Page 34 of Mostly My Boss
“Not just earned her place. Jules made the Dean’s List,” Ethan supplied.
I was about to explain that I hadn’t exactlyescapedfrom the farm, it was my home, when an elderly Hispanic woman who’d been introduced as Esmeralda entered the dining room with another tray of food. This was after a solid hour of what Mrs. Moss referred to as cocktail snacks before in the living room.
“Ah, the fish course,” Ethan’s mother announced. “Excellent.”
“Not to discuss shop over the holiday,” Ethan’s father said. “But I’ve looked over your course selection for the next semester and I’ve made two corrections. I really feel you’re not challenging yourself the way you need to. You’ll need to notify the dean as soon as possible.”
I leaned back as Esmeralda served some piece of fish I didn’t recognize and couldn’t possibly eat after the last course and waited for Ethan to contradict his father. I knew the careful planning he’d put into his class selection. There was no way he was making any changes.
“Of course,” he said instead. “I’ll need to wait until after the holiday. No one will be around these next few days.”
Ethan held up his glass and Esmeralda brought some of the red wine over from the serving table and filled it.
“Ethan, you shouldn’t be drinking,” his father said with obvious disapproval.
“A couple of glasses of wine. It’s Christmas.”
His father’s expression darkened. “The day doesn’t care about your condition.”
Condition?That seemed harsh.
“It’s important, Julie, when you’re with him at school, to make sure he doesn’t drink,” his mother told me. “He reacts poorly to alcohol when he’s on his meds. He needs to be very careful.”
I didn’t bother to correct my name. I looked at Ethan. “I thought you were only on one medication.”
“He’s on six that I’ve prescribed,” his father said. “Although I don’t understand why I haven’t had to sign for any refills.”
“I’m actually doing quite well without them,” Ethan said to his father. “The Adderall has been the only one I’ve needed. And only periodically.”
Mr. Moss set his silverware carefully down on top of his plate, the ticking in his jaw now more pronounced.
“I didn’t realize in your spare time you’d earned a degree in medicine.”
“Of course not, Dad. I simply haven’t needed—”
“I’ll write the scripts,” he interrupted. “You’ll fill them before you leave to go back to school. Now push that glass of wine to the side so Esmeralda knows to take it away on her next trip.”
Which happened ten minutes later.
“Ah, the meat course,” Mrs. Moss proclaimed.
* * *
“Holy fuck!” I said once we were in his room with the door closed.
“I told you it would be bad,” he groaned. “We can head back tomorrow after breakfast.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” I told him. I kicked off my loafers and climbed up on his ginormous bed to sit next to him. “Your mom’s a little overanxious, and your dad’s a little on the stern side…”
He raised a brow. “A little? Not quite. He was on his best behavior with you here. The grilling would have been far more intense if I’d come alone. I suspect it’s not over, either.”
“What do you mean?”
He was about to answer me but stopped. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Are you going to change your classes?”
Ethan huffed. “No. That’s not how it works. I’ll simply lie and tell him I couldn’t get into either class. He’ll make a few phone calls, but I’ve lined up enough support with the administrative staff to have them back me up.”
