And then he pointed. I saw that he had a camera doorbell up now. “It’s one of those fancy new things that you kids have.”
“I don’t have one of these.”
“Well, it allows me to see anytime someone’s outside the door.” He held up his cell phone. “And I’ve seen the two of you.” He looked at Dylan again. “And still, I don’t know this young man’s name.”
“Dad, this is my boss, Mr. McAllister.”
“Oh,” my dad’s expression changed to one of disappointment. “Well, nice to meet you, sir. I hope that our Abby is doing a good job.”
“She is doing quite well. Thank you. Nice to meet you, Mr. Waldron.”
“Well, come in, come in. Abby, you didn’t tell us you were bringing guests.”
“Well, Mr. McAllister, and I—”
“Please, Abby. I said you can call me Dylan.”
“Yes, Dylan.” I rolled my eyes. “Dylan and I were working, and I told him that I had to stop working and come over here. And well, he thought it might be nice for me because we have to work after lunch,” I said quickly.
My dad frowned. “It’s Sunday.”
“Yeah. I know that, Dad.”
“Sunday is a day of rest.”
“Well, it’s also a day of work, Dad.”
“But you’re not meant to work on Sunday.”
“Dad.” I shot him a look, hoping he’d get the hint and be quiet.
“I’m just saying. I thought we raised you better than this.”
“Is there a reason why you don’t work on Sunday?” Dylan looked over at me. “Are you a Seventh-day Adventist, or Jehovah’s Witness, or whatever religion it is that can’t work on a Sunday?”
“Well, we are Christians, and …”
“You don’t work on the Sabbath, Abby. You know that.”
“Dad,” I rolled my eyes. “This isn’t the old days anymore. Sometimes people have to work on Sundays.”
“Fine.” He looked at me and then he looked at Dylan. “We taught our daughter not to work on Sunday. Sunday is a day for church and a day for family.”
“Oh, no. Did I make you miss church today, Abby? Why didn’t you say?” Dylan looked at me with an innocent expression.
“You didn’t make me miss church today,” I muttered. “So don’t worry.”
“Abby doesn’t go to church as much as we would like,” my father said. “But we’ll talk about that later, young lady.”
“Dad, we don’t have to.”
“And I excuse my poor manners.” My dad held his hand out to Dylan as he cut me off. “I’m Fred, Fred Waldron.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Waldron. I’m Dylan McAllister.”
“Well, good, good, good.” My dad shook his hand and I could tell he was confused as to why Dylan was here if we weren’t in a relationship. “So, Chloe and Emma are in the living room.”
“Chloe and Emma?” Dylan looked at me.
“Remember, you met them last night?”
“You saw each other last night?” My dad said with a frown. “Where did you see each other last night?”
“Dad, we went out last night, and Dylan happened to be at the same club.”
“And you know, we danced a little bit, sir.”
“You danced?” My dad’s eyes lit up with happiness. “Ooh, I’ll have to tell your mother.”
“Dad, it was nothing. He just literally happened to be at the same club as me. We didn’t text each other and say we were going to meet or anything.”
“But we did have a fun time, didn’t we, Abby?” Dylan winked at me and I glared at him.
“Don’t give my dad the wrong impression, Mr. McAllister. He is going to have us married off, and I’m just your secretary. And we don’t want him to think anything other than that, do we?”
“I don’t know. Do we?” He grinned at me.
Dad pulled Dylan further into the apartment. “Oh, Dylan, come through to the kitchen. I’d love for you to meet my wife. Abby’s mother will be so happy to meet you.”
“Dad,” I groaned. “Come on.”
“Abby, go and talk to your friends whilst I introduce your boss to your mother.”
“Yes, Dad.” I watched as Dylan followed my dad into the kitchen. I had no idea what my dad was going to say about Dylan to my mother, but I knew my mother would absolutely fawn over Dylan. Dylan was one of those handsome men that mothers absolutely loved because he had a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his lips. I walked through into the living room and made my way to Chloe and Emma, who were sitting on the couch, looking at magazines. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey. There you are,” Emma jumped up to give me a hug. “You okay? You look a little frazzled.”
“Oh my gosh. I am way more than slightly frazzled. I am absolutely frazzled. Guess who is here with me?”
“I don’t know. Who?”
“I said guess.”
“Donald Trump?”
“What? Why would Donald Trump be here with me?”
“I don’t know. You said guess.”
“Yeah, but … what a stupid guess. Emma, who do you think is here with me?”
“I don’t know. Rudy Giuliani?”
“Really? Are you guys high or something?”
“You’re the one that said to guess.”
“Why would Donald Trump or Rudy Giuliani be here with me?”
“Okay. Derek Jeter.”
“Yeah. Because Derek Jeter just wanted to come to my parents’ house for lunch.”
“I don’t know. He likes good food, right?”
“You guys are absolutely ridiculous.”
“What?” They started laughing. “How are we meant to know? Tell us.”
“My boss, Dylan McAllister.”
“No way,” Emma said, her jaw dropping. “Why is he here?”
“I don’t know. I guess he wants to work after lunch and he figured he’d kill two birds with one stone. Get a free meal or something.”
“Isn’t he like a billionaire? He doesn’t need a free meal.”
“Obviously, he’s not here for the free meal. It was just a figure of speech.”
“No need to take it out on us,” Chloe said, laughing. “Wow. He’s really gotten under your skin, hasn’t he?”
“No, he has not,” I said. “Okay. Maybe he has just a little bit. I just don’t know how to take him. There’s just something about him that really winds me up the wrong way. You know?”
“I know,” Emma said with a small smile. “It’s because he’s hot and a jerk.”
“I never said he’s hot.”
“You didn’t have to say he’s hot. We’ve seen him. Remember?”
“True. Okay. He’s hot. But he is also a jerk.”
“He is AB. Come on. He is AB, capital A, capital B.”
“I wouldn’t mind having AB,” Chloe said, and she and Emma started giggling.
“You guys are absolutely ridiculous. You know that, right? I wish Isabella was here. She’d understand.”