Pierce
“We don’t have to do this, you know,” Emma says as she pulls the parking brake on the jeep we picked up at the resort.
We’re currently in front of Rosy and Darnell Brown’s house, whom I understand to be sort of surrogate parents to the Banks children. Why they need that, I have no idea. They’re all adults, as far as I can tell. Maybe not Will though. He seems like a thirteen-year-old boy with a pituitary gland issue.
“I want to do this, Emma.” That’s a lie. I most definitely do not want to spend the next three to four hours at Rosy and Darnell’s tiny house in San Felipe having an awkward meal with Emma’s relatives who likely all think I’m some type of nefarious bastard. Butnotdoing it would make Emma look like a poor judge of character, so I insisted we attend for her sake.
“Yeah, it’s just that youreallydon’t understand what you’re about to walk into,” she says, closing her eyes and rubbing the bridge of her nose in a way that has me slightly concerned.
“Please. I can handle myself. I assure you I have been in situations with much greater stakes than this,” I say, taking her hand in mine and giving it a squeeze.
“But you don’t have time for this. We should be working,” she says, chewing on the inside of her lip.
“There’s only one chapter left and it’s already the middle of the night in Avonia, so whether I get it to my publisher now or a few hours from now, it really won’t matter. We’ll go in, have a nice dinner, then go back and finish the book.”
“But they’re going to—”
Holding up my hand, I say, “I have to do this. If I don’t, your entire family will think you mean nothing to me, and I can’t have that.”
“Why not?”
“What do you mean,why not?”
“Seriously. According to you, you don’t even care whatyour ownfamily thinks of you. You’re leaving here tomorrow night and you’ll never see any of these people again. Why put yourself through this?”
I sigh heavily, not wanting to think about life a day from now. “First of all, are we so certain that I won’t see them again? Second, even if that does turn out to be true, I don’t want them to think differently ofyou. I don’t want them to questionyourjudgement, so if you’ll allow me to please go in there and make an excellent impression that will reflect well on you, I’d greatly appreciate it.”
“Fine,” she says, yanking the keys out of the ignition. “But I’m telling you, you do not know what you’re getting yourself into…”
Tilting my head, I give her what I’m sure is a condescending look. “Listen, if you experienced the viper pit in which I grew up, you’d know that this evening will be a total breeze for me.”
A slightly evil grin crosses her face that has me feeling a tad less cheeky than I did a few seconds ago. “Let’s go in then, Mr. Cocky Pants.”
“Let’s save the cock talk for later,” I say, raising my eyebrows up and down. “Time to go wow the fam.”
* * *
“Baby Bear!” an extremely loud voice booms across the lawn as we walk up the sidewalk. “There’s my girl!”
A short woman with pulled back black hair and the most colourful dress I’ve ever seen comes hurrying out of the house, accompanied by two yappy little Jack Russell Terriers. She pulls Emma in for a vigorous hug while the little dogs jump up and bark, trying to get in on the action.
When she lets go, she says, “And this must be your new man!” Looking me up and down, she says, “Mmm mmm mmm. He’ll do. Bring it in and give Rosy some sugar.”
Emma gives me a ‘how are you handling it now?’ look, grinning broadly as I’m sucked into a bosomy perfume cloud while one of the dogs nips at my ankle and the other one jumps up, trying to get a hold of my cast. I can’t move, however, because Rosy just might squeeze the life out of me in her effort to get every grain of sugar she can. Just when I feel like I’m going to lose consciousness, she lets me go.
“Starsky, Hutch! Get down!” An older man, who I assume is Darnell, comes out the front door. “That goes for you, too, Rosy.” He’s got a thick Caribbean accent and even thicker black hair. He’s wearing a broad grin, a loud shirt printed with enormous green palm leaves, baby blue shorts, brown leather sandals, and black socks pulled up over his considerable calves.
The dogs and Rosy all ignore him and he gives up, moving on to greet Emma while either Starsky or Hutch tries to hump my leg. Not to be outdone, his partner in crime tries to humphim.
I try to pry off my furry attacker but Rosy impedes my progress, holding my cast in one hand and groping my bicep with her other one. “Poor dear. How’s your hand?”
Seriously, is no one going to stop them?
“Emma! Our little chef returns,” Darnell says, the pride written all over his face. “Why haven’t we seen you sooner? You’ve been home for nearly two months.” He pulls her in for a big hug, then turns to me. “Is it because of dis guy?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Yes, it’s all his fault, Darnell. He’s kept me busy day and night actually,” Emma says, gesturing for me to come over. “Starsky! Stop that!”
I manage to slip away from Rosy’s grasp and try to shake off Starsky while I walk over, but it turns out, he’s got quite the grip for such a small dog, so I end up dragging him for a few feet until I reach Darnell.
