Page 78 of The Holy Grail
Richard goes full dad mode
Feeling ninety-nine percent sure nothing bad was going to happen, but allowing for a one percent chance she might be wrong, Jules texted her parents in the ‘Fam Chat’ they’d set up years ago.
JULES: I was wondering if you two had some time to talk.
In less than a minute, they were both responding.
DAD: Of course. What’s going on? MOM: Is it serious? Should I be sitting down? JULES: It’s a little serious. Nothing bad, though.
Almost immediately, Jules’ phone rang with a FaceTime request from her mom, which Jules quickly accepted. Not surprising, her dad was also invited to the call and connected within seconds.
“Well, I’m already sitting down, Freckles, so fire away,” Richard said.
“So am I,” said Edie.
Jules could tell her mom was in her car, and her dad appeared to be sitting outside in a ... golf cart?
“If you two are busy doing stuff, we can talk later,” Jules told her parents, who quickly shot down the suggestion.
“I just got to the grocery store, so now’s fine,” Edie replied.
“And I just finished my nine holes of golf,” Richard said, “but I can wait a few minutes to return the cart.”
“I didn’t know you’d taken up golf, Dad,” Jules said.
“It’s a recent development,” he explained. “It’s supposed to be relaxing, but when your ball goes into the sand trap on every hole, it really isn’t.”
For a moment, Jules was sidetracked, trying to picture her father golfing and not able to do it.
“So, what’s going on?” Edie asked.
Jules shook off the image of Richard Shaw in a pair of plaid golf pants and a sun visor on his head, hoping she’d never see that in person. “Part of it has to do with Mal—”
“Oh?” Edie perked up at that. “Are we going to get to meet him soon?”
“Yes.”
“That’s wonderful,” Edie gushed. “I can’t wait.”
“How soon?” Richard asked, his no-nonsense tone in direct contrast to Edie’s.
For the first time in almost forever, Jules was a little flustered, and when she answered, it showed. “I’m not sure, yet, but it will definitely be soon.”
Richard continued to simply look at her with an expression that told her in no uncertain terms he wasn’t satisfied with her answer.
She was a little taken aback at her dad being such a …
dad. It made her readjust her numbers to ninety-five percent that nothing bad was going to happen, and five percent she might be wrong as she steered the conversation back to the real reason she’d contacted them.
“There’s … something else I need to tell you. ”
Richard’s eyes narrowed slightly in concern. “Are you pregnant?”
“What? No,” she quickly negated. “That’s not it.”
“Then what is it?”
“Do you remember me talking about someone named Evan?”
Both Richard and Edie looked blank for a moment, before their expressions cleared.
“David’s friend?” Edie asked. “The bartender?”
“Yes.”
“What about him? ”
“Well, I never told you this, but I’ve had feelings for him since shortly after we met a few years ago—and he had feelings for me, too—but we never acted on them because of Paige and David. Honestly, it was more my decision than Evan’s, but anyway, we just stayed friends until recently—”
“What happened recently?”
With both parents looking at her, Jules gave them the watered-down version of Malcom and Gwen being with Evan (to give her parents the history between the two men), then went on to share the meeting at the Farmer’s Market and the subsequent conversations between all three of them, resulting in the decision to become a triad.
Richard and Edie were mostly upset with how long Jules had kept this from them, but Jules explained how she’d wanted to make sure the relationship was going to actually ‘stick’ before telling them.
“So, it’s sticking?” Edie surmised.
“Yes.”
“Well, I can’t say I totally understand this,” Richard said slowly, “but it does make sense that you’re too much for one man to handle—”
“Oh, my God, Dad,” Jules responded with a chuckle. “Stop.”
“So, what happens going forward?” Edie wanted to know, cutting in. “What does that look like?”
“Well, Evan and I will be moving into Malcom’s townhouse at the end of the month, so that’s the first big step.
After that, I think we just treat the situation like we would if we were living with one other person, only it will be two other people.
And we’ve all spent time together, like during weekends, so it’s not going to be that big of a change. ”
Edie seemed pacified, but made it clear meeting Malcom and Evan before they all moved in together was a necessity.
“I agree,” Richard said. “And the sooner the better.”
Jules nodded. “I was thinking we’d come—”
“This weekend.”
“Dad, no, that’s too—”
“This weekend,” he repeated. Then, in his This is how it’s going to be voice, added, “I don’t care how much you have to pay for a last minute airline ticket, Freckles. Make it happen.”