Chapter 20
The dinner quickly turns into the most awkward meal of my life.
I thought the family gathering at my uncle’s place last week would always remain at the top of my list, but I didn’t imagine a sit-down with both Daren and Robin in the room.
The one silver lining of this unlikely set of guests is, my dad has stopped singing my praises, as if he were a walking, talking online dating profile.
I never knew the man wanted me to be with someone so bad.
Or maybe it’s not so much about being with someone.
Maybe it’s Robin.
My dad has always been a fan of hers, but the fact that we appear to be dating has turned him into my personal cheerleading squad in a way I don’t know if I can handle.
“So, Robin,” my dad says as he serves her a slice of meatloaf. Luckily, he used the big pan, or the sudden arrival of my cousins would have made this a sparse spread. “How’re things at the shop going? Malcolm still treating you right?”
She gives Dad her smirky, half-mouthed smile. The one she wears when she’s fond of the person she’s talking to. I’ve noticed the people who piss her off get a smile full of teeth. Like a threat.
“They’re good. He lets me take my pick of the projects. I just got to install a new engine into a Piper Twin the other day.”
“Have you talked to him about taking over the shop yet?”
The question doesn’t come from my dad.
It was Daren who asked, his eyes locked on Robin across the stretch of the table, gaze searching.
Her smile goes wide enough to show off canines. “Whether I take over the shop or not is none of your business.”
He keeps watching her, and I don’t like the intense focus. As if staring at her long enough will fix the bond he broke between them.
“But you’re planning to, right? You’re staying in Green Valley.”
The last part doesn’t sound like a question. More like a plea.
Or a demand.
I’m not about to give my cousin advice on how to mend a relationship he tore apart, but he’s got to know telling Robin what to do is not the way to go about it.
She shrugs, eyes on her plate. “I don’t know.”
Something like a heavy stone plummets through my stomach.
Robin, leave Green Valley?
I know she hasn’t been here long. Only a year. But the idea of this town without her gives me an empty feeling. Every man at the table frowns, as if the group is in unanimous agreement.
Then, a slide of warmth spreads through me, starting at my palm, and I glance down to see Robin has my hand cupped in hers. Above the table, where everyone can see.
“I guess,” she says, still answering Daren’s question, “Arthur and I will have to talk about it.”
Oh. Damn.
The subtle warmth from Robin’s affectionate caresses is overwhelmed by the hot cloud of rage emanating off my cousin.
“Oh, so you’re planning shit now?” he hisses. “Not long ago, you were doing that with me. How long before you move on to Marvin, huh?”
Robin’s next apparent conquest blinks in surprise, grunting around his mouthful of meatloaf.
“Daren,” my dad warns, “watch your mouth.”
Robin doesn’t even tense beside me, as if she expected Daren’s harsh words.
That, more than anything, pisses me off.
But Robin doesn’t need me to defend her.
“Yeah,” she says, “you’ve got it right. I’ve decided to work my way through the Krauts alphabetically, and Arthur just happened to be at the top of the list.” Turning an apologetic expression on the youngest of us, Robin speaks in an overly regretful tone. “Sorry, Stewart. You’ve got to wait a bit.”
The teenager, more a fan of drama than loyalty at this point, wears a shit-eating grin. “Oh. Cool. Plenty of time to plan our date.”
Daren’s eyes look ready to pop out of his head, and I wonder why he stuck around for the meal. Clearly, Robin wants nothing to do with him anymore.
But then I glance to my side and spy an angry flush infusing her cheeks. When she forks up her next bite, her utensil jabs the potatoes with more aggression than needed.
Daren is getting to her. Rattling her aloof attitude.
It’s hard to imagine someone could make Robin this angry if she didn’t care about them anymore. And maybe that’s what Daren is hoping for. That if he keeps showing up, he’ll keep making Robin feel things—a lot of things—for him. Making it impossible for her to ignore him or even move on.
Would she take him back?
It’s not unheard of for couples to work through a time of infidelity. Daren obviously hopes they’re in that camp.
Maybe Robin is the type to have her anger burn hot at first, but then things cool off quickly.
She might go back to him.
The meatloaf suddenly tastes like soggy cardboard on my tongue. Because I know, even if they do mend things and Robin decides to give Daren another shot, I will never, till the end of my days, forget the sound of her sobs and the feel of her shaking body in my arms as I held her on my bathroom floor.
I never want Robin to hurt that way again.