Rather than going up the walk to the front door, Zero opened the side gate in the pretty fence and we took the path to the backyard. My free hand clamped down on the straw bonnet he’d bought for me about twenty minutes before, in a little shop not far down the highway. It made me feel like I was going to a royal wedding or something. Apparently, a baseball cap or something equally casual wouldn’t have been good enough for the occasion.
“So how long have your parents been married?”
“Twenty-eight years, I think my sister said.” The card and small, impeccably wrapped box he carried were a mystery. What did someone like Zero buy for rich people like his parents? I’d never been to Zero’s cabin, but I got the impression it was nowhere near as nice as Vandal’s. If he had money he didn’t flaunt it.
“Zachariah, my dear,” an older woman said as soon as we came into view. She approached us with her hands outstretched and air kissed on either side of his face as though she’d recently moved to the area from France.
“Grandma, so good to see you. This is my friend, Sadie. Sadie, this is my grandmother, Amelia Thompson.”
“Hello, Ms. Thompson. Nice to meet you.”
“A pleasure, Sadie.” His grandmother smiled at me, and I took her proffered hand, not sure what to do with it. I shook it awkwardly, but if she found me odd, she didn’t even blink.
“I didn’t know you were seeing anyone special, Zachariah.” His grandmother patted his cheek affectionately, and I found myself smiling.
“I didn’t want to bring anyone if I wasn’t sure they could handle the family. It was a last-minute decision to throw Sadie to the wolves.”
She snorted. “No Van today?”
“After what happened between Van and Dad, I thought maybe he should stay away for a while.”
“Yes, that was uncomfortable, wasn’t it? He can be so disagreeable.”
I almost laughed, assuming she meant Vandal, then realized she might mean Zero’s father.
Zero brought me around to introduce me to the rest of the family, someone relieving us of the gift and the wine before we’d made it too far. It was so jarring to hear people calling him Zachariah.
His sister raised a haughty brow at me and looked down her nose when we were introduced, and his mother slow blinked as if she was hoping she’d wake up from the terrible nightmare she was having. Did I look that bad? It was hard not to tug self-consciously at my clothing, but I kept my chin high and did my best to look unruffled.
The nod of greeting Zero got from his father was downright frosty.
“How are things?” Zero asked, turning his usual charm up a notch.
“Fine. You?”
“I can’t complain. My latest book is doing well.”
“It’s ‘doing well’ but you’re still living in a shack and driving a base-model truck.” He eyed me as though I was a base-model date.
Zero frowned. “Not all of us have the same goals, Dad. I’m doing what I love, and I’m not asking you for money.”
“When are you going to cut your hair?”
“When are you going to stop asking me?” He tried a smile, but it was not returned.
His father sighed and walked away.
I was still fuming on Zero’s behalf when we had a moment for a private word. “Why do you come to these functions if everyone is going to be so rude to you?”
“To see my grandmother. That, and to embarrass the hell out of them.”
“So what did Vandal do the last time he was here that was so bad?”
“He called my father a cunt.”
I burst out laughing and covered my mouth. “Why?”
“My father went on a rant about homosexuals. He’s never said a word against the LGBT community before, but I think he assumed Vandal was trying to get into my pants.”
“Ha. Trying to?”
“Right? I didn’t have the heart to tell him Van could just order me out of them.”
We laughed, and I leaned on him where our arms were linked together. I noticed his grandmother watching us and smiling behind her glass of white wine.
“So he’s angry you’re a writer?”
“He’s angry that I’m not something fancy or important.”
“Writers are important, and you must make a decent amount of money. You’re a household name.”
He raised his brows. “Oooh, flattery. What’s the occasion?”
“If you’re in a pissy mood when we leave, I might end up locked in the basement again. It’s in my best interest to suck up.”
He grimaced, but his eyes were alight with amusement. “Wow, that compliment was short lived. Maybe I will punish you when we get back to the cottage.”
“I thought you were getting me ice cream!”
“Only good girls get ice cream.”
“Do bad girls get orgasms?”
“Absolutely.”
“We can skip the ice cream then.”
He kissed my temple and I felt myself blush, considering both his grandmother and his aunt happened to be looking over at us.
I watched his father mingling with guests. He and Zero didn’t look much alike. “What did your father want you to be?”
Zero shrugged. “My brother is a lawyer, and my sister is in finance.”
“What were you good at in school, other than English?”
“I wasn’t good at anything in school, remember? Not even English. I spent most of my time being the class clown, and trying to work up the nerve to talk to girls.”
Okay, that last part had to be a joke.
“I’m serious,” he said, seeing my skepticism. “I didn’t lose my virginity until I was twenty. You’re the second woman I’ve ever been with.”
My face flamed hot.
“Zachariah Thompson!” his grandmother called from across the lawn. “What are you saying to that young lady to make her blush like that?”
“Nothing, Grandma. I’m behaving.”
“Forget behaving. I want to hear the good stuff.”
She struggled out of her fancy lawn chair and made her way over to us.
“Don’t tell me you traded your rude friend in for someone quiet. This is going to be a boring party if she doesn’t do something outrageous.”
She turned to face me directly. “Are you always this polite?” she asked, sounding disappointed.
Before I could say anything, Zero’s mother drifted back over to us.
“Oh, pooh,” Zero’s grandmother said.
“The three of you look very cozy,” Zero’s mother said, smiling like it was a joke. It sounded more like an accusation, as if she was determined to break up a party she didn’t approve of.
“Just making conversation, Elaine. The poor girl doesn’t know anyone here other than Zachariah, and I thought it was only polite to make her feel welcome.”
“Of course. Sorry to be a bad host. I was making sure everyone was comfortable before I came to get to know you better—Sophie, was it?”
“Sadie,” Zero said, sounding irritable.
Did he think it was an intentional slight? Maybe it was.
“What did you say you do for a living?” she asked.
“Nothing right now. I got laid off from the gas station in town, close to Zach’s house.” Calling him the wrong name felt weird.