Chapter Sixteen
“A bet is a bet…there is always a winner, so be careful what you wager.” - Miss Know-It-All’s Gossip Column.
It was Thursday, and Gracie stood in waiting area of the Boise Airport, watching for her parents through the glass window. She was trying hard to keep calm, but she warred between excitement and anxiety. Despite her internal and external bitching about her parents coming to visit, she loved and missed them. It was strange to go from seeing them anytime she wanted to having to make a scheduled trip and a plane ride.
She saw her dad first, pulling a wheelie suitcase and carrying a small duffel bag. He was barely five eight, but compared to her and her mom, that was tall. He had a mustard-colored jacket thrown over one arm, and perched on his balding head was a camo hat. Gracie noted his goatee was peppered with more gray than it had been over the summer.
Her mom came into view, wearing jeans and a bright green sweater. Her blonde hair had faded or maybe she’d lightened it. Seeing her though was like a magnetic pull, and Gracie started walking quickly. No matter how many times they fought or annoyed each other, she loved her mom.
“Mom! Dad!” She wrapped her arms around her mom first, noting that she seemed a little shorter, and kissed her cheek. “I missed you.”
Her mom hugged her hard. “Oh, my baby. Let me see you.”
She pulled away and cupped Gracie’s cheeks, turning her face from side to side as if she was five.
“Still the prettiest girl in the world.”
“I get it from my mama,” Gracie teased.
“Hear! Hear!” her dad said, stealing her for a hug. She inhaled, smiling as she laid her cheek against her dad’s chest. The smell of cedar and spice surrounded her, reminding her of her childhood. When she’d been upset, or needed a little advice, she’d come to this man, and he’d never steered her wrong.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Missed you, pumpkin.”
They pulled apart, and she took the suitcase from him, slipping her arm through her mom’s. “How was the flight?”
“Bumpy. Your mother gripped my arm so tight, I don’t think I’ll ever get the feeling back.”
Her mother glared at him. “Oh, shut up. You know I hate turbulence.”
“No one likes turbulence, honey,” he said.
“Well, I thought we’d grab your bags, maybe some lunch, and get on the road. There’s a storm rolling in from the south, and I want to get home before it gets windy.”
“I can drive,” her dad said.
Gracie almost sighed aloud. “Dad, I didn’t say I couldn’t drive. I just don’t want to do it in a storm.”
“I won’t be able to relax with you behind the wheel, anyway.”
She should have known it was going to happen. She wouldn’t exactly call her dad sexist, but in all her life, she couldn’t remember one trip where he’d let her or her mother drive while he sat shotgun.
“Sure, that’s fine. It will give me and Mom a chance to catch up.”
“You two talk all the time. What more could you possibly have to say to each other?”
They stepped off the escalator and headed down toward the baggage claim.
“Well, for one thing, she could tell us about this boyfriend she’s been so secretive about.”
And her it was. “I haven’t been secretive. I just didn’t want to jinx it, but it turns out, I was right. That guy wasn’t right for me.”
Her mom actually patted her hand. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I had a feeling this was going to happen.”
Gracie resisted the irritation bubbling up her throat, threatening to say something sarcastic.
“That’s why we’re going to have dinner this weekend with the son of your father’s old partner. He’s an accountant at a successful firm, handsome—”
“I appreciate the set-up, but I’m still seeing someone, just not the same one I was dating in November.”
Her mother grew quiet, and Gracie could feel the disappointment radiating from her. “I see. Well, are you going to at least tell me this one’s name?”
The baggage claim came to life, and Gracie bit the bullet. “Eric Henderson.”
Her dad turned to her, his brow furrowed. “Connie and Buck’s son?”
“Yeah.”
Her mother seemed shell-shocked, but her dad just grunted. “I like Eric. Always had a good head on his shoulders.”
At least I made one parent happy.
“Mom?”
“What?”
“You haven’t said anything.”
“We’ll talk about this in the car.”
Well, that’s definitely a bad sign.
* * *
Gracie barely resisted slamming out of the house three hours later. Her mother had hardly said a word the whole way home, and when Gracie had finally lost patience, her mother had gone off.
“I thought that you would be grown-up when you hit thirty and finally start looking for a mature relationship!”
Gracie climbed into her car and screamed, banging her fists on the steering wheel. She’d tried to be calm and reasonable, but of course, she couldn’t hold on to her temper for long.
“What the hell is wrong with Eric? He runs a successful business, is stable, and owns his own home.”
And then the real fun had started. Bombarded with question after question, she’d just sat there, stewing as they came. “Is this what you really want for your life? To be tied to not just one but two small businesses? Riding on the back of his motorcycle like Connie does with Buck?”
They became more and more insulting as the drive wore on. Her dad tried to intervene a few times, but her mother cut him off.
Finally, Gracie had exploded. “I get it! I am a big fucking disappointment to you! You wanted more from me, and I just keep screwing up. But you know what? I’m happy! I am a happy freaking person, so if you can’t be happy for me, then maybe you should stay elsewhere!”
They’d arrived at the house, and her parents had disappeared into the bedroom, where she’d heard them arguing. It reminded her of when she was a kid and they would fight; only now she was an adult with a set of keys and cakes to make.
She’d told them she had to run an errand and was going to grab dinner on her way back. Her dad had come out and given her a hug.
“I’ll talk to her, kiddo.”
Gracie started her SUV and drove out onto the road, heading toward The Local Bean. What she really needed was something to help relax her. And since sex was out of the question, she would have to settle for baking.
* * *
Eric drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he headed down Main Street. It was just after five in the evening, and the empty street looked slightly eerie in the glow of the setting sun.
As he passed The Local Bean, he saw that Gracie’s car was still in the parking lot. He hadn’t heard from her since she’d left for Boise to pick up her parents this morning. Why would she be at work, especially after hours?
He pulled into the dimly lit lot and drove around the back alley. He reached for his cell phone and called Grant.
“What’s up, bro?” The sound of clanking bottles sounded in the back ground.
“Hey, dude, I’m gonna be a little late. Can you guys cover it?” Eric glanced around. and not a soul was moving outside.
“How long you gonna be?” Grant sounded more curious than anything, probably because Eric was never late.
“I don’t know. I’ll let you know when I’m on my way.” He hung up without saying anything else and could almost hear his brother muttering, “Dick .” He got out of his car and went to the back of the coffee shop and banged on the door. No one answered.
“Gracie? Gracie Lou?” Eric yelled.
Still nothing.
He reached for the metal knob and gave it a twist, surprised to find it unlocked. He opened it and stepped inside, heading down the hallway that soon spilled into the kitchen area.
Gracie was shaking her butt and dancing around the room, singing an off-key version of a Miranda Lambert song. He grinned as he watched her slide two cakes into the oven, closing it with a bump of her hip.
Her iPod must have switched over to Limp Bizkit’s “Faith,” because she started singing it at the top of her lungs.
Eric’s smile dimmed a bit and his mouth dried up as she rolled her hips slowly in a circle, slapping her hands on her thighs.
When she caught sight of him, she jumped straight up in the air. She had one hand on her chest, while the other pulled her earbuds out.
“Are you out of your freaking mind?”
“Sorry I scared you. I saw your car out front and was surprised you were here. Wanted to check on you.”
“How did you get in?” she asked.
He pointed behind him. “You forgot to lock the back door. Dangerous thing to do, apparently. People could come inside, although I don’t know why they would with all your caterwauling. I thought there might be a dying cat in here and came to investigate.”
“I do not sound like a dying cat! And I do not appreciate you standing around watching me like a creeper.”
Eric laughed. “I knocked a bunch of times, but you didn’t answer. Wasn’t trying to creep around. I really was concerned.”
“I’m fine.”
“Where are your folks?” he asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She turned on the mixer and stuck it into a bowl. She was probably hoping he’d take the hint.
Didn’t she know him at all?
He reached out and grabbed the mixer from her, switching it off.
“Watch it! That mixer is expensive.”
“You don’t say? I guess you better start talking, or the mixer gets it.”
She snorted and tried to take the mixer back from him, but he held it above his head, unconcerned with the droplets of batter dripping over his shoulders.
“Okay, Tony Soprano, stop holding my mixer hostage. I’ve got one more cake to finish, and then I’m going to grab dinner and head back to spend the evening with my parents. That’s all. Nothing else going on.”
Eric wasn’t buying it though. “Tanya could have made the cakes for you. So, why did you need to get away from your parents after only a few hours?”
“You’re annoying.”
“And persistent.”
“It doesn’t matter, it’s stupid,” she said.
He set the mixer on the counter, then grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him. “It matters a lot to me.”
She tried to extract her hand and scoffed sarcastically. “Why? Because we’re supposed to care?”
Eric growled in frustration. “You are such a pain in the ass! With or without our arrangement, I’d still care. We might not always see eye to eye, but I thought we might just be turning into friends.”
He watched her expression crumble, and she groaned as she scrubbed her free hand over her face. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I thought this could work. My mother is completely impossible.”
It took a second for Eric to realize what she was saying. “Your mom has a problem with me?”
“No, she has an issue with small business owners.”
Eric’s brow furrowed. “You’re a small business owner.”
“Exactly, and she hates it. She wanted me to go to law school and marry some senior partner, or some shit like that. Instead, I went to college and majored in business. I took all my savings and put it into this place, and she can’t stand that she’s been wrong about me making a mistake. She likes you fine, but because you’re in exactly the same boat as me, she thinks we’re a disaster waiting to happen.”
She grabbed her mixer from the table. “I don’t care, anyway. I just need to deal with the fact that my mother will never be happy, no matter how many times I prove I’m completely capable of handling my own life.”
Eric wrapped his arms around her waist without thinking. He almost pulled away when she stiffened, but then he found her leaning back into him as she mixed her batter.
“I have a crazy idea. What if you finish up here and I grab dinner for all of us? Go see if I can win your mom over.’
She turned off the mixer and looked at him over her shoulders. Her downtrodden expression was one he’d seen too much of lately, and he didn’t like it. Gracie was always being a smiling smart-ass, and he wanted to get her back to that woman. The confident, sexy girl who drove him crazy and challenged him at every turn.
“Seriously, you don’t have to do that. This was all a stupid idea to begin with.”
“Well, I’m telling you that I still need your help, and I’m a guy who doesn’t like to be in anyone’s debt. You just leave it to me.”
“She’s not going to crack—”
“Oh ye of little faith, I will make you a deal. If I win your parents over, you have to go on an adventure with me.”
Her green eyes narrowed, and he realized she was still in his arms, letting him hold her back against him.
“What kind of adventure?”
“You’ll see when I win.”