. "It's a quick turnaround, and I'm hoping for positive results."
"And this lady friend. Tell me about her. You have to be nearing thirty by now. Most people are having kids at your age. As crazy as it feels to say it, you're behind the curve, old boy."
Damon chuckled. "I'm thirty-one, and I'm right where I want to be."
"That so?" Charles lifted his eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. "You ever had grits with milk and butter in them?"
"I'm happy. I guess I could be a little more content, but happy will work for now. She's a graduate from UT herself. She's studying to be an accountant and just recently started her master’s, and yes, my mother used to make grits just the way you've described. They're shit any other way."
Charles slapped the table and sat up. "Finally. I swear! All these northerners with their watery grits and scones. Why in the world would you want to mess up a perfectly good biscuit?"
"No clue." Damon moved back as the food was delivered.
"Tell me more about the girl. How long have you been together?"
"Three weeks, but she's the one. I have no doubt." He said a quick prayer over his food and worked to cut his eggs as the image of Bethany on her knees in the living room washed over him.
So beautiful and compliant. So right for him. His pulse spiked just thinking about having her again. Her rejecting him was more of a message than the loss of interest. Now he needed to figure out what the message was.
"Three weeks? How in the hell do you know if she's the one if she's only been with you three weeks? Aren't you one of the last self-proclaimed bachelors?"
"Am I? I don't remember making that proclamation." He shrugged.
"You were drunk, and it was the last football game of your senior year. I
still have the footage if you'd like to revisit it."
"No, I'd rather not, to be honest."
"Is she working at the firm with you and Kent?"
"Yes. She's an intern for us this fall and next spring. She'll work her way up fast; I have no doubt."
"Is that because she's sleeping with the boss?"
"No. Of course not. She's brilliant."
"And beautiful?"
"Beyond." Damon folded the last piece of bacon on his plate and watched his old mentor to see what he was getting at.
"You know what happened to Kendal with a situation very similar to this, right?"
"Of course I do, Charles-"
"Charlie."
"Of course I do, Charlie, but this is different. We're not under the watch of the university. My father owns the company, and he's quite happy with mine and Bethany's relationship. It's just... complicated."
"Complicated, how?"
"Her mother married my father last weekend." Damon glanced down and waited for the berating that never came. He glanced up to find Charles watching him in what appeared to be stunned silence.
"Wait. So this girl is not only six years younger than you, but an intern at your firm and she's your step sister?"
"Well, when you put it like that-"
"Put it like what?" Charles huffed and picked up his bowl of grits. "You're up shit creek without a paddle my friend. As brilliant as you are, this has to be one of the dumbest things I've ever seen you do."
"I love her. It's simple really." Damon sat back and licked his lips. There was an expectation somewhere inside of him that anger would be his response to Charles, but it wasn't. Telling his old mentor how he felt about Bethany felt natural. Right. Maybe he wasn't being fair with his concerns about letting the world know that she was his.
"Well, keep that shit to yourself, or you'll ruin the poor girl."
"What? Why would us being in love ruin her?"
"Damon. You just touted out every fucking taboo in the book. Are you serious right now?" He reached across the table and popped Damon in the forehead with the back of his spoon. "Think with your head and not your dick, son. She's a young girl who's about to enter the world of Corporate America. She needs a good start, a clean record. You're throwing down a stripper pole and covering it in grease."
Mister Big Stuff: A Single Mom Friends to Lovers Novel Page 65
