Brian wasn’t home, but Lizzy was. And, as I had predicted, she wasn’t surprised to see me. She did, however, raise her eyebrows at Matt. He excused himself to find the bathroom, and she immediately turned on me.
“On a date?” She narrowed her blue eyes at me.
“It’s not a date!”
“It looks like a date.”
“It’s not.”
“He sure seems to be spending a lot of time with you.”
“He’s new in town. He doesn’t know anybody. That’s all.”
“Jarhead,” she said in exasperation, “if you think that man doesn’t have other options, even in this town, then you must be blind. He chose you.”
I knew she was right. Hadn’t I just seen him lie to Cherie so that he could spend the evening with me? And she wasn’t the only single woman in town by any means. She might have been the only one who had gone to the trouble to track him down at his house, but that only meant she was the most aggressive of the lot. But he was adamant about being straight, so where did that leave us? I could feel myself blushing as I thought about it.
“What are you two talking about?” Matt asked as he strode back into the room. “Looks like you’re embarrassing Jared.”
“Hair,” Lizzy said, without missing a beat. “Can you believe that mess he has on his head? I keep telling him to get it cut!”
Matt frowned at me and inspected the dirty mop on my head. I tried not to flinch under his scrutiny. I suddenly had great pity for the monkeys at the zoo.
Then he turned to Cherie, eyebrow up, a ghost of a grin on his face, and said, “I like it.” And that’s when I knew I was a complete fool, because my heart swelled up and threatened to burst through my chest, and I knew I was turning tomato red. Matt had already turned and vanished into the kitchen.
“I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling,” Lizzy hissed at me across the room, “but this is definitely a date!”
CHAPTER 7
HE DROPPED by the shop several times after that, always right at closing time, and we went out for dinner. I was surprised that he seemed to be seeking me out, but I was thrilled at the same time. He was easy to talk to.
Lizzy invited him to her house for a Memorial Day barbecue. He seemed happy to be included, but two days before it was supposed to take place he came into the shop to cancel.
“Lizzy, you’re going to have to give me a rain check on dinner. My parents decided to drop in for a visit this week.”
“No problem,” she said, without even looking up from her inventory list. “Bring them along!”
He looked a little startled by that but said firmly, “No, I couldn’t do that.”
Now she looked up. “Why not?”
“I couldn’t intrude like that.”
“Don’t be silly. The more the merrier!”
“Ummm.” He suddenly looked terribly uncomfortable. “I appreciate that Lizzy, but it’s really a bad idea. You’ll end up regretting it. Trust me.”
“My goodness, are they that bad?” she said jokingly, raising her eyebrows at him.
But he didn’t seem to be joking at all when he answered her. “Yeah. They really are. You know that nasty uncle in all the movies who ruins every holiday? That’s my dad. No kidding.”
She looked at him for a minute, tapping her finger on her lip, like she was trying to decide how serious he was. And then she got that determined look on her face, and I wanted to tell him he might as well give up now, because Lizzy would get what she wanted. “Matt, you’ve never met my parents. They’re insane. I’m talking certifiable wack-a-doo. Jared?” She turned to me. “Tell Matt. My parents are totally fucking loony.”
“Well—”
She was already talking to Matt again. “Seriously. Your parents can’t possibly be any worse than mine.”
“I don’t know—”
“Great! Then we’ll see you at five thirty!” She looked back down at her inventory list as if the topic was closed.
Matt looked a little baffled, like he wasn’t quite sure what had just happened. “Oh. Okay. Well, thanks, Lizzy.” He cocked his eyebrow at her, although she was still looking down, so only I saw it. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He turned and walked to the door but then turned at the last minute. “Lizzy, my dad drinks a lot.” It sounded like a warning.
“No problem.”
THEY arrived right on time. Matt’s mom, Lucy, was about five-four, big boned but skinny, with hair that was somewhere in the transition from brown to gray. Her green eyes looked sad and nervous, and her fingers never held still. She fidgeted with her necklace, her earrings, and her hair constantly.
His dad, Joseph, was big. He was as tall as Matt with the same dark hair and military cut. He had obviously once had the same athletic physique as well, but now had a tiny bit of a beer belly and the red, bulbous nose of a hardcore drinker.
They brought a bottle of wine with them, all wrapped up in a pretty foil bag with a bow. As soon as Lucy handed it to Lizzy, Joseph said, “I’ll take a glass of that now, if you would.”
Matt and I followed Lizzy into the kitchen. Matt was definitely not himself. I had never seen him act so nervous and unsure of himself. His parents were obviously a bomb, and he was just waiting for them to go off.
“We’ll definitely have enough to drink,” Lizzy said cheerfully, as she opened the wine. “I bought three bottles of wine, two red, one white, and a case of beer. And there’s plenty of hard stuff in the cabinet, too, if he wants something stronger.” She pointed to the liquor cabinet, before taking the open wine and several glasses, and headed back into the living room.
I started to follow her, but suddenly Matt grabbed my arm. When I looked up, I was surprised to see something like terror on his face. “Why did she buy all that alcohol?”
“You said your dad likes to drink.”
“Oh no,” he groaned, and covered his face with his hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“I meant that she shouldn’t have alcohol. It was supposed to be a warning. Oh my God, I’m such an idiot. I should have been more clear. Shit! This is bad, Jared. He’s a jerk when he’s sober. He’s an angry, belligerent, antagonistic asshole when he’s not.”
“That bad?” I would have laughed if he hadn’t looked so terrified.
“Yes!” He rubbed his hands hard over his face and then went over to the liquor cabinet and rummaged around, emerging with a bottle of Jack Daniels. He took two glasses out of the cabinet and poured two extra large shots. “Here.” He handed one to me and downed his in one swallow.
“I hate this stuff.”
“Trust me,” he said as he poured another one for himself. “It won’t be quite so painful if you’re half drunk too.”
He was wrong. It was still painful.
We had dinner on the patio. The sun was still up but low in the sky, casting long shadows across the lawn. It was a beautiful night, contrasting strangely with the tension at the table as we stumbled through small talk. Of course, with my family, the conversation eventually turned to football.
“Are you a Chiefs fan too?” Brian asked Joseph.
“Hell, no. I’m a Cowboys fan. I think Matt picked another team just to be rebellious. At least he didn’t pick the damn Redskins.”
“I was pretty sure you would have thrown me out of the house for that one,” Matt said dryly.
“Damn right.” I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.
“Lucy,” Mom jumped in, “do you work outside of the home?”
Lucy looked a little startled, as if she hadn’t realized she might have to speak during dinner. “No, not anymore. I was a nurse for twenty-five years, but I’m retired now.”
“Did you work at a hospital or in an office?”