Page 38 of The Holy Grail
Richard looked amazed. “He’s got you eating salads?”
“And carrots.”
“I knew you’d become an adult some day,” Richard mused, as if savoring a proud moment.
“Do you have a picture of Malcom?” Edie wanted to know.
“Not yet,” Jules answered. “But there is a picture on the Schmidt & Klein website if you want to give it a look.”
Edie immediately went to get her phone to ostensibly pull up the picture, and when she did, her eyes widened. “Oh, he’sveryhandsome,” she gushed. “Look at him,” she told Richard, tilting the phone toward him.
Richard took the phone and gazed at the picture for a moment before commenting, “He’s not bad looking.” He then proceeded to scroll a little, obviously reading Malcom’s job description at the law firm. “Contract law? That sounds incredibly boring. Is he boring? Because my daughter doesn’t settle for boring—and I don’t care if he looks like Rock Hudson.”
“She probably doesn’t know who Rock Hudson is,” Edie pointed out.
Jules made a face. “I know who Rock Hudson is, Mom.” Then addressing Richard’s comments, Jules answered, “No, Dad, he’s not boring, but he did say his job was,” before filling them in on why Malcom chose that particular specialty.
“His father sounds like a bit of an asshole,” Richard observed.
“I haven’t met him yet, but he does seem like a bit of an asshole,” Jules agreed.
“So, when are you going to meet his parents?” Edie inquired.
“Well, we just had our first date, so …”
“So … next week?”
“Yeah, Mom, next week.”
“Don’t wait too long,” Richard advised. “In-laws can be deal breakers. It’s better to know sooner, rather than later.”
Edie nodded, then teased, “That’s right. I almost didn’t marry your father because of his parents.”
“I almost didn’t marry your mother because of hers,” Richard teased back.
“Well, I’m worried no one will want to marry me because of you two,” Jules said.
Richard scoffed, “Are you kidding? We’ll seal the deal for you.”
“So, when do we get to meet Malcom?” Edie asked.
Jules made another face. “Well, we just had our first date, so …”
“So, next week?”
“Yeah, Mom, next week.” Then, because she knew she’d interrupted something romantic, Jules brought the conversation to a close so they could get back to it. Even though it was a little awkward knowing her parents had been getting frisky, at the same time it was a gift having parents who were still marriedandin love with one another, so … good for them. “I’ll let you two get back to whatever you were doing.”
“Okay. Bye, Freckles!”
“Bye—”
That’s all she got out before the call was disconnected.
Chapter 11
Malcom has a cat
As Jules approached Malcom’s house for their second official date, she noticed a cat sitting on the welcome mat in front of the door, meowing loudly. In the glow of the porch light, she could see the cat was a tortoiseshell, with a beautiful kaleidoscope pattern of colors in its fur—black, brown, orange, gold, cream, and white. As Jules ascended the stairs, the cat stopped meowing long enough to turn and see who was coming.
