Page 31

Twenty-Seven

I don’t know how to act around warm bread.

— Posy’s secret thoughts

POSY

“Hey, darling.” My mother’s sugary sweet voice filled the air as she pulled open the front door. “I’ve missed…”

She took in my appearance, and her eyes went angry and hot.

She hid it well, though.

My mother, who was a little over five-foot-two, couldn’t overpower me—and never really could. But she could hold a mean grudge, and her payback was creative.

“What are you…” she started again, then she saw the hand linked in my own, and her mouth went tight as she trailed off mid-sentence.

I’d thrown her for a loop.

She hadn’t expected me to bring a date, and she hadn’t expected me to show up looking like I did.

I inwardly grinned, because I knew if I’d done it outwardly, she’d lose her shit.

At least with people here—she had a full driveway of luxurious cars—she couldn’t cause the scene I knew she wanted to cause.

If it was just family, she’d have had absolutely no issue with it.

But having guests meant she played her role.

“Hi, Ms. Dunlap.” Searcy cheerily waved. “How are you? It’s nice to finally meet you. Doc’s shared so much about you.”

I had to inwardly laugh again.

Searcy never called me Doc.

It was always Posy.

Hell, she even corrected people when they called me Doc—at least normal people. She let my club brothers call me Doc without a problem.

So for her to refer to me as such had my insides cackling.

“Doc,” my mother repeated.

“Mom, it’s unseemly to hold us here standing on your doorstep. Where are your manners?” I quipped.

My mother jerked forward like she’d been shot, and I allowed my lips to tip up at the edges.

Yeah, that got to her.

She hated appearing rude in front of guests.

“Come in,” she replied stiffly, as if talking to a stranger. “Would you like a drink?”

Good host firmly back in place, she gestured for us to follow her.

“I’ll have a beer, and Searcy will have…” I left the question hanging.

“Oh, I’ll just do a beer, too. We’ll make it easy.” She paused. “Do you have any Coors?”

Again with the internal laughing.

My mother would never be caught dead with anything other than a local beer. She didn’t do mediocrity.

“Oh.” My mother paused. “I have some dark beer from a local brewery. Multiple in fact. But no light beer.”

My mother hated carrying a beer at all, and if she was forced to, she was doing it in a way that would satisfy social norms, and probably turn off the beer drinkers. Because most of the time the beers she chose were trash.

Not that I let that stop me.

“That’s perfect,” Searcy continued to sound cheery. “I…oh, hi, Mom! What are you doing here?”

Searcy never skipped a beat.

She was just cruising right along, not letting anything stop her.

“What are you doing here?” her mother asked.

“I’m with my man.” She jerked her finger at me. “Or should I say fiancé? He asked me last month.”

Before anyone could react, she pulled a ring out of her bra and slipped it into place.

I would’ve laughed at everyone’s shocked faces had I not been so surprised.

She’d planned well.

Maximum shock factor in full effect.

“You’re…” Her mother was spoken over by another shrill voice in the room. “You’re what ?”

“Tell me you’re joking,” my stepsister, Juliet, groaned.

I went along with it, because why not. “Of course this isn’t a joke. We’ve decided to have a fall wedding. I asked her to marry me a month or so ago, but was waiting for the perfect time to tell everyone.”

“Tell me you’re at least signing a prenup.” Searcy’s mom looked scandalized.

“Oh, that’s probably a good idea,” Harrington said as he came into the room. “Don’t want my brother stealing half your money.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why would I do a thing like that?”

“Doc would never steal my money,” Searcy said fiercely, looking my brother in the eye and telling him with more than just words that she knew I’d never do a thing like that.

Her anger was palpable, and that’s when my stepfather came into the room and said, “Paul, Mara, have you met my daughter yet?”

That’s when I saw the lively—and by lively, I mean practically dead—elderly couple in the corner of the room.

They appeared to be downright seconds from death.

“Oh,” Paul, the man, said. “I don’t believe I have.”

He got up and started walking toward me, holding out his hand to Searcy. “It’s really nice to meet you. Your father has shared so much about you. So you’re a lesbian?”

Searcy blinked. “Um, no. I’m not a lesbian. I’m also not that man’s daughter. I’m this one’s fiancé.”

Ol’ Paul blinked. “Oh, then who is the lesbian?”

“That would be me.” My stepsister came forward. “Lesbian right here.”

My mother grumbled something under her breath, then said, “It’s time to eat!”

Dinner went well.

My mom kept glaring hard at Searcy.

Searcy smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world.

My stepsister remained utterly neutral with everything discussed—politics, business, and anything and everything that could be considered lively at a dinner party.

Harrington remained silent, not adding much to the conversation.

And then there was Searcy’s mom, who looked wholly uncomfortable with everything that was said and done.

She looked quite intimidated when the forks, spoons, knives, and dinner glasses were introduced to her.

Meanwhile, Searcy ate with her salad fork the entire time, picking up her meat with her fork and biting into it instead of using her knife. Unbothered by my family’s disdain for her.

The real entertainment was Paul and Mara.

It was only discovered later that Paul was the owner of a law firm—and the lawyer that was likely to be taking up Searcy’s mother’s case. And since he didn’t take just anyone as a client, he wanted to meet Searcy’s mom, Deiondre, first.

Oh, and let’s not forget the ex, Elisha, who looked like I’d shit on her pony.

She kept stealing glances at Searcy and her fake ring, looking like every time she did, she’d break down and cry.

I pretended not to notice and instead focused on explaining everything that there was to know about Searcy.

Though, I’d made sure that I had Searcy’s permission first.

By the end of dinner, Paul was talking quietly with his wife, Harrington looked ready to bolt, and the food I switched with from Searcy to my stepsister sat untouched.

“Was dinner not to your liking, dear Juliet?” Paul asked.

“Oh, I’m a vegetarian. I’m allergic to red meat,” my sister lied.

She wasn’t allergic to red meat.

She was allergic to watching cow videos and how they were mistreated.

She’d given up all meat a few years ago and hadn’t looked back since.

Oh, and also, she wasn’t a lesbian.

My stepsister was a very straight woman that had a best friend that was overly friendly.

One day my stepfather had caught them doing their overly friendly thing, and he’d said she was a lesbian ever since.

“Do you mind if I have a bite of your steak and a dinner roll?” Paul asked.

I’d literally watched Paul take every single extra dinner roll out of the basket, as well as have two helpings of salad. How that man kept putting food into his mouth, I didn’t know.

“Oh, sure.” Juliet handed over her roll.

“Show time,” I whispered into Searcy’s hair.

“What?” she whispered back.

“Watch,” I instructed. “This is a commonly used tactic of my mother’s.”

“Oh, no, Mr. Brussard. I’ll get you a fresh one from the…” My mother trailed off as Paul took a healthy bite of the dinner roll.

Then promptly made a face.

He chewed for a long second before he scolded, “Holy fuck. What the fuck is in this?”

Did I mention that I really liked Paul?

For a lawyer, he was okay.

Too bad he was about to be representing Searcy’s mother.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” my mother replied.

She’d, of course, caught me switching the plates, and had only made a face that quickly disappeared because she didn’t want everyone to catch her frowning.

Hosts never frowned.

This went better than I expected.

Paul spit his food out. Seconds later he was reaching for my sister’s full drink—which I’d also switched.

He took a healthy swallow, and immediately spit that out, too.

“What the fuck is wrong with this food?” Paul cried out.

“Mine was perfectly palatable,” Elisha said, knowing this was a tactic my mother used.

“So was mine,” Harrington drawled as he took in Paul.

“Mine wasn’t seasoned at all,” Searcy admitted. “I had to add a lot of salt and pepper to make the meat have any taste at all. Oh, and I also kind of wanted more steak.”

Because my mother constantly commented on Juliet’s hips.

She would never give Juliet food with salt or lots of meat.

She had given her extra salad. No dressing, though.

“Mine was just okay, too,” Paul’s wife commented. “Paul, have some of my beer.”

Paul did, then shook his head. “I’m thinking we’ll need to stop past McDonald’s on the way home so I can eat one of their happy meals to get the taste out of my mouth. Ready?”

Paul stood up and grabbed his wife’s hand, pulling her as well.

He made it halfway out of the room before turning back and saying, “I won’t be representing you, Deiondre. I don’t represent people that are suing for stupid reasons.”

With that, he left, and my mother waited until the company was gone, door solidly closed, before turning to me and saying, “You bitch.”

“Are you using crass words, Mother?” I asked. “And are you calling me a bitch?”

“I’m calling her a bitch.” She pointed at Searcy.

“What did I do?” Searcy asked.

“You’re ruining a relationship,” she sneered, still aiming her words at me, yet addressing Searcy.

It was weird, even for her.

“I don’t feel like I am,” Searcy said. “Honey, am I ruining our relationship?”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” my mother sneered.

“Listen,” Harrington interjected. “She’s rich as fuck now, Mom. She’s not out to steal Posy’s imaginary money. Honestly, this is getting really old. Also, Elisha and I are getting married.”

That shocked the shit out of me.

“What?” My mother couldn’t have reached a higher octave.

“We started talking last month, and well, we’re not interested in waiting.

We’re getting married over Christmas break in Vail,” Harrington said.

“Also, why are you inviting Searcy’s mother here?

She’s suing Searcy because Searcy isn’t sharing that money.

Which I told her not to do. That’s directly contradicting my recommendation. ” He stood up and walked to Elisha.

Quickly, he slammed his mouth down on hers, and I finally understood why she’d stopped pursuing me over the last few weeks. She had a new target.

Or maybe she wasn’t actually targeting him. Maybe they were actually in love.

I didn’t find it all that weird, either, because Harrington and Elisha spent more time together than Elisha and I had.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked. “Can we go now?”

Elisha pulled back with a flush to her face and replied, “We plan on it.”

Searcy looked at her mother. “Mom, you won’t win, then you’ll just be stuck with a lawyer bill. Trust me when I say, don’t pursue this.”

Searcy grabbed my hand, and I guided us out, Harrington and Elisha close on our heels.

I walked right up to my bike, and my brother walked to his Jag.

I snatched Searcy’s helmet off the seat and deposited it on her head.

When I grabbed my own, I looked up to see Harrington looking at me over his car, which he’d just helped Elisa into.

“I should be thanking you for not giving in,” he said.

I shrugged. “We didn’t have anything in common.”

“I won’t thank you, though, because you hurt her.” He paused. “And I’m not sure how to feel about that because I’m both mad as hell, and happy as fuck.”

I threw my leg over my bike and reached for Searcy’s hand. “Hop on, darlin’.”

She did, flashing me her white lace panties as she did.

She was never wearing a dress on the back of my bike again.

I liked seeing all that beautiful skin exposed, but the thought of it getting fucked up because I didn’t have her legs protected sent chills down my spine.

“Have a good one, Harrington!” Searcy waved.

I grinned and started the bike up, not bothering to wait for his reply.