Part of the Family

by Cristina Grenier

Ev watched as she smiled at the young man and then felt Jeff’s eyes on him. He looked back at him and smiled, and Jeff grinned in return. “Goodnight, boss.”

  “Goodnight, Jeff,” they both said together.

  “How did you get here?” he asked, after a long, awkward silence.

  “I took a cab. I was too upset to drive when you rang off like you did, but I knew I had to come here to you.”

  “I’ll reimburse you,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to spend so much money on me.”

  She stared at him for a long moment as though he had sprouted horns, and then said,

  “I don’t tell you how to spend your money, do I? You do whatever you want with it, regardless of my say so, yes?”

  Ev was too stunned by her sharp tone to respond, and she didn’t seem to require an answer.

  “Well, kindly allow me to know how I wish to spend my own money, thank you very much!”

  He didn’t know how to go on from where they were. He wasn’t exactly sure where they were, if he were to be honest. She had said she forgave him, she had said she wanted to be with him, but she hadn’t said how she felt about him. To be fair, neither had he, though telling her he didn’t want anyone but her was a step in that direction. He couldn’t demand anything from her, not while things were still somewhat strained between them.

  “So, what will you do about this woman?”

  Her question broke the ice, and Ev told her what he and Tom had planned earlier that afternoon.

  “Sounds like you two have everything well in hand. I’m sorry she’s trying to hurt you, Ev. It can’t be pleasant to be seen not just as a playboy but as a predator.”

  “It’s my own fault, though,” he admitted. “If I hadn’t decided to play fast and loose with women, this wouldn’t have happened. I can’t really blame her, even if she did come on to me. She didn’t force me to say yes.”

  Maxine stood up from where she had been sitting in the Queen Anne chair by the fireplace and walked over to him. He was sitting in the loveseat and she knelt between his spread legs. He reached out automatically to hold her, his hands at her waist, and she rested her own on either side of him on the seat. Leaning in, she kissed his cheeks, and then his lips gently.

  “We all make mistakes, Ev,” she whispered in his ear. “Sure, some are bigger than others, but they all tell us we’re human. D’you think you can stop beating yourself up about this one now?”

  “If that’s what you want, yes,” he said, turning his face so their lips met. “Aren’t you uncomfortable?” he wanted to know. “Wouldn’t you feel better sitting down?”

  She smiled at him and climbed up until her knees were on either side of his hips and her crotch was hugging his own. “Better?” she asked, circling her hips teasingly.

  “Much,” he said, kissing her lips gently. “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve a second chance, and I don’t know how I managed to be lucky enough to get it with you, but I’m really glad we bumped into each other in that store that Friday evening.”

  “Seems you have a thing for shrewish fish wives,” she said. “Who’d a thunk it?”

  “Only the one,” he replied with a smirk. “And anyway, she likes my asshole ways a lot, by the looks of things.”

  He loved the chuckle that echoed around them as they teased each other. “I have a favor to ask you,” she said, nipping his earlobe.

  “Anything for you, Minx.” He licked the pulse at her neck and rode his cock up against her mound.

  “Will you come with me to visit my dad before we go up to the cabin?”

  Ev pulled away from her to search her face. “Does he know you’re coming?”

  “He invited me, like he does every Christmas. This is the first time in years that I’ve said yes.”

  “When do we go?”

  “I told him I’d be out of town for the weekend, so he asked if I could make it on Thursday evening. It’ll just be us, and whichever woman he happens to be with at the moment.”

  Ev could hear the faint disdain in her voice, but he was proud of her for trying to begin something better with her father. They spent the rest of the evening cuddling and making out, but Ev restrained his need to take her in his living room. They both still had two days of work, and he knew she’d need to be well rested for work the next day. He told Jeff he was going out for a bit, and took her home. And then he kissed her at her door.

  “Would you like to come in?” she asked, and Ev saw the desire in her eyes, the hunger for him to stay.

  He wanted to stay so badly his teeth ached. But he wanted to prove to her that he wasn’t ruled by his desires. He could wait until they had time to spare before he did all this things he wanted to do to her. And anyway, he had two reports to review by morning.

  “Yes, I would, baby, but I won’t. I want us to savor the anticipation of coming together again when there’s no rush. Can you wait with me?”

  “I can, if you can,” she said sassily, and when she leaned in to kiss him goodnight, he ravished her mouth.

  “Sleep sweet, baby,” he said. “Talk tomorrow.”

  The next day, he called the clinic where the DNA testing would be performed to make arrangements to leave his sample, and after that he called his caretaker to make sure the cabin would be ready for four people from Friday till Monday. He asked him to make sure the tree in the front garden that they used every year was trimmed and ready to be decorated, and that there would be enough wood for an outdoor pit barbecue as well as for the fireplace. He made sure to transfer enough funds to their bank account to cover all the costs, and to give them their yearly bonus and then he tried to tackle the workload piling up on his desk.

  When he called Maxine later in the evening to ask about the dress code for dinner with her dad, she told him a business suit would be fine. When he asked about a gift, she said she was thinking of buying him a scarf or monogrammed handkerchiefs.

  “You get him the handkerchiefs and I’ll get him the scarf. How’s that?” he asked.

  “Sounds like a plan. He prefers dark colors,” she said.

  “Good to know. What time is dinner?”

  “Seven, and he lives in Hampshire Hills.”

  “I’ll pick you up at six, then. Can’t wait to see you.”

  The following evening, as he was parking on her father’s curved driveway, he turned to look at her. She was nervous, although she looked ravishing in a deep blue form-fitting dress that covered her from neck to knees, including long sleeves that fanned out below her elbows. She wore long pearls that hung heavy between her lush breasts, pearl drop earrings, white knee-high boots, and a faux white mink coat. She had her hair up in an elegant style, elongating her neck and making him want to feast on her there.

  “You look luscious, and you’re gonna be fine,” he told her.

  “Easy for you to say,” she retorted. “You don’t know my father.”

  “That will soon be remedied,” he said. “Come on, let’s go in.”

  Despite Maxine’s concerns, the evening turned out to be moderately successful, despite the hairy beginning, when she introduced Ev to her father, who immediately asked if the newspaper article about him was true. Bristling at having to defend his honor to someone he didn’t even know, Ev reined in his temper and answered that it was a falsehood and that he and his attorney were already taking steps to disprove her story. Something like admiration had shone briefly in the older man’s eyes before he looked away to his daughter. Although he said nothing admiring about her, Ev could see the pride in his gaze, and he wondered why a man who was supposed to understand all about how human beings handled emotions was so uncomfortable with his own flesh and blood.

  Another surprise was the absence of a woman on the doctor’s arm. They were three for dinner, and after a sumptuous meal, he showed Ev around his home, and they stayed to watch the fireworks that the Hampshire Hills fire department put on every year for the residents. Then he wished them a happy Christmas and hoped they’d come again soon.
Maxine seemed stunned by the way things had gone.

  “That was far less unpleasant than I had expected,” she admitted when he dropped her home. “And I’m frankly shocked that there wasn’t some woman at his side. That has never happened before.”

  “People change, baby,” Ev said gently, thinking about himself and how she had made him work to be better than he had been before. “Maybe give him another chance, like you did for me?”

  She looked into his face then, studying him for a long moment. “Maybe I will,” she said at last.

  He kissed her at her door again. “I’ll be here to pick you up at four.”

  “I’ll be ready. Drive safely.”

  *******************************************************

  Christmas morning, while everyone was still asleep, Ev stole down to place the gifts under the tree. He had brought his family up to the cabin two days before, and they had decorated the tree outside, made a Santa snowman, mulled apple cider, made Christmas cookies for Santa, roasted a duck, some ham and a leg of lamb, and gone tobogganing. Jeff had watched them from the bottom of the hill, and had been ready with the hot apple cider in the thermos flasks. They had taken Danny ice skating on the lake, and had gone into the little town for more snacks for after dinner.

  Now he placed the gifts he had bought for them under the tree, smiling at the ones already there. He knew this would not be his last Christmas at the cabin, and he knew he would share them with the people still sleeping in the quiet morning. His feelings for Maxine had been growing since he confessed to her, and her willingness to wait to make love to him again had sealed the deal. That first night there had been no chance to make love. They had been too tired, but they had slept wrapped in each other’s arms. On Christmas Eve morning, when Jeff and Danny were still fast asleep on the other side of the loft, Ev had taken Maxine hard, pleasuring her with his hands and mouth, edging her until she was mindless with need, and then he had sheathed himself and fucked her until she bit into his shoulder to muffle her screams of ecstasy. He had taken her again last night twice more, wearing her out, loving the way she rolled into his body and curled against him as she slept.

  Finished with his task, he stole back into bed just as she was stirring.

  “Where were you?” she mumbled sleepily, rolling into him as he settled against her spine.

  “Downstairs. I thought I heard a noise.” He kissed her cheek. “Good morning, baby.”

  “Good morning, Ev.”

  She reached up to kiss him, and he took her mouth in a slow, rapidly heating kiss, reaching down to fondle her between her legs as he ravished her mouth.

  “Are you sore, baby?” he asked, and when she shook her head and moaned, he plunged two fingers into her core.

  “Ev, please!”

  “I’ll give you everything you want, and more,” he told her, “if you promise me one thing.”

  She worked herself on his fingers and stole a hot kiss from his lips before she panted, “What’s that?”

  “Promise me to say yes when I ask you to marry me.” He twisted his fingers inside her, reaching for her sweet spot, and she groaned loudly.

  “Shhh! Don’t wanna wake up the whole house now, do we, Minx?” he teased, and chuckled when she growled at him. “So, do you promise?”

  “I promise,” she whispered, “if you promise not to wait too long to ask me.”

  “Done.” He slid on a condom and rolled her over, thrusting into her hard.

  “Unnh!” she exclaimed as he rocked into her. "Mmmff!”

  He kissed the rest of her reply right off her lips, plunging his tongue into her mouth in time to his hard thrusts into her body. Raising her legs, he draped them over his shoulders, twisted his body and rammed into her, hitting her sweet spot again and again. And when he rubbed her clit as he stroked into her, she came, a silent scream rounding her mouth as she fell over the edge. Her inner muscles fluttered over Ev’s hard shaft, and when she squeezed him tight, he howled into her neck and spilled his seed.

  “Merry Christmas, Minx,” he whispered, gasping for air. “I love you.”

  “Merry Christmas, Ev,” she whispered back. “I love you, too.”

  They stayed wrapped up in each other’s arms until their breathing slowed, and then they looked into each other’s eyes, and spoke the words again.

  “Let’s clean up before Danny wakes,” he said at last. “He’ll be up soon.”

  Ev’s heart was full. Everything he thought he had lost had been given back to him again. He sent up a silent prayer of thanks for second chances as he faced the day with the woman he loved. And when Danny and Jeff came down the stairs, and Christmas greetings rang out in the cabin, Ev smiled at the family he had gained. He couldn’t think of anything he wanted more.

  “Merry Christmas!” he said. “Who’s ready to open presents?”

  The chaos was heavenly.

  The Arrangement

  Cristina Grenier

  Prologue

  She could always tell when she was getting close to her neighborhood. She knew the way by heart. The teenager had been walking it for the past three years - she probably could have done it with her eyes closed and her feet would have found the way.

  But if she kept them open, the slow deterioration of the town began to show the moment she was beyond the main square.

  Makayla had thought about it more than she liked to admit it, and she supposed that very few visitors actually went beyond the square. It was pretty, perfectly manicured, and lined with shops and restaurants that she could never hope to be able to afford. The length of real-estate that extended from the square to Trembley Academy was the public face of the town. Most of its sixty thousand residents had nice little cottages or brick houses just off Main Street. Personally, Makayla wasn’t even sure they were aware that Trembley went on beyond the square.

  Every day when school ended, she left the pristine classrooms alone and tried to tell herself she didn’t long for the company of friends. Makayla was sure that it would only mean disaster if she got too close to anyone. She was only attending Trembley Academy because she had received a scholarship. She couldn’t imagine that any of the other students, who came from moneyed households and pampered lives, would be happy to learn that their sacred halls had been invaded by an outsider.

  So, instead of approaching anyone, Makayla watched. She watched gaggles of girls gush over a different boy from one week to the next. She watched them involve themselves in extracurricular activities from art to mathematics, joining clubs that would take them all over the country for competitions. She watched them go on field trips that cost more money than she had ever seen in her life - watched them live and love their lives, and promised herself that, one day, she would be just like them.

  But, in the meantime, she walked home every afternoon. She made sure no one watched as she passed beyond the square and the buildings became more and more sparse. Here, the economic trouble that had plagued the country in the past years was more apparent. More than half the shops had boarded up their windows and the people roaming the streets weren’t as well-dressed.

  But they were far more like her than anyone at Trembley Academy.

  Though she attended school there, in Makayla’s mind, the Academy wasn’t so much the real world as a haven made for young people to shelter them before it was time to emerge into it. At school, there were no fights. No screaming matches and no missed meals. As long as she continued to do well, she was just another student.

  Her home situation couldn’t have been any more different.

  The further she got from the square, the more dilapidated buildings grew. There were no longer any gleaming cars sitting out front of pretty little houses, but half run down apartment buildings with junkers on their withering grass lawns.

  And still, she continued to walk.

  Makayla had gotten robbed more than once coming home from school. She quickly learned not to carry any money with her - not that she had much in the first pl
ace, really - and to wrap her books in plastic for when they were eventually strewn over the dusty sidewalk. Luckily for her, today wasn’t one of those days.

  She made it all the way down to the end of the main road before turning off onto one of the many side streets. Here, most of the street lights were burned out, but the town didn’t bother with repairs. Who would ever appreciate them? This wasn’t a tourist haven. They weren’t going to make any money here, which meant it was pointless to contribute.

  But Makayla didn’t need the lights. She walked to the very end of the road, grateful that most of the houses seemed to be deserted. Only yesterday, someone had spotted her Academy uniform and called her an entire encyclopedia of nasty names- told her she was pandering to folks who didn’t give two shits about her. Makayla didn’t bother to correct them. She had long learned to let comments like theirs slide right off her.

  There was a single lamp on in the front room of the ramshackle house where she lived. At the sight of it, the young woman hesitated, stopping at the end of the weed-clogged drive.

  She didn’t want to go in.

  She never wanted to go in.

  But where else did she have to go? She should be grateful enough that they were even allowing her to attend Trembley Academy. If she asked for board, she was almost sure she would be refused - and besides, that might launch an inquiry into her situation at home.

  Which was the last thing she needed.

  Makayla was on her own, and she had been for a long time. She didn’t need anyone to help her. She just needed to tackle her days one at a time.

  Taking a deep breath, she did her best to prepare herself for what she would see when she walked into her house. It was always the same, but that didn’t make it any better.

  As she began up the walk, she promised herself that things would change. That one day, she would escape, and all this would just be a painful memory. She would rise above the world that had produced her, and she would prove that she was more than just her roots.

  Someday, she would be free.