Purely Relative (7 page)

“No, I didn’t!” Jon yelled as loud if not louder than
Thalia. “Don’t fall for Jenny’s deflection attempt. You and I already settled
matters, Thalia.” He stabbed a finger in Jenny’s direction. “Don’t let her drag
us into this.”

I slipped wordlessly into one of the two empty chairs,
shaking out the cloth napkin onto my lap. Otherwise, I kept my head down, but
took inventory from beneath my lashes. Jon's parents headed opposite ends of
the long rectangular table. The Milanos, including Thalia, flanked Jon's
father. Jenny and my brother sat across from me, Ian's reddened face betraying
strong emotion, at least to me. At the other end sat Jason and two girls about
his age. I guessed one girl was Tully and perhaps the other one was Jason’s
girlfriend, Kat? It was a big damn table to seat twelve of us comfortably
despite the horribly uncomfortable tension crackling in the air.

“Why does it have to be a drama?” Jenny shrieked. “Why can’t
you all just be happy for me?”

Sophia muttered, “None of this would have happened if they’d
listened to us.” She tutted and gave a quick shake of her head, hands clasped
and her elbows on the table.

“I’d be happy for you if you didn’t drag my name through the
mud,” Jon said in a much calmer voice.

Alex Milano pointed at Ian and then at me. “You two are
brother and sister?”

“Yes,” Ian and I said in unison.

Alex coughed, then laughed into his napkin. Jack shot him a
glance to quell his mirth.

Thalia clasped her hands on the table and skewered Jon. “Perhaps
I was a little on the naïve side when we ended our engagement. Are you saying
you never so much as kissed Gayle before you broke it off with me?”

“I…” Jon paused and glanced at me. “No. I can’t say that.”

Wrong! He was lying. Jon was lying.

Thalia leaned forward to give me a gimlet eye. “I didn’t
think so. You’re just as bad as Jenny,” she said to Jon before throwing her
body back into her chair, arms crossed at her chest. Miss High and Mighty.

I couldn’t, wouldn’t allow her to sully Jon. He didn’t
deserve that, certainly not in front of his parents and her parents or me and
my brother. I couldn’t stand the injustice of it. “Now wait a minute, Thalia! I
don’t know why Jon feels guilty or has confessed to something that isn’t true.
He never once kissed me.” I looked at Jon who had opened his mouth as if to
protest. “You didn’t.
I
kissed
you
. You didn’t kiss me, but in my
defense I was drunk and it was just so not my night, what with Mrs. Turner
being all snarky and Doug being Doug and then there was Nicky and … well, never
mind. I was under a lot of stress, and I had too much to drink, and I laid one
on him. So what! He was a perfect gentleman. That wasn’t Jon’s crime. It was
mine.” I addressed everyone at the table one by one and as I did it occurred to
me that each had sort of squirmed in their chairs, refusing to make eye
contact. “Okay. Shutting up now.”

Jason leaned over to me and murmured, “You wouldn’t happen
to have a younger sister, would you?”

“What? No!”

One of his friends narrowed her eyes at me. “God! This is
way too melodramatic. Can we go out to eat, Jason?” 

“No, we can’t,” Jason said with a sigh.

“You’re more than welcome to leave, Kat, if not being the
center of attention offends you,” the other woman said.

“And I’ll bet you’d love that wouldn’t you,
Tallulah
?”
Kat said.

Tully huffed. “For the hundredth time, it’s not Tallulah!
It’s Tully! Jason obviously doesn’t date you for your sweeping intellect, does
he?”

“Sandbox friends only go so far, honey. When boys grow into
men, they want a real woman to play with,” she paused and pointedly looked
Tully up and down, “not a third-wheel buddy.” She gave a disdainful puff of air
through perfectly lacquered lips to punctuate her jab. 

“My experience has been skanks get no thanks, but good
friends transcend to the end.” Tully cast her eyes to Jason, who sagged a
little in his chair. “You see how she talks to me? And you never say a damn
word. I thought we were friends.”

“I was about to ask the same thing,” Kat said. “Sugar,
please get me out of here.” She pushed a pouty lip out like a little girl, and
in a melodious voice added, “I’ll make you glad you did.”

Tully huffed and crossed her arms. “Disgusting.”

“Bitch! What is your problem?” Kat said, her voice rising
above Jason’s, who was trying to pacify Tully.

“Nice language,” Tully drawled. “You do realize you’re a
guest in your boyfriend’s parents’ home don’t you? One would think you’d be on
your best behavior.”

Across from me, Ian declared his firm belief to Jon’s
parents that Jenny was the one for him, and he’d fight for her if he had to. He
explained how they weren’t strangers, but had had a friendly acquaintance for
some time that extended to online social media. News to me. I didn’t think Ian
cared for that sort of thing. He’d never bothered to friend me, and frankly
that ticked me off!

The cacophony of voices grew louder until it hurt my ears.
Jon’s mother, who had remained silent for the duration of the filibusters
happening at both ends of the table, caught my eye. After sending a world-weary
nod my way, her lips rigid, she stood up and yelled, “SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!”

Everyone quieted, but before Jon’s mother could say anything
more, Scott burst into the room.

“Jenny! We weren’t finished talking! And what the hell is
he
doing here?” Scott stabbed an accusatory finger in Ian’s direction.

Jenny exhaled and rolled her head back. “Scott. Please just
... Go. Away. Just go.”

Waves of anger rolled off Scott as he swayed, his hands
curling into fists. “You don’t mean this. You’re premenstrual or something. The
Jenny I know would never behave this way. The Jenny I know doesn’t spit on a
five-year relationship because some beach bum with a high IQ whispers a few
pretty words in her ear. The Jenny I know—”

Jenny stood so abruptly, she knocked over her chair. “The
Jenny you know doesn’t exist! She never existed, and no matter how hard you
tried to warp me into that woman, it was never going to happen. Please, Scott.
It’s over. This time, it’s really over.”

Scott shook his head. “No. It’s not. You do this every few
months. It’ll pass. It always does. You’ll see. Now I need you to send this ...
person,” he waved his hand in Ian’s direction, “away, and we’ll forget any of
this ever happened.”

Ian rose slowly from his chair, his face that
all-too-familiar rosy shade with twin slashes of plum on his cheekbones.
Uh-oh
.
His visible anger could still trigger a flight instinct in me. He walked
gracefully but quickly to block Scott’s view of Jenny. All heads swiveled in
their direction. “Hey, man, she asked you to leave. No point in causing a scene
in front of her family. Let it go. Go home. Reflect a little.”

From where I sat, I could see both men. Scott’s fists
tightened. “Are you threatening me, rocket boy?”

Ian kept a straight face that belied the rage I knew he held
barely in check. The two men were about the same size—large and dangerous
looking—and though I’d give a slight height advantage to Scott, Ian
probably had him by about twenty pounds. My brother was a good fighter, although
I didn’t really think it would come to that, at least I hoped it didn’t.

“Not threatening you. Merely suggesting this isn’t a fight
you’re going to win, and certainly not while she’s surrounded by her family.”
In a frosty tone he added, “Or while I have a breath in my body.”

“I’m not intimidated by you,” Scott bit out, taking a step
closer to Ian.

“Stop it, you two!” Jenny yelled.

Ian cast an apologetic glance Jenny’s way before turning
back to Scott. “Listen, I’d be more than happy to take this outside, off the
Cripps’ grounds preferably, because I’ll not be goaded into anything in their
home. It’s very bad manners. You can leave alone or we can go together. I don’t
really care which, but leave you will.”

Jenny walked to where Scott stood. “Ian, stop! Scott. This
is not helping at all. Please, please go.”

“Jenny,” he warned.

“No to you. No to everything,” she said, arms dangling at
her sides, her posture fully upright and confident. “No, I’m not sending him
away, and I’m not leaving with you. Ever. I don’t love you, and I’m 99 percent
sure you don’t love me.”

“I forgive you. I’ll forget this ever happened. Don’t be a
fool!”

Jenny raised a hand and tapped her chest. “I don’t ever want
to forget this happened. Something amazing happened to me. My eyes were finally
opened to how unhappy I was. You can’t have been happy either, Scott. Now,
please, please, just go. Please.”

“Sex isn’t enough to sustain a relationship. You’ll see.
You’ll come running back to me before the week is over. You’ll—”

“Scott! This has nothing to do with sex!”

The muscle in Scott’s jaw tensed and released. He surveyed
each face in the room. No one spoke. I think we were all so stunned at being
witnesses to something so emotionally charged that had taken an even more
intimate turn. I was, anyway.

“Fuck you, Jenny! And fuck your
friend
, too.” He gave
a disdainful snort. “Never mind. You’ve already done that.” He spun on his heel
and stalked out of the house, slamming the door on his way.

A funereal pall fell upon the room.

“Well, thank goodness that’s finally over!” Sophia said. As
Jenny returned to her seat, her face flushed with emotion, Sophia slammed both
fists on the table. “I never liked that guy! I’m sorry, Jenny, but I can’t hold
it in any longer.”

Jenny’s mouth fell open. “What? You didn’t?”

Sophia shook her head. Alex shook his. Jack did the same,
followed by Julie and Thalia.

“Scott was a dick,” Jason said.

Only Jon held his tongue, but I already knew he thought
along the same lines.

Jenny blinked a few times, before retaking her seat with Ian
trailing closely behind. “What was all the earlier crucifixion about then?”

Sophia shrugged. Jon’s mother sighed and his father grumbled
and said, “We may not have been all that fond of Scott, but we still think you
handled this very badly, Jenny. It was badly done indeed.”

“Wow, okay. Maybe I didn’t handle the breakup all that well,”
she said. “But I wish someone might have mentioned what they thought about
Scott a few years ago.”

Tully burst from her chair. She cleared her throat and stared
at Jason for a few heartbeats. “I love you, Jason. I’ve always loved you, but I
can’t stand to see you with anyone else, especially with someone like her. I
can’t take it anymore.” Tully’s voice cracked, and she started to cry. “I kept
thinking, ‘One day he’ll see how perfect we would be together. Be patient,
Tully.’ Sitting here listening to Jenny, I realize I’ve been waiting
more
than five years for that to happen … only … it’s not going to. It’s never going
to happen. I finally get it. The truth has finally sunk in through my thick
skull.” She slapped both palms against her temples. “So, I’m not going to waste
even a second more of my life wishing and praying and dreaming for what I can’t
have.” She turned to leave, nearly tripping over her chair, but caught herself.
Despite her red-rimmed eyes and running nose, she walked to Julie, and with the
dignity of Grace Kelly said, “I’m sorry for making a scene, but if you’ll
please excuse me, I think I’ll go home now.” She continued her trek straight
out of the dining room. We heard the front door shut behind her with nary a
hint of Scott’s theatrics.

All eyes shifted to Jason, who stared into the blank space
in front of him, mouth a firm line, until he abruptly pushed back, and without
a word to anyone, sprinted after Tully.

Kat sniffed and grabbed her purse. She said nothing to her
hosts, but walked out in Jason’s wake, slamming the front door behind her.

“I didn’t like her either,” Sophia said.

Back at my apartment, Jon and I
kicked off our shoes and collapsed on the sofa.

Jon rubbed the nape of my neck, his strong fingers a perfect
blend of sensuous and therapeutic. “You survived round two. I’m so sorry
though. We aren’t usually so theatrical.”

I smiled and leaned into his touch. “It’s okay. In a way
it’s nice to see a family dynamic that’s so ... normal, not fake or put on for
the benefit of visitors.”

Jon laughed. “That definitely was not our finest hour, but
you’re right. No one hid behind a mask.”

“What do you think happened with Jason and Tully and Kat?”
That lovely triangle had me intrigued. Part of me hoped Tully won her man, but
I feared she had perhaps missed the Jason boat long ago. If Jason couldn’t see
her by now, he might never value her the way she needed. I admired Tully for
taking a stand and declaring herself, but the knot in my stomach told me she
had said too much, too late.

“Jason’s an idiot. If he loses his friendship with Tully,
he’ll really regret it.”

“Maybe that needs to happen so he can get a glimpse of how
his life will be without her. Kind of like
It’s a Wonderful Life
.” I
nestled in close to Jon, my ear against his chest, listening to the steady
thumping of his heart.

“Maybe.” Lips pressed against my head and Jon’s fingers
entwined in my hair.

We sat quietly curled together, neither of us speaking for
quite some time.

“I love you, Gayle. Please don’t be scared off by my crazy
family.”

I wrapped my arms around him, pulling in even closer. “They
weren’t so bad. Even Sophia, who seemed determined to put me in my place on
Thanksgiving, somewhat redeemed herself.”

“She’s definitely one of a kind.” Jon’s deep voice rumbled
against my ear as he spoke, a soothing vibration. “Speaks her mind. Only
problem is her mind is never constant.”