The Winemaker's Dinner: Entrée (23 page)

Her mother laughed. “Yes, dear. Surprise! Time to have some fun.”

As they piled out, Jaden ran around to give her mom a hug and a kiss. “It’s been too long.”

“I know it won’t happen again,” her mother said with a smile. Then she turned to stop Ivan as he headed for the back of the car. “No, no, no. We can get those later. You have family to meet.”

Jaden smiled as Ivan swallowed hard. Taking his hand, she reassured him. “Don’t worry. I won’t leave you alone.”

“Good. I can’t go home with anyone else here anyway,” he said, eyeing the crowd and laughing.

Jaden’s heart lurched, but she took a deep breath as he squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes.

“This means the world to me,” he said. “Thank you.”

She smiled and breathed in the fresh mountain air as she prepared herself for the next few days.

Sounds of boisterous laughter rose to greet them as they headed toward the house. Managing to think beyond herself, Jaden knew Ivan had to be nervous. Though she hoped things would go just as smoothly with her father, Ivan seemed out of his element—not so
Miami Vice
at the moment. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the door. Her mom led the way, smiling all the time. Jaden had never seen her so happy.

“You ready for this? It’s a thorny crowd,” Diane jabbed as she led them through the wooden door and toward the growing racket.

“Mom, leave him alone. He’s nervous enough as it is.” Jaden patted his back.

“You two are a couple of comedians, aren’t you?” he countered.

As they reached the sliding door that led to the back deck, Jaden squeezed Ivan’s now-sweaty hand. “They’ll love you, just like I do.” She snuck a kiss for confidence.

Then the door flew open and fifteen faces swung around to identify the disturbance.

“Is that my beautiful baby come back home to the back country to see us simple folk?” Her father’s voice, in his best hillbilly accent, rang clear and true above the crowd.

Dropping her guard and Ivan’s hand, she ran across the deck to greet her father. “Daddy!”

As she jumped into his arms and was wrapped in his Denver Broncos jersey, she felt home. He swung her around as if she were six years old, and she relished the moment. She was his little princess. But once she came to rest, she gave him one more hug and turned toward Ivan at the door.

Her mom placed a reassuring hand on his back and whispered something that made him smile. She watched as confidence flowed over him, and he stepped forward. The aunts, uncles, neighbors, and friends who looked on now witnessed something like the weigh in of Tyson and Holyfield. New Man versus Old Man, both vying for the attention of Ms. Jaden Thorne.

As Ivan came closer, Jaden could feel her father draw himself to his full height. He cleared his throat. “And this must be the man who’s occupying so much of my daughter’s time and attention. Professional hunter, right?” Her dad struck the first blow.

Oh my God. He went there
.

Seeming unfazed, Ivan responded with a gigantic smile. “Yes, sir. Yes, it is. And you must be the man who helped create such a beautiful daughter. Lucky for her—and for me—she got her mom’s looks.” A daring uppercut.

Jaden couldn’t do anything but laugh. Her dad just looked at Ivan for a moment.

“Well played, young man,” he said as he leaned in to give him a hug.

“Happy retirement, sir.”

So far, so good. She felt a bit giddy with relief. See? Everything was going fine. Everything would be fine.

“What’ll you have?” her dad asked Ivan.

“Oh, a beer would be great,” he replied.

“Sonny, get this man a beer,” her dad hollered to a stout fellow hovering over a red cooler. “And where’s my glass? Fill up my cabernet. It’s a party!”

Jaden snorted a laugh when she saw the look on Ivan’s face.

“And get my girl a martini, please,” he added.

“Let’s celebrate!” she exclaimed as she came to Ivan’s side. “Beer? You hate beer.”

“I know, but I didn’t want to look like a douche asking for wine.”

Laughing, she elbowed him in the ribs. “Pussy.”

“Ahhhhhh! Jaden!” a voice shrieked behind them.

Jaden’s face lit up. “Magan!” She enveloped her sister.

Magan, younger by one year, looked almost identical to her, with eyes the same shade of emerald green. After a prolonged hug, she began firing off questions. “So, how’s the television lifestyle, big star? How’s life with Mr. Perfect?” She nodded in Ivan’s direction, and Jaden realized he’d wandered over to strike up a conversation with one of the neighbors.

“Ah, it’s…it’s amazing,” she said with a smile, feeling less unsettled this time.

Magan just rolled her eyes. “What did you guys tell Mom that got her all giddy? She’s on cloud nine. Or maybe she’s drunk.”

“I don’t know. She’s been acting like that since the airport. I love it! How’s Justin?”

“He’s good. He’s kind of in the restaurant biz these days.”

Jaden raised her eyebrows.

“He’s a bartender,” Magan explained. “And he really seems to like it. He works all the time, and when he’s not doing that he’s rehearsing with his band. He’s even working tonight. That didn’t make Dad too happy, but he and Mom certainly want him to keep the job.”

The smell of meat on the grill wafted over, capturing their attention.

“Smells good, Dad,” Magan called as he flipped the meat.

He raised his glass to her, doing a little dance, and she strolled over to join him at the grill.

As each familiar face caught her eye, Jaden made her way through the group that had gathered to celebrate her dad. She told stories of TV mishaps, Miami restaurants, and Hollywood craziness—each listener more interested than the last. When she explained it just the right way, her life was fabulous. The knot remained in her stomach, but as she sipped her drink and smiled at the people who’d known her all her life, she could feel it loosen. And she made sure to know where Ivan was at all times. Right now he was working the other side of the party, looking quite at home indeed. She smiled. Somehow he was always okay.

Finally she circled back around to find her sister, who was ready with a whole new barrage of questions. “How about that Damian?” she began.

Feeling a slap with just the mention of his name, Jaden shrieked her response.
“What?”

“How about Damian, girl? How is it working out with him?” Magan asked again.

“Oh, you know. It’s fine…Whatever. Hey, who needs a drink?”

“I’ll take a martini.” She heard Ivan’s smooth voice and felt his arms slide around her at the same moment. “Hello, you must be Magan. It’s so nice to meet you in person. The genes in this family are outstanding,” he added loudly enough that their mother could hear.

“Such a smooth talker,” Magan replied. “I see why my sister is head over heels for you. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“Let’s eat,” Jaden suggested. “We’ll get more drinks in a minute. It’s getting late.”

They joined the line and loaded their plates with grilled meat and steaming vegetables. Then selecting their places at the extended picnic table, Ivan and Jaden took turns answering questions about Miami, Hollywood, and various celebrities. Ivan fit in at the dinner table as if he’d always been there—a carefully placed dirty joke here and a quirky oneliner there—and he hit it off with her family like no one had before.

Once everyone had eaten their fill of dinner, as well as the gigantic cake that had appeared, the guests began to filter out into the night. Finally it was just family left sitting amongst a gigantic cleanup job and a lot of alcohol still needing to be consumed.

“So how’s the long-distance situation working out?” her father suddenly asked.

Jaden felt her ass clench. Fortunately, Ivan grabbed her hand and began to speak.

“It hasn’t been an issue,” he said. “I miss her like crazy, but we trust each other, and we’re making it work…so far.” He laughed.

She knew he was expecting her to chime in with a funny comment, but she was too busy reminding herself that she
had
to lie to both her love and her family.

“Maybe not…” Ivan said cutting through the awkward silence.

She forced a smile and plunged into the deep end, laughing loudly. “Yes, of course we’re making it work,” she said. “We have to.”

“I’m so happy to have you home, and you too, Ivan.” Magan beamed at them. “Okay, now I’m going to get this cleaned up. Don’t want the wildlife paying a visit tonight.”

“Good idea,” her father agreed.

“I’ll help too.” Ivan stood.

Jaden prepared to help gather dirty dishes, but her mother put her hand on her arm. “So, young lady, are you happy?”

“Extremely,” she said with a smile. “It’s wonderful to be home and see all of you. Well, all except Ben, but I assume he’ll show up at some point.”

“I’m not talking about that. Are you happy with work, with life, with love?” She nodded toward Ivan, who was fumbling with Magan and her father at the door.

Thoughts of waking up in an unfamiliar bed crept to the back of her mind, but she squashed them. “Mom, work is great. I’m getting to do things I never thought I would. I have to pinch myself occasionally to make sure I’m not dreaming.” She paused for a moment. “And I couldn’t be happier with Ivan. He makes me feel complete in a world that constantly tries to tear you apart.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” her mother said, sounding a bit teary. She scooped Jaden into a hug.

“Love you, mom.”

“All done,” three alcohol-laden voices sang as the cleanup crew made their way back to the table.

Her mom dried her eyes with a napkin, but even a little tanked, Jaden’s dad sensed something was up. “All okay?”

“Yes. We just had a little a mother-daughter moment,” her mom said. “It’s been too damn long.” She smiled as she raised her glass in toast, her eyes lingering again on Jaden. “All right, ladies and gentleman, I think it’s time for bed,” she added as she finished the last gulp of her wine.

Five in the afternoon had turned into eleven thirty at night, and Jaden was glad when they all agreed.

“You’re the boss,” her father quipped, draining his glass as well.

The family Thorne hugged their long lost Jaden and bid her beau goodnight.

“Thank you again for the invite, Lee.” Ivan shook her father’s hand.

“Thanks for taking such great care of my daughter.”

“Thanks for raising such a good daughter.”

With that, her family shuffled inside and off to various bedrooms for the night.

Relieved to be finished with the party, but not quite ready for the night to end, Jaden suggested she and Ivan go sit by the pond.

“Yes, ma’am.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you for this,” he whispered as he took her hand and followed her toward the moonlit pond.

The water glistened as they settled into a wicker chair on the wooden deck. Crickets sang an endless song, accented by the occasional splash of a fish jumping. She rested her head on Ivan’s chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart.

“Your family is amazing,” he said, fingering her hair.

“I didn’t know how much I missed them.”

“Your dad is a trip, and so is your sister. And your mom—that woman is phenomenal. I love chatting with her.”

“Yeah, she’s taken quite the shine to you, hasn’t she? You must’ve sweet talked her while you were waiting for me at the airport.”

“Well, what’s not to like?” Ivan said, earning an elbow in the ribs. “We did have a great chat before you found us.” He kissed her on the top of the head.

“It’s beautiful out tonight, isn’t it?” Jaden willed herself to
be
in the moment, be present with Ivan. Move forward.

“It’s magical.”

“I could stay here forever,” she added, wondering for a moment if that might be possible. Then she sighed. “So, I believe you said something about a surprise coming up. I did let them know I’d be gone a couple extra days.”

“It’s just something I wanted to share with you. It’s a first for me, and I love experiencing things for the first time with the one I love.”

Feeling overwhelmed and unworthy, she decided offense was the only way to play this. The only way to keep herself together. “What—are we going to get another girl and have a threesome?”

Ivan said nothing, but she could feel his dick harden against her back. “That would be a first for sure,” he finally said.

“Is that right?” She repositioned herself and grabbed a handful of his growing excitement. She worked his erection through his pants. “So my boyfriend would like to have himself a threesome…maybe.”

“Well, I would definitely entertain the idea.”

His dick lengthened as she worked him even more vigorously. “So you want me to be with another woman in front of you?”

“In front, on top, under. All of the above.”

“Blonde or brunette?”