Chapter 5 Nothing Caught Hold
NOTHING CAUGHT HOLD
He had her warmed up and there was no way he was letting the flames flicker out.
His laptop came out and he got to work on the perfect date. There had to be something on this island that would be fun he could pull out of his hat.
While he was searching, his phone beeped with a text. If he was hoping it was Natalie, he was wrong. It was his grandmother asking him to call when he had a minute.
He had a lot of minutes and decided to see what was going on.
“Hi, Arik. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Nah,” he said. She would have been twenty minutes ago but no need to add that. “What’s going on?”
“Nick’s fiancée is driving me insane. I should have never said they could have the wedding here.”
“I warned you,” he said.
He was never close to his cousin Nick. His father’s brother’s only child.
Nick was eight years younger than him. He couldn’t imagine getting married at twenty-five. And Courtney was only twenty-three.
It wasn’t a big wedding. Last he heard about sixty people and easily fit into his grandmother’s backyard with her expansive custom gardens.
Not that there’d be much in terms of flowers at the end of March, but the landscaping was still stunning and tents would be set up with heaters to push off the chill.
For everyone’s sake, he hoped the weather was decent. The rest of the day sure wouldn’t be. But if he didn’t show up, his grandmother would never let him hear the end of it.
“You did,” his grandmother said.
“That’s why you wanted me to stay with you before I came here, I know.” He laughed over the snort she’d made. He knew her game.
If he had thought she was feeble and would be taken advantage of, he would have. But Sophie Crest didn’t let anyone run over her.
She was sweet and overextended herself to those that were worthy of it, and very few were, but she had family loyalty.
Just like Nick got an investment when he was born also, but his cousin chose to boringly sit on it and let it grow.
Neither option was wrong, but Arik’s paid out with more excitement and flourish.
All the more reason he dreaded attending the wedding and enduring the inevitable comments from his family.
“I would have liked to have visited more.”
“I was there a week,” he said. “I was crimping your style.”
“You’re just mad Connie was getting frisky during our poker night.”
He cringed. He thought it’d be fun to sit in on his grandmother’s poker night. Have some laughs with the ladies. Go easy on them.
They kicked his ass, took his money, and most of his dignity.
Their words left him feeling exposed, like they’d crossed a line he hadn’t given them permission to even approach. Who would have thought a bunch of elderly women could have that kind of language?!
It would have been hysterical if it were happening to anyone else, which was why he’d been a good sport about it.
Nothing like giving a few eighty-year-olds a good time and being the butt of their jokes.
That family loyalty his grandmother had, he got it from her.
“She’s got a mouth on her,” he said. “Her poor husband.”
“Frank loves it. I think Connie learned half those things from him. But you and I know they didn’t really scare you away. It had more to do with the rest of the family.”
He let out a sigh. “Yep. You got me there.”
“At least you’re honest.”
“I try to be.”
“Your father is bringing some new bimbo named Brandi with an i.”
“You asked the spelling?”
“No,” his grandmother said. “I jokingly asked if she was old enough to drink. Your father laughed and said yes, that she was a fine dining server and bartender. I just assumed it’s with an i after that. It’s probably how he met her too.”
It made his skin crawl when his father dated women his age or younger, but to each their own. The younger the better was Eric Crest’s new motto.
His mother was doing it now too. At least not as young as him. Or if that was the case, he’d rather not know.
One less parent he’d see next weekend.
“What is Courtney being a pain about?” he asked. “I thought for sure that Nick would be the one getting on your nerves.”
“He’s laid back about the wedding.”
“You mean he’s letting Courtney do it all and his favorite words are ‘yes, dear’?”
“That’s always been his personality,” his grandmother said. “You and Nick are as different as night and day. Nothing wrong with that. He’s always been timid and Courtney enjoys wearing the pants.”
“Nick is just like Uncle Justin,” he said. “Dad and Uncle Justin are opposites too.”
“Don’t remind me. I’m not sure what is wrong with your father. He can’t settle for anything. Always has to find the next best or great thing, whether it’s cars, cases, or women.”
“At least he’s got a good career,” he said sarcastically. His father was an attorney. Made great money but spent just as much. First in support to Arik’s mother, then on all the women in his life.
“It’s the only thing he stuck with. Proves he can, I guess.”
“Is that a shot against me?”
It was not the first time he’d had that thrown at him.
He didn’t think it was a big deal since he’d had two full-time jobs. He stayed at them both for several years and they made him his fortune. The time he put in was enough for him to know it wasn’t the life for him.
But the past few years spent traveling and trying to find something he could latch onto to call his own wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.
Whether it was a place that felt like home, a woman to call his own, or a career that made him happy.
Nothing caught hold.
“No. Though I will admit I’d like to see you settled somewhere and feel as if you’ve got a purpose. Right now, you’re coming off more as a drifter.”
He laughed. “Considering I’m not asking anyone for anything and am worth more than you all, I don’t know what the problem is.”
“Arik, that’s crude.”
“Then why are you laughing so hard?”
He smiled when she laughed even harder. He was more like his grandmother than most would give him credit for. It was something she’d said behind closed doors to him so she couldn’t dispute it too much.
“Because I find crude things funny.”
“I get it from you.”
“Are you going to be okay next weekend?”
He sighed. “I’m a big boy and can handle my father. I’ve been doing it for years. The same with the rest of the family. Do we take bets on how many might ask me for a loan?”
“No one better,” his grandmother said. “Or I’ll be knocking heads together.”
“They wouldn’t consider doing it in front of you, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be said. Though, I expect it more from Mom’s side.”
“That’s right. Are you going to visit your mother while you’re in town?”
“I hadn’t planned on it,” he said. “I haven’t talked to her in months. No clue. Why would I bother reaching out to her if she can’t be bothered to reach out to me?”
“She’s too busy trying to compete with your father.”
“Yep. It’s foul. What the two of them do to each other is juvenile. They will never grow up.”
“Well, you know, that is what your father gets for marrying another attorney. They show up at the same functions half the time and have to make sure they get the upper hand.”
“I can’t be around them for any length of time.”
It’d been like that his entire life.
Even when his parents were married they were always trying to beat the other at something.
Caseload, wins, judges that favored them more than the other.
“I think your parents enjoy the game more than the attention.”
“Don’t kid yourself, they want both.”
“I wish you’d stay with me when you’re here and not a hotel,” his grandmother said.
“Nope. No way. Too much action going on and I won’t get any peace. You can come stay at the hotel with me if you want,” he said.
“And leave my house unattended for strangers and your cousin? Or Courtney. No, thank you.”
He smiled. “Don’t let them tire you out.”
“I’m not. And don’t treat me like I’m so frail I need my afternoon nap. I can run laps around you if I want.”
He grinned. “You might be able to. I don’t do much cardio anymore.”
“You looked as if you were getting soft before you left.”
His jaw dropped. “Hey. No. Not possible.”
But he got up and walked to the mirror, lifted his shirt and turned side to side.
More muscle than fat. No six-pack, but it wasn’t what he was going for either.
Since no one was around to see his foolishness, he flexed his bicep. Yep, it was the biggest it’d been in his life. Not that he wanted to be huge, but he thought he was in damn good shape!
He didn’t run or ride a bike or break a sweat that way. Too much work. He lifted weights several times a week for almost an hour.
He hiked and he walked over driving if he could.
“It will be if you just sit around,” his grandmother said.
“You’re just busting my ass now,” he said. “Trying to get my mind off of this trip in a week.”
“One week from today. You’re counting it down as if it’s the walk off the plank into the ocean.”
“It’s going to feel that way with the sharks around.”
“You’ll have me to talk to,” his grandmother said.
“And no one else.”
That was how it felt most of his life.
“I’ve got to run. Nick is calling me.”
“Don’t let them run you ragged. It was very generous of you to offer the house.”
“Do you think I offered it? They asked.”
Go figure.
“It was still nice. I’ll see you next week.”
He tossed his phone on the table and went back to his laptop hoping to find something fun to do with Natalie. Maybe an activity so that she didn’t think he sat around or was soft.
Thanks, Grandma. For putting that thought in his head!