Chapter Seven

 

I kept my Saturday plans to myself. The last thing I wanted was to get even more freaked out by Bianca and Bailey telling me anything about the Waterford family, whom I was about to spend the evening with. They’d both grown up in this town and Gramps knew their family well so I assumed at least Bianca would have some stories to tell and I was nervous enough.

Given my past, I’d met a guy’s family before, but that had been different. The mission back then had been to do whatever it took to make them love me. To safely ensconce myself in their intimate folds.

But now?

Now I wanted them to like me. The real me. That took pressure to a whole new level and I had no idea how normal people did this. Be yourself, Bianca had said to me once, but who the fuck was that?

Who was I beyond the person I’d been raised to be?

An hour before Cash would arrive, I sat on the edge of my bed, completely put together in a soft pink summery dress, my hair curled and lying softly over my shoulders, my makeup was there but natural.

This was the way I liked myself best. But I sat there wondering who I was. Gemma Diamati. Sister to Gio. Cousin to Sal. Beyond that, I had no idea. If I died, what would my obituary say?

I searched every memory I had, trying to figure myself out. As if that was something I could figure out in an hour. Then it hit me.

Spring Break.

I’d gone to Florida with a couple of the girls from school. I wouldn’t have called them “friends.” but they’d been the closest I’d come to having any in my three years of college. So I’d gone.

It had been the first time I’d had any type of freedom out from underneath the thumbs of my parents. It had been liberating, even if I’d been scared half to death the entire time. I’d let myself go a little and yeah, it was awkward, but I had a pretty good time.

Gracie, Annabelle, and Pierce had said they’d never seen me smile so much and that they hadn’t known I was so funny. Remember how it felt to be around people without constantly worrying that I’d slip up and say something inappropriate helped make my decision about dinner.

I was going to let my guard down and allow Cash’s family to see me, whether they liked what they saw or not. He was already seeing the real me, even if there were things I kept hidden.

A nervous giggle took over. I was doing this. I was going to introduce the Waterfords to as much of Gemma Diamati as I myself knew.

Cash arrived right on time. His punctuality was something I needed in my life. I knew I didn’t have to worry about when he was going to show up. He’d be there no matter what.

“Wow,” he said, eyeing me from top to bottom after I opened the door. “Maybe we shouldn’t hang out with my parents.”

“Ha, ha.” I fixed the strap on my wedged sandals.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so beautiful if you want to keep my thoughts pure,” he said with a smile, placing his hand on my lower back to guide me to the truck.

As if I couldn’t find it on my own. I didn’t mind, though. I liked the contact and this time, I didn’t flinch.

“I’m glad you like it.” I gave him a twirl so my skirt would flare out.

He made this sound, a cross between a groan and a growl, and then kissed the side of my head as we climbed into his truck.

It took about twenty minutes before we turned down a dirt driveway a bit outside of town. I swear it was a mile long and it led to a big, white, old farmhouse surrounded by land.

Acres surrounded the house, a barn set off toward the back of the plot of land that served as their yard.

“Do they have animals?” I asked.

“Yeah. Some pigs and chickens. Two cows. But mostly they farm the land.”

“Are we going to be eating your pet cow tonight?”

He snorted and shook his head. “They don’t slaughter the animals. At least not themselves. They raise them, then sell.”

I scrunched up my nose. I knew where food came from. I didn’t love the behind-the-scenes glimpse and much preferred to hunt for food in the grocery store.

There were already six cars scattered in front of the garage, which probably meant everyone was already there. And that brought on the nerves. My palms started to sweat, which I noticed a second after Cash grabbed one of them. I pulled back quickly.

“Sorry,” I said as soon as I did it.

“You’re not nervous, are you?” he asked with a smug tilt to his lip.

“I told you I’ve never done any of this before.”

“Listen.” He brought us to a stop before the front steps and turned to face me. “They’re going to love you. Don’t worry about it. My family likes pretty much everyone. We’re not picky.”

I snorted. “You sure know how to sweet-talk a girl, Cash. Your parents must be proud.”

“They are.” He grinned down at me.

He dropped a quick kiss on my lips before pulling me through the front door, which landed us in the living room. It was warm and cozy with a couch, love seat, and what looked to be Mr. Waterford’s well-loved chair. It was the kind of thing you’d imagine a couple arguing over. The woman wanting to junk the chair and the man threatening to go with it if she dared.

It brought a smile to my face. And it was distracting enough that I didn’t hear all the voices coming from beyond the back wall. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm my nerves and let Cash lead the way.

The next room we entered was the dining room. In the middle sat a large table with ten places set. I did the math in my head quickly and wondered who the extra two places were for.

Oh, lord, please don’t let there be grandparents involved.

That could push me over the edge. To my relief, a tall woman in her mid-forties came through the door that must’ve lead to the kitchen carrying a serving platter with a large amount of chicken on it.

“Hey, hon,” she said with a smile. “We didn’t hear you come in.”

“This is Gemma,” said Cash.

“I figured as much. How ya doing, Gemma?” She came at me with a giant hug.

I didn’t know how to react at first. My body froze and I inadvertently glanced toward Cash with terror.

“Ma, give the girl some air.”

Mrs. Waterford pulled back as another group, this time all guys, came through the same door she had.

“Yeah, Ma, you wouldn’t want to get further than Cash has,” Dante said, causing me to hide a small grin.

Cash whacked his brother on the back of the head. “This is Dalton,” he said. “The other troublemaker you haven’t met yet.”

Oops, not Dante.

Holy crap, they were identical. I could see where that could be problematic.

I knew I wouldn’t remember everyone’s name after the slew of introductions that came next. I’d try like hell, though. Mr. Waterford almost hugged me, too. I swear that was what it looked like, but he hesitated, then reached a hand out to shake mine.

I took it.

Then came his brother Aiden, who introduced his girlfriend, Haley.

After Aiden was Brennan, who introduced me to Dakota, his boyfriend.

Cash hadn’t mentioned his brother was gay, but from the vibe they were throwing off, no one in the family cared much. Dante called out a quick, “Hey.” But him I’d met already.

Maybe the name thing would be easier than I thought.

I wanted to feel like an outsider as we got situated around the table because that would’ve made sense. But for some reason—maybe the way they kept trying to include me even when it came to something there was no way I could’ve been a part of—I didn’t. I supposed this was what people meant when they said, “Welcomed me with open arms.”

“So how’s school?” Mr. Waterford, who’d insisted I call him Len, asked Brennan.

“Good. Hard.” Brennan took a big drink of his water. “Long hours.”

“Really long hours,” Dakota agreed.

I kept quiet while the twins whispered back and forth. Actually, their voices sort of faded into the background until Cash would clear his throat loudly with a pointed look directed at them. Then I wondered what they’d said that I missed.

“What about you, Gemma?” Lisa, Cash’s mom, asked.

I heard the question but it didn’t register, so I continued pushing food around my plate and bit my bottom lip like I was thinking.

“Are you in school?” she asked.

“I have one year left.”

“What’s your major?” Haley asked from across the table.

I had a feeling that she, out of everyone at the table except maybe Dakota, knew how I was feeling being the new person at the table. “Art.”

Eight sets of eyes looked at me with eyebrows and unsure faces. I suddenly felt like I’d grown a second head. Cash gave me a half-grin because he’d already known my major, of course.

“And… what do you plan to do once you graduate?” Len asked.

I sighed. “I picked my major because it was fun and it didn’t matter what I chose because I’d be working for my parents once I graduated.” Even I was shocked by my honesty. I probably should have practiced answering these types of questions.

“Oh, and what do your parents do?” Lisa reached for her glass.

“Three to five in a country club penitentiary in Illinois.”

No less than four people began choking on whatever they’d been eating and drinking.

I hadn’t planned on blurting all that information out. Hell, I hadn’t planned on telling them it at all.

Cash and I had talked about my parents sparingly, but at least he’d already known they were in prison.

“My brother, cousin, and I put them there, so it’s a good thing.” I thought that might put them at ease and take the shocked looks off their faces.

I was wrong.

The weight of the silence was crushing. They didn’t know what to say to me and I had no idea what might spew forth next. Cash gave my knee a squeeze under the table to reassure me. It didn’t work. I’d effectively shut down an entire family with my words.

“Do you know what Cash’s nickname was in high school?” Dante asked.

“Dante,” Cash warned.

“Tree Trunk. The girls used to call him ‘Tree Trunk,’” Dalton answered for his brother, then snorted.

“One guess as to why.” Dante could barely get it out, he was laughing so hard.

I was also trying not to laugh, but I couldn’t help being curious. I’d felt his erection against my leg more than once but hadn’t gotten up close and personal yet. Dante might have been a troublemaker, but in this instance, I could have kissed him for taking the attention off me.

“That’s it.” Cash hopped up, causing both the twins to bolt from the table at the same time.

They ran from the room with Cash hot on their trail while the other brothers laughed. That is until Aiden and Brennan jumped up, following the other brothers. It was their parents, Haley, Dakota, and me listening as something, more than one something, crashed to the floor. It was like a herd of elephants stampeding above our heads.

Someone groaned loudly and another screamed high pitch like a girl. I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep the laughter inside.

“I swear,” Lisa said with a smile. “I did my best.”

Finally, several minutes later, the three oldest boys returned to the table, each of them straightening something. Brennan was straightening his shirt while Aiden and Cash each were running fingers through their hair as they came around the table and took their seats. The funny part was that they acted as if nothing was amiss.

As if this kind of thing happened all the time. And maybe it did.

But the guys had such normal looks on their faces. Until Dalton came in followed by Dante and they both looked like, I don’t know what. Messy hair, disheveled clothing. And they weren’t even trying to put themselves back together.

The snorts under their breaths gave the older brothers away. Even I couldn’t bring myself not to grin.

Dinner resumed as if nothing had happened. What I assumed was normal chatter continued and they tried to bring me into it with them. I answered questions easily. Easier than I thought I could. It wasn’t until almost the end that anyone brought my parents up again.

“Gemma, you said you’ll be working with your parents after graduation… I mean you were,” Mr. Waterford said. “What did they do?”

“They owned the Trinity Corporation.”

The fact that he asked showed me that not everyone knew about the company, my parents, the three of us. It’d made a quick splash on the news back when it happened but since they didn’t embezzle a lot of money and the ethics violations they pled to weren’t sexy enough for television, the story didn’t make the news cycle for more than a few days at a time. Plus, I guess not everyone remembered their last names or they didn’t assume that I was part of those Diamatis. 

“Seriously?” Aiden asked.

I nodded.

“What happened to the company if they went to prison?”

“My brother, cousin, and I own it now. But Sal, that’s my cousin, runs everything. Actually, I’m working for him this summer to learn the ropes.”

“Is that what you want to do?”

I shrugged. “I want to learn so he’s not all alone in it but no, long-term, I don’t want to run that company. I don’t know what I want to do. Something in the art world.”

Brennan snorted. “I can see why you and Cash get along then.”

Cash had been watching me the entire time, but with his brother’s words, he smiled widely. He seemed to be the unknown factor in his family. He didn’t have his life planned out any more than I did. The only difference being that I had enough money to wander until I figured it out and he had to work hard for it.

After we finished eating, everyone helped clear the table, but Lisa wouldn’t let us all in the kitchen to clean up, so she told all the guys to go set things up outside, whatever that meant.

Before they filed out, Cash grabbed my hand and pulled me into the hallway.

“You all right with staying in here with my mom?” he asked.

“Why? Does she bite?”

He barked out a laugh. “No. I don’t think so anyway. I wanted to make sure because you’ve just met them all.”

“I’m fine. I even know how to wash dishes.” Another smile and he leaned in, giving me a quick, soft kiss on the lips. “Hey, what’d you guys do to Dalton and Dante earlier?”

He shook his head. “You don’t want to know.”

He gave me another quick peck, then headed out the front door.

Lisa and Haley had already started loading the dishwasher when I came back in. They were laughing about something I hadn’t heard because I was out of the room.

I took a deep breath and began scraping plates into the trash.

“Are you guys staying for the movie?” Haley asked.

“Movie?”

“Yeah, it’s movie night.”

“Oh, uh, I don’t know. Cash didn’t say anything.”

“He’ll do whatever you want tonight. If you think we’re crazy, he’ll take you home. If you want to stay, he’ll do that. That boy is smitten.” Lisa didn’t turn around as she spoke. Her tone was a happy one, so at least she didn’t hate the idea of Cash being smitten. She remained with her back turned because she was washing dishes nothing more.

What surprised me the most was how much I actually like all of them already.

“Sounds fun.”

About twenty minutes later, we were done; the dishwasher was running but we hadn’t left the kitchen. Mrs. Waterford told me about the time that the older brothers pushed the younger ones out of the loft in the barn. Luckily, there had been hay at the bottom so no one had gotten hurt. Apparently, Cash was pretty lucky being in the exact middle. He could be an older brother or a younger, wherever he wanted to fall.

It was surprising to find that so much time had passed with us chatting in the kitchen. It was almost seven already.

When I stepped out the back door, there were a couple of old-fashioned metal tubs on the back porch filled with tons of bottles of water, beer, what looked like hard lemonade, and some soda.

I had no idea what was going on.

“Are we ready?” Aiden came around from the front.

“Everything’s all set,” Haley said back.

Suddenly, all the guys appeared. Aiden and Brennan each took a side of one tub while the twins did the same with the other and everyone headed out toward the barn.

I followed and thought I might be about to witness my very first hoedown or something.

“What’s going on?” I asked as soon as I saw Cash.

“Movie night. We don’t have to stay.”

“Yes, you do.” Dakota gave him a push as he walked back by us.

“I’m good with staying. I like your family,” I said.

His eyebrows went up in surprise. “They’re crazy. But good people.”

Cash folded my hand into his and led me toward the others.