Chapter 7 #2
Vivian smiled brightly. “Wonderful!” She grabbed Bram’s arm. “Come on. Let’s leave them alone.”
Bram didn’t look happy about it, but followed his wife out of the room.
“I see where Mac gets her bubbliness from,” I said in a low voice.
Roe nodded. “She and Bram are complete opposites.”
“How long have they been together?”
Roe took a moment to think about it. “They’ve been married for three years and dated a little over a year prior, I think. Reid would know better than I would.”
I’d just have to go by what Roe thought. I doubted Reid was going to talk to me anytime soon.
Roe had left, and from the smells traveling all the way to the guest room, I knew dinner would be ready soon. I picked up some of my hair. It was tangled. The last time it had been brushed had been the night prior. Mac had helped me after I had taken a shower.
Wanting to look somewhat presentable, I got up and went into the bathroom. The brush Mac had bought me with Bram’s money was on the counter next to the sink. I scooped it up and started with my ends. As soon as those were done, I knew I’d have to tackle the top and back.
Bracing for the pain, I reached up. I ran the brush from my part down once, then a second time before I had to drop my arm.
The pain was still bad enough to lock air in my lungs.
I gripped the edge of the bathroom counter with my eyes closed and waited for the pain to ease.
When it finally did, I didn’t bother opening my eyes when I reached up to brush another section of hair.
I let out a grunt the moment my arm got high enough to reach the top of my head.
As I ran the bristles down through my hair, they got caught on a knot.
Before my frustration could take over, a hand took the brush from me and began working it through the knot gently.
My eyes flew open, expecting to find Bram or Vivian behind me.
Instead, I saw Reid. His whiskey eyes met mine in the mirror for a moment.
Then he focused on my hair as he continued to run the brush through the rest of it.
His fingers grazed the back of my neck and then my shoulder as he worked. Each time, I had to fight not to react.
He didn’t speak and neither did I.
When he was done, he reached by me to set the brush back on the counter. “Dinner is ready.”
As I turned to face him, he walked out of the bathroom. I took a second to push down my irritation. He was so fucking confusing.
I found Bram and Reid already in the dining room, sitting at opposite ends of the six-seater table, which was set for four.
In the center was a platter of grilled chicken, a large bowl of salad, and a basket of bread.
They both noticed me at the same time. Before either of them could say anything to me, Vivian walked into the dining room with a big serving dish of pasta in her hands.
She smiled brightly. “Welcome. I have you sitting next to Bram, but if you’re more comfortable next to Reid, everything can easily be moved.” After setting the pasta down on the table, she took a seat at Bram’s left.
I went up to the chair on Bram’s right. “Here is fine.” I reached to grab the back of the chair and Bram shot up.
“The chairs are heavy,” he said as he pulled it out for me. He waited as I stiffly took a seat and then pushed me in.
“Thank you,” I said.
When he returned to his seat, he grabbed my plate. He held it out to Vivian, who scooped some short, cylinder-shaped pasta onto it.
“This is lemon and ricotta rigatoni. Do you like ricotta? I should have asked earlier. I know it can be hit or miss with people,” Vivian rambled, sounding nervous.
“Deep breaths, Mom,” Reid said as he reached for the salad.
She ignored him. “I also made chicken. If you think you can swallow it, we can cut it up into small bites.”
“No chicken, please,” I said a little too quickly. “Just the pasta is fine.”
Bram set my plate in front of me and when I didn’t immediately dive into eating it, Reid asked, “Have you had pasta before?”
Vivian frowned at her son as she passed the pasta bowl down to him. “Don’t be rude, Reid.”
As he scooped a serving onto his plate, he calmly said, “I’m not.”
She stared at him, baffled.
“Viv,” Bram said, capturing her attention, and he shook his head.
Her brows rose, but she didn’t question him.
I picked up the fork next to my plate. “Does pasta made out of vegetables count? Like spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles?” I gave a tight smile to Vivian. “My mother—”
“You don’t have to talk about it,” Bram said as he set a slice of bread on my plate. “The garlic bread is soft.”
I scooped up a cylinder piece of pasta that was covered in a thick white sauce. Swirls of steam came off of it. “I’m pretty sure I had spaghetti when I was little. I found a picture of me in a high chair. I had noodles in my hair and red sauce all over my face.”
Vivian smiled, but it looked forced. “A lot of parents take pictures of the aftermath of their babies having spaghetti for the first time. I have pictures of Reid and Makayla with spaghetti faces, too.”
“It must have been my father who took it,” I mumbled before putting the cooled-off pasta bite into my mouth. My brows rose as I chewed.
“She likes it. So just eat, Mom,” Reid said as he started eating.
“She hasn’t even finished chewing, Reid,” Vivian shot back.
I swallowed. “It’s very good.”
“Oh, that’s good,” she said, sounding relieved, and began digging into her own food.
“Ricotta is cheese, right?” I asked.
Bram nodded as he chewed.
“Everything seems to taste so good with melted cheese on it,” I said as I took another bite.
Vivian laughed. “I have to agree. When I was pregnant with Makayla, I craved cheese fries all the time.”
“You still crave cheese fries all the time,” Bram said.
Vivian scoffed. “Don’t act like you don’t steal half of them whenever I get them.”
Bram rolled his eyes.
“Poutine is better,” Reid said, making Vivian say, “Ooh, that’s yummy.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“Crispy fries with gravy and cheese curds,” Reid explained.
“When that hot gravy starts to melt the cheese curds and you get that cheese pull...” Vivian made a mmm sound. “So good.”
Bram sighed. “I guess I know what I’ll be sent out for later.”
Vivian’s brows rose as she stared at her husband. “Only because you want some, too.”
Bram tried to hide his smile with a bite of food, but everyone saw. Vivian shook her head at him.
The sound of the doorbell rang through the house. My heart jumped to a painful speed and my entire body went stiff. I dropped my fork, causing it to clank loudly on the ceramic plate.
Bram put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
“Want me to get it?” Reid asked.
Bram stood. “No. I’ll get it.”
As he headed out of the dining room, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the archway he walked through.
“Charlotte, breathe slower,” Reid ordered, making me realize I was taking rapid, shallow breaths.
Vivian came around the table and stood behind me. “Can I touch your hair?”
I managed to give her a single nod.
She gently ran the tips of her nails along my scalp as she collected my hair section by section into her hand. “You have such beautiful hair. It’s the same texture as Bram’s.”
After she’d collected it all, I didn’t know what she was doing. It felt like she was just fiddling with it. But the longer she did, the more I noticed I was beginning to calm down.
“Have you always had long hair?” she asked.
I nodded again.
“Makayla went through a bob phase. Do you remember that, Reid?”
“She looked like a little boy,” he responded.
“She did not!” Vivian snapped. “She looked cute.”
“She also went through a goth phase,” he said.
“Yeah, that wasn’t a good look for her,” Vivian admitted. “That girl is all gold and sunlight. Not dark and moody.”
“Did she dye her hair black?” I asked.
Reid nodded. “Some girls can pull off that look, but she was not one of them.”
“She didn’t care,” Vivian said. “When Makayla decides to do something, she’s one hundred percent in. You gotta admire that about her. My confident girl.”
“And what about Reid? Any unflattering phases for him?” I asked as I looked at him.
“Nope,” Reid answered, making Vivian laugh like she begged to differ, but she didn’t rat on her son.
Bram returned. “It was a salesman,” he said, sounding annoyed as he sat back down at the table.
“This late?” Vivian let go of my hair and gently patted my shoulders before returning to her seat.
Bram shrugged and dug back into his food. “I’m going to disconnect the doorbell.”
“It’s not the bell scaring her,” Reid said.
“Reid,” Vivian said warningly. “He knows that.”
I pushed around my food, feeling the urge to ease the tension in the room. “What were they selling?”
Everyone looked in my direction with various confused expressions.
“The salesman. What were they selling?” I clarified.
“Security alarms,” Bram answered. “They really don’t take no for an answer.”
“I just don’t answer the door,” Vivian said.
“After I told him no the first time, he asked if we had an alarm already and pushed to know which one,” Bram said.
“That’s unnerving. You didn’t tell him, right?” Vivian asked.
Bram shook his head. “I told him no one around here would be stupid enough to break into my house.”
The tension disappeared after that. I ate slower than the others, but even when they finished, they stayed at the table with me until I was done.