Page 69 of Wild Tides
“What happened to us being a team?”
“This half of our team is going to enjoy every freaking minute. Consider it karma, Murphy. You’re going to be the proud recipient of all the boyfriend grilling that didn’t happen when I was a teenager. My dad’s a quiet guy, but I’d guess you have a fifty percent chance he’s going to ask you to help him clean his gun collection.”
A soft snort escaped me. Gary wasn’t that kind of guy. A sinking sensation made my knees weaken as Vi just looked on, a hint of pity shadowing her features.
“Your dad doesn’thavea gun collection.”
I was sure of it. Pretty sure.
She tapped my chin before covering my frown with a kiss. “Honey, for you, he’ll borrow every gun he can get his hands on. If there’s anything less than a militia’s worth of arms in the house, I’m going to complain that he doesn’t love me enough.”
He loved her plenty. Which gave her words the ring of truth. I’d always liked Gary — steady, easy-going, the kind of man you trusted on sight. But if Violet was right, he was about to turn into John Wick just to test me.
“You’re thirty! You’ve been dating and taking care of yourself foryears.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m not his baby girl.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
One wrong move and I’d be out, back to the sidelines of her life, where I’d wasted too many years already.
“Keep my dad from shooting himself in the ass accidentally, obviously. No one wants that man anywhere near firearms.” She tapped her lips, eyes dancing. “Come to think of it, he may invite his friends over too, for safety reasons. It’d only take a split second for Gran to lift a weapon.” She shuddered. “We don’t need an encore of the Great Shotgun Standoff of San Juan.”
I hadn’t been there for that particular debacle, but knowing Gran, I believed every word.
I scrubbed my hand across my forehead. “I love you to death, Violet Fenwick. But right now, I don’t like your family very much.”
“Love you too, babe,” she chirped. Unperturbed, she tossed me a saucy grin as she slid from our bed.
She could have her pound of flesh. She might not be ready for forever yet, but I’d bide my time until her answer matched mine. A future with Vi was worth the wait.
Chapter 32 – Violet
Contrary to what I told Lee, I gave my mom strict instructions not to let Dad try any intimidation tactics. We really were past that. Too mature. I almost kept a straight face thinking it. My lips twitched.Almost. As much as the long-forgotten teenager inside me wanted an extra helping of revenge, I loved Lee too much to make him suffer.
Monday was slow at the shop, leaving me too much time to contemplate the upcoming dinner with my parents. They spent a lot of time traveling in retirement, which I loved for them, but it made our occasional family dinners even more jam-packed with chatter and catching up. Like we had to squeeze three months of togetherness into a single evening.
Luckily, Lee had always gotten along with my parents. He’d had many dinners and sleepovers at our place over the years. I remembered his parents fondly: a sweet couple who seemed in sync. They’d moved to the mainland years ago, wanting to be closer to more sophisticated medical care without worrying about ferry schedules.
Lee tapped on the steering wheel as he drove us out to my family’s farm.
“Relax.” I dropped a comforting palm on his thigh. “My parents won’t bite.”
“No, but they might shoot me in the ass.”
“I talked to my mom. She has it under control.”
Lee snorted, catching my gaze briefly. “It’s cute how you believe that. Your Gran defies gravity. Her daughter can’t pose much of a challenge for her if she’s got her heart set on torturing me.”
“Yeah, but we Fenwick women have the same blood in our veins. We’re all feisty. Don’t underestimate my mother. It’ll be fine,” I said, squeezing the muscle under my palm.
“I love you, but if I walk up with an erection, the odds of your dad pulling out a shotgun increase at least twenty percent.”
I patted his thigh, adding a cheeky wink. “You’ve got this, Murphy. I have faith in you.”
He parked behind Drew’s truck. At least Drew and Zach might draw attention from Lee and me. Really, the dinner should center on Anya. If I knew my mom, our evening was supposed to reassure Anya that we loved her. That she’d found her family in the Fenwick clan, no matter what happened with the parents who birthed her.
We wiped our feet on the front mat and slipped inside, leaving our jackets and shoes near the door before joining the rest of the family in the living room. Our family farmhouse had a lived-in comfort that I took for granted. Year after year, it never changed. The well-worn furniture, the soft blue couch, all staples in my life.
