Rastor (Lawton Rastor Book 2) (23 page)

We were getting closer to her dad's place, but I
had
to know what the hell was going on. I eased off the accelerator, not a lot, but enough to save us maybe another minute or two. If we were late, and they tried to lock us out, well, let's just say good luck with that.

Going for a casual tone, I asked, "What happened next?"

"So Josh," Chloe said, "he's a picky eater. Always has been. And no matter how many times my dad tells him that something's a delicacy, he still doesn't want anything to do with it."

"Smart kid."

"You have no idea," Chloe said with obvious pride in her little brother. "So anyway, Josh keeps saying 'no thanks' to the gravy, but Loretta won't take no for an answer. So she shoves at this vase, and it tips over. Flowers spill, the vase cracks, and my dad gets mad."

"At Loretta?"

Chloe snorted. "Dream on. No. At Josh. So my dad grabs a ladle and starting slopping all this gravy onto Josh's plate, one scoop after another. And this crap gets on everything, not just the potatoes either." Chloe shook her head, and her voice trailed off. "The chicken, the corn, even the salad."

She blinked long and hard before glancing over at me. Seeing the worry on her face, I tried not to think about beating Loretta's ass the moment she opened the door. I reminded myself that Loretta was a woman, and it would be wrong on so many levels. But Chloe's dad, he deserved an ass-beating and then some.

Trying not to show what I was thinking, I said, "Keep going."

"So," Chloe continued, "my dad tells Josh that he's not getting another thing to eat 'til he finishes what's on his plate, even though it looks like some fish threw up on it."

I could practically see it, and I didn't like the way it looked. I wasn't liking a lot of things that I was hearing. "What happened?" I asked. "Did he eat it?"

Chloe shook her head. "No. Josh just sits there, looking down at his plate, and my dad keeps hassling him, saying what a great cook Loretta is, and how lucky Josh is to be living under her roof. And the whole time, Loretta's just sitting there with this half-smile on her face, like everything is turning out exactly like she planned. And Josh, he doesn't eat anything else. Not one bite. And I can tell he wants to cry."

Chloe blew out a shaky breath and continued. "But he's in fourth grade. Or at least he was back then, so he's too big to cry. And he's too little to take on my dad, obviously, or Loretta for that matter. So he doesn't do anything but stare at his plate until everyone else is done."

"But what'd
you
do?" I asked. "You were there, so–"

"Yeah. I was there. And I
knew
I'd be smart to stay out of it."

Somehow, that didn't sound like Chloe. I knew her. Or at least, I thought I did. Trying to get a handle on everything, I asked, "Because you didn't need the trouble?"

She turned sideways in the seat to face me. Still holding the salad in a death grip, she said "No. Because I know better, or at least I should've. Because every time I try to help, I just make it worse."

"Is that what happened this time?"

"Oh yeah. Because stupid me, I couldn't just let it go. But doing the thing I
want
to do is completely out of the question."

"What was that?" I asked.

"Breaking that damn vase over her head."

I liked that thought. I liked it a lot. "Sounds good to me," I said.

"Yeah, but I don't want to make everything worse. So as nice as I could, I suggest letting Josh get a new plate. I say stuff like, 'I think we've all learned a good lesson here.'" She shook her head. "What a load of crap. Anyway, I get Josh to say he'll try some gravy on his potatoes if we can just start over."

"So
that's
what happened?"

"Hell no. Because by now, my dad's all worked up. He gives us this big lecture on how we don't appreciate how much Loretta's done for us. Then one thing leads to another, and I'm so stupid that I actually give an honest opinion on why Loretta made that stupid gravy in the first place."

"And what happened then?" I asked.

"Well, before I know it, Loretta takes Josh's plate and crashes it onto the floor, food and all. Then she goes after the serving dishes, the gravy boat, the chicken platter, a couple of wine glasses. It totally sucks, because everyone's freaking out. But part of me's thinking 'So what? At least Josh won't have to eat a bunch of fish barf.'"

She pushed a trembling hand through her hair. "And in the end, Loretta storms off to her room, and my dad gives us yet another lecture, this one about how we ruined Loretta's favorite holiday."

"Easter?"

"Supposedly. But they say that about every holiday, so I dunno. Talk-Like-a-Pirate-Day could be her favorite for all I know. Anyway, after my dad tells me to get the hell out, Josh is stuck dealing with the fallout."

Chloe looked down at her lap. "And as far as that gravy? Loretta made another batch, special just for him. And they wouldn't give him anything else to eat until the whole thing was gone. And they wouldn’t let him eat anyplace else either."

Chloe swallowed, hard. "And I
knew
it was all my fault." Her voice was trembling now. "Because if I hadn't said something, it would've ended at dinner, one way or another. Swear to God, I'd have eaten that whole bowl myself if I could, but after I was kicked out, I wasn't allowed inside at all for at least a year."

What the fuck? All this time, I'd had Chloe pegged for a girl who grew up easy. Obviously, I'd been wrong – so wrong, in fact, that I added my
own
ass to the list of things that needed kicking. She deserved so much better, and not only from her shitty parents.

Thinking of parents, it suddenly hit me that Chloe hadn't said a damn thing about her mom. Where the hell was
she
in all this? I thought of my own mom, and knew the answer without asking. Obviously, she was off doing her own thing, leaving Chloe and Josh to fend for themselves.

"When you left," I said, "you couldn’t take Josh with you?"

Chloe shook her head. "I didn't have my own place, still don't. Besides, he's a minor. My dad has full custody, so, well, you know how that goes."

I
did
know how that went. Maybe in some ways, I'd been luckier. My dad was a no-show, and my mom had the decency to drop dead soon enough to keep from fucking things up further. I couldn’t help but wonder…if Chloe's dad happened to meet with some 'unfortunate accent,' would Chloe be able to get custody?

Thinking
further
ahead, if we were together, would
we
be able to get custody? Yes. We would. With my legal team, I was sure of it. Shit, we'd probably be able to get custody now, as long as we were married. I still had that ring, and there was still only one girl I wanted.

Damn it. I was getting off track. This wasn't about me. This was about Chloe, and the way it sounded, she'd been on her own almost as long as I'd been. And no one – not even me – had been looking out for her.

Chloe shifted in her seat. "It's not like we were abused or anything," she assured me. "Lots of kids have it worse, right?" With an obvious effort, she brightened her tone. "And at least Grandma lives next door. So Josh spends a lot of time at her place."

The positive spin, as brave as it was, was enough to break my heart, and I felt a growing darkness settle over my soul. Trying not to show it, I asked, "How much time is that?"

"Well, pretty much all of it actually, except for when he's sleeping, or when Grandma's out of town."

"On that Easter," I said, "was your grandma there, too?"

"No. She's my mom's mom, which puts her way down on Loretta's guest list."

"But they're neighbors?"

"Sort of. Grandma rents Loretta's guest cottage."

"So renting the cottage is okay, but coming to dinner isn't?"

"It's complicated," Chloe said. "The cottage is nice, but it's not a real rental. It's got no driveway of its own, and besides, their neighborhood isn't zoned for that sort of thing."

"So it's all done on the sly? That's what you're saying?"

"Yeah. Grandma can't drive anyway, so there's no car. And since she's a relative, the neighbors think she's just a guest."

"But she's paying?"

"Yeah. All cash, so there's no zoning trouble."

"You ever think of renting the cottage for yourself?" I asked.

"I tried. But Loretta wouldn't let me. She still won't let me stay overnight there, even as Grandma's guest."

"Why not?"

"Because," Chloe said in a mocking tone, "I need to learn real responsibility." She let out a long sigh. "Just as well. I work most nights anyway. But Grandma, she works from home, so–"

"Are we talking about that job that isn't real?"

Obviously, Chloe had forgotten. She wasn't talking to some stranger here. I recalled her words from a few weeks earlier.
"I've got a grandma who gets all her rent money from this fake job I had to make up."

Chloe paused. "Oh. Yeah. I guess I did mention that huh?" She nodded. "Yup. That's the one."

We were turning onto her dad's street. Chloe reached out, putting a hand on my arm. "Lawton," she said, "no matter what she does, don't set her off, alright? She'll probably be pissy about what you're wearing. But that's okay, because it'll keep the focus off Josh."

She looked scared to death. It hurt to see. Didn't she know? I'd let Loretta beat me senseless with a gravy bowl before I'd let anything bad happen to Chloe or her little brother. I was trying to put that into words when Chloe spoke again. "I'm sorry." She hesitated. "You don't mind, do you?"

Mind? Hell no. I was looking forward to it. "Nope," I said. "This'll be fun."

"I'm serious." Chloe gave me a worried look. "She's a total psycho."

"Yeah?" For her sake, I smiled. "Haven't you heard? I am too."

Less than a minute later, we squealed into the driveway of a nice two-story brick house. Actually, it was more than nice, with a manicured lawn, a four-car garage, and a partial view of the cottage out back.

It wasn't the hood, that was for damn sure.

In fact, the place was just as nice as the house where Chloe had been house-sitting. I eyed the whole setup with disgust. I knew the prices of homes in my neighborhood. They didn't come cheap. And neither had this one, obviously.

What the hell? So Chloe's dad was living high on the hog while his daughter was practically homeless? That whole ass-beating idea was sounding better every minute.

In the front window, I caught movement. I cut the engine and looked to Chloe, letting her set the pace. As pissed off as I was, I had to remind myself of everything else she had told me. If I created a scene, I wouldn't be doing Chloe or her little brother any favors.

And beating her dad's ass definitely qualified as a scene. Unfortunately. So I waited, trying to fake a civility that I wasn't feeling.

Chloe blew out a nervous breath. "C'mon," she said, shoving open the passenger's side door. Salad in hand, she jumped out of the car and waited as I circled around to grab the two desserts from the back.

By the time we reached the front door, it was already open. A skinny kid, Josh, obviously, was standing in the open doorway. He was dressed in dark slacks, a white dress shirt, and damn, even a tie. Boy, they really
did
dress up, didn't they? Shit, when I'd been twelve, I didn't even
own
a tie.

Josh was giving Chloe a worried look. With a quick glance over his shoulder, he stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him. "You made it," he said.

Chloe gave him a smile that looked a little too nervous for my liking. "Told you I would."

Josh lowered his voice. "She was just about to lock you out."

He didn't say who
she
was, but I had a pretty good guess.

Chloe's smile was still plastered in place. "Good thing I found myself a fast driver then." She cleared her throat. "Speaking of which, this is Lawton, my, uh, friend." She turned to me and said, "This is Josh."

I held out my free hand. "So you're the genius Chloe's always talking about."

"Aw, I don’t know about that," Josh said, looking down at his shoes.

Chloe leaned closer to Josh and said, "You look good."

Josh looked up. "Thanks. So do you." He reached up to tug at his tie. "I wanted to wear jeans." He shrugged. "But you know."

Chloe nodded like she knew exactly what he meant. And then, as if she and her brother were thinking the same thing, they both turned to look at me. They paused, like they didn't know what to say.

I was still holding the dessert boxes. They were a decent size, but not nearly big enough to hide the obvious. Unlike Chloe and her brother, I sure as hell wasn't dressed up.

My clothes were trash, and my sleeves were short. I glanced down, taking in my tattoos, the grease stains on my white T-shirt, and the rips in my ancient jeans. If I were meeting Chloe's dad under any other circumstance, I'd be embarrassed as hell.

But the way I saw it, the guy had a lot more to be ashamed of than I did. And besides, if my ratty-ass appearance took the negative attention off Josh, that was fine by me.

Josh was staring down at my bare knees, visible through the shredded denim. He blew out a low whistle. "She's gonna totally chew you up."

Loretta? Eh, she could try. Looking to make the point, I grinned over at him. "Who?"

Behind Josh, the door swung open fast and hard, hitting the doorstopper with a loud clang.

"Her," Chloe muttered under her breath.

Standing in the open doorway was a thin, middle-aged woman with short brown hair, Loretta, obviously. She gave Chloe a cold look. "You think I can't hear you?"

Chloe froze like a deer in headlights. She didn't say it, but I could tell what she was thinking.
Busted.

Looking to take the attention off Chloe, I shifted the boxes in my hands. Instantly, Loretta's head swiveled in my direction. She gave me a long, disgusted look, starting at the top of my head and finishing at the tattered edges of my grease-stained jeans.

When she finally looked up, her lips were pursed, and her eyes were narrowed to cold, hard slits. She leaned around me and made a show of looking at the driveway. "Who are you?" she said. "The tow truck driver?"

Right, because that busted-up hot-rod was really a tow-truck in disguise.

Next to me, Chloe cleared her throat. "Loretta, I'd like you to meet Lawton. My friend, and uh, my ride."

"I see." Loretta was pursing her lips again. "Lorton, is it?"

Nice try, I thought. I'd played that game myself, and there was no way in hell I was going to give her the reaction she wanted. "Close enough," I said, holding out my hand.

Loretta looked down at the hand, but didn't take it. "Are you some kind of mechanic?"

"You could say that." With a shrug, I lowered my hand. "Just part-time though. You know how it is."

"No," she said with a sniff. "I'm afraid I don't." She glanced again toward the driveway. "I assume you're also providing our Chloe with a ride home?"

I grinned. "Definitely."

And in the meantime, I'd be staying for dinner, because there was no way in hell I was leaving Chloe to fend for herself. One way or another, I was getting inside that house. If possible, I'd do it the nice way. If that didn't pan out, well, I guess we'd see.

Loretta glanced at her watch. "Fine. But don't be later than two o'clock." She turned to Chloe and said, "Will you be waiting for him in the driveway? Or shall he knock on the door?"

"Actually," Chloe said, "he's my guest. You said I could bring one?"

Loretta opened her mouth, but before any words came out, a different female voice squealed out, "Oh my God!" A brunette, maybe around Chloe's age, appeared just past Loretta's shoulder. Based on the resemblance, this had to be Lauren Jane, Loretta's natural daughter, as Chloe had called her.

Lauren Jane was staring me. "Is that–? Are you?" She looked to Chloe and asked, "Is that Lawton Rastor?"

Loretta whirled around to face her daughter. In a hushed voice, she asked, "Who's Lawton Rastor?"

"Oh my God, Mom, he's only like a zillionaire," Lauren Jane said, not bothering to lower her voice. "I can't believe you didn't know that. I mean, jeez, have you been living under a rock or something?"

Loretta turned to give me a quick glance before turning back to Lauren Jane. "Him?" Loretta hissed. "You can't be serious."

Lauren Jane snorted. "I am, too. God, you are
so
embarrassing." She looked over to me and said, "Sorry, she doesn't get out much." She turned back to her mom and said, "For God's sake, Mom, there's this thing called the internet. Use it sometimes, okay?"

Loretta's mouth tightened. "Lauren, I don't appreciate–-"

"Mom!" Lauren Jane rolled her eyes. "It's Lauren
Jane
now. Remember?"

"Of course I remember," Loretta said. "I was the one who named you."

"You were not," Lauren Jane said. "It was dad who named me. Remember him? The guy you left for some salesman?"

"He's not a salesman," Loretta said through gritted teeth. "He's a commercial real estate broker."

"Whatever," Lauren Jane said. She turned back to me and smiled. "Hey, I heard you just bought a killer mansion around here. Does it have a hot tub?" She elbowed her way forward, past Loretta. "Because I just bought a new bikini. You wanna see it?"

I shrugged. "Maybe after dinner."

It was a load of bull. I had no interest in Lauren Jane's bikini or anything else that she might wear. From what Chloe had told me in the car, combined with what I'd seen with my own eyes, this girl wasn't someone I wanted to see more of.

Besides, there was only one girl I wanted to see in a bikini, and she was standing next to me, holding a salad. I gave it a quick look. Correction, half a salad. The rest was still on the floor of the passenger's seat. It was too bad, in a way. I'd have liked to see Loretta eating the grubby lettuce off my dirty floor mat.

In fact, I'd like to see that woman eating a lot of things. The gravy story was still pissing me off. I glanced over at Josh. He seemed like a nice kid,
too
nice to live with a woman like that.

Loretta cleared her throat. "Chloe," she said, "Don't just stand there. Show our guest inside, will you?" Loretta gave me a thin smile. "You try to teach them manners, but…" She let out a long-suffering sigh. "What's a person to do?"

I knew what Loretta could do. But it would be a mistake to spell it out, so I let Chloe lead me inside. The way it looked, it was meet-the-parent time.