“Maybe we can do that after July, but until then I’d have to say no. Rosie has threatened to leave if I fall back into my old life,” I told him, and hoped that would keep him from asking any more questions.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” James said with a smile.
I turned toward Jackson. “We were talking about family reunions when y’all arrived. Does the Armstrong family all get together for any holidays?”
“My folks used to have those when I was a kid,” James answered. “I loved all the food and seeing my cousins. When my parents passed away, no one picked up the job of organizing one, so they just stopped. These days, we have trouble coordinating schedules even for our own five kids and grandkids to get together on Christmas Eve. Does your family still do that kind of thing?”
“I’m an only child. It’s great that all of your kids live close enough that you can see them often.” My hands trembled when I picked up my beer. Even if Ihadsat at a poker table with Jackson’s dad, I didn’t share that much personal information. No, that wasn’t right. Other than Rosie and Scarlett, I didn’t talk about my old life—period.
I took a sip to keep from saying anything more. These people didn’t need to know that they were intimidating the hell out of me and my nerves were beginning to frazzle. I needed to get away, if only for aminute. Anywhere, even a broom closet, where I could replenish my determination to not let anyone, or anything, make me feel inferior.
I laid my napkin on the table and pushed back my chair. “If y’all will excuse me, I need to make a trip to the powder room. If the food comes before I get back, y’all go ahead and eat.”
I took several deep breaths on the way to the ladies’ room, but even that didn’t do much to calm my frayed nerves. The way Julia cut her eyes at me reminded me of Paula’s cold stares. I wasn’t dumb at sixteen, and certainly not at thirty. I could tell from day one that Paula didn’t want me in her house or her life. And I got the same vibe from Julia in the first two seconds after she met me.
The ladies’ room was every bit as fancy as the restaurant. I was glad that this one didn’t have an attendant to hand me a fancy monogrammed towel after I’d washed my hands. I wanted to be alone, if only for a few minutes. I went into the first stall, put the lid down on the toilet, and sat down.
“Dating is for the birds,” I whispered.
“I’m so jealous, I could just cry,” a woman with a high voice said.
“Me too. I could use that tip money for a pair of shoes I’ve had my eye on for weeks.” The next one sounded like she was a two-pack-a-day smoker. “Mr. Armstrong always tips in cash, too, and Natalie doesn’t even need it. She’s got a rich boyfriend and also has the Holt family on her section tonight. They might not be as wealthy as the Armstrongs are, but, honey, they will add at least two hundred dollars to the standard tip.”
“If I had the Armstrong table, I would flirt with the son. He’s really too old for me, but hey, to get a toe in the door for all his money, I’d rob a pharmacy and take all the little blue pills they had in stock,” Miz High Voice said.
“For that kind of cash, I would give up sex,” Miz Smoker said.
They giggled and then I heard the door close behind them.
“So, that’s what’s happening?” I sighed.
I understood a little more about the past and the present—Paula being the past, and Julia, the present. Paula wanted a family with Frank,and it was evident that I would upset the dynamic. She might not have even realized that she wanted me out of her house. Julia saw me as a gold digger like those two women I had just overheard. In her eyes I was nothing more than a glorified waitress—not nearly good enough for her only son.
As I crossed the floor, I gave myself a scolding for letting her affect an evening that Jackson had planned for us. I was almost back to our table when I stopped behind a big plant and assessed the situation. Julia’s rings sparkled in the candlelight as she shook her finger at Jackson. James had his arms folded over his chest. Jackson had set his jaw. He shook his head and said something, but I couldn’t read lips from that distance.
An eighth date might not ever be in our future, but I wasn’t going to let his parents totally ruin our evening. Julia’s face went from anger to a fake smile when both men stood up.
“Looks like I timed things perfectly. It does seem strange to be on this side of the game,” I said as I sat down.
“What does that mean?” Julia asked with more than a little ice in her tone.
“It means”—I nodded toward two people bringing trays in our direction—“that our food is coming, and I, for one, am starving. If I would have taken a minute longer, my food would have gotten cold, and that’s a sorry thing to do to a good steak.” I kicked off my high-heeled shoe under the table and ran my foot up Jackson’s leg from his ankle to his knee.
That little gesture erased Jackson’s frown and put a smile on his face. Even if he never asked me out again, I didn’t intend to let these people intimidate me—not again, anyway.
I cut a small bite from the steak in question and popped it into my mouth. When I chewed and swallowed, I nodded toward Jackson. “You are right. I haven’t eaten all the steaks in Texas, so I wouldn’t know if this is the best in the state. But it beats the ones I got at the Cosmo in Vegas, or even the Renaissance in New York City.” I didn’t take myeyes off him. “And the company here is so much better than in either of those places.”
“Thank you.” He shot a sexy wink across the table. “I’m glad that our third date is going well.”
“This is the fourth one.” I held up a finger. “Number one was in Sierra Blanca.” A second finger popped up. “The second was in the little Mexican place in Dell City.”
“You are wrong,” he argued. “This has to be at least our seventh date—my lucky number. We can count the two nights we were snowed in at my trailer as three through six, and now we are here.”
My pulse raced, and I was sure that his parents could feel the electricity crackling all around us. “Then we’re getting close to the eighth one. Have you decided what we will argue about?” I ignored his parents and stared into his eyes.
Then Julia popped my pretty bubble.
“Have you really visited New York and Vegas?” she asked.
