Sheila rubbed my head like a toddler as soon as I sat down. “I heard you put on quite the show this evening.” I started to ask her where she’d heard that until I remembered the Fontane’s maid was now one of her best pals. It helped that Sheila genuinely liked the other woman and wasn’t just using her for my purpose. I imagine she’s a victim, too, having to deal with those two banshees.
“What did Ella say?”
“She said when you left the you know what hit the fan. She thinks the way things are going, she might be looking for another job soon. Fontane left out the house soon after you did without saying a word to either of them, which apparently is not heard of. The last thing she said was that Becky person was holed up in her room pacing and talking to herself.”
“Does she have any prospects for a job? Ma, why don’t you ask one of your friends if they’re looking for someone?” This wasn’t part of my plan, but any little thing that would make those two miserable is a bonus. Let’s see them go back to fending for themselves. I’m hoping they hang in there long enough for me to finish what I started.
Ma had already started scrolling through the page I had opened on my tablet while Sheila and I were talking. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t the one doing the scrolling, but after hours and page after page of looking, it took her only three scrolls. “That’s it. Who is that? Where is that?”
The dress was daffodil yellow, strapless with a court train. It had a sweetheart neckline, with appliqued flowers running down between her breasts, beneath the left one and down the side. It was floor-length, the skirt made in the quintessential princess style of miles of fabric with pick-ups on one side showing flounces of silk and tulle beneath. It was gorgeous.
“How comes I didn’t see this?”
“Because it’s only five hundred dollars. I keep telling you kids that everything doesn’t have to be designer to look good.” Says the woman whose cheapest handbag cost about fifteen grand.
“Thanks, Ma, I knew you’d come through. I’ll make up for the lack on the price tag with the accessories.”
I kissed both their cheeks and skedaddled before she asked for payment in the form of watching one of those things with them. There’s a reason Pop is always busy in the evening before bedtime.
It seems like the weekend was here before we knew it, way too soon. I knew in my gut that things were going to change for her in some way once she met her maternal family; I just wasn’t sure in what way. She’s been nervous and edgy since the visit to her old home, which I guess is understandable, but this unrest sent her running to my bed every night.
I caught her that first night, creeping open the door not five minutes after I’d gone to bed, almost as if she’d been listening for just that moment. I’d pretended to be asleep while watching from beneath half-closed lids as she eased herself down beside me. In the morning, she was gone before I woke up, but her eyes were bloodshot at the breakfast table.
The following night I went to bed earlier than usual because I didn’t want her staying up that late waiting to get into my bed, and sure enough, she climbed in with me not long after. I waited for her breathing to even out in sleep before popping my eyes open to look down at her face that lay on my chest.
I couldn’t resist touching her soft cheek with just the tip of my thumb and fingers. She sighed like an innocent and cuddled closer to my chest, her arm going around me as if holding me in place. I went to sleep that night with a smile.
If the nights were blissful, the mornings were stressful as heck. The more comfortable she became, the longer she stayed in bed with me, and this morning she’d awakened to find me watching her as she laid sprawled all over me. “Watch it!” I had to catch her before she fell off the bed in her haste to remove herself.
I dared not laugh because I’d noticed something about her in these last couple of days. I don’t know if it’s hanging with the twins, her new status at school, or just the way the family, including Lancelot, welcome and spoil her every chance they get, but she’s beginning to have a bit of an attitude.
Nothing bad, just she seems more confident, and she’s full of sass, at least with me anyway. Yesterday we’d played a game of touch football, and my girl did not take it easy on me like she did her other opponents. When I jokingly brought it up to her, her answer had left me reeling. “I know you won’t hurt me no matter what, so I can tackle you harder.”
Such words said in her honest straight to the point way, something else I’ve come to notice about her, had been humbling. We never talk about her crawling into my bed, we always just go on with our day as if that was now a part of our routine, but I know how dangerous it is for her to keep coming to me like that.
I’ve given up on trying to control my body around her, especially since it's decided to act not only when we’re in bed together but at random times throughout the day. I’d have a thought or a memory of her face during some innocent encounter where she smiled or looked up at me with that light in her eyes, and it’ll happen.
I find myself resenting the time we’re apart and resenting, even more, the people who now crowd around her seeking her attention. But while I was off in my own world, I’d overlooked the fact that things were changing for her as well. She’s so good at hiding her true feelings, and I’d been so caught up in getting her, her own back, that I’d missed some serious signs along the way.
That morning at school, I realized that someone else had noticed the changes, too, not just me. But I should’ve known if anyone else would, it would be him. I’d just pulled into the school parking lot where Lance was waiting. I’d noticed the night before when he left the house to go home that he seemed distant like he had a lot on his mind.
I hadn’t asked because I knew he’d tell me without me having to if it were something serious, but he didn’t seem to have improved much after a night’s sleep. “What’s eating you?” He’d been staring at the spot where Gianna and the twins were talking to some of their friends. I don’t know what I expected him to say, but it wasn’t what came out of him.
“Should I tell Gia not to waste her time?”
“What are you talking about?” I must admit, I was already on the defensive. It’s a little habit I picked up here lately when it comes to her. Other than the twins, and to a lesser extent Ma, I don’t like anyone getting involved in her life, not even my brother in heart.
“I see the way she looks at you.”
“What about it?”
“I think she’s falling for you, and I know for damn certain that you already fell for her, but for whatever reason, you’re not gonna let yourself go there. Wouldn’t it be best to let her know that now…?”
“Stay away from Gianna.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” Because he knows I won’t punch his face in?
“Because I know what you feel for her, and I know you wanna protect her. So, in order to protect you from being hurt, I have to protect her as well, right.”
He’s such a…. “She only looks at me that way because of what I’ve done for her.”
“Bullshit! So, what's your excuse when you look at her with longing?”