Page 18 of Mr. Dangerous

8

Rob

When we pulled backinto the circle in front of the house, there was a catering van parked with its doors open wide and people in black chef’s coats moving to-and-from thehouse.

“What is that old vampire up to?” Iasked.

“Rob!” Naomi’s eyeswidened.

“I love her,” I said, unfastening my seatbelt. “But I don’t love her hijinks. And there arealwayshijinks.”

“I’ll put the car in thegarage.”

I nodded, just because I needed privacy to talk to my grandmother. There were very strong Delaney rules about airing dirty laundry in front of the help, even though they were, literally, the people who washed our dirty laundry. I might feel differently about Naomi, but I wasn’t about to explainthatto my grandmother. Just like I couldn’t begin to explain the complicated, fucked-up dynamics within the Delaney clan to sweetNaomi.

I found my grandmother on the deck, which was set with a long table covered in white linens. I pulled out one of the chairs and sat opposite her. Her pixie cut was ruffled by the breeze. Her red lips were perfectly polished and smug, and she took her oversized sunglasses off to lay them next to her placesetting.

"I thought we were ordering lunch in for the two of us," I said evenly. "Not for aguestlist."

Through the French doors, I could glimpse the caterers moving around in thekitchen.

She wrinkled her nose. "Honey, where did you go? What's that on yourshirt?"

"Cat fur," I said shortly, brushing a tuft of white fur off the front of my polo. The breeze lofted it, and it sailed over our heads towards thehouse.

"Well, the guests should be here in ten minutes, but you might as well take the time toshower."

"Like I said, I wasn't expectingguests."

"Kate's allergic to cats.” She waved me off. "Go! Shoo! Take ashower!"

"Kate?" I asked. "What's Kate doingcoming?"

"Good lord. You went to BU and that's the best sentence you can form?" She smiledslightly.

"You're being awful," I warned her as Istood.

"You can't blame me, sweetheart," she said. "I wantgrandchildren."

"Awful," I said again, knowing it would make her smile, and headed inside. I looked for Naomi as I crossed the house for the stairs, eager to warn her— somehow the thought of Naomi and Kate coming face-to-face made me uncomfortable— but I couldn'tfindher.

Twenty minutes later I came back down, clean-shaven and freshly showered, in a crisp blue button-down and dark wash jeans. I’d purposefully grabbed the first few pieces of clothing at the top of my suitcase. I wasn’t going to worry about how I looked tomyex.

Grandmother mingled out on the deck with her guests. One of them stood with her loose brown curls blowing in the breeze, wearing a summer dress and strappy sandals. I glanced away quickly, taking in the rest of thecrowd.

I knew Senator Gray and his wife from his childhood, when they had been frequent visitors, and I remembered the slender, magenta-haired professor of poetry as one of Grandmother's best friends when she had lived in Rhode Island. The others Ididn'tknow.

Senator Gray turned when he saw me coming down the stairs, his eyes widening slightly. Then he smiled, extending a tanned hand to me. “Rob Delaney. For a minute, I thought you were your father. Spittingimage.”

“Senator Gray,” I said, shaking his hand and pretending the rest of that greeting hadn’t happened. I didn’t care to have anything in common with myfather.

“I want you to know, Rob, you’ve made us all proud here in Rhode Island. Not many people with the world at their feet would choose to spend their life inservice.”

“Thank you.” I didn’t really want to thank him. Senator Gray had been my father’s mentor when my father was a junior congressman. The two of them had been thick as thieves and twice as dishonest. But when my father wrecked his car and his political career in one drunken afternoon, Senator Gray had suddenly disappeared from ourlives.

"Oh, Rob, come greet Kate," Grandma said, wavingmeover.

Kate turning, smiling brightly. Her face was leaner, faint wrinkle lines around her eyes and the corner of her lips, but she looked very much the same as she had for the eight years we had dated on-and-off. Her cheeks still dimpled the same as theyusedto.

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