Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
paula
“We’re here.” Tristan says. His voice is only slightly above a whisper as he stares at the beach house in front of us.
Rock music is playing softly from the speakers. I shouldn’t be surprised at his choice in tunes considering the band he works for. We spent most of the drive fine tuning the details of us so there aren’t any holes in our story.
The times we weren’t talking, we rode in companionable silence. It wasn’t awkward like I thought it would be. Both of us were probably lost in our own thoughts and anxieties about what the week might bring.
“Should we get out?” I ask without making a move for the door handle.
I know we have these vacations every year, but this is first time I’ve felt stress about it.
They’ve been pressuring me more than ever to have a role in the company.
But I’ve also never introduced them to anyone.
Much less a person who isn’t even actually my boyfriend.
We have to pull this off. Once we’re back home, we’ll end things and all will be back to normal.
“You know we could always see if there are other beach houses available for rent. Or even a hotel.”
He’s just as nervous as I am. At least I know I’m not alone in the feeling. It’s a little ridiculous to have this emotion around my own family, but it can’t be helped. They’ve done this to me. I used to love being around them until they started demanding an answer any time we’re together.
“As much as I’d love to run away with you, I don’t think we can.”
I point to the curtain moving, and also realize what I just said. I think that may have been a little too close to the truth. Since that kiss, and all the messages we’ve shared back and forth, he’s become my favorite person to talk to.
“I mean, run away from my family with you. Not actually run away with you.” Cringing I cover my face with my hands. There’s no way the explanation made things any better.
Tristan pulls my hands away from my face and smiles. “Keep telling yourself that. You may find running away with me would be fun.”
He turns off my car, opens the door and hurries out of the car. Before I can ask him what he’s doing, he’s at my door, pulling the handle. With a deep breath, I unbuckle my seatbelt and rest my hand in the one he’s offering.
Now that I’m out of the car, I realize it’s cooler here than expected. Like I told him before, Texas weather will always get the best of us. He wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to his warmth as he closes the car door.
“Should I get the bags now, or wait?”
“Wait.” I tell him. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll tell us to stay somewhere else.”
“Your parents can’t honestly be that bad.”
“They aren’t.” Not really. They are some of the kindest people, and constantly host benefits at the winery. They just like to needle me, and don’t like the honest reactions I give them.
He pulls his arm out from around me and slides his hand into mine. “We’ve got this. If push comes to shove, we can leave. It’s not like they can force us to stay here.”
“No, but they can shame us if we decide it’s too much and want to leave.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I’m shameless.”
He grins and takes a step forward. Then another. I trudge along beside him, psyching myself up to deal with the barrage of questions, and probable disaster that will come from being here.
It doesn’t take us long to get to the door. The stairs are a bit worse for wear, but nothing I’m not used to. He raises his hand to knock, but the door opens before it can connect. How do they do that?
“You’re finally here.” My mom holds her arms out and pulls me into a hug.
My hand releases from Tristan’s, and the grounding I felt moments ago disappears.
The anxiety I have when I’m around my parents, comes back in full force.
“It’s a shame we don’t see you more often considering we live in the same town. ”
There it is. Not even a minute has gone by without her adding a passive aggressive comment.
I’m not sure what she thinks it will accomplish.
There’s a reason I rarely go to their house.
They never show interest in what I like to do unless it pertains to how it can benefit the family business. Work is what it always boils down to.
“Hi, Mom.” I grumble. “Where is everyone?”
“Your brothers made a run to get some drinks and food. Your sister is in the living room with your dad.”
“Oh, cool.” Not cool at all. It means they’ll block in my car and I won’t have an escape plan should I need it.
“And who is this?” Mom’s eyes focus on my companion for this hellish experience.
“Mom, this is Tristan. Tristan, this is my mom, Abigail.”
Moving to the side, I let them exchange pleasantries. I study mom to see what she’s going to do. She’s naturally a hugger unless she doesn’t like you. Then she’ll slide her hand out in front of her and shakes hands as quickly as possible. Most people don’t even notice the snub.
She swoops in for a hug. “I didn’t realize you were bringing someone with you.”
Tristan’s head whips toward me, eyes wide, as he pulls out of the embrace. He didn’t want to be a surprise guest, and he wasn’t.
“Mom, I messaged you last week about him coming with me.”
“Oh.” She waves my words away. “I didn’t think you were serious. We don’t have an extra bed for him.”
Unbelievable. It takes everything in me not to throw my hands in the air in frustration. Mostly because I don’t want to be scolded like a child.
“That’s fine.” It’s my turn to push her concern aside. “Seeing as he’s my boyfriend we only need the one.”
A part of me expects her freak out. She’s never really been old fashioned when it comes to us sleeping in the same room as the person we’re dating.
I mean, at this point, we’re all adults.
But she likes to show her disappointment in me at every turn, and this is one of those moments she can do that.
“Oh, okay then.” She steps to the side of the door. “Come inside. It’s cold out there.”
Both of us take a step at the same time. Our motions completely in sync, and it’s honestly a little weird. I don’t even have that sort of timing with my siblings.
“Where are your bags?” Mom’s attention is on our empty hands.
“I’ll get them in a bit. We weren’t sure anyone was here and didn’t want to lug them back and forth.” Tristan’s smile is endearing, but I know the real reason he didn’t get them out. It was a chance to bail out should the need arise. He wants to take stock of the situation in case we need to bail.
“Okay.” Mom takes his answer at face value. “Let’s get these introductions out of the way, though you’ll have another round once the boys get back.”
“Why did Piper stay home?” I ask as we walk from the entryway by the kitchen to the living room. This house has a pretty open floor plan, and is similar to other houses we’ve stayed in down here. I guess the house we normally rent wasn’t available.
“Honestly, I think she’s tired of your brothers’ shenanigans.” She shakes her head and grins. “They’ve been playing pranks on each other since they got here this morning.”
“You can’t just tell half the story, Mom.” My sister calls back. “They all ganged up on me and tried to throw me in the ocean.”
“We are in fact at the beach, Little Sister.”
“In the winter.” She growls. “They’ve lost their damn minds.”
Picturing our brothers swoop in and carry down the beach is comical, but I’m sure she fought like hell. They probably have bruises to show for it.
Piper turns around and her eyes go round. “Who is this?”
Tristan lifts his hand in the air and gives a little wave. “I’m Paula’s boyfriend, Tristan.”
“How did I not know you had a boyfriend?” She screeches and climbs over the sofa to get to us. She wraps him in a hug and sways back and forth. “This is so exciting.”
“It’s news to all of us.” Mom cuts her eyes toward me and I know we’ll have a discussion about this later.
Finally, my sister lets go of him. “Welcome to the circus. I hope you’re prepared.”
Great. With that stunning endorsement he’ll ditch me and haul ass back to Asheville. Not that I’d blame him. If I could, I’d join right along with him.
“If it’s anything like my theatre group in high school, I’m sure I’ll be just fine.”
Well, at least he’s not leaving. I was never in theatre in high school, and don’t have anything to compare my family to, but I hope he means that.
“I’m glad you made it, kiddo.” Dad is beside me and wrapping me into one of his infamous bear hugs. As much as I hate that he wants me to be a part of the winery, this is one of my favorite things about him. It makes me feel like I’m a kid again.
“Thanks, Daddy.” I squeeze him back. “Sounds like we missed the chaos this morning.”
“Yep. It was entertaining.” He ignores the glare coming from his youngest child. “I only wish we caught it on camera.”
“That would have been nice.” I agree.
He lets go of me and holds out a hand. “I’m Paul, her dad.”
“I gathered that.” Tristan smiles. “Tristan, her boyfriend.”
“Apparently.” Dad’s voice is gruff as if he doesn’t approve. But last I checked, I’m a grown woman. I can have a boyfriend if I want.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sir.” His grip is still on my dad’s hand. He’s not letting go first. I applaud his bravery, but Dad doesn’t back down easily. “Is Paula named after you?”
Now Dad is grinning and finally pulls his hand back. “As a matter of fact, she is.”
“Oh God.” My sister rolls her eyes and heads back to the sofa. “Here we go with the naming story for the millionth time.”
As much as I’d like to join her and skip out on story time, I can’t leave Tristan to fend for himself.
Though, he’s doing a pretty good job of winning my parents over.
Well, Dad, at least. Mom is still on the fence.
I can tell by the way she’s studying him and judging whether or not he’s good enough for me.
“When our oldest, Pierce, was born, she said I couldn’t name him after me. She didn’t want to have a Paul Junior running around. I let it go, and she named him. Gotta keep the wife happy.” He tilts his head in an “am I right” gesture.
Tristan, to his credit, is engaged with the story. He’s listening intently, as if it’s the most important tale in the universe.
“So, when Paula was born, it was my turn to name a kid.” He glances at Mom as if she wasn’t there when he named me. “One of my kids was going to have my namesake if I could manage it. So, I named her Paula. It’s not a junior, but still a derivative of my name.”
“That’s actually genius, Sir.” Tristan nods along with my dad. “I’ll have to remember that for the future.”
“Don’t get any ideas.” I shake my head. I know he’s playing along with our relationship, but seriously, if he tries to name one of our imaginary future kids, Tristina, I might murder him.
My mom’s gaze lands on me. She’s not down for this idea either. Whether it’s because she doesn’t want things to last between us, or she doesn’t believe we’re together, I don’t know. It’s best to leave that conversation for another time.
“Let’s finish the game. The boys should be back with the food soon.” Dad gestures for Tristan to follow him.
He does. Just like that, Dad has brought him into the fold. Mom reaches for me, but I side step her and follow the others to the sofa.
I don’t know who is playing, and don’t really care. Basketball isn’t a sport I care about. Or any sport for that matter. But it’s nice spending time with him without bickering over my responsibilities to carry on the family business.
One of the teams scores and my dad cheers them on. I’ll never understand this type of fandom. Grunts and laughter break through the celebration. When I turn around, my brothers are standing in the kitchen with a number of bags in their hands.
All of them are focused on Tristan. Tonight is about to get interesting. Hopefully Dad has his phone ready to record.