31. An Awkward Position
31
AN AWKWARD POSITION
“H ow are things with Justine?” his mother asked when he visited her on Saturday afternoon.
Justine was home sleeping and would stop over to eat before she went to work at six. It was one now.
“Fine,” he said.
“Fine doesn’t actually sound fine,” Gabriela said when she walked onto the deck.
It was just his parents and sister on the island for a small Fourth of July holiday cookout. They were rarely all together now and if his parents could find a way to do it, they did.
It was easier when he was in Boston. He could have even gone there for the day, but they understood he wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend too.
“We might have had a slight hiccup yesterday,” he said, cringing.
He was an idiot and knew it and was prepared to get his butt handed to him by his sister if he admitted what happened.
“Oh really?” his mother said. “Is everything okay now?”
“Don’t be nosy,” his father said.
“We are always nosy,” Gabriela said. “And we’ll see if everything is okay when Justine gets here. If she shows up.”
“She’ll be here when she’s up and dressed,” he said. “We are fine now. I’m pretty sure.”
Gabriela laughed. “I need to know.”
He walked over to the outdoor fridge, got a beer, and sat in the shade. “She stopped over to visit with me after dropping Jordan off at the airstrip. I didn’t know she was coming.”
“So,” Gabriela said. “Unless she caught you doing your Risky Business impersonation, I’m not sure what the big deal is. She’s seen you in your underwear before. Maybe not sliding across the floor dancing, but you know that might be her thing too.”
He rolled his eyes when his parents laughed.
“We are both too young for that movie,” he said.
“Nope,” Gabriela said, laughing. “Not when Dad watches it over and over again. Hey, Mom, does Dad like to pretend he is Tom Cruise?”
“Enough, Gabriela,” his father said, smirking.
He couldn’t imagine his father doing anything like that, but it was as he’d told Justine the other day. You never know everything in your parents’ marriage. And he didn’t want to.
“I was on the deck minding my own business with the music on and chilling,” he said.
“And your cougar neighbor came over in some sexy bedroom wear wiggling her tits and ass in your face again?” Gabriela asked, roaring with laughter.
His mother snorted at how much Gabriela was laughing. “Close enough,” he said. “She was almost doing a Britney Spears high school impersonation.”
“Ewww,” Gabriela said. “That’s gross.”
“Yep,” he said. No reason to say Vanessa had the body to pull it off. It did not turn him on, but it was hard not to notice too.
“And Justine caught you two on the deck?”
“There was nothing to catch,” he argued.
“But she did,” his mother said. “Right?”
“Yeah,” he said, taking a healthy gulp of his beer. “Vanessa was stunned and introduced herself. I jumped up as if I was guilty even though I wasn’t and then overcompensated by pulling Justine close and kissing her.”
“I can almost see this playing out in my head,” his father said. “But it puts you in an awkward position.”
“No shit,” he said.
“I’m not sure why you haven’t told Vanessa you had a girlfriend,” Gabriela said. “Or that she hasn’t seen Justine at your place with as much as she stalks you and the house.”
Maybe deep down he was hoping the second had been the case.
“Guess she was out of town a lot. No clue. But she didn’t know. Vanessa left after dropping some hint that we were closer than we were.”
“I hope Justine didn’t believe that,” his mother said.
“What would you have done in her situation?” he asked. “We haven’t been dating long.”
“You would have explained it,” his father said. “It’s not like Vanessa is your type, but it’s hard to be an asshole too. She’s the type of woman that would badmouth you out in the public and you don’t want nor need that in your profession.”
“Thank you,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “Someone else gets it.”
Gabriela waved her hand as if she was swatting a fly. “People don’t care about those things anymore. You’re old school. I put men in their place all the time.”
“And the worse that happens is someone says you’re a bitch. I’m sorry, Gabriela, it’s different for men.”
“I’m sorry that it is,” his mother said, “but you’re not wrong and also, you are who you are. You’re not a mean person and you’d never want your staff or patients to hear anything negative about you either.”
“That’s right,” he said. “It’s a small island. In Boston, maybe I wouldn’t have cared as much, but here I do.”
“So what happened?” Gabriela asked.
“I explained that I’m a big old wuss. That my sister said I need to grow a pair, showed her the text from the one day you saved me, and all but begged for her to believe me.”
His parents’ eyes were wide open; his sister was bent over laughing and holding her side. “No way.”
“Yes,” he said. “I’m not going to lie. I told her the truth. Then I asked her to go on the deck and kiss me so that Vanessa could see and leave me alone.”
His father shook his head. “Garrett.”
“Sorry,” he said, smirking. “She did it, but you know, rubbed it in my face that she had to. I think once she understood she was a good sport about it. I just didn’t want another thing to deal with here. I know it was stupid on my part hoping that Vanessa would go away on her own.”
“You needed your girlfriend to save you,” Gabriela said. “All five foot one hundred pounds of her. That’s hilarious and I’m proud that she did it and gave you crap at the same time. Good for her.”
“Oh, she did. Not as bad as you, but as I said, I think we are good.”
They’d talked for about an hour and then she left to take a nap before work. He hadn’t talked to her since and hoped that the time away didn’t work Justine up again.
He’d find out soon enough.
And about two hours later, when Justine showed up, his sister was the first to say, “I’m glad to know you’ve got a bigger set on you than my brother does.”
“Gabriela,” his father said. “That isn’t ladylike. It’s one thing to say that when it’s the four of us, but not when other people are around.”
“Justine is family,” Gabriela said. “And Garrett already told her what I think of the golden ticket chaser. No worries there.”
Justine laughed. “He told me. I’m surprised he told you what happened yesterday.”
“I don’t want you to think I run and tell my family everything,” he said. Might have misjudged that. “But they asked how we were doing and I was honest. And worried you’d think about it more and decide not to come. I’d have to let them know I messed up by not putting my foot down.”
“You did mess up,” she said, moving closer to him and kissing him on the lips. “But now you know you can talk to me and ask for help if you need to get rid of women crawling all over you.”
Gabriela laughed again.
“He gets this from his father,” his mother said. “I remember a time or two that Richard had the same issues at work. I had to make sure everyone knew he was taken.”
“No one messes with you, Mom,” Garrett said.
“And I get that from Mom,” Gabriela said. “I would have told Vanessa to get lost a long time ago. I even told him I’d tell his neighbor for him, but he didn’t want me to get involved.”
“Problem solved now,” he said. “My girlfriend took care of it for me. Do you need any bugs for me to kill to even the score?”
Justine rolled her eyes. “I can stomp on a bug just as easily as you. Those things don’t bother me.”
“Oh, thank God,” he said. “I don’t care for bugs all that much.”
“Now you’re just playing with me,” she said. “You took care of two spiders for me last week at my place.”
“As long as I’m bigger than them, I’m good.”
“Garrett doesn’t like snakes,” Gabriela said. “Not even the cute garter snakes.”
“There is no such thing as a cute snake,” he said. “What is wrong with you?”
“I’m with Garrett,” Justine said. “But you’re still taking care of a snake if we see one.”
“Deal,” he said. “As long as you forgive me for being a wuss.”
She rolled her eyes and put her arm around his waist. “You’re forgiven.”