Dane shrugged. “Guess I’ll have to talk her into a cookout to see. Maybe for my birthday.” She gave Raymond a sidelong glance. “Unless she has other plans.” Nicole liked to surprise her for her birthday. Dane had learned that over the past couple of years.
“She hasn’t said anything to me about what she might do for your birthday, but you might want to throw out this cookout idea before she does get a notion in her head. I’ve already figured out that she’s borderline obsessed with giving you things you missed in your childhood. Next thing you know you’ll be having a party at Rockin’ Mouse’s Pizza Party Palace.”
Dane practically guffawed as that image assaulted her mind; standing ankle deep in a ball pit with her nephews, as some lame, short-circuiting, woodland creature animatronic band played the crappiest rendition of “Happy Birthday” imaginable. While she knew Nicole would never do anything like that, she found it too funny that Raymond would suggest it. They shared a look before he turned his attention back to the pancake batter.
“I won’t ask about it,” Raymond said in a low, but clear voice.
She knew he referred to her childhood. While she had never spoken to him about it, she was aware he’d figured out things were bad for her. When they first met, he had seen her father throw her down on the ground. Well, they hadn’t really met then, since Nicole had fallen to Dane’s side and pled with Raymond to leave while she ushered Dane into the house. Then, there was her outburst at Thanksgiving after Benito tried to kick her out of the house because he thought she didn’t respect family. No, she didn’t respect her family, even though she saw family in a different light now. The Wolfes weren’t her family, even if they were blood related.
Being with Nicole allowed Dane to see so many different aspects of what made up a family, and Nicole had given her family. Family was something wonderful, not the nightmare she had put up with at the Wolfe home. Family was fun, warm, secure, and loving. Family was the people who wanted her around and that she wanted to be around. Family wanted her to succeed, rooted for her, and supported her. This lesson alone made her love Nicole all the more, and she doubted her angel was even aware she had provided Dane with the lesson.
“You don’t have to ask. Whatever you think happened probably did and worse. Except, no sex stuff, okay?” Dane told him.
“Well, that’s something, I guess,” he mumbled with a frown. “I never could’ve thought Russell would be an abusive bastard, but it seems like he always finds a new low to sink to…I’m sorry, Danny. That’s not my place to say.”
She shrugged. “You’re right. Not that it matters. Not bothering with him ever again.”
He nodded and, for a moment, she could’ve sworn that he looked relieved, almost like he wanted to smile. He looked down at the batter. “Ready to make some pancakes?”
“Just plain pancakes?”
“When camping, you have to make do,” he laughed.
She nodded and watched the man work. He didn’t say much as camping pancakes were pretty much regular pancakes, except they made them over a grill instead of on the stove. They ate a hearty breakfast of somewhat small pancakes, but there were plenty of them.
“They taste all right,” Dane said before shoving a forkful in her mouth.
“Don’t eat too many of them.” Nicole patted her lover’s knee.
“Yeah, don’t want you to get a tummy ache,” Junior said, making a face, a few feet away.
Nicole glared at him. “Don’t be mad because she beat you in that chili dog contest last night.”
“She didn’t beat me!” Junior puffed up with indignation and the other cousins snickered.
“You didn’t finish the last one,” Nicole said with a taunting smirk on her face. Dane never thought she’d see the day when her girlfriend was defending her ability to gorge herself on junk food.
Beth backed her up. “You definitely didn’t.”
Junior appeared murderous, and Dane figured it was because his subordinates were making fun of him. Junior seemed like he was supposed to be the leader of their little pack, but right now, Nicole dared to take on the alpha and another joined in. Dane wondered if Junior would be able to handle that.
Junior scoffed. “Whatever. I had sandwiches on the way here, so I was already halfway full. Next time, I doubt the little city gal will be able to touch me in a hot dog eating contest.”
That seemed to be the end of it there. Dane had to admit she thought he handled that better because he didn’t lose his temper or throw a tantrum of any kind. His cousins seemed to buy that excuse or, in Nicole’s case, lose interest in him. They all returned to eating, Dane stuffing her face with a couple more pancakes before Raymond grinned at her and informed her that she was on dish duty.
“Gee, thanks. Was dying to wash the pancake thing,” Dane said with a slight grin. Nicole smiled as well, happy that her father was including Dane in things.
“I thought you were,” Raymond replied with a smile of his own. His eyes dancing with mirth.
“I’ll show you what to do,” Lillian said, standing from her seat a couple of feet away.
“I think I can figure out washing on my own,” Dane tried to assure her, because she really didn’t want any more alone time with Lillian. “Why don’t you catch up with Nick? I mean, you guys haven’t seen each other in a while, right? And you haven’t really had a chance to sit and talk.”
“We can do that later,” Lillian replied, flashing a bright smile at Nicole, who smiled back.
Dane held in a groan and figured she was stuck with Lillian for the short time it’d take to clean their cookware. The dishes were in a bucket that was brought along for just this purpose. She grabbed them, the soap, a rag, and headed for a stream not too far from them, where she had been assured earlier it was okay to use the water. Of course, she was less inclined to believe that when they had brought plenty of bottled water. But, what do I know about proper camping anyway? Not like Nick would let them poison me.
“So, how are you liking camping with us so far?” Lillian gave her a sidelong glance.
“Fine,” Dane replied, doing her best to not grunt out the word. She would’ve gone into more detail if she trusted Lillian a little more. She wondered what Nicole liked so much about this woman. She seemed weird, but not in a good or interesting way, even when starting what should’ve seemed like an innocent conversation.
“Still tired? It’s an obscene hour to be awake, and I’m sure you had a busy night,” Lillian said, lips pursed, but a smile in her eyes.
“Why would you say that?” Dane inquired against her better judgment, as she got started on the dishes.
“Nothing. It’s just I know Nikki likes, you know, sex. I figured you two in a small, enclosed area would…well, you know, partake of some adult entertainment.”
“You seem rather interested in my sex life with Nick and Nick’s sex life in general.” Why the hell does this chick wanna know so much about what we do in bed? Cousins shouldn’t act like this, right? She really wished she knew the answer to that, so she could figure out what Lillian was playing at or if this was as weird as it felt. I’ll have to ask Crow when I get a chance.
Lillian tilted her head and blushed. “I’m sorry. I haven’t offended you, have I? That wasn’t my intent. I mean, this is stuff I usually talk about with Nikki, and her lovers tend to be rather boastful. One time, she brought this awful woman with her that kept going on and on about how she’d tie Nikki down and have her way with her. Nikki seemed to like it.”
Mentally, Dane called bullshit. Now, either Lillian or the former lover was a liar. She hated to think it might be both. Also, she hated talking to Lillian and Lillian talking in general.
“So, how did you and Nikki meet? At her job? I know she’s a really successful lawyer and everything, but I can’t see you being a lawyer,” Lillian said with a smile, as if that was supposed to soften the blow of her words.
“Not a lawyer, a musician,” Dane answered, even though she didn’t think t
hat was accurate. It was close enough without having to explain anything.
“So, how’d you meet her? She went to one of your shows or you needed to sue somebody or what?”
Dane shrugged. She couldn’t help feeling that Lillian was trolling for information. She wasn’t sure what Lillian would do with the information, but she didn’t want to find out. Again, she wondered what her angel saw in this woman to consider her a little sister. She’d have to remember to ask.
“You don’t talk much, huh?” Lillian asked, and Dane shook her head to answer.
Despite Dane being rather tight-lipped, Lillian stayed with her the entire time she washed the dishes. She asked several what would seem like innocent questions: How long have you and Nicole had been together? What type of dates do you go on? What kind of special things do you do for Nicole? Dane considered Lillian might, in a very awkward and clumsy way, be trying to figure out if she was treating Nicole right. Still, she didn’t go into detail in any of her answers and never said more than a sentence for anything she did respond to.
***
Nicole smiled as she watched Danny and Lillian walk off, even though she knew Danny wasn’t happy with the company. She hoped Danny would manage to bond with Lillian. She and Lillian had been so close when they were younger and sometimes she wished they had never grown up. But, she liked to think they were still as close as they had been, even if they didn’t talk as often. When they did talk, they could still go for hours, unless one of them got called away, so that had to count for something.
“You’re looking mighty pleased with yourself,” Beth said, stepping over to Nicole.
Nicole smiled more. “Yeah, Lil’s being nice to Danny. I’m glad someone’s trying.” She said that last bit a little louder, so that her other cousins could hear.
“Why should we be nice to someone who isn’t going to be here the next time we do this?” Junior inquired.
Nicole bristled. “What does that mean? I told you Danny’s it for me, so are you uninviting me from any other family camping trips?”
“Don’t twist my words, Nikki. You’ve been in love with plenty of people before. Just like web-head,” Junior replied, jabbing his thumb in his brother’s direction.
“Hey!” Spider looked up from a bag of his gear to glare at Junior.
“He’s right,” Richard chimed, chuckling at his son’s indignation. “You fall in love with almost any girl that holds your hand.”
“Hey!” Spider huffed once more and glared at his father.
“Look, Spider might not have found his perfect mate, but I have. I already told you. Be as skeptical as you like. I’ll be sure to invite you to our wedding in a few years, where I’ll also be sure to serve you some good crow with humble pie, okay?” Nicole told her eldest cousin.
Junior scoffed. “We all know no one here is getting married, ever.”
“Hello!” Beth protested, now glaring at Junior with a heated gaze. His brother and Nicole did the same.
“Beth, you can’t even find a date. You don’t stay anywhere long enough to make a friend,” Junior said with a chuckle.
Beth laughed, but picked up a handful of dirt and threw it at Junior. “Shut up. I have friends!”
“Junior, how about instead of being a jerk to your cousins and brother, even though I know that’s what you were made for, figure out what we’re going to do today.” Richard had apparently had enough of their childish arguing. He had no problem with them squabbling and things, but he’d rather they not do it around him for a prolonged period of time.
“It’s day one. We go fishing. Problem solved,” Junior said with a big grin to annoy his father.
The cousins all snickered at Junior being a smartass, which was par for the course. But, they did always go fishing on the first day of their camping trip. They never caught much, but it wasn’t really about fishing, which was why Junior went to check the cooler. He needed to make sure everything was packed.
“A morning of fishing and teasing before I move on to taking pictures,” Beth hummed with a happy smile.
“How is the photography going?” Nicole inquired. “I worry when you stop sending things.”
Beth smiled more and patted Nicole on the shoulder. “You shouldn’t worry. When I stop sending things, it usually means I’m busy taking tons of photos. I do owe you prints, though. I haven’t really shot anything that I think you’d like. Well, except a couple of shots I took of Danny yesterday.”
Nicole snickered. “Now, that does hold my interest. You’ll show me them, right?” She could only imagine how breathtaking the pictures would look. She’d have to go out and buy frames and figure out where to put them in the house.
“Of course. I took them for you. She seemed cool with it.”
Nicole nodded. “What have you been doing?”
“Mostly landscapes, but they don’t have any animals in them, so I didn’t think you’d be interested.”
Nicole nodded. “I do prefer critters with my grasslands.”
Beth chuckled. “I know. I prefer that, too. Unfortunately, the magazines and websites I freelance with keep pushing landscapes right now, without the critters. They’re usually trying to promote vacation areas and things like that. Hopefully, eventually, I’ll get picked up by one of them. I can get animals in the shots eventually if I just get enough work.”
“You should talk to my father. We have clients in the magazine industry.”
“I know, believe me, I know. Uncle Ray is always going on about how he could help me. If he’s not telling me, he’s telling my mother to get her to talk me into taking his help, but I want to do it on my own…until it drives me crazy. But, I could be doing worse, so I’m all right. I mean, I’m living my dream.”
Nicole smiled. Beth had always wanted to travel when she was younger and she was doing that, managing to support herself on her freelancing photography. Nicole respected that and respected that Beth chased a dream that everyone else told her wasn’t going to work. Her father’s side of her family didn’t think pursuing a career in anything that vaguely looked like art was a way to make a living. Art was a hobby, not a job, not a career. Beth proved them wrong, but they still worried about her, fearing the photography could dry up at any moment.
Nicole knew it wasn’t that they didn’t respect art, but that they didn’t think it was possible for the sporadic income to support anyone. There were times, too, when Beth lived hand to mouth. When she was first starting out, she had a couple of slips that forced her to move back in with her parents, which had the family swearing it would always happen. Beth never let it get her down, kept on going, and continued living her dream, loving every second of it, even the hard times. Nicole had to admire her determination and tenacity. Of course, there was a little envy in that as well.
She dropped that line of thinking, as she noticed Danny and Lillian returning. Lillian was talking, but Nicole couldn’t hear about what. Danny didn’t look pleased, face tense and mouth turned down in a slight frown. In fact, those grey eyes begged, “Save me!” Nicole chuckled and decided to go help her beloved.
“Baby, let me help you with those dishes,” Nicole said, rushing to her lover’s aid.
“Thanks,” Danny muttered.
Nicole helped Danny put the dishes back in their container, but before she could say anything to Danny, Lillian came in. Lillian wrapped her arm around Nicole’s and pulled her away. Lillian smiled at her and patted her forearm.
“Danny isn’t very talkative, huh?” Lillian said.
“No, she needs to get comfortable around you. I’m glad you’re trying.”
Lillian’s face lit up as she gave her cousin a cherubic smile. “Of course, I’m trying! You love her, so I want to like her. She’s different from everyone else you’ve dated. Does she treat you good?”
Nicole had to suppress a grin. “The best.”
“That’s good.”
“What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
“No, I’ve mostly
been working as usual. I’m trying to keep up with you, after all,” Lillian gave her an impish grin.
“I’ve told you time and time again that you shouldn’t be following me. Do what makes you happy.” She knew chasing someone else’s dream or living in someone’s shadow was no way to live.
“You make me happy, cousin.”
Nicole chuckled. “That’s sweet of you.” She leaned her head against Lillian’s for a moment. “So, what have you been doing besides work? Are you still clubbing and things like that?”
“I have been. I am trying to meet someone, after all. I don’t think the club is the place to do it. How did you meet people?”
“You know you don’t want to know how I met people. Everyone I’ve ever dated has been a disaster. Danny’s the best relationship I’ve had, and I met her by accident. Although, I guess that’s how you usually meet people.”
A light laugh escaped Lillian and her cerulean eyes sparkled. “This is true.”
“Come on. Let’s get ready for our fishing expedition. We’ll talk about how you might be able to meet someone while we do that.” Nicole wanted to talk to Lillian about everything, catch up in her life, and reconnect with her. Lillian agreed with an enthused nod, and they got to work while running their mouths the whole time.
Chapter Eight
DANE LEARNED THEY WERE going to spend the day fishing. Nicole had tried to help her get ready, but Lillian was with Nicole, so Dane decided to try to do it on her own. She truly didn’t want to spend any more time with Lillian than necessary, even though they seemed to be discussing something rather benign, cases they had worked. Surprisingly, Raymond stepped up to show her what to do.
“Have you ever gone fishing before?” Raymond asked.
“Nope.” Dane didn’t even know what most of the things were that Nicole bought her when they went shopping for fishing gear. She hadn’t known what to pack either, so Nicole had to handle it when they were home and, now, Raymond instructed her on what she should carry down to the river.
“Try not to talk too much. You’ll scare the fish, city girl,” Spider said, apparently listening in.
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