Chapter 34
34
GRANT
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I eyed Tessa critically, searching, evaluating, making sure she was okay. I’d done the same search a thousand times since she came home and I still wasn’t satisfied.
“I’ve been to your parents’ house for dinner a zillion times and there has never been any sort of physical challenge. I’m fine, Doctor. I can sit at a table and eat without keeling over.” She wrapped her hair in a loose bun, exposing the column of her neck. It wasn’t a long neck, but it was utter perfection, and I wished for nothing more than to taste the soft skin where it met her shoulder. It was a place I used to bite sometimes, right at the moment Tessa was coming.
“You’re right.”
“I know.” She shot me a megawatt grin and slid into her side of the car. “It’ll be weird to be at your parents’ house without my family, though.”
I knew this thought had been in the back of Tessa’s brain because it’d been in mine for days. We were going to have a family dinner at my parents’ house, but Tessa’s parents were out of town, meaning it would be just Mom, Dad, Alexandra, Ethan, Nora, me, and Tess. It was, quite possibly, our first official date, and I felt like I should be doing something more to commemorate it. “Maybe a little,” I agreed.
“Jesus, Grant. You’re not supposed to agree with me. You’re supposed to reassure me—tell me it’ll feel totally normal.” Her green eyes were wide and bright, the smile still dancing on her lips, and I knew she was joking. It was the same gentle ribbing she’d done since our very first night together at Ethan and Nora’s wedding, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed hearing it.
“It’s going to feel totally normal,” I echoed, pasting on my most artificial smile, which only lasted a moment until Tessa giggled and I laughed in reply. She clutched her stomach, but her smile remained, which seemed like a good sign that her pain had become much more manageable for her.
“Seriously, though, should I be worried?”
“I’d be worried at a Davis family dinner because your sisters hate me, but all the Duprees adore you. You’re good.”
“Did you say Alex was going to be there?” she asked.
I nodded. “It’s her last week before spring semester starts, so yeah.”
“That’s nice. You probably miss seeing her.”
My brow furrowed as I thought of my baby sister, who was so much younger than I was. Ethan was a full eight years younger than me, but he’d idolized me when we were young, and it was easy to build a friendship as we grew. I’d been ten when Alex was born—too young to dote on her and too old to want to play. To this day we weren’t especially close, and I felt terribly about that, like forging a relationship with my little sister was my personal responsibility. “I do.” I hesitated, then said, “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course, anything.”
“I feel badly that I don’t have a better relationship with Alex—like maybe I did something wrong.”
“How much older are you than her?” Tess asked.
“Ten years.”
“Oof. That’s a lot. You shouldn’t blame yourself. In my family, I have the least relationship with Emily. Not for any reason, just because she doesn’t text much and I don’t do calls.” She pursed her lips.
I glanced in her direction, trying to temper the smirk that wanted to curl the edges of my lips. “I have a foolproof plan to improve your relationship,” I said.
Her eyes widened. “You do? What?”
“Fall madly in love with a man she utterly despises and never wants to be around.” I grinned, and Tessa shook her head slowly, her lips twisting into a wry smile.
“Look at you, making jokes at my expense.”
“Not at your expense,” I said gently. “How are things with her and Claire? Are they upset?” I pulled into Mom and Dad’s driveway and Tessa frowned.
“Shoot. We didn’t offer to bring anything. Should we have brought something? I feel rude.”
I shook my head and stepped out of the car, looping around to meet her as she opened her door. “It’s not rude. My mom doesn’t expect anything.”
I’d had to wrap up at the office, making us the last to arrive, and the kitchen was buzzing with activity when we walked in. “Grant, Tessa!” Mom gushed. I told Mom about Tess and me a couple weeks ago, though she’d probably suspected something was up when I left town. In the almost two years I’d worked in Bridgeport I’d never asked my dad to cover me before.
In the time since, she’d told me the story of how Tessa was one of her first picks to date me after I lived back home. At the time, Juliet had said Tess wasn’t interested and Mom had always wondered why she wouldn’t be. Of course, I knew the answer, but I hadn’t bothered to explain it to my mother. Maybe someday.
“Hey, Tess,” Nora said with a wide grin. Although Nora got along well with everyone in my family, I assumed she liked the idea of having Tessa around. Nora tossed her arms around Tessa’s neck and squeezed, and though I was ready to jump in and peel Nora off if Tessa showed any pain, Tessa just smiled and hugged her little sister back.
“How can I help, Agatha?” Tessa asked, and I opened my mouth to protest, but Mom beat me to it.
“You can sit, darling, and chat with us, and Alex and Nora will help.”
“I can help,” I piped in.
“Thank you, Grant. Can you put the leaf in and set the table?” she asked. It was a job that sent me out of the kitchen, away from Tess, but she was in good hands and recovering well. I headed into the butler’s pantry, pulling a single leaf out of the storage spot in a shallow cabinet.
I propped the leaf against the table, but I knew from experience I couldn’t put it in by myself, so I walked to the den, where Ethan and Dad were watching hockey. Ethan had played briefly as a child, and had always enjoyed the sport, but I found it boring. I flicked him in the back of the head, and he looked up, glowering. “The fuck?” he growled.
“Mom wants us to put the leaf in.”
Dad stood and gave me a quick hug, thumping me solidly on the back a few times. Ethan shot me an unimpressed look, then returned to watching TV. “The period is almost over. Then I’ll help.”
I sighed irritably, missing our youth, when I’d been big enough to force him to listen. Now we were almost evenly matched size-wise, but ask him to do a chore and he was still every bit the petulant shit he’d been when we were kids. “Fine. I’ll be in the dining room.”
I headed back to the butler’s pantry to gather the dishes, but paused at the sound of feminine laughter.
“You have to admit it’s a little weird.” Nora’s voice.
Tessa sighed, and I realized they were at the far end of the kitchen, at the counter nearest the butler’s pantry. Mom tended to work near the stove, and it was a known fact that, if she was talking or listening to music, she couldn’t hear conversations happening in the far side of the kitchen. A Luke Combs album was playing and Mom was singing along, so while I could hear the Davis sisters perfectly, Mom was likely oblivious.
“It’s not weird at all. He’s sweet.”
Nora chuckled. “I didn’t say he was weird, I said you two as a couple was weird.”
“Fine, Nora, whatever you say,” Tess grumbled, and I could picture her scowling, feeling embarrassed by the conversation. I was tempted to step in and save her, but Nora’s next words kept me rooted in place.
“You know it’s weird, and that’s why you haven’t told Claire or Emily yet.”
“I haven’t told Claire or Emily because I’ll have to hear a hundred reasons dating Grant is a bad idea, and I want to be sure it’s the right time,” Tessa hissed. “but I figured you of all people would support me.”
“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. I’m Team Grant and Tessa. I think he makes you more chill.”
I didn’t bother to collect the plates and silverware. I turned and left the butler’s pantry, not willing to overhear even a second more of that conversation.
Because I was still Tessa’s secret.