Davis (Thoroughly Educated Book 3)

by Lara Norman

  “We’re fine, thank you,” Davis responded. He never looked at the waiter, or his food.

  “Um, so, I had this vision of us. In my parents’ backyard, springtime. It was most likely too hippie for you, but I just felt so . . . blissfully happy at the idea of you and me.” Her face flushed when he didn’t speak, causing her to rattle on. “I know it’s too soon, and I’m not asking you to ask me or anything. Because we still have to tell our parents that we’re dating, much less moving in, but I—”

  “Luna.” He sat forward, placed his hand over her heart. “I love what you described, even if it turns out to be ‘hippie’ or some shit. I love the idea because you had it and told me about it.”

  “I figured you would.” She covered the hand that rested on her heart.

  “It means you’ve thought about the future, and you see me in it. With you.”

  “I do—I hope—I mean, I know there are a few obstacles yet.” She shut up, bit her lip.

  “I want you to be mine. Have no doubts about that.” He ate then, and she watched him for a second before tasting her own food. Her throat felt awfully dry. She soothed it with more wine, saw another glass appear at her elbow before the waiter left once more.

  “I know you do. That’s why I knew you’d be inordinately pleased.” Luna looked into her nearly empty glass for a moment. She wondered if she’d jumped some sort of official gun or something like that. She was basically asking for trouble by admitting she’d marry Davis in a heartbeat. Then again, maybe if he knew how serious she was about him, it would give her a greater chance of winning against his mother.

  She hated that she saw it as a competition, but how else could she see it? At some point, he’d have to make a choice between her and his own parents. Nobody should have to make that decision. It physically pained her to think of it, so she pushed it aside.

  “I am pleased, Luna. I love you. I don’t think you realize how happy this makes me. I have you, I have the job I want without a jackass boss breathing down my neck anymore. I have a few good friends, and that’s all I need.”

  “You’re going to make me cry, Davis. All I want is for you to be happy. And if I can be a part of that, it’s even better.” Luna chuckled at herself. “Wow, one glass of wine is hitting me hard tonight.”

  “That’s okay. Have another, let me drive you back to my place. I’ll be sure to take advantage of you later.” He winked.

  “Yeah, I can guarantee I won’t mind.” She hadn’t minded any of the things he’d taught her so far. The positions, the pleasures. The way he gave up control without her even having to ask. She drained the second glass of wine and embraced the slight fuzziness it gave her.

  “Do you want me to order a soft drink for you?”

  Luna grinned lazily. He really was a gentleman. “No, but another wine sounds amazing.”

  “On it.”

  She felt herself grow warm, decided to eat before she got too distracted by how amazing Davis looked and smelled. She wanted to go home with him, to the place that would be theirs very soon, and get lost in him. His touch, his warmth, the way she could feel delicate one minute and strong enough to take him down the next. In short, she was ready to be thoroughly fucked.

  “Eat your dinner,” she instructed.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Her limbs tingled. She didn’t know that was possible. “Baby, what are you gonna do to me when we get home?”

  He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Probably taste every single inch of your smooth skin. Make you so delirious that you beg for me.”

  “And will you give in if I beg?” she whispered.

  “Oh God, yes.”

  She shivered as his breath tickled her ear. “I’m not going to last much longer. I want that wine, but I don’t think we’ll be here that much longer. I hope you’re okay with that.”

  “I could get the check right now.”

  “I want to be drunk on good wine and you.”

  Davis nuzzled her neck. “Fuck, you’re so hot.”

  Luna rubbed her legs together, but she couldn’t find enough friction. The waiter brought her wine, and she nearly gulped it down.

  “We need to leave.”

  “Check, please.”

  Chapter 20

  After such a long drive, Luna was so excited to pull down the street she’d grown up on. The yellow house sat by itself, the surrounding trees nothing but skeletons in the midst of a heavy snowfall. Somehow, the house portrayed a sense of comfort and peace each time she came back to it. She suspected it was less the structure itself and more likely the people that lived there. The sunny shade of painted siding had become a beacon over the years; it heralded the end of a rough journey. Even in the snow, it seemed to shine with an innate brightness.

  Luna hated that she didn’t get home as often as she would like, but the drive took at least nine hours. Money wasn’t as tight as it had been in college, but she still drove home rather than waste money on a flight. Not that there was an airport close to her parents’ home, anyway.

  Putney, Vermont was home to slightly more than two thousand people and the perfect place for Chester and Iris. There was a grocery co-op, a farm-to-table restaurant, and a colorful little shop full of yarn that her mother adored. She made their clothes and still threw pottery once in a while. Iris grew every vegetable known to man in their expansive backyard, at least when it wasn’t covered in snow. It was the town her family had grown up in for generations; their roots ran deep.

  Luna parked in what was typically used as the driveway but currently was almost too hidden to be seen. Her father must have shoveled it at some point during the day, but the ever-present snow had mostly covered it back up. She exited the car and dashed for the porch, thinking she would get her bags later or ask her father to do it. She remained grateful for the heavy-soled snow boots she still owned as she hurried up the brightly painted steps. Her breath was coming heavier as she knocked on the door; she could have gone straight in, but she no longer felt it was appropriate.

  Chester answered the door, his rusty hair covered by a knit cap the color of the summer sky. Luna’s grin split her face in two.

  “Daddy!”

  He grabbed her around the waist and spun her, letting all the cold air into the house as he did. “Lulu.”

  Her heart warmed at the nickname only he called her. “It’s so good to see you. Where’s Mom?”

  He ushered her inside and closed the door on a gust of winter air. “Upstairs, hiding the last gift.”

  Luna chuckled. “Another scarf?”

  “I’m not telling.”

  Luna unraveled the last scarf her mother had made for her—forest green entwined with what appeared to be a hundred other shades—and peeled off her coat. The boots came next, propped on the spot her father called a boot holder. Essentially, wooden pegs to tip your boot upside down over and let them drip dry.

  “The house smells amazing.”

  “Oh, Mom has been baking like a creature possessed,” he said. “Breads, pies, cookies. And I haven’t been able to touch any of it, so it’s a good thing you’re here now. Otherwise, there would have been a mutiny.”

  She laughed, feeling relaxed. “I would love some tea. Surely you have some of your specialty?”

  “Of course, or my name’s not Chester Moss. Let’s go back and wait for Mom.”

  They headed through the living room and into the large, warm room covered in wood paneling. The center of the house, both situationally and figuratively, their small family had always spent the majority of their time in that room. Luna was so eager to see her mother she nearly bounded up the stairs to find her, but she knew she should wait if hiding presents was involved.

  “So, tea and whatever cookies your mother has made? I believe it’s snickerdoodles.”

  “Sounds like a piece of heaven.”

  “Luna?” They both heard the quick tread on the stairs as Iris hurried down. “Oh, my dear girl!” Iris crushed Luna in a hug the second sh
e stepped off the last stair.

  “Mom.” She squeezed her back just as tightly. “It’s so good to see you.”

  She felt a difference, a plumpness in her normally slender mother, but she said nothing. If Iris put on a little weight since she last saw her, who was she to say anything?

  “We’re having tea and snickerdoodles, love.”

  Iris beamed at Chester and gave him a kiss. “Perfect.”

  Luna sat at the table, her mother taking the chair by her side.

  “Tell me what’s been going on with you.”

  Luna folded her hands on top of the table. “I love my job. I have a really good rapport with the kids in my classes. I haven’t any bad apples, so to speak. One or two that like to be rowdy, but nothing I can’t handle. Thanks, Daddy,” she said as Chester set the plate of cookies on the table.

  “And you’re not scared of being alone in the city?” Iris asked.

  “Our daughter knows how to care for herself,” Chester spoke up.

  “I’m fine, I promise. You saw my apartment and approved of it, remember?” At their nods, she continued. “Actually, I have some news on that front.”

  “Are you seeing someone?” Iris asked immediately.

  Luna blushed and looked at the cookie she was trying not to crumble. Why was she suddenly nervous? “Yeah, you could say that.”

  “Too bad, honestly. That Davis fellow is head over heels in love with you. Never did understand why you didn’t go with him.”

  Luna stared are her father’s back as he poured hot water into cups. The scent of peppermint tea brought back childhood memories. She wondered why he hadn’t made marigold tea, since it was his favorite. “What makes you say that?”

  “You’ve always said you had a reason not to date him, but he’s the perfect man for you. Has he gotten the job at his parents’ company?” Iris asked.

  “Yes, Mom, he’s working there.”

  “And is he liking it okay?”

  Luna smiled at their interest in Davis. “Yes. I see him all the time, and he says it’s okay after some initial bumps.”

  “You know what I always liked about him?” Chester asked, bringing the tea to the table and having a seat.

  “What?” Luna inhaled the steam as she lifted her cup, enjoying the aroma.

  “He’s rich as they come but doesn’t act like it. He’s the type of person you’d think a consummate hippie like myself wouldn’t like. But he’s generous, thoughtful, he helps charities. And he works hard at that company, I bet; doesn’t slack off.”

  Luna stared at her father. “Yeah, he works hard.”

  Iris rested her hand on her daughter’s forearm. “Luna, why didn’t you ever give him a chance? It seems wrong to judge him that way for something he can’t control. Hardly his fault he was born to wealthy parents, and look at the way he treats you. Like a queen.”

  “I don’t think I know what to say to that.” Luna sat back, took a sip of tea.

  “The truth has always worked best, Lulu,” Chester said.

  She sat forward. “Okay, you want the God’s honest truth? His mother, Sophia Healy herself, told me on our first meeting that I am nothing but a gold digger and that I better not be setting my sights on Davis. She doesn’t approve of me, and she swore she’d disinherit him if I so much as went on a date with him.”

  Her admission was met with silence for several long moments. The cuckoo clock that once belonged to her great grandmother on her mother’s side ticked loudly in the lack of noise.

  “And you’ve decided to let her tell you how to live your life? Have you told Davis she said this?” Chester demanded.

  “What? No! Why would I force him to choose between me and his own flesh and blood?”

  “Because he loves you, and while a man has to respect his parents, he isn’t supposed to live with them for the rest of his life. He has to go out on his own, make his own decisions. If every man let his mother pick his wife, there’d be a hell of a lot of unhappy marriages in the world.”

  Iris nodded. “Mm-hm.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No. Why would I kid over something this serious?”

  She was incredibly frustrated with her father. “Why didn’t you give me this advice sooner?”

  He leveled her with a look. “We’ve discussed Davis enough times over the years that you had every opportunity to tell us what his mother said to you. And yet, you didn’t.”

  Quietly, she admitted, “I am so terrified he’ll pick them over me. I couldn’t give the two of you up for a man so why should I ask it of him?”

  “That would be disappointing if his parents couldn’t see what a wonderful young lady you are. But I wouldn’t want you to choose misery over my advice on any day of the week. I wouldn’t cut you out of my life for any reason whatsoever.”

  “And it would be she that lost if that was what she decided to do,” Iris pointed out.

  “What do you think I should do, then?”

  “You should tell him. As soon as possible, frankly, especially if you’re dating some new fellow. That must sting for him.”

  “Mom, the man I’m dating is Davis.”

  “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

  “Because as soon as I said I had something to talk about you launched into singing his praises! I wanted to see what you had to say.”

  Chester patted her hand. “I say he needs to know; he needs to make that decision. Right now, you and Sophia are making the choice for him. That’s not right.”

  “I didn’t see it that way, and I did plan on telling him. I had to work up the courage in case he decides to leave me.”

  “You wanted time to bind him to you so she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on?” Iris asked.

  “That’s pretty much what it was, yeah.”

  “When were you going to tell him?”

  Luna looked into her mother’s soft brown eyes. “He asked me to move in with him, and I wanted to tell you first before we made it official. When I get back home, we’re going to live in his apartment together, and that’s when I was going to tell him.”

  “Lord have mercy, Luna. If he did choose his mother, you’d be homeless in that great big city.”

  She dropped her head into her hands. “I know.” She looked up again. “But once I was there, I figured it would be harder to get rid of me. He loves me, as you said. We have an amazing relationship. He makes me incredibly happy, and I think I can say the same in reverse. He works so hard at his job, and he has a real position. He takes care of me, and I take care of him.”

  “As it should be,” Chester said.

  They sat in silence again, but it was a comfortable one. Luna ate a few cookies and drained her tea. Then she noticed her parents exchanging looks with one another.

  “Speaking of news we waited to share until we were in the same room,” Iris began. “It looks like you’re going to be a big sister after all these years.”

  Luna stared at her mother, unable to put the words in any order that made sense. “But you’re old.”

  “Excuse me? I’m not that old, Luna Hazel Moss.”

  “Sorry, I just, ah, I guess I need a minute to process the idea.” The idea of her parents having sex.

  “Looks like it’ll be a summer baby which means you can visit at the right time,” Iris said.

  “Not that we planned it that way—”

  “Or planned it at all.”

  “—but it would be nice to have you home when the little one comes along,” Chester finished.

  “I’ll see what I can do.” She pushed back from the table. “I’m going to go lay down.”

  She suddenly felt as if she’d entered an alternate reality.

  Chapter 21

  Davis wasn’t as happy to be heading home for the holiday as he ought to be. He wanted to spend the time with Luna, but he understood her need to see her own parents. He wouldn’t begrudge her that opportunity by any means, he just wished they could have had a joint holiday with
her parents, and then one with his. He satisfied himself with the thought that by this time next year, they could have exactly that. He was determined he would be married to her by that summer.

  Sorensen pulled into the long driveway that led to the Healy home. Most of the year they lived in Richmond, though they had a few houses spread around the globe. Davis had spent his formative years in Tennessee, moving as a teenager to Maryland to attend Georgetown Prep. The house his parents lived in wasn’t home to him, but he was comfortable there.