Home For The Holidays - Jordan Silver Page 0,75
me into the mix.
“A bit overprotective, aren’t we?” My dad joined us at the door, and I’m not understanding the look that passed between the two men.
“Come on in here; we’re about to open gifts. Sam, you know the drill.”
“Wait, Deidre and the girls…”
“On their way.”
“You can have your driver get the nutmeg, but he and the others are joining us for dinner.”
“Um, it’s about six of them.”
“The more, the merrier. I always make too much food, anyway.”
Jared looked undecided, so I took the initiative and ran back outside to knock on the door next door. “My mom says you’re all to come next door to eat. Don’t bother arguing because she’s more stubborn than me.” That got them hemming and hawing. “What time should we be there?”
“Now’s as good a time as any.”
“Pete was cooking, though.”
“The gorilla can cook?”
“I heard that.”
“Uh, sorry, Pete. Why don’t you do this? Just bring whatever it is you’re making to the house and finish it there.”
“Your mom gonna like someone else in her kitchen?” Pete is an almost seven-foot ex ballplayer of a darker persuasion. Built like a tank with the joviality of a toddler in a toy store. “She’ll be fine, less work for me to do with you there. Chop-chop.”
“Um, we have to check with the boss first.” Jonathan, one of my personal trailers, piped up.
I held up my ring and waved it at them. This says I outrank your boss.” He nodded and said, “yes, ma’am,” and I thought I had won until I looked back and saw Jared standing behind me, nodding that it was okay. Bummer!
That little side trip took my mind off things for a minute, but it didn’t last long. I was feeling tense as hell, and I hadn’t even seen Tom or the dingbat yet. Deidre was making her way down the sidewalk when we made it back to the front door, and I had to put all of my reservations to rest. “It’s showtime.” Jared must’ve seen the nerves in me when I said that because he drew me in close and kissed my forehead. “It’ll be fine; I’m here.”
I never realized until that moment how big a part he’d played in this whole thing. I wonder how much longer it would’ve taken me to get this far without his help? I couldn’t tease him about what he was getting out of this because the girls came bounding up the stairs as soon as they saw us.
Deidre, I noticed, was looking much better than she had been, but I knew the next few hours were going to be hard on her all the same. “You ready? If at any time you feel like you can’t do this, just give me a heads up.” All she knew was that today was revelation day. She had no idea what I knew or how I was going to reveal it. She just knew she had to be here to watch while Jared and I tore Tessa’s world down around her.
“I’m good. As long as nothing happens to my kids, I’m good.”
“Okay, let’s go inside.” I guess Tessa had seen us from the upstairs window because she came bounding down the stairs when we stepped inside. “What’s she doing here? What game are you playing?” She addressed me.
“Stay in your lane if you can remember where it is. She’s my guest, and these are my nieces. You wanna eat here today? I suggest you back off right now.”
I said all this with a smile and an even tone in my voice because my nieces were present. Jared took over, getting down on their level to talk to them, and it was as if the rest of us weren’t even in the room. “Do you want to come with uncle Jared and see the gifts me and your aunty Samantha got you?”
Tessa scoffed at his use of aunty and uncle, and I grabbed her arm and dragged her down the hallway before she could say another word. She shrugged out of my hand when we reached the living room, which was the first room we came to. “Let go of me. Don’t think just because we’re in your parents' house that you can do whatever you want. I live here now.”
I couldn’t help it; I laughed in her face. “You really are a delusional twit. Listen up; if you step one toe out of line here today, I will wipe the floor with your ass and then put you