Falling for the Ghost of You (25 page)

Grandma is standing there, arms crossed as she glares at us se
verely.  Talk about hard asses—
Kathy Harrington is the real deal.

"Hi, Grandma," I wave weakly.  "We were just..."

"Hm, I think I know what you were 'just' about to do.  And in public, too!"

Oh, this is so not good!  I might catch fire, I'm burning with embarrassment.  I can't even look at Zane.  He's probably covered in my lipstick.

"May I have a word with my granddaughter in private?"  she addresses Zane coldly. 

"Of course,"  Zane replies respectfu
lly.  Then he leans down to speak
in my ear.  "Do you want me to stay?"

I shake my head regretfully.  "You'd better go.  I'll see you inside."

He hesitates, and I realize why when I look down and see I'm clutching his shirt with both hands.  Hastily, I let go.

Zane gives me a reassuring smile and kisses my cheek before he nods once at Grandma.  "Ma'am."

Once he's gone, I turn to her.  "Okay, I know what you're going to say, but first let me
remind you that I'm seventeen—a
lm
ost eighteen.  And I know that—
"

Grandma stops my rush of words with a wave of her hand.  "Violet, I'm not so out of touch to think that you aren't having sex by now.  And I'd like to think that you are smart enough and responsible enough to be safe."  She pauses and sighs.  "But with
that
one... Violet, does your mother know?"

"No!  I just...it just sort of happened with Zane."  I shrug and pleat my fingers together nervously.  "I was going to tell her after the wedding.  I didn't... I don't
know.  Please don't tell her—I
promise I'll do it myself."

Grandma raises one perfectly groomed eyebrow.  "I'm surprised she doesn't already suspect.  Anyone can see the sparks flying between you two every time you're together."

I bite my lip, both pleased and embarrassed.  "She's been really distracted with the wedding and stuff."

"I suppose so!"  She allows a smile to crack her disapproving expression.  "He's absolutely gorgeous.  I can see the temptation."

"Grandma!"  I laugh and hook my arm through hers.  "I am still a virgin, though."

"Hm, but from the looks of it, you won't be for much longer."  She pats my cheek hard.  "Take steps to protect yourself.  I am far too young to be a great grandmother."

We start strolling back towards the ball room.  "I'm not the one you should be worried about," I snicker.

"Taylor?"  Grandma nods knowingly.  "She'll be lucky to know who the father is, that one.  She's a bit of a tramp, isn't she?"

I beam at her. 
"I love you, Grandma."

"I know, dear."  She smiles and squeezes my arm.  "That doesn't mean I won't kick your ass if I catch you carrying on like that in public again.  Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

I think if I
were to keep track of all my humiliations, I would probably have to kill myself.

I find Zane talking with a couple of guys that I assume are Bill's co-workers.  When he sees me, he raises both eyebrows.  I shrug and smile sheepishly in response.  He excuses himself and walks over to me.

"Everything okay?" he asks, rubbing my arm.

"I think so.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to look her in the eye again, but she was pretty cool about it."

“Yeah?”  He chuckles.  “From the look on her face, I thought I was gonna have to climb an ivory tower to rescue you.”

“Mm,” I say, squinting up at him.  “Would you really do that for me?”

“I could probably be talked into it.”

“Well if I ever—”

“Violet!”

Something rams into the back of my legs, propelling me forward into Zane, who catches me against his chest.

Oh, my god.  What’s happening right now?!  Ow.

I whirl around, still supported by Zane’s arms.  “Hunter!” I gasp.

My six year old demon cousin grins at me.  The blonde
Mohawk
he's rocking makes him look like a miniature biker dude--.in a suit. 

"I'm a shark! 
Rawr
!
"  He slaps me in the belly—h
ard.

"Ha," I say, ruffling his stripe of
hair.  "Sharks don't say '
rawr
.
'
  A
nd what did I say about you hitting me?"

Hunter jumps into a karate pose.  "That you'll hit me back, only harder 'cause your waaay stronger than me."  He walks up to Zane and tilts his head back to look at him.  "Mom says you're my cousin now.  Is that true?" he demands suspiciously.

Zane looks down at him with that half smile.  "Guess so, little man.  What do you think about that?"

"It's okay, I guess," Hunter says thoughtfully.  "But...you're not really gonna eat Violet, are you?"

Zane and I exchange puzzled looks.  "Hunter, why would you ask that?" I want to know.

"My mom says he looks at you like he wants to eat you," he replies matter-of-factly.  " She says it's 'cause of your
ginormous
boobies.  But why would that make you want to eat her?"

Zane starts laughing while I cover my flaming cheeks with my hands.  I'm going to kill my aunt!

H
e crouches dow
n and waves Hunter over.  My little cousin
leans close and listens intently to whatever Zane is whispering.  Suddenly, his eyes widen.  "For
reals
?" he demands skeptically.

"Would I lie?" Zane says solemnly. 

"Whoa!"

Hunter suddenly whirls around and takes off like a bullet.  I turn to Zane.

"What did you tell him?"  I ask suspiciously.

Zane shrugs and watches Hunter go.  "Just a little secret that us older guys have discovered."

A scream draws my attention to across the room to the table my aunt's sitting at.  Aunt Lisa is covering her chest with one arm, and slapping wildly at her feral-looking son with the other. Hunter is jumping up at her, jaws snapping.  It looks like he's trying to...

Zane gives me a sideways glance.  "I told him boobies taste like chocolate cake."

"Oh. 
That is so wrong."

"Yeah, I don't think your aunt is going to like me much."

"Probably not."  I catch Aunt Lisa's
eye.  She's glaring.  "Quick—w
ave at her.  That will really piss her off."

We both give little waves.  Lisa starts shouting and jabbing her finger around like a deranged disco queen.  I look at Zane and we both burst out laughing.

"We're not really doing a good job of hiding us, are we?" I say, pushing back my hair.

He shakes his head, smiling.  "Nope.  Come on.  Might as well really give 'em something to talk about."

He takes my hand and pulls me to the dance floor.  A sexy salsa is playing and Zane whirls me around to the beat.

I'm a pretty good dancer, and he's fantastic.  We move together in perfect synchronization.  With him, dancing like this feels like second nature, and I effortlessly
follow his lead. 
I know all eyes are on us, but I don't even care.  I can't remember why I wanted to keep us a secret.

I'm having so much fun right now.  I'll worry about the consequences later.

But “later” is not as far away as I had hoped.

After the song is over, Mom takes me aside.

"Do you know what's wrong with Lisa?" she asks, her eyes wide with concern.  " She said that Hunter tried to bite her breasts because of something you or Zane said?"

I smooth out the skirt of my dress nervously.  "Yeah, I don't know.  I think she's drunk.  I
might
have said something, and Hunter picked it up.  You know how little kids are."  I exhale noisily.  “She’s just trying to start some drama at your wedding.”

Mom just looks at me.  "Uh-huh.  And what's going on between you and Zane?   You two looked pretty cozy out there."  She gestures toward the dance floor.

"What?  Why would you say...?  Nothing.  We're just...you know.  He's a good dancer."

“Okay.  Well, it’s good you can have fun with a guy
again
.  I mean, after Matt…”

Crap, why don't I just tell her?  Zane is my boyfriend.  See?  Simple.

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out, except maybe a sigh.  Why is this so hard?

Mom watches my discomfort with a frown.  Suddenly, she reaches over and puts both hands on my cheeks.  “Violet, I trust you,” she says directly, looking me in the eye.  “You’ve never given me a reason not to.  A
nd when I was…when I was sick,
our roles got reversed.  You were the one taking care of me and paying the bills, and being strong for the both of us…”

“Mom,” I try to interrupt when her eyes start going misty.

“No, I just want to tell you how proud I am of you.  You sacrificed a lot for me, and you never complained.  And then I when I sprung Bill on you, and—and the honeymoon and the wedding…you were so great about it all.”  She stops gushing to kiss my forehead.  “Thank you, Violet.  You’re a wonderful daughter, and…you know you can tell me anything, right?”

"Wow."  I shift my feet awkwardly.  "
Yeah. 
Thanks."

We just stand there, for the longest minute ever.  Then we both try to h
ug each other at the same time—a
nd miss.  It's painful.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go rescue Bill from your grandmother.  He's got that deer-in-the-headlights look."  Mom points to where Grandma has Bill cornered by the bar.  "That woman is a trip.  She actually told me I'm too old to have another baby, so I'd better practice safe sex.  Can you believe that?"

"Uh, yeah.  She's wacky, tha
t one."  I pat her back.  "Go—s
ave your man."

Mom winks at me.  "I think I will.  Love you."

"I love you, too."

She blows me a kiss.  I watch her walk away, stumbling in her heels quite a few times before she reaches Bill and Grandma.  Is she drunk?  I don't remember smelling any alcohol on her breath.  Wow, I've never seen her under the influence before.  I make a note to keep an eye on her, just in case.  Or Bill will, I'm sure.

Bill.

Reality suddenly sinks in.  He is now officially my stepfather.  He made a vow in front of witnesses to be there for Mom in si
ckness and in health---a
nd he'd better mean it.  It's weird to me to think that Mom and I would have someone else to rely on.  If the cancer ever came back...

No, I don't want to think about that.  Not today, especially.

My sentimental mood shrivels up and
dies when I see Zane—w
ith Taylor.  Again.  They're sitting at a table together, leaning towards each other, and carrying on what appear
s to be a hilarious convo
.

Grr.  Why does he have to talk to her
?  Out of all the people here—w
hy can't he say hi to Great Uncle Larry?  He's a funny fascinating guy.  He used to be a pearl diver!  That's way more interesting than a stupid slutty Miss Nevada!

No, you know what?  He can have fun with Double Jointed all night.  I'm not storming over there like the jealous girlfriend again.  Whatever.

I decide some fresh air might cool my heating temper.  I don't want to g
o through the gardens, though—too crowded—s
o I head out through the front.

As I walk towards the parking lot, I try to calm myself down.  Okay, Zane's not doing anything wrong.  He's a nice, good-looking guy who enjoys talking to giggly totally obvious girls who undress him with their eyes.  And would I say he maybe encourages their behavior by flirting back?  No, not to his face. 

Argh!   I can't do this anymore!  It's like a merry go round of jealousy.  But I can't help the way I feel.  Maybe...maybe this isn't working out.  Us, I mean.  Obviously, I feel like I can't trust him, so...maybe we should just go back to being friends.

My heart breaks a little at the thought of never being able to touch Zane, kiss him.  I can't.  But I can't be like this anymore.

I don't know what to do!

Footsteps sound behind me.  Zane.  I turn around with a smile on my face.

But it's not him.

A blonde-haired good-looking man I don’t recognize is smiling at me.  “Hello,” he says.  “You’re Lily’s daughter,  right?”

First thing I do is glance around to see if I’m within screaming distance of people.  There is a group of workers standing around in the parking lot, talking to each other, and there are a few people milling around in front of the building, just a few yards away.  My shoulders relax slightly.

“Yep,” I reply with a polite smile.  I am so not interesting in chatting right now.

“My name’s Sean.  I work with Bill,” he introduces himself.  “Well, I work on his floor.  I’m actually in a separate division—just basic data entry.  Bill is good friends with my father, in case you're wondering how I got invited.”