“Bye. See you tomorrow,” I said, beating a hasty retreat out the door and into the hallway where I nearly knocked over my niece Katie
“Oops, sorry, honey. I didn’t expect you to be here.”
Her sweet face looked so sad as her eyes met mine. “It’s not a problem, though, that I came by?”
“Of course it is. Where are the others?” I slid the strap to my purse over my shoulder. “Hang on; it’s Monday. They’re at soccer. I already know that. Silly me.” I pulled her in for a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
She smelled like vanilla. I probably smelled less yummy, but she didn’t seem to care. She held on like my hug was a lifeline. “Me, too.”
“Come on upstairs and tell me what’s new.”
She let out a huge sigh. “None of it is good.”
“I’ll make you some hot chocolate. That’ll help, right?” I slung my arm around her shoulders and walked her upstairs.
She didn’t even look around the room before throwing herself onto the sofa. So much teen angst and so much despondency. Poor kid.
“So how was school?”
“Fine. School is fine. Its home that sucks.”
I wanted to be reassuring, but what could I say? We both knew it did suck and why it sucked. “I’m sure it’ll get better, sweetie.”
“Aunt Lucy, we hardly have any food. Mom’s creepy boyfriend, Earl, is staying with us now, too. They keep going out at night and leaving us alone and, well, it j sucks.”
It didn’t sound good. Earl was creepy and no food was never ideal. “How about if I send you home with a bunch of pies for the freezer? That’ll be something. We can go by the convenience store and grab a few other things for snacks and lunches. Things will settle down. Your mom is still adjusting.”
“To what? Dad died a few years ago now. We’ve all had to adjust. Isn’t she supposed to be the grown-up?”
Supposed to was the right term. I flopped onto the sofa next to her “Look, Katie, even grown-ups go through bad patches, and I’m sure this one will pass for your mom. Let’s give it a few days, and if it doesn’t, I’ll talk to her. I don’t think she’d too happy with me right now, though.”
“Probably not. But, Aunt Lucy, we sure would be happy to see you.”
“I know kiddo. I know.”
We sat and had some hot chocolate, and she told me about school and her homework and about her favorite science teacher being pregnant. After a while, it didn’t feel all that different from the other afternoons she and I had spent catching up after her day at school.
I couldn’t help looking at her sweet face and wondering why my sister didn’t want to savor every moment with her because, soon enough, Katie would be interested in boys and college applications, and be as good as lost to her.
I knew how Katie felt. After my own father had left, I spent way too many afternoons home alone, wishing my mother wasn’t off flirting with some new guy, and was home to hear about my friends and my life. Still, after a while, I realized there was no changing that, so I threw myself into every activity I could that kept me away from home. From Girl Scouts and youth groups, to yearbook and field hockey. If there was a way to fill in a lonely afternoon in my hometown, chances were, I had discovered it. Maybe Katie would do the same. Or, even better, my sister would come to her senses before it was necessary.
I walked Katie home via the convenience store. We stocked up on juice and bread and some other staples, and then she headed home to face the music. I returned to my apartment that, all of a sudden, felt lonely again.
I didn’t want to be lonely. I decided to go to O’Shaunnessy’s. People would probably leave me alone there, but I wouldn’t actually be alone. And I would get a fabulous burger. A win-win for me in all ways.
***
I slid into my favorite booth at O’Shaunnessy’s. It felt like my entire life had turned upside down since when I had last sat in this booth and I needed a bit of normal. I signaled for my usual—a burger and a beer—while I absentmindedly watched the ball game on the TV. Yep normal.
That was, until Piper’s husband, Aaron, slid into the booth across from me. “I hope you don’t mind…”
Again, not normal for me. It was maybe the fourth or fifth time we had met and never had we been alone. “Of course not.” There went my normal night.
“Yeah, she’s meeting me here in a while. I wanted to talk to you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, about Chase.”
The thing was, I didn’t want to talk about Chase. I wanted a minute or two of uninterrupted time not thinking about the crazy mess my life had become. Moving out of my sister’s and the changes at work were enough. Factoring in a millionaire fake fiancé was a little more than this small-town girl could wrap her brain around.
“Can we not?” I said.
“Well…” He looked like he didn’t know what to say.
“Go on. I probably can’t stop you anyway.” He was a nice guy so I cut him a break.
He flagged himself a beer as well. He looked so out of place here in his fancy suit. All the other guys were in jeans and flannel. He fitted in about as well as Chase would have. Still, it didn’t seem to bother Aaron.
“Okay so, uhm, I wanted to say that he’s a good guy Chase.”
“And?” Why was Aaron trying to sell me on Chase?
“It’s just… Look. I know he can come across very arrogantly, but he’s had a rough ride.”
“You expect me to believe that a guy who lives in a castle with his itinerant and carefree life is suffering?”
“All that glitters isn’t gold, Lucy.” Aaron took a nervous glance around the room. Clearly he felt as weird about this as I did. “All I’m saying is that so much of what you see with Chase is bravado.”
“And you’re telling me this because?”
“Because I know he’s pretending to be your fiancé, and I can tell by the way he looks at you, and by the fact that he offered to do this, that he really likes you.”
“Yeah, he’s already very kindly told me he’s attracted to me.”
“I don’t mean like that. He likes you, the overall you, so try to… be gentle.”
I shook my head. Was this guy for real? The overall me? This was the overall me. I was a girl who sat alone in dim bars, drinking beer and eating fries. “Okay.”
“Think about it. If he feels about you anything close to the way I feel about Piper just…think about it anyway.”
“Aaron, I will try to be sensitive, but I think you are hundreds of miles off base. Chase is in no danger of getting his heart broken by me because there’s nothing going on between us.”
“Fine, Lucy, you keep telling yourself that.” He drained his beer, threw down a twenty, and then stood. “I’ll go meet Piper back at work. Enjoy that burger, it looks good.”
Still, I picked at my fries and tried to forget that conversation.
It wasn’t five minutes before the man in question took Aaron’s place in the booth. I seriously could not get a break.
“Lucy,” Chase took the seat Aaron had not-long vacated.
“Hi. Didn’t you leave already?”
“Yeah, I didn’t go far. I decided to come back and see my fiancé in her natural habitat.”
“Well, here it is. As you can see, your fiancé likes ballgames, burgers, beer, and booths.”
“All good things.” He stole a fry before he flagged down the waitress and got us each a beer.
“You don’t seem overly happy to have me in your work space, Lucy.” He squeezed a dollop of ketchup onto the side of my plate and dipped his fry in.
“Help yourself.” I pushed the plate toward him. My appetite was definitely gone. “I felt ambushed. You have a phone. You managed to call Piper to arrange it; you could have called to tell me.”
“That’s true, but I wanted to surprise you.” He stole another fry off my plate.
“Mission accomplished.” I took one myself. “For the record, as your fiancé, I would like you t
o know that I’m not big on surprises.”
“But I’d thought ‘‘d be a positive thing.”
“Well, usually the surprises in my life haven’t been so great.” Surprise: your dad’s run off; surprise: your friend stole your boyfriend; surprise: your brother-in-law has terminal cancer; surprise: despite all your efforts, your sister is turning into your flaky mother.
I sighed. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I didn’t want to be ungrateful, but the truth was, I was feeling overwhelmed. “Look, maybe we should just skip the whole fake-fiancé thing. I’m not sure that I’m in a great space for all the getting-to-know-you and secret-sharing required.”
He stole another fry and took a moment. “Okay, if that’s what you want. I was only trying to do the job properly and be diligent. I get it. I’m really not a great one for sharing my innermost thoughts or my dreams either, so I get it.”
“Thanks, Manhattan.” I reached over and patted his hand. “I appreciate the offer and you fixing my car, but maybe this is for the best.”
“Don’t call me Manhattan, and you’re welcome. You know I’m still doing the story, right?”
He grinned. “It’s a good story and it’ll be good publicity for Pied Piper’s Pies.”
“So my calling off the fiancé gig isn’t helping me get personal space, then?”
“Not so much. You may as well stick with it. It’ll solve your reunion problem and make having me around seem purposeful.”
“Great.” Somehow whatever I did, I was being chased by Chase. He took another of my fries. “Have you considered ordering your own?”
“I guess I figured you were the kind of fiancée who shared.”
Chapter 9
“Come home with me after work and you can drive it back, “Chase had fixed my car and I needed to get it back. He was heading off to Chicago for another story for a couple of days. “That way you’ll be mobile again.”
“Sure.”
“My mom will be pleased to see you.”
“It’ll be nice to see her too”
I wasn’t sure if that was true or if I should be spending so much time bonding with Chase’s mother. The thing was, this was getting complicated. The kids now knew Chase as my boyfriend, and that was weird enough. They weren’t exactly in a place where new boyfriends were welcomed. And I didn’t want Chase’s mother misinterpreting our relationship either.
Still, it was a nice afternoon drive out to Marblehead, and I was happy to get my car back.
Strangely, the sight of Chase’s castle was no less shocking than last time. It was a good reminder of who he was and why I shouldn’t let myself get too used to having him in my life.
“You haven’t been in your castle much this week.”
“Not a castle, and no I haven’t, but my life’s like that.”
“Does your mom miss you when you’re away?”
“Probably. I’m trying to wean her off me.”
So arrogant. “Isn’t it usually the kid being weaned off the mother?”
“Yes, but there’s nothing usual about my family.” The gates to the compound swung open and we drove along the circular drive.
“I’m sure you’ve heard what they say; all families are odd in their own way, or something like that.”
“Maybe, but some are definitely more screwed up than others.” He sounded bitter which was new for him.
I put my hand on his forearm, breaking my own Don’t Touch rule. “Are you okay?”
He turned to me and the smile returned. “Yep. Fine. Thanks for asking.”
“You know, as your fake fiancée, I do need to know a bit about your family.”
“What? I live in a castle and my mom is in a wheelchair. Isn’t that enough?”
I shook my head as I left the car. He was already out the door on his side and trying to race around to hold mine for me. I got that wrong every time.
“You might want to give me a few additional details. As an example why she’s in a wheelchair. And why you own the castle and she’s just visiting.”
“Ah, the easy questions.” He took my hand and pulled me to him. My chest met his rock hard one as his eyes searched mine. His other hand pushed my hair back from my face. “I will tell you, Lucy, but not today.”
“When you get back?”
“Sure. When I get back, I’ll show you my family secrets if you show me yours.”
“So my dad running off to the circus isn’t enough for you?”
His smile was genuine. “No, but that was an excellent start, although that story definitely needs more details. As a writer, there are so many gaps I think we should fill in.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” I sighed.
The front door opened and his mother appeared. He didn’t drop his hold on me as if I were a hot potato… which was both good and bad.
“Darling, I hoped that was you. And you bought Lucy. How lovely.”
He whispered in my ear. “Hence, the need to wean.”
“Hello Mrs.—”
“Darling, call me CeCe, remember?
I didn’t really feel comfortable with that so I asked after her health.
“Come in and have a drink before you head off,” she said wheeling away, giving me no time to wriggle out of it.
“She’s very good at that,” Chase said.
“Wheeling away or getting what she wants?’
“Both.”
“Hmmm, maybe she can teach me a thing or two.” I looked at him.
“What do you want, Lucy?”
In that moment, with his hard body o=in front of me and his hand still holding mine… if I was honest, I really wanted to be kissed, but there was no way I was saying that. He was looking at me like I was a something special, and I couldn’t help but think that, maybe… if I was kissing that mouth, I would be something special.
“I don’t really know…”
He ran the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip. “I think you know exactly what you want; but you’re quite terrified of what you’ll do if you get it.”
His thumb felt good. It was so tempting. “I’m not terrified of you.”
“I didn’t mean me.” He tucked my hair behind my ear.
“What did you mean?”
He stepped back. “Nothing.”
“I hope you aren’t psychoanalyzing me, because my perfect fiancé would never do such a thing.”
“Yeah, he would,” Chase grabbed my hand. “Come on in and have tea with mother.”
“Any other dragons at the castle I should be worried about today?”
“God, I hope not. The hours you work are killing me, and I might not have the strength to slay a dragon today.”
Chase’s mother was seemingly happy to see me. It’s tragic that, as the child of absent parents, I’m always happy when someone else’s parents like me. Piper, who was also abandoned by her mother, says she’s exactly the same way. It must be an actual thing, a syndrome maybe.
“Chase tells me you work hard. I so admire that!” she said after wheeling into the kitchen.
“You do?”
“Of course. I wasn’t always this pampered, even before the chair. I mean, I never worked like you do, but I did go to college, and I did work. And when the boys were little, I did lots of volunteer work. I know what you’re thinking, but it does count, because someone has to do it. Volunteers do keep this country running.”
“Mother, I know this is one of your favorite topics.”
“Yes, darling, so sorry.” She patted my hand. “Sometimes I get so excited to have someone to talk with, apart from Chase, that I forget myself.”
“No need to apologize.”
“Chase bought me some of those delicious pies and I am absolutely telling my friends to get you girls in for the next fundraiser they do. Your food is delicious.”
“That sounds great.” I didn’t think CeCe’s friends were exactly the food-truck crowd, but I decided to hold my tongue.
“And now your car is fixed, so
that’s wonderful, too.”
“It is. I’m really grateful to Chase for fixing it.”
“He’s so talented at all that mechanical stuff, it simply amazes me.” She beamed at her son. “I don’t know where he gets it from.”
“Mother…”
“Well I don’t. We’re not exactly a hands-on family, are we?” She poured the tea from a pot like the queen.
“What do your parents do, Lucy?”
“Ah… well… My father ran off to join the circus.”
She stopped mid-pour. “Are you joking?” I shook my head. “You’re not? Oh my goodness. How scandalous!”
“It was.” I plopped a sugar cube into my tea.
“Why on earth would he do that?”
“Trapeze artist.”
“Ah. Of course.” She nodded as if that was a normal answer. “Your poor mother.”
“She didn’t exactly roll with it,” I said, hoping she would let it end there.
“So Lucy has her school reunion next week, Mom. I’m going as her date.”
“How wonderful. I love a reunion. Such fun.”
She and I clearly had had very different experience of reunions. “It’s a first for me.”
“Old friends, old enemies, they’re all fascinating.”
“I’m just hoping it will be uneventful.”
“It won’t be. There’s always drama at a reunion. That’s part of the fun. You need a good dress, comfortable shoes that look wickedly expensive, a great date, which you already have, and some good, well-rehearsed stories, the same as with any social engagement.”
“I’ll do my best.” I didn’t generally show up at events with well-rehearsed stories. Maybe that was part of what I’d done wrong all these years. Maybe if I had had a mother like CeCe...
Nope no time to be maudlin. I took a tea cake.
“I’m sure it is different for you. You’re already lovely. I wasn’t well-liked at high school because I came from the wrong family.”
“Really?’ That seemed hard to grasp.
“Well, I thought I did, and lord knows, some of those girls certainly believed it, but truthfully, money isn’t what makes a family the ‘right’ one. I’ve learned that the hard way.” She let out a sad sigh.
Any Way You Dream It: An Upper Crust Novel - Book 2 (Upper Crust Series) Page 7
