“Well, the house was yellow-”
“Okay,” I nodded.
“But they painted it last year and now it’s white, just like most of the other houses on this road.”
I brushed a hand down my face and did my best to hold back from yelling at her. I rubbed at my eyes and turned to her once more. “What kind of house was it? Two story, one story, big, small…”
“Um….So, it was definitely a two story. Maybe.”
I sighed and put the truck in drive. We’d be better off just driving and hoping that we saw something she recognized. “Alright, when you see something you recognize, just shout it out.”
“Right.”
We drove for thirteen miles before she shouted, literally fucking shouted, in my ear that she recognized a dog. I slowed down and pulled over. Thank God for country roads that were hardly ever used.
“Do we turn here?”
“No, that just means that I’ve driven this way before.”
I ground my teeth together. “How do you know it’s the same fucking dog? You don’t even recognize the houses.”
She grinned and pointed out my window. “Because it’s going to run into an invisible fence.” The dog was running full force and then suddenly stopped and dropped to the ground. “See?”
I rolled my eyes. She didn’t know the way to her parents’ house and she couldn’t remember what tree to look for, but she recognized the fucking dog.
“So, we keep driving,” I surmised.
“Well, since I recognize the dog, we should be able to just keep driving.”
“Good.”
I pulled back onto the road and drove for another three miles before her hand flew out and smacked me in the face. “Right there! Turn right there!”
“Right or left?”
She was pointing left, but she was saying right.
“Left,” she shouted, her face splitting in a huge grin. I turned left and watched out of the corner of my eye as she collapsed in her seat with a sigh of contentment. Seriously, it wasn’t like she had just gone ten rounds with the heavyweight boxing champion, but that’s the way she was acting.
“Okay, how far do we go now?”
She bit her lip, gnawing on it as she looked at me sheepishly.
“You don’t know, do you?”
She shook her head, making me laugh. I couldn’t help it. As terrible as this trip was going, she was so fucking adorable. “You’re a pain in the ass, you know that?”
She shrugged. “I try.”
Many hours later and forty wrong turns later, we found our way to her mother’s house. I braced myself as best I could. She had already told me that her mother thought this relationship was further along than it actually was. Not that we had a relationship. This was the most fucked up one night stand I’d ever had.
“Tony!” Her mother ran out of the house and wrapped her arms around me. It was suffocating. And slightly nice. It had been a while since I’d gotten a hug, like a real hug from a mother figure. My parents were halfway around the country and aside from them coming out to visit after I’d been discharged, I hadn’t seen them since. And even then, my mother barely hugged me. I guess she thought I might not accept it. I had been pretty angry when I was discharged, so maybe she was right.
I found myself patting her awkwardly, restraining myself from hugging her back. That would be weird and would send too many mixed up signals.
“Hi,” I answered, pleading with Molly over her mother’s shoulder to save me. She giggled, shooting me a little finger wave.
“Well, it is just so great to finally meet you,” Molly’s mother said, pulling back and cupping both my cheeks. “I’ve talked to her every day about you, several times a day. I just know everything there is to know about you. But don’t worry. I’m still going to pry every last detail out of you.”
“Oh goodie,” I said, trying to hold back the sarcasm. I failed and her mother laughed hysterically.
“You’re so funny. Molly, you didn’t tell me he was so funny.”
Molly giggled as her mother grabbed my hand and started dragging me toward the house. “Now, you can call me Momma. That’s what pretty much everyone in the family calls me.”
“But don’t call Daddy Daddy,” Molly warned. Like she really needed to tell me that. There wasn’t a chance in hell that I would call him anything close to that. “You can call him Dad.”
“He can call me Henry,” her dad said from the porch. I held out my hand and almost cringed at the tight grip Henry had. Shit, he was just like Gus, ready to kill me if I didn’t treat his daughter right. And considering that I was trying to break up with her, that didn’t bode well for me.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir.”
“Henry,” he said, eyeing me warily. “How was it that you met my daughter?”
Shit. A bar was not the place that any man wanted his daughter to meet someone, but what else was I supposed to say?
“Daddy, stop intimidating him,” Molly giggled. “Daddy’s harmless,” she said, wrapping her arm through mine. Yeah, I could see that he was harmless, based on the way he was skewering me with his eyes.
“Why don’t you ladies head inside while I have a little chat with Tony,” Henry suggested, his eyes never leaving mine. The ladies giggled and made their way inside. As soon as the door shut, Henry grinned and motioned for me to take a seat, pulling two beers out of a cooler he had sitting on the porch. “So, how exactly did my daughter manipulate you into coming along?”
“Uh…” I swallowed hard and tried to calculate all the possible outcomes from anything I might say. I hadn’t missed the shotgun leaning against the doorframe or the handgun that was at the small of his back. I was carrying also, but I wasn’t really up for killing this guy just because he was asking some questions and shit got out of control. “Sir, it wasn’t really like that,” I said hesitantly.
He waved me off, his lips tilting in a grin. “Don’t bullshit me. That girl is just like her mother. She just strolled into my life one day and took over. I never saw it coming. One day I was coming home from work, just stopping off for a burger, and the next, I was married and had a house with the woman. I don’t remember much of it, and I even wondered for a long time if I had been drugged through most of it.”
“Did you ever find out?”
He shrugged. “After Diana got pregnant, I decided to just go along with it. It was easier than trying to fight her.”
“You seem pretty normal,” I said almost questioningly.
“Yeah, well, the trick is to just let her have her way. The more you fight, the worse it gets.”
“So, you think I should just go with the flow and take whatever happens,” I surmised.
His gaze shot to mine and his brow furrowed. “Oh, hell no. Son, you need to run as far and as fast as possible before you get sucked in too. Once they have you, there’s no turning back. There’s no stopping what’s about to happen. There’s no having an opinion on anything. You are here only for her pleasure for the rest of your miserable existence.”
“I…I tried to break up with her,” I said pathetically. “I laid down the law, but she just-”
“Threw it in your face?” He snorted and then threw his head back in laughter. “Yeah, I don’t remember much from those days, but I do remember our wedding day. I objected. I told the minister that I didn’t want to marry her, that I thought she was psychotic and had basically dragged me to the altar.”
“What did he do?” I asked in fascination.
“He told me that if I got dressed and walked into the church, that was as good as accepting the inevitable. He married us and stared me down until I said I do.” He shook his head and took another pull of his beer. “These women are like tornados. You look like a nice guy. I hope you survive. But let’s get one thing very clear…”
His eyes narrowed and he pulled out his gun, setting it on his lap so it was facing me. Now, I was no amateur when it came to weapons, but in that moment, staring down
her father and knowing that he would do anything for her, I was fucking terrified. Not so much of the gun, but that he might press that to my back and force me down the aisle. I could be married by sunrise, and then what would I do?
“If you don’t get away, you treat my girl right or you and I will have words. Am I understood?”
“Understood, sir.”
“Great,” he put his gun away and stood. “Now, let’s go have some of the worst food you’ll ever eat in your life. The good news is, if you don’t get out and you end up with my girl, you’ll most likely have a short life.” He shook his head. “Food poisoning hasn’t taken me yet, but I pray for it every night.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“Eat up,” Diana encouraged me. I picked up the taco hesitantly and glanced over at Henry who looked like he was two seconds from puking. How did he do this day in and day out?
I took a bite and threw up a little in my mouth. It was disgusting, and I worked at Taco Bell. I knew how they made their food. But this? This wasn’t even food. This wasn’t even good enough for a dog. I chewed and swallowed a large gulp of milk to wash it down. I swore my stomach revolted as soon as the food went down my esophagus.
“Delicious,” I lied through my teeth. I took another drink of milk, emptying my glass. Diana immediately stood and refilled the glass.
“Tastes like rotten socks,” Henry said, choking down another bite.
Diana waved him off. “Don’t listen to him. Henry loves my cooking.”
“I’d love for it to finally kill me. Then I’d finally be put out of my misery.”
“What misery?” Molly asked. “Daddy, you love all of Momma’s cooking. You say so all the time.”
Henry grumbled under his breath, but not loud enough for me to hear.
“You must really like milk,” Diana smiled, placing a glass in front of me.
“What can I say? It’s good for my bones.”
“Oh, right. With your job, I’m sure that you need to keep strong.” She placed a hand on Molly’s arm and they shared a giggle.
“Oh, he’s plenty strong, Momma.”
“I’m sure he is. You need a strong man to cart you around,” Diana giggled. “Daddy can’t carry me around anymore.”
“I would if you would lose some weight,” he grumbled under his breath.
My brows furrowed at his tone, but Molly and Diana giggled hysterically.
“Your Daddy is such a funny man. He’s always telling me, more cushion for pushin’.” She giggled again like a fucking teenager. Seriously, what the hell was going on in this house? It seemed pretty clear to me that Henry loved his wife and daughter very much, but still got irritated with them. And when he blatantly pointed it out, they just laughed about it.
“So, I was thinking a wedding in the summer would be nice,” Diana grinned.
I choked on my food, but Henry’s firm hand on my back forced the food down my windpipe instead of out of my mouth like I had hoped. I swallowed hard and drank down the rest of my milk.
“Uh, I think it’s a little soon for that, don’t you think?”
“Momma just wants to reserve the church,” Molly smiled.
I turned to Henry for help, but he just grinned. “Pastor Lowe still at the church?”
“Of course, Henry. Do you really think I would let anyone other than the man who married us marry our daughter?”
I was in a state of panic, and from the look on Henry’s face, this was already a done deal. If I didn’t find a way to stop this wedding, they would have the whole fucking thing planned. I would have to fake my death or move to another country.
“Does Sally still work at the flower shop in town?”
“Oh, she took over the shop last year,” her mother replied. “She married that Cummings boy and now they own half the town.”
“Really?”
“And you should have seen their wedding. You know, I should ask who her wedding planner was. And you could wear my wedding dress!”
“It’s not really my style, Momma.”
“Oh, that’s okay. We can take it to Darlene and see what she can do with it. I would just love to see you walk down the aisle in my wedding gown. You know, your grandmother made that dress for her wedding.”
I watched the conversation ping pong back and forth between the two of them. It was like my whole life was flashing before my eyes. They were taking control and planning out everything as I sat there. I occasionally saw Henry shaking his head, but otherwise, he remained quiet. And what was I going to do about it?
“Well, Tony and I will talk about a date and get back to you.”
“Don’t wait too long. You know, Daddy isn’t doing too well. I want him to walk you down the aisle.”
Molly was up and over by Henry in a flash. Tears filled her eyes as she clung to her father. I didn’t know what the appropriate action was right now, but I knew one thing for sure. I was in no place to take care of someone else right now and I definitely couldn’t deal with another person dying.
“Daddy, what’s wrong?”
“I went to the doctor and everything’s fine, Sugar Pie.”
“That’s not true,” Diana cut in. “He said your stomach is basically eating you from the inside out.”
“It’s an ulcer, woman! I’m not dying, although if I was, I wouldn’t have to eat any more of your damn food!”
“See what I mean?” Diana cried. “He can’t even admit it yet.”
“Oh, hell,” Henry groaned, throwing his napkin down on the table. “Tony, I’m telling you right now. Run for your life. If you make it past this dinner and home in one piece, run for your fucking life. Because living with these women will slowly tear your insides apart until you pray for death.”
He stormed out of the room and Diana brushed the tears from her face. “That man, Lordy, he tests my patience. But he does say the sweetest things.”
My gaze snapped to hers and I went over what Henry just said in my head. How the hell that was sweet, I would never know, but who was I to judge?
Shoving back my own chair, I stood from the table. “Well, Molly and I should be heading home.”
“But you didn’t finish your tacos,” Diana exclaimed, as if I had just committed a cardinal sin.
“I’m so sorry, but I have to get back for work.” I grabbed Molly’s hand, which seemed to make both of them happy, and dragged her out of the house, barely sparing anyone a second glance. I had to get out of here before shit hit the fan.
“Tony, slow down,” Molly said as I hoisted her up into the truck. I slammed the door and got into the driver’s side, giving a honk as I backed out of the driveway.
“Tony, what’s the problem?” Molly asked. “Why are we leaving?”
“That’s not me, Molly,” I said, jerking my thumb back toward her house. “I’m not going to plan a wedding or even talk about this when we get home. I’m not…” Panic set hard in my gut and sweat broke out all over my body. I wasn’t ready for this, let alone even have someone joke about it. It just wasn’t happening. “I’m not anywhere close to talking about something like that.”
“Is this because of Delaney?”
I jerked the truck to the side, my whole world tumbling down around me. How the fuck did she know about Delaney? “Who told you?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Molly
It occurred to me as Tony sat practically hyperventilating on the other side of the truck that he didn’t actually remember talking to me about Delaney our first night together. And if he didn’t remember that, what else didn’t he remember?
“You did,” I said after a minute.
“What?” his eyes widened and he shook his head. He was totally freaking out. Now I felt like an asshole because it was so clear that this was why he had pushed me away from that first morning after one of the best nights of my life. He didn’t remember any of that. All those great memories that I had, that I fell asleep to smiling about every night, all of that might as well be my imag
ination. It was the most honest he had ever been with me about anything. I knew the next time when he saw me that he was freaking out, but I never imagined it was because he didn’t remember. I thought it was because he was having second thoughts or that maybe he thought he revealed too much.
“Tony, how much do you remember from our first night together?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face, shaking out his head. “I…I remember walking over to you at the bar. But after that, it’s blank.”
I wasn’t going to lie, I was a little hurt. Not because he didn’t remember meeting me, but because it was almost like that night didn’t exist anymore. Everything we talked about, everything he confessed to me, it was all gone. Which meant that the connection we had formed that night was also gone. No wonder he was acting so weird around me.
“Okay, well, you basically told me everything that was going on with you and Delaney-”
“Don’t-” he interrupted me. “Not now.”
He shoved the truck back into drive and took off down the road. He must have figured out a way to get home or something, because we made it back to my apartment in no time. I spent the entire drive thinking about what I was going to say to him. It was like we were going to have to redo every conversation we’d ever had, which wasn’t actually that many, but it might not be the same.
When he pulled into my parking lot, he shut off the truck and followed me upstairs. It was kind of nice because he wasn’t hesitant or weird. He knew we had to talk this out, and he was going along with it. Maybe this was a good thing for us.
I opened the door to my apartment and walked inside, shoving the clothes off the couch so I could sit down. Tony paced the living room, muttering to himself and occasionally throwing a confused look my way. I opened my mouth several times to say something, but he shut me down every time with a glare. It was getting to be bed time for me, and I was beginning to wonder if I should just slink off to bed and try again tomorrow night. But then I would be up the whole night, wondering what was going through his head.
TNT Page 20
