36. Chapter Thirty-Six
And the morning news anchor says, “Oh, I had the biggest crush on Chip, the next-door neighbor from The House on the Corner. What I wouldn’t give to be Christina Malloy!”
* * *
When I take Christina’s hand to walk to the front door of my parents’ house, she’s shaking.
“Are you going to be okay?” I ask, lifting her hand to my lips and pressing a kiss to her knuckles.
“I have never gone to meet anyone’s parents before.”
I grin down at her. “Never?”
Panicked eyes look up at me. “Never. I’m not kidding.”
“I thought you’d dated before.”
Her tongue darts between her lips before she pulls her bottom lip through her teeth.
“I’ve never had a relationship like this before.”
“I don’t know that many have,” I tease, but her eyes are pleading now.
“Graham...”
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“Any relationships I’ve ever had were short-lived, or someone I knew, and I knew their family too. Or it was a relationship to just get at my parents.”
Her jaw trembles now, and with her words, my stomach flops.
Well, shit! Isn’t that all I’m doing, really? That’s how this started.
But she was in on it.
My mind is spinning now. Are we still using each other?
I take both of Christina’s hands in mine. “This is different. You know that, right? You and me, we’re different.”
She nods. “I know.”
“So, it’s just another first for us. I’ve met your parents, now you meet mine.”
Christina barks out a laugh. “But have you met them? Did they extend you any attention?”
Now I chuckle. “Your father shook my hand.”
She rolls her eyes in obvious disgust. “Just don’t have a lot of expectations,” she says, but she’s grinning now. But it makes me think of the meeting I have with her father tomorrow—the secret meeting.
My stomach clenches again. I don’t want to keep secrets from her, but what choice do I have?
“Are you going to stand outside all night?” My mother’s voice comes from the front door.
I lift my head and smile at her. “We were just trying to decide if we wanted to head to the airport and jump on a plane to Tahiti,” I say, and Christina’s eyes go wide before she nudges me.
“Seriously, Graham. If you do that and don’t take me and your father, what kind of son are you, really?”
I love my mother. She’s quick with the wit too.
I can feel Christina ease, and I fold one of her hands into mine, and we walk toward my mother.
“Mom, this is Christina,” I say as we approach her.
She holds out her hand to Christina, who takes it, and then my mother wraps her other hand around Christina’s.
“It is nice to finally meet you in person,” she says. “I’ve enjoyed your work for years.”
“Oh, my. Thank you,” Christina says. “And it’s wonderful to meet you as well.”
“Please tell me this boob is treating you well,” my mother says, shooting me a quick glance with a wink before turning her attention back to Christina.
“He’s delightful.”
My mother lets out a hum. “I’ve trained him to be a gentleman, so if that ever changes, you just let me know. I’ll throw him over my knee.”
Christina laughs, and my mother grins in my direction. I shake my head.
“C’mon,” my mother says, taking Christina by the hand and leading her into the house. “Graham’s father and his brother Brian are out back waiting for us.”
My mother shoots me one more smile before she disappears with my girlfriend.
I follow them through the house that I grew up in, and I can see Christina trying to take it all in as my mother walks her through. There are family photos and trinkets mixed with flawless decorating taste.
My mother often considered becoming an interior decorator, but she was dedicated to raising my brother and me, and now taking care of my father in his retirement.
As Christina and my mother step out onto the back porch, my father and my brother both stand, but Loki runs between them and right to Christina.
She sturdies herself to accept the dog’s affection.
“Well, we know who he likes best,” my father says as Christina stands and Loki saunters over to me.
“Boys, this is Christina, Graham’s girlfriend,” my mother says, and again it hits me.
This was all supposed to be a scam, and yet, it’s not. She might not have been in relationships, but I have been. And this one is different in so many ways. I’ve never felt for anyone the way I feel for Christina.
I watch as she shakes the hands of my father and brother, and then my brother zones in on me. He moves to me and wraps me in his enormous arms.
“Hey, big bro,” he says and laughs at our size difference.
“Showoff,” I tease as I hug him with a pat on his back. “You’re lookin’ a little small around the neck,” I say, and Brian laughs.
“Trying to look more like my famous bro.”
“Sure you are.” I laugh as he steps in. “She’s beautiful,” he whispers in my ear, and I only nod. She sure is.
I step back from my brother and take Christina’s hand again. There’s an ease to her now, and that’s a credit to my family.
I’ve been with her and her parents. This ease doesn’t exist between them.
My mother, the hostess that she is, brings dinner out to the patio. The table was set, wine is poured, and I’m the subject of conversation as they fill Christina in on my past, my strengths, and of course any embarrassing event that ever happened to me.
“It totally paid off to have the older brother who was cute ‘ole Chip on TV,” Brian says as he takes a bite of his bread. “I was never lacking for female affection.” He playfully raises his brows.
My mother shakes her head, but my father is grinning as he cuts his pork chop and takes a bite.
“You’re a pig,” I say to my brother with a wink.
“Dude, I had to get something out of it. I was going to public school, and you had that hot tutor.”
At that point, my mother chokes on her drink.
Brian laughs, and I notice Christina’s lips flatten as if she’s trying not to smile.
Gesturing with his butter knife, Brian looks at Christina.
“The tutor they had on set for the kids for school—blonde bombshell,” he says.
“No one says that anymore. That’s reserved for Marilyn Monroe,” I argue.
“Dude, she was Marilyn Monroe-esque.” Brian gestures with his hands in a wide, grand fashion in front of his chest.
I shake my head. “She was nice.”
“She was a size two with DDs,” Brian adds.
At that point, my mother grabs Brian’s arm, her eyes wide. “Son...” she says in a low, calm, yet threatening tone.
It’s then that my father clears his throat. “Bombshell,” he says to Christina.
I can’t help but laugh then, and my mother, who is smiling, shakes her head at the nonsense going around.
“Christina,” my mother redirects the conversation. “What about you? Were you tutored on set?”
Christina wipes her mouth with her napkin. “No. I went to private school, but I wasn’t working a lot when I was younger. I only did a few commercials and was an extra in a few movies, but nothing that took me away from school except my stint as Annie in a touring company.”
My mother’s eyes widen. “Annie? Oh, that’s one of my favorites.”
“Mine too,” Christina says.
“Annie,” my mother says again, her smile wide as if she’s never been prouder to have someone at the table.
My mother takes a sip of her wine and composes herself. She still fangirls from time to time.
“It was a surreal event, Graham getting that part and all of us moving out here.” My mother reaches for my hand. “It was the best thing, but there were times when we wondered if it was best for our boys.”
“Trust me,” I say with my head tilted toward Christina. “They kept me grounded. I had curfews. I had rules. I had chores that didn’t pay anything.”
My mother slaps my arm playfully. “I didn’t want my little boys to be tabloid fodder.”
Oh, if only she knew that would backfire so many years later—but in the most fantastic way.
“Yep, I’ve never done drugs. There are no pictures of me drunk on the Sunset Strip. And I’ve kept my affairs in order,” I tease, but I notice that both my mother and Christina stiffen at that.
“See why I joined the military?” Brian picks up his glass of wine and sips. “I had to move around the globe just to get to have some fun.”
That causes my mother to laugh and rest her head on my brother’s shoulder.
“Says the man who goes into other countries to help them.”
Brian shrugs. “I have to look good, so if my big bro’s mug ends up on those tattler shows, and they come after me for a story, we can focus on my humanitarian agenda.”
I reach for Christina’s hand under the table, and she lifts her eyes to me.
She’s smiling and her gaze is light. I’m not a bad guy, and now she knows the influences I’ve had. These people made it so that I walked the straight and narrow and understood hard work.
My parents are a model couple, and my expectations of love are based on their relationship.
Looking at the beauty who is smiling back at me, I think we could have that kind of relationship. With her hand wrapped in mine, I know that I want to try.