Chapter Twenty-Four
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Dizzy awoke to the most annoying beeping sound she’d ever heard and all she wanted to do was make it stop so she could go back to sleep. She and Easton had been up half the night exploring each other’s bodies and he’d found and catalogued every spot of flesh that when caressed sent her eyes rolling back into her head. But he’d promised that if he’d missed a spot or two they could do it all over again the next night. It was a promise without making a big production about it. It was Easton’s way of saying that he was here and wasn’t going anywhere. Her heart had melted when he’d said it.
But that damn beeping was still ringing in her ears and she lifted her eyelids, heavy from fatigue only to see that Easton had already levered up from the bed and had his phone in his hand. Distracted by the very fine view of his naked backside, it took her a minute to realize that it was the new app that was making that noise. Someone was on her property. Maybe Trip?
Hopping out of bed, she grabbed her robe and dragged it on, not bothering to smooth her hair or put on shoes. If Trip was in her yard, she certainly wasn’t going to dress up just for him. Easton had managed to pull on a pair of boxers and in his hand was the gun he’d placed on the nightstand last night before they’d fallen asleep. She wasn’t a huge fan of firearms but she had to concede that in this case she felt much better knowing he was armed.
“Just stay here,” Easton commanded as he paged through the camera angles on the phone looking for the right one. “It’s probably just a rabbit or a bird, but I need to make sure.”
Oh hell no.
“I’m not staying behind,” she hissed, tying the sash on her robe. “If Trip is out there I’m not going to cower in my bed.”
He scowled at his phone. “I’m not seeing anything. Just stay here. There’s no reason for both of us to freeze our asses off. I’ll be right back.”
The sound of Dizzy’s front door opening and then voices carried up the stairs and Easton immediately pushed her behind him. “Stay here.”
She did as she was told but something wasn’t quite right. In the dead of night it had been so quiet she’d heard the click of the deadbolt. Whoever was in her house…well…it sounded like he had a key. And those voices? There were two distinct people and they sounded familiar.
Leann and Zach? No, it wouldn’t be them. Then…shit. Double shit.
She tried to grab at Easton’s arm to stay his movements but before she could stop him he was heading downstairs with a gun in his hand. This was bad. So very bad. They hadn’t yet invented a word for how terrible this was about to be. Poor Easton had no clue what he was walking into and she couldn’t stop him.
Hurrying behind him, they both paused at the bottom of the stairs as a lamp came to life with a click, illuminating the living room and the people that had turned on the light. Easton’s mouth hung open and Dizzy could only place her hand on the arm that held the gun, pushing it down.
Because it was in poor taste to point a firearm at her peace-loving, pacifist parents. Tami and Louis Foster had arrived unexpectedly and they were standing in the middle of her living room surrounded by luggage and staring at herself and Easton. They appeared too shocked to say anything after finding their daughter spending the night with a half-naked man. She was sure she looked the part of a wanton too, with her hair standing on end and her lips swollen from the night’s activities, plus Easton wearing nothing but boxers. This was so screwed up and the silence stretched on. It was up to Dizzy to break the tension. Except that she sucked at stuff like that.
“Tami. Louis. Nice to see you. You remember Easton Anderson?”
* * *
Easton was in the living room making awkward small talk with Dizzy’s father while she made coffee with her mother in the kitchen. After greeting her parents, she’d found out that they’d flown back to the States as soon as they could wrap up their work when they’d heard about the murder next door from her latest email. They were here to… What she didn’t really know. Protect her? She’d told them in the email that she had that covered. Help her prove Trip killed someone? The closest Tami and Louis had ever come to a murder investigation were the Agatha Christie novels they liked to read. Maybe they were simply tired of Greece and looking for a reason to leave?
Tami slapped the coffee filter into the basket, not looking at her only child. “It’s not that I care that you were in bed with a man, Dizzy. That’s not it at all. We’re sexual beings and of course you have needs like any other woman. We raised you not to be ashamed of your sexuality but to embrace it. Celebrate it.”
They sure had and boy, had it been embarrassing as hell when she’d dated in high school. She’d wanted to hide when a boy would pick her up and they’d tell him that Dizzy didn’t have curfews because she had to learn to make good decisions by making a bunch of bad ones. That teenager had quickly realized he was considered a bad one. And then there had been that time her mother had asked her when she turned fifteen if she wanted to go on the pill. It wouldn’t have been so bad but they were all at the diner and Leann had been sitting there too.
Tami shook her head and finally her gaze landed on Dizzy, her expression stormy. “I can understand casual sex. Lord knows, I had my share before I met your father. I can understand exploring different lifestyles. But I cannot understand this. I thought we raised you better than this.”
Tami was acting like Dizzy was the killer, not Trip.
“You’ve put about four scoops too many in the coffeemaker. You’ll be able to clean the toilets with that.”
Dizzy’s idea of a joke fell flat. Tami didn’t crack a smile.
“I hope it poisons me,” she said dramatically. “I can’t believe what I saw tonight. My daughter having sex with a…with a…millionaire capitalist.”
Her mother shuddered with distaste and scooped some of the coffee out of the filter and back into the container.
“That man stands for everything we loathe. He’s all about making more money and building the family empire. We were okay with you being friends with the Andersons but did you have to sleep with one too?” Tami threw up her hands. “Where did we go wrong as parents?”
It made sense now. Of course, Tami and Louis didn’t care that they’d practically caught their little girl fornicating outside of marriage. That wasn’t an issue. It was that Easton was one of those Andersons. The one percenters. Part of the corporate oligarchy. The upper class.
“Would you rather I shag a penniless artist? Would that make you feel better, Tami?”
Her mother slammed down a coffee cup she was retrieving from the cabinet. “At least he wouldn’t be part of the systematic disintegration of workers’ rights in this country.”
Dizzy hadn’t had much sleep and she was out of practice dealing with her parents but she still remembered when it was time to put her foot down. If she didn’t, Tami could go on and on all night about this and frankly, Dizzy didn’t have the patience. Or the energy.
“You know that the Andersons are good and decent people and that they treat their employees very well. I can assure you that Easton isn’t trying to chip away at their rights, nor is he lining his pockets by making shoddy products or fighting against fair compensation.”
Pressing her hands together, Tami’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Did it have to be a rich man? You couldn’t find a poor man to love? Did you even try? And don’t tell me you don’t love him. He wouldn’t have been here all night if you didn’t. Oh my God, are you two engaged? Are you going to marry him?”
For just a brief second, Dizzy wanted to say yes, she was marrying Easton and they were going to live in a big mansion with servants and have lots of little capitalist children that would go into the family business or just live off of their trust funds, adding nothing to the betterment of society.
But she didn’t.
Dizzy pressed the power button on the coffeemaker. “I am not marrying him. We haven’t been dating long. But if I were, you need to know that Easton is a good man and is not defined by his bank balance.”
“But you’re in love with him,” Tami persisted. “You are, aren’t you?”
In love. Two simple words. Six letters. Not a big deal but somehow they really packed a wallop when said out loud.
Did she love Easton?
And if she did, did he love her back?
This was why she avoided dating most of the time. The uncertainty was terrible.
“I am not going to discuss that with you when you’re in this mood,” Dizzy said instead of answering the question. “If I say no, you won’t believe me and if I say yes, you’ll have a stroke. I can’t win either way.”
“This is his doing. You would have answered me before dating him. He’s changed you already.”
Yes, Dizzy had changed from a little girl to a grown woman but her mother and father had been too busy gallivanting around the globe to notice. They believed in freedom of expression but at this moment they weren’t acting like that.
“I’ve changed.” Dizzy pointed to herself. “Me, Tami. Just me. This doesn’t have anything to do with Easton and everything to do with me. You brought me up to be whatever I wanted to be and do what I please, not caring what other people thought. Well…you’re other people too. This is who I have become and it isn’t because of Easton. I was this person before but you were too busy digging up relics and protesting corporate mergers to notice. I’m a part of you and Louis, but I’m my own person as well. If you can’t respect the decisions I’ve made in my life then I’m sorry, but I’m not going to change. Not for you or anybody.”
Dizzy had rarely stood up to her parents – had rarely needed to as they were permissive to a fault – but she wouldn’t let this go without saying something. The Andersons were her second family and wonderful people.
“I don’t want to be another version of you,” Dizzy said gently to her mother. “Honestly, I’m not sure the world could handle two of you.”
Tami played with the handle of the cup and then gave her daughter a half-smile. “I guess that would be frightening for most people. I can be quite formidable when I want to be.”
“You can,” Dizzy agreed. “Now can we go out there and be nice to Easton? He’s a good man, Tami. Kind and wonderful. Smart and funny. I really like him.”
Rubbing her forehead, Tami sighed loudly. “You mean you love him.” Dizzy opened her mouth to object but Tami held up her hand. “Fine, you just like him a lot. Okay, I’ll be nice but if he brings up politics or the state of the wealth gap in the United States or the importance of worker representation, I’m going to let him have it with both barrels.”
If Easton had any brains at all he wouldn’t touch those subjects, or any like them with a ten-foot pole.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
He could hold his own, Dizzy was sure of that. He’d be fine. But there was one question that was still niggling in the back of her mind…
Did she love Easton Anderson?