19. Petra

Chapter nineteen

Petra

I spend the drive home manifesting some luck that I’ll be able to sneak in quietly or, at least, that my family will politely ignore my absence. Of course, then they wouldn’t be my family.

“Petronia!” Ma yells, right as I walk in the door. Her East Coast accent is out in full force today—not a good sign. “Why did we hear from Livi this morning that you were out on a date from which you didn’t come home? Papa was worried sick!”

I hold in my eye roll. They obviously weren’t worried if they didn’t know I was gone until Livi called.

“Good daughters call,” Papa interjects with a stern face. His one line causes an avalanche of guilt quicker than any of Ma’s tirades. I can’t handle the weight of it, and throw Livi under the bus.

“Sorry, Papa. I knew Livi did, so I didn’t take the time to. I should’ve.”

“You should’ve,” he agrees, but sighs as I wrap him in a hug. All the fight goes out of him, and Ma must see it.

“Tommaso!” she yells, brandishing a chef’s knife. I let go of him and back out of her range. “Is that all you gotta say?”

“Anita,” Papa says, with raised hands and a hopeless tilt of his head. “She’s a grown woman. She apologized. What do you want me to do?”

“Me?” Mama shouts, exasperated. “Really? You were the one pacing and shouting—rilin’ me up all day—saying, she’ll always be my baby. Suddenly she’s a grown woman, says sorry, and that’s enough for you? ”

“Anita,” Papa pleads, and I back cautiously toward the hallway. Though their argument is about me, it’s a chance for them to needle each other. They love to do it and pretend they don’t.

“Hold it right there, Petronia!” Mama yells, waving the knife in my direction between chops of potato. “You’re not getting away that easily. Who is he? Who are his parents? What does he do? Where did you go? Were you being safe?”

“I—”

“Trick question! You weren’t being safe because you didn’t call your parents to tell us where you were!”

Though the knife is intimidating, her accent is extra thick in her agitation, and I have to purse my lips to hold in my laugh. “Sorry, Mama.”

“You think it’s funny?” She drops the potatoes in a pot and adjusts the temperature as she stirs it, but her focus is all on me.

“No, Mama. But can you hold all the other questions for later? I invited Reed to dinner.”

“What?” Ma screeches. “And you don’t tell me so I can prepare enough food?”

She always makes enough dinner to feed an army. I’m in the line of fire, though, and I transfer the heat to Livi. “Sorry, Mama, Livi was supposed to tell you. But I’m telling you now, and I can help cook, I just need to shower and change. Reed and I went hiking.”

“Hiking?” Mama’s eyes meet Papa’s in a silent conversation I don’t understand. “Is he really named after a stupid weed, or did you make that up?”

She has no room to talk after naming me Petronia. “His name is Reed , and he’s nice, and hasn’t had a home cooked meal in weeks.”

“I guess we can’t let the man go hungry,” Mama huffs, waving a wooden spoon, but her eyes soften. She gestures for me, and when I come closer, she pulls me into a tentative hug. “Hiking, really? What hold does this guy have over you?”

I laugh, though it’s watery. I can’t remember the last time Ma hugged me out of something that wasn’t pity. It’s not the reaction I was expecting. I relax into her hug, but then her spoon comes down hard on my ass.

“And that is for not calling! You might be sixty-five one day and suppose you’re old enough not to call, but you would be wrong! Understand?”

I nod, rubbing the sore spot on my butt. “Understood.”

“Good. Go shower. You don’t need to help me—spend the time making yourself pretty. No man falls in love over a hike.”

I pull a face at her. “Can we not bring up love around Reed? That’s not us.”

“You’re always beautiful, my Petra,” Papa chimes in too late.

“Oh,” Mama grumbles and smacks me again with the spoon, but not nearly as hard. “He’s meeting your family, Petra. Don’t be dense. Shower, now!”

“Yes, ma’am,” I mumble, but hurry out of the kitchen before she can use the spoon again. I turn on the water and undress in a daze. Ma has a lot of ridiculous notions, but Reed wanting to meet my family is odd. It’s got to be a game of make Petra wish she were anywhere else.

The more I can laugh about it, the better it will be. It’s one night. Nothing is going to fall apart.

My phone dings with a new text from Silla.

Reed is coming to family dinner?!

Not my idea, but yes.

No heads up? I’d have come!

What about Josie’s PTO?

Are you kidding? This is going to be epic. Josie would’ve been left behind! Lol.

Nice, Silly. Great way to treat your wife.

Did you prep him? I’d pay to see this.

Stop making me nervous, you jerk! If it’s not fine, he’s a stranger and I won’t see him again, anyway.

Suuuuuurrrrreeee. I’ll ask Livi for the full play-by-play after.

I shower and shave without allowing myself to consider why. I also refuse to let Mama’s words haunt me as I put on nice underwear and a blouse that dips between my breasts and highlights my complexion. And I certainly don’t contemplate impressing Reed while I swipe on mascara, blush, and a light lip-stain that’s hopefully not too noticeable.

I’m debating on whether I have time to straighten my hair when Tommy raps loudly on the bathroom door. “Forgot to tell you your boyfriend’s here!”

“ Forgot? For how long?” I ask, yanking open the door with zero grace and running down the stairs. “And he’s not my boyfriend!”

When I get downstairs, Reed is in the kitchen talking quietly with Papa, while Mama and Aunt Carla sip wine next to a beautiful bouquet of sunflowers and greenery. It brightens up the room, making the kitchen joyful and cozy instead of the muted brown and beige colors it usually is.

The whole room is a scene out of someone else’s life. Reed is handsome and charming. Undeniably, uniquely Reed. He’s freshly shaven, in black pants and crisp, white shirt, with sleeves that are casually but expertly rolled up to his elbows. The stark white deepens his tan and brightens his amber eyes. My heart stumbles and picks up speed.

It’s hard to avoid comparing him to Nate. Nate didn’t make a bad impression—he was boyishly charming, though immature. The true difference? Nate didn’t spark this need in me. This heart racing, kiss-or-be-kissed magnetic force between us. At least on my part.

When Reed glances up at me, I forget to breathe. The corner of his mouth pulls up, dimple and all. I’d give anything to know what he’s thinking. He sobers when Papa murmurs something in his ear, and then he’s walking toward me with such soft affection that I nearly melt. Before I do, Reed leans in close to kiss my cheek. He’s wearing a woodsy aftershave that makes my knees weak.

“You’re gorgeous, Petra.” His praise is honey and velvet in my ear. “I can’t wait to see how stunning you are when I make you blush. Want to time me?”

I flick his shoulder, and he has the nerve to chuckle.

“Petronia!” Mama scolds. “Don’t hit dinner guests.”

Tommy laughs as he walks past us and picks up something from Ma’s cutting board. She slaps his wrist so fast that it drops back down before he can bite it. “Hey!” Tommy protests. “Don’t hit dinner guests!”

“You still live in my house, baby boy. You are not a guest.”

Reed watches their exchange with avid interest. “You didn’t mention your mother is from the East Coast.”

“New York and Boston,” I admit, and he laughs. “What?”

“Thank God you don’t live there. You’d be the shyest girl in Boston.”

“I’m not shy,” I protest, frowning.

His half-smile is soft as his knuckles stroke down my arm. “No, you’re not.”

I want to ask what that means, but the front door bursts open. Livi spills in with a baby on her hip, husband and twins in tow. “Reed!” she yells— God, Livi is loud —and pulls him into a hug as if they’ve been friends for years. “You owe me details.”

“Standing right here,” I interrupt. Livi releases him to hug me, but I dodge her and pluck Hailey from her hip. “Hi, sweet girl! How’s my little Hailes? ”

“I’m chopped liver,” Livi grumbles and kisses my cheek. “Nice makeup, Petra.” I steadfastly avoid her gaze, glad I can dote on Hailey as a distraction.

“Hi Darin,” I greet Livi’s husband with a smile. “Darin, this is my…friend. Reed. And these little gremlins are Antonio and Lilly.” Tony and Lilly both roll their eyes at me and run to Papa, who pulls lollipops out of his pocket and exchanges them for a handful of kisses.

“Tomasso!” Mama yells, as if this is new behavior. “You’re going to spoil their dinner!”

“They know to save them for later,” he reassures her, giving Tony and Lilly a wink. “Anita, why don’t I keep the kids busy before dinner? We’ll go for a walk, right kids?”

“Right!” they agree, but they giggle and unwrap their candy before they even open the front door.

Reed shakes with laughter beside me, amused by our routines. Though it seems innocuous when Darin joins Tommy at the bar, I know better. Mama, Livi, and Aunt Carla take up residence near the stove, and their hushed conversations mean they’re all waiting for the inquisition to start.

“Your family is hilarious. And you’re a charmer, Hailey,” Reed tells her, giving her his finger to grab onto. She grins at him with a wide mouth and only four teeth. My traitorous heart melts in my chest.

“It’s not cool for you to be handsome, funny, and good with babies,” I grumble. “Go make an ass of yourself right now .”

Reed steps closer to me and wraps his arm around my waist so naturally that it appears as if he’s simply showering attention on Hailey. “Putting you in a baby-making mood, Pet?” he murmurs. Though his eyes aren’t on me, his grin is smug.

Hurt sweeps through me, and my necklace is heavy against my skin. But as it passes, it’s easy to imagine what a baby with Reed might look like. Our child might have his beautiful, honey eyes and my curls. My heart pounds faster.

“Is breeding one of your favorite DKP scenes? ”

I clear my throat and try to get my head back on straight. “Asked for an ass and received one. That’ll do it.”

Reed’s dimple peeks out as touches my hot cheek and glances at his watch. “Six minutes.”

My jaw drops open, but as soon as I recover, I take a leaf out of Mama’s book and swat his shoulder. “Go away! Be useful or be grilled! Either way, don’t come to me for help.” I shove him toward the piranhas, and he has the audacity to laugh as he goes.

Livi bites first. “So, Reed. How long are you in town?”

Reed raises an eyebrow at me, but he’s on his own. He settles in on the barstool next to Darin’s. “Not sure. Playing it by ear.”

“Ah, and you get a lot of vacation time for that type of thing, or are you between jobs?”

“Livi, offer our guest a drink,” Mama scolds. Livi pours Reed a glass of water before Ma asks again, feigning disinterest, “ Are you on vacation up here?”

Reed smothers a grin, but his eyes twinkle. “I run my own company, and luckily I can work remotely.”

“Your own company?” Ma repeats with a pointed stare at me. “That’s a real man,” she mouths to me, though everyone can see. My face has to be tomato red, because Reed glances at me and chokes back laughter.

“What do you do? Where do you live?” Mama asks.

“I’m in sound engineering, and I do some voice acting. I was in Los Angeles, but I’m moving, once I decide where to land.”

“Oh?” Aunt Carla raises her brows at me before sending Reed a winning smile. “Is Swift River in the running?”

“With this hospitality, absolutely,” he says, and all eyes shift to me. “But most likely somewhere bigger. San Diego, maybe.”

I breathe a small sigh of relief. Reed visiting here is messing with my libido, emotions, reputation, and family. Him moving here would upend my life.