Page 116 of Rastor

I loved her. And Iowedher. Twice, I'd accused her of horrible things that weren't true. I'd doubted her. I'd made her feel like trash. If it came down to it, I'd take a bullet for her – not because of our fights, but because I loved her more than life itself.

I glanced at the gravy. Yeah, it was a bullet, alright.

Next to me, Lauren Jane giggled. "And I told the guy, if you thinkthisone's skimpy, you should see the Brazilian. Andhethought I meant a Brazilian girl, so he's looking around, like 'Where?' And so I point to my bikini bottom and say, 'Right here.' But the guy'sstilllooking around, and we're totally laughing at him, but hestilldoesn't get it." She rolled her eyes. "God, he wassodense."

I was only half listening. I gave Chloe another quick glance. She was staring at Josh with such concern that it tugged at my heart. All this time, I'd had Chloe pegged as something different, a rich girl with no worries. Come to find out, her life was more complicated than I ever imagined.

And I loved her all the more for it.

Next to me, Lauren Jane made a sound of impatience. "Lawton? Are you listening?"

To her? Not if I could help it.

Still, I made myself say, "Sorry, what was that?'

"Iaskedif you wanna see it."

"See what?"

She gave a sigh of irritation. "My bikini."

"Why?" I gave her a look. "You wearing it now?"

"No. But I have a picture. It's right here on my phone." She lowered her voice. "We're not supposed to have phones at the table, but they don't need to knoweverything, right?" As she said this, she gave my crotch an extra squeeze – for all the good it did.

If I was lucky, she'd needbothhands to work that phone of hers, because the longer this went on, the more I was thinking that oyster gravy might be just the thing to put me out of my misery.

"Sure," I said. "Let's see it."

Finally, her hand left my crotch. She looked down at her lap and started doing something under the tablecloth. Whatever it was, I was just glad my privates weren't involved.

She was still looking down when Chloe's dad spoke up. "Lauren Jane? Potatoes?"

With a sigh, Lauren Jane stopped doing whatever and took the bowl from his outstretched hands. She spooned some potatoes onto her plate, and then, as she passed the bowl to me, she whispered, "I'll show you after dessert."

Yeah, right. That's whatshethought.

The other dishes were still making their way around the table – except for one. The gravy. It was just sitting there, like a stinking turd in the punchbowl of this family freak-show.

I knew exactly how this was supposed to play out. The gravy was supposed to sit there, making Chloe and Josh uncomfortable until it was time for Loretta to make a scene. And then, her two step-kids would have to eat it, whether they wanted to or not.

Fuck that.

I reached over and picked up the gravy boat. Ignoring the smell of rotten fish, I gave its contents a good, long look. I saw chunks of something that could only be oysters – a type of shellfish, unfortunately. For me, anyway.

As I looked at the stuff, a new thought hit me. If I played my cards right, Loretta wouldn't be thinking this was so fancy after all. And maybe, just maybe, she'd be too embarrassed to make it again. Liking that thought, I felt a real smile spread across my face.

Showtime.

Chapter 59

I looked over at Loretta. "You said oyster gravy, right?" I took a big whiff of it and grinned. "My favorite. Did you know, my great-grandma, she was a fishwife on the Detroit river, this was her specialty too?"

Loretta froze. From the look on her face, she wasn't flattered by the comparison.

Good. It's not like it was true, anyway.

Loretta bared her teeth. "How nice."