17. Derrick
17
DERRICK
I was short with Tina on the ride up to the lake house, still annoyed she invited Rachel. Yeah, I hadn't wanted her to be alone, but I also hadn't wanted her tagging along on my dysfunctional family holiday.
"How long have y'all had the lake house?" Frankie, Valeria's new girlfriend, asked. She lived near Valeria upstate but was originally from North Carolina and had a thick Southern accent.
"Our grandparents built it in the fifties," Valeria yelled over the wind from the back seat of the convertible.
We were driving along the shaded, winding roads on the way to the small grocer where we'd stop and pick up items before heading to the house.
"It's a two-story log cabin. Mom and Dad renovated it during the pandemic, added a guest house, and installed a pool for the growing number of grandkids," Tina said, adjusting the scarf wrapped around her dark, curly hair.
"I heard they closed down that camp across the lake," Valeria said, leaning between the seats.
"What kind of camp was it?" Frankie asked.
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Rachel had been uncharacteristically quiet on the ride up from the city. She sat behind the passenger seat, staring at her phone.
I pulled into the small parking lot of the market, and we piled out.
"A YMCA camp." I tugged two shopping carts apart. I gave one to my sisters and kept one for myself. "But it didn't survive the pandemic."
My sisters were in charge of alcohol, and Rachel tagged along with me as I picked up food and snacks.
"So are all your sisters coming?" Rachel asked, running her finger along a row of nutrition bars.
"Tina's twin, Maria, will be there with her family. She has three kids—twin boys who are eight, and a girl who's five. They'll stay in the guest house. My other sisters can't get out of work this year."
I loaded the cart with veggies and dips and meat to grill. Rachel loaded it with salty chips, donuts, candy, and sugary sodas.
"You have the palate of an eleven-year-old." I shook my head, my stomach hurting just looking at that crap.
"Shut it, old man. I'm young and spry with a metabolism that just won't stop."
After a fight over what flavor of ice cream to buy—we bought five kinds in the end—we were at the self-checkout.
I wanted to ask her about her grandfather and what was going on there, but I kept my mouth shut. I was determined not to get further involved in her personal life. Despite her joining me on family vacation. Ironic, I knew.
"Are Maria and Tina identical?" Rachel asked as she swiped the food over the scanner and I bagged it.
"No, and they couldn't be more opposite. Maria always wanted to get married and have kids. Tina says marriage is a romance killer. She's been accused of being a love bomber, but that's not true. She knows what she wants. She loves the high of falling in love but not the monotony of being in a relationship." I tapped my credit card and loaded the bags into the cart.
"By the way, Mom doesn't know Frankie is Valeria's girlfriend," I said.
"She's way too Catholic for that," Valeria chimed in behind us, unloading the alcohol next to the register.
"Doesn't that bother you?" Rachel asked.
"Nah. She's from a different generation and culture." Valeria shrugged. "It's not worth the fight."
"She doesn't know you're queer?" Rachel's voice shot up.
"Nope. So please don't say anything."
Rachel frowned and looked over at Frankie. "Don't you mind?"
Frankie hesitated but then said, "It's just a weekend."
Rachel looked affronted on Frankie's behalf, but I jumped in to defend my sister. The last thing we needed was Rachel stirring things up.
"Valeria's proud of who she is, but like all of us, we let Mom live with her outdated views. It's a precarious balancing act, and I don't want anyone disturbing the peace, especially some self-righteous kid."
"I'm not a fucking kid," Rachel huffed. "And it's bullshit."
"It's none of your business," I snarled.
Rachel bristled. "I don't like to lie."
"You're lying to your mom," I threw back at her.
"That's different," Rachel retorted. "It's a lie by omission. She doesn't need to know my grandfather was stalking me."
"And my mom doesn't need to know about Valeria," I snapped. "So butt out or you can take the next train home."
Rachel didn't say anything, but her lips pursed like she was holding back a retort.
"Wait. Back up." Tina put her palm up. "Your grandfather is what?"
Rachel told them about the man who was following her and how we discovered who he was and what he revealed about her birth mom.
"Whoa. That's heavy." Valeria pushed her cart, which rattled with bottles of wine, beer, and hard seltzer.
Piled back in the car, Valeria handed out canned rosé to everyone but me, since I was driving, and Frankie, who didn't drink.
"Let's toast to our fucked-up lies and lives." Valeria chugged half of her drink.
"Hey, slow down." Frankie laughed, but there was an edge of concern in her voice.
"So do you not drink for health reasons?" Rachel asked Frankie.
"I'm not, like, sober. But my dad's an alcoholic so I'm not really into it. But it's totally fine if y'all drink. I'm not all judgey about it."
We drove for a bit, taking in the lush scenery of the forested roads, towering trees, and country homes until we got to the long gravel drive that led to the house.
"Did you tell Rachel about the Jacques Family Olympics?" Tina asked.
My hands tightened around the steering wheel. "We're not doing it this year."
"It's tradition!" Valeria whined. "We have to do it."
"Oh, we're doing it," Tina said. "I made the shirts this year. I ordered extras and brought iron-on letters for Rachel’s and Frankie's names."
"What kind of games?" Rachel asked, her face lighting up.
The problem was everyone was way too competitive, and the losers were in a bad mood for the rest of the trip.
"Archery, boat races, paintball, sardines, tricycle relay, and our favorite, the scavenger hunt," Valeria listed.
"Who's in charge of the scavenger hunt this year?" I asked.
"Maria," Tina said.
I groaned. The last time she planned it, no one could find the last clue and we stayed up half the night. Mom fell asleep in the boathouse searching for a clue.
I glanced in the rearview mirror as the car bumped down the lane. Rachel's eyes met mine, and I snapped them back to the road. There were several reasons I didn't want Rachel here, the big one being her lack of self-restraint.
What if she blurted out my problem to my family? She was unpredictable like that. Despite my dick kicking into gear whenever she was around, I still didn't know if it was totally fixed.
It had been so fucking weird the other night. We were screaming at each other and suddenly I was turned on. But there was no fucking way I was touching her. She worked for me, and I didn't want to be known as the boss who dated his young employees. Peyton was enough, and that was over a year ago. People—and companies—had been canceled for a lot less.
Not to mention my partner, Isaac, fucked that intern. The intern had nefarious reasons for going after Isaac, but still. We were lucky to get out of that whole mess unscathed.
I couldn't chance another scandal. Whatever happened this weekend, I was staying far away from Rachel.