But a niggling part of me remembered Trip and Wren’s Halloween argument about money. Once again, I reminded myself that it wasn’t my problem.
It didn’t occur to me that Trip had probably told himself the same thing.
Christy’s brother Danny picked us up instead of her mother. He pulled up to the curb and climbed from the driver’s side of a big Cadillac.
“Birdy-bird,” he called over the roof of the car.
She squealed in surprise. “Danny!”
“Mom sent me instead. I hope that’s okay.”
“It’s awesome.”
“Lemme pop the trunk and I’ll help you with the bags,” he said to me. He reached into the car and then joined us on the sidewalk. He gave Christy a hug and shook my hand. “Good to see you again. She’s hard to say no to,
isn’t she?”
“You have no idea.”
“Oh, I think I do. She’s had the rest of us wrapped around her finger since she came home from the hospital.”
“Danny, that isn’t true.”
“Sure it is, Sis.” He gestured at the suitcases. “All of these yours?”
“Yeah.” I gestured feebly. “She… uh…”
“Oh, I’m familiar,” he said with a grin. “She used to pack all her dolls for family trips.”
“I did not.”
“She even packed a little suitcase of doll clothes.” He hefted one of the large bags and her smaller one.
I grabbed her other large suitcase and my own.
“I knew she’d have a bunch,” he said, “so I brought Dad’s car instead of Mom’s.”
The Cadillac’s trunk looked like it needed its own zip code. Our four suitcases plus Christy’s overnight bag and my backpack barely took up half of it.
“Sabrina’s in the front,” Danny said as he dropped the trunk lid. “You guys hop in the back.” He walked back to the driver’s side, and I opened the rear passenger door for Christy. I climbed in after her and closed the door with a soft thump.
The woman in the front seat turned. “Hey, Birdy, good to see you.”
“Sabrina! Good to see you too. You’re as beautiful as ever.”
“Thanks. You too. How was your flight?”
“It was good. The guy next to me was really cute.” She flashed me a grin.
“When did you get in?”
“About an hour ago. We hadn’t even settled in before you called. Danny was restless from the flight—you know how he is when he isn’t the one flying—so he volunteered to come pick you up.” She glanced at me and smiled. “Sorry, you must be Paul. I’m Sabrina.”
I shook her hand over the seat back. “Nice to meet you.”
She was pretty—what I could see of her, at least—with long, dark hair and finely sculpted features.
“Your mom put us together in your bedroom,” she said to Christy. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, that’s awesome!”
Danny glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “You and I bunk together on the screen porch.”
“Fine by me,” I said.
“Nothing against you,” he said, “but not exactly what I had in mind.
Mom’s just being old-fashioned.”
“Not until you’re married,” Christy said. Then she explained to me,
“Mom won’t let couples sleep together until they’re married.”
“She knows we’ve been living together,” Danny groused. “For two years.”
“There’s a simple solution,” Sabrina said.
“Exactly,” Christy agreed. “Why haven’t you married her yet, Danny?”
He glared at her in the mirror.
“Everyone loves her, even Rich.”
“Yes, Daniel,” Sabrina teased, “why haven’t you married me yet? My family keeps asking the same thing.”
“Can we change the subject?”
Sabrina smiled fondly at him.
“So, Paul,” he said, “are you ready for your trial by fire? Meeting all of us at once?”
“Can we change the subject?” I joked.
“Nah, you’ll do fine,” he said. “Mom already likes you. Dad’s a tougher nut to crack, but he’ll come around. Everyone else is pretty laid-back. Just don’t stand too close to Rich. Don’t make eye contact, either. And don’t stick anything through the bars of the cage.”
“Danny!” Christy cried.
Sabrina laughed. “Oh, Danny, be nice. Rich is a big softie. You just have to know how to handle him.”
“I never figured that out.” He glanced at me in the mirror. “Rich is fifteen months younger than me, but he used to beat me up. I swear, he was mean even as a kid.”
“He wasn’t mean,” Christy said. “Laurence said it was ’cause you and your friends made fun of him.”
“Yeah, ’cause he was a little troll.” He grumbled, “Now he’s a big troll, with weapons and hand-to-hand combat training.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Christy said to me. “You’ll get along fine with Rich. He’s just very protective.”
“Only with you,” Danny objected.
“And me,” Sabrina said.
“And Mom,” Christy added.
“Okay, so he’s protective of women,” Danny said. To me, “Those of us with testicles are on our own.”
“Roger that,” I said.
“Ah, Rich isn’t that bad,” he said. “He’s got a friend with him, so I’m sure he’ll be on his best behavior.”
“Rich is here?” Christy said, surprised.
“Yeah, he decided to spend a couple of days at the ol’ homestead.
Brought a friend with him. Their unit’s on standby to standby ’cause of the whole Beirut thing, so they can’t leave town.”
“Mom didn’t know if he was gonna make it,” Christy said. “He thought he’d be deployed.”
“He still might be. Dad doesn’t think so, but the scuttlebutt is above our pay grade.” He glanced at me as he slowed to turn into a neighborhood. “Still time to bail.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Christy said. She hugged my arm. “Everyone will love you.”
“Last chance,” Danny said before he turned into a driveway.
I grinned. “Faint heart never won fair lady.”
He laughed, and Christy beamed up at me.
“You girls head inside,” Danny said as he maneuvered the big car into the garage. “Paul and I can handle the luggage.”
We climbed out of the car, and I got my first good look at Sabrina. For a moment I thought I might have to put my eyes back in my head. She looked like a brunette Christie Brinkley, only close enough to touch. I managed to recover before she noticed, but only just. I distracted myself by helping Christy out of the car.
“I’ll see you inside,” she said. “I can’t wait for you to meet everyone.”
I smiled and watched her and Sabrina walk into the house. Then I glanced at Danny, who was doing the same.
Of course, I thought, the recruiting-poster jet pilot Marine has a supermodel girlfriend.
For a moment I wondered why I kept finding myself around better-looking, more popular guys. Then again, I was probably having more sex than they were. Unfortunately, I wasn’t having any sex at the moment, and no prospect of it in the next few days.
Danny waited till the girls shut the door behind them. Then he raised the trunk lid and gestured me behind it.
“All right,” he said quickly, his voice low, “here’s the tactical situation before you roll in.” He stopped and chuckled to himself. “You probably—”
“I got it. Pilot’s kid. Remember? I speak the lingo.”
“Yeah, right, sorry. Anyway, I like you,” he said earnestly, “so I want you to stick around. Here’s what you should expect. Mom’s already on your side.
That’s about seventy-five percent of the battle right there. When you meet Dad, give him a firm handshake and make eye contact. Call him ‘sir,’ but only when Mom isn’t around.”
“Roger.”
He grinned at the word. “Right, so… You’ll figure out Harry and Marianne when you meet them tomorrow. He’s a real hotshot, like Dad.