The interior of the small bungalow was filled, and I mean literally filled—on the walls, on the ceilings, even the carpet—with Disney merchandise from all sorts of properties.
I tried not to stare.
“We’re a huge fan of Disney, in case you didn’t notice.” Lexi’s mom giggled.
“And oranges,” her dad added. “And Lexi.”
Lexi looked like she was going to have a fit.
“I see where Lexi developed her love of Disney.”
Cindy tugged one of Lexi’s wild red curls. “Mrs. Sanders gave me some new hair serum. She wants you to try it.” She shooed Lexi to the bathroom. “Grayson, please have a seat. Barry, get him some orange juice while I dish him up a plate.”
A glass covered in cartoon characters was handed to me, and I sat at the small wooden table.
“Now,” Barry said, sitting down across from me, “I have to ask man-to-man, because my daughter is very important to me, and I want to make sure she’s well taken care of and with a man that shares my values—”
“Please understand, sir,” I said, smoothly interjecting, “I adore your daughter. She’s everything I didn’t know I was looking for. She’s warmed my heart, and I can’t imagine my life without her.”
“Well, of course! She’s amazing,” her father scoffed. “Any man would be lucky to have her in his life. No, I have a more serious question. What is your favorite Disney movie?”
He grinned at me and winked.
“Oh, you leave him alone.” Cindy set a huge plate of steaming pasta in front of me. “We grew those tomatoes, zucchini, and onions ourselves,” she bragged to me. “A lot of people don’t likezucchini, but the trick is to pick it when it’s little. You don’t want them bloated and soggy with water.”
She set a plate in front of her husband.
Gizzy had his own small table on the floor and also received a plate of cut zucchini.
“But seriously,” Cindy said, sitting across from me. “What is your favorite Disney movie?”
“There are quite a few good ones,” I began slowly. Ones I’d never seen. “I think101 Dalmatians,” I said since that was the only one I felt confident enough to discuss in depth.
“A Silver Age man.” Barry slapped me on the shoulder.
I had no idea what he was talking about.
Fortunately, Lexi returned. She had changed and was wearing that same blue bikini.
Do not think about her in a thong, not in her mom’s kitchen.
“You’re sunburnt,” her mom cried when she saw Lexi.
“I think I see another freckle,” her dad added.
A large spiky plant was set on the table, and her mom used a pair of kitchen shears to snip off a pointy end.
“You need some aloe vera, or you’re going to peel. Don’t you have that big important meeting coming up soon?” her mother asked as she smeared the sticky plant juice all over Lexi’s face. “You can’t peel at your meeting.”
“Did Lexi tell you she has a great job in marketing?” Barry boasted to me. “I told you she’s a real catch. They pay her a lot of money, and she’s getting a promotion soon.”
“She’s certainly a hard worker.” I kept my face a perfectly bland mask.
“Dad,” Lexi said sounding annoyed, “Grayson runs his own company; he’s not impressed.”
I wanted to tell them that Iwasactually impressed by her, but that would require that I either unravel the lie she’d told them about the status of her employment or that I fess up aboutthe fact that my mom hated me and I had no family but that Lexi was very kind and understanding about the whole situation.
“Did you take him by that penthouse that you get to house-sit at?” her mom asked. “I think that’s very impressive. He’d be impressed by that. Did you know Lexi’s boss lets her stay at her house?”
