Purely Relative (4 page)

If the order was for an engagement ring, Scott was the most
obvious choice. He had probably dropped or stashed the paper, which meant he
and Jenny were finally setting a date? But they had been engaged for years, so
wouldn’t she already have an engagement ring? I wracked my visual memories for
one of a ring on Jenny’s hand but couldn’t dredge up anything. The paperwork
wasn’t necessarily for a ring, though. A watch or bracelet could be sized too,
which meant it could belong to either of Jon’s parents and probably did. With a
sigh, I refolded the paper, stuffed it back in the medicine cabinet, and
returned to the dining room.

Any red-blooded woman, especially a Texan, would love
jewelry for Christmas. Whoever she was, she was very, very lucky.

Everyone had left the table and gathered in the living room
by the time I rejoined them. Jon waved me over to the loveseat next to him.
Jenny sat opposite him, too far away to get a clear view of her hands.
Phooey
!

“Tell us how school is, Jason,” Sophia asked before bringing
her coffee cup to freshly repainted lips.

Jason’s mouth quirked up at the corners. He cut his eyes
over to his mother first before answering. “Fine. I’m ready to get out of the
dorm, though.”

“Nothing wrong with the dormitories at UT,” his father said.
He leaned back in his chair, legs crossed, hands clasped around his knee.

“Oh? You go to UT?” I asked Jason at the mention of my own
alma mater.

Jason smiled. “Yes. Did you?”

“I sure did. I lived in the dorms, too. Couldn’t afford it
any other way, but I didn’t mind so much. I had some fun times there.”

“True, but there’s next to no privacy, is there?” Jason
wrinkled his nose. He was a doll—slightly darker than his father but
fairer than Jon, and with enough similarities to Jon to be just as gorgeous.

I assessed Jenny next, hoping to catch a peek at her ring
finger. Dark hair and dark eyes like Jon, she was a much taller version of her
mother, much, much taller. Whew, Mr. and Mrs. Cripps sure did make pretty
babies. Wonder what Jon’s and my babies would look like?

Stop that!

Stop what?

Stop wondering about babies. You have no business even
thinking the word.

Babies, babies, babies. I can think the word, silly.
Doesn’t mean I want one. I mean I do, eventually, but not yet. No harm in
wondering. Sheesh, what an uptight conscience you are.

One of us has to be.

“Gayle?”

Hearing my name snapped me out of my reverie. “I’m sorry.
What?”

Jon said, “We were thinking about heading out to catch the
five-thirty showing of the new James Bond flick. Jenny, Scott, Jason, and you
and me. Are you up for that?”

“Oh, yes! Yes. Sounds like fun!” Remembering my manners, I
turned to Jon’s mother. “Can I help you clean up before we go?”

Julie smiled. “Absolutely not. Dishes are their job.” She
pointed a finger at the two husbands.

“My favorite tradition!” Sophia said laughing. “You kids go,
go! Enjoy the movie.” She stood and walked toward me. “Gayle, it was ... lovely
to meet you. You take good care of my Jon.” I thought she might have lifted an
eyebrow, but I was one hundred percent sure there was a warning in her words.

The setting sun outside hid my scurry over to Christine to
nab the crossword puzzle book and slip it inside the car before Jon or anyone
else noticed. Jon lingered over a few last minute words with Alex Milano,
allowing me ample time to slip the book under Christine’s floor mat. I’d worry
about getting it out of Christine undetected later. Crisis averted ... for now.
I’d still have to somehow replace the magazine with a new one. A worry to sort
out later. 

***

Jenny wasn’t wearing a ring.

I was both excited and saddened by that. Excited because the
order form had to belong to Scott, and saddened for two reasons, one rational
and one irrational. The rational? Jenny had waited for five long years for an
engagement ring, way too long. The irrational? I had been stupid enough to let
my imagination run away with me for my own personal reasons.

Note to self:  People didn’t get engaged after a few
dates. So what if they’d been secretly carrying the torch for each other for
months. So what if the lovemaking was off-the-charts amazing. So what if they’d
stared down the barrel of a gun together, realizing how precious life and time
were.

If Jon hadn’t insisted he’d marry me “someday” I never would
have entertained the wild idea. Never. He’d planted it, though, and I’d added a
thick coating of fertilizer. Stupid, silly girl.

We said our goodbyes at the theater’s exit. The sun had
fully set but the exterior lights blazed at full blast. The autumn air prompted
me to don the coat I carried.

Scott draped his arm around Jenny’s shoulders and led her to
his white Mercedes, while Jon, Jason, and I climbed into Christine.

I shivered in my seat and as if on cue, the heater turned on
and blasted warm air on me. The heater was probably on a thermostat and the
second he turned the ignition key it must have started, except I wasn’t sure he
had turned the key before I felt the heat. Jon chuckled and reached over to
adjust the gauges. The airflow simmered down to a slightly slower speed.

After we’d pulled out of the parking lot, Jon glanced in his
rearview mirror. “Is Kat coming up, Jason?”

“Yeah, she’s driving up on Saturday, then we’ll both head
back to Austin on Monday morning.”

“Is Kat your girlfriend?” I asked, twisting in my seat so I
could see his face.

He offered a noncommittal, ‘eh’ I took for a yes.

I had to smile. “So, did you fly home or what? How’d you get
here from Austin if your girlfriend’s taking you back?”

“I hitched a ride with my friend Tully.”

“How is Tully?” Jon asked.

“Ornery as ever, especially around Kat,” Jason said.

“They don’t get along?” I asked.

Jon shot me a sidelong glance. “Tully hates all of Jason’s
girlfriends.” In a singsong voice he added, “And no one has an inkling why!”

“Oh shut up, Jon. As usual you are way off base. Tully is
not like that at all.” Jason’s tone boasted fifty shades of exasperation. Guess
he didn’t appreciate being teased about his gay best friend.

“Uh-huh,” Jon said.

I darted my eyes back and forth between the two brothers,
but neither said another word, and the car fell into awkward silence.

“I’m really glad you came today. Everybody loved you,
especially my mother,” Jon said to me in a subdued tone.

A quick glance over my shoulder revealed Jason to be
engrossed with his smart phone, snickering to himself as his fingers flew over
the keyboard.

“Thanks for inviting me. You really think so? She didn’t say
much.”

“She never does, but I could tell,” Jon said.

“You could? Huh.”

“She was definitely checking you out,” Jason piped in
mid-text. “You gotta remember though that she’s been rooting for Team Thalia
for years ... and years and years.”

“Jason....” Jon warned.

“It’s okay, Jon,” I said. “I know it’s true. Why wouldn’t it
be? She’s never met me before yet, all of a sudden, here I am! Ta da!”

“Jenny really liked you. Told you you’d have nothing to
worry about with her.” Jon reached over and tugged a lock of my hair.

“Why would she have worried about Jenny?” Jason asked.

“None of your business,” Jon snapped, far too vehemently.

No doubt sniffing a story, Jason persisted. “Why were you
worried about Jenny’s opinion, Gayle? She’s actually very mellow.”

“Uh....” I paused to cook up a believable lie. “Jon was
supposed to work on her car one night, only he didn’t show up until really
late. I was worried she might have seen me as an interloper in more ways than
one. But I was very wrong. She was lovely.” To Jon I said, “I really liked her,
actually, a lot more than I thought I would.”

“You’re a lot alike.”

“You really are,” Jason said.

“Except she’s much taller than me.”

“Everybody is taller than you.” Jon shot me a teasing
glance. From anyone else, my hackles would have risen. To Jon I granted special
liberties.

“That’s gonna cost you later, mister,” I said.

“I’m sure I’ll be ...
up
to the challenge,” Jon shot
back with a mischievous grin. Guess that told me where his head was, both of
them.

“Ugh, impressionable younger brother in the back seat in
case you forgot!”

I blushed and turned to smile at Jason, but his eyes were
cast down at his smart phone’s display, fingers flying. A few seconds later he
burst out laughing. “Tully says you’re a whore dog, Jon.”

“You tell Tully to butt out!” Jon said laughing. “Little
brat!”

More snickering from the back seat followed by guffaws as
Jason and Tully texted each other. The laughter continued until we turned into
the Cripps’ majestic driveway and dropped the youngest son off at the back
door.

“I’m going to strangle her the next time I see her,” Jon said
after we’d entered the highway to the apartment community we both lived in.

“Who’s that?” I asked. Jon often spoke without context and
though I had acquired a master’s degree in Jonology, he’d plucked his last
statement from thin air.

“Tully,” he said calmly.

“Tully’s a she?”

Jon laughed. “You thought she was a he?” He laughed again. “Tully
is short for Tallulah, which she hates. The only girl I ever knew who actually
shut up my smack-talking little brother ... with a left uppercut and a knee to
the nuts. They’ve been fast friends ever since.”

“She beat Jason up when they were little kids?” I snickered
at the image of a little tomboy in braids and missing a few baby teeth delivering
such a lethal one-two.

“Not that little. They were in the seventh grade at the
time.” The smile faded from his face. She’s been in love with Jason for years
but he’s absolutely blind to it, refuses to believe it. Tully of course denies
it vehemently, but that’s just her defense mechanism kicking in. They’re both
ridiculous, they’re so deeply in denial.”

“Well that’s sad, especially since he’s dating another
woman.”

“Yeah, it really is. I don’t even think Jason even realizes
Tully’s a female anymore.” He shook his head, a slight frown in place.

My heart ached a little for the woman who not only kept her
love under wraps, but denied it.

As we left the neighborhood, I
decided to come clean. “I need you to pop in to the nearest grocery store,” I
said.

“I don’t think much is going to be open but we’ll check it
out. Why? What do you need?” Jon turned onto a busy surface street. In the
distance a Safeway sign blazed.

“I sort of had an accident at your parents’ and dropped one
of their crossword puzzle books into the toilet. I need to buy a new one to
replace it.”

Jon laughed and shook his head. “Gayle.” More head shaking
ensued.

“I’m sorry. It was an accident. Honest!” I clasped my hands
more tightly together.

“I don’t think you need to worry about it,” he said with a
smug grin.

“I feel so guilty. I don’t mind buying another one. They’re
only a few bucks. I feel bad enough. I only—”

“Gayle. Seriously. Calm down. It’s not a big deal. But how
did it end up in the toilet?”

Confession time. I couldn’t lie to Jon, but I didn’t have to
gush out the whole gory story either, especially with the gory evidence right
below my feet getting Christine’s floor mats wet. “It fell.”

“As opposed to your shooting hoops with it.”

I ground my molars together. “I said it was an accident. Why
does it matter how it happened?”

“I’m sorry. It doesn’t.” He shot an amused grin my way. “You
don’t need to buy another one, though. That was my crossword puzzle book.”

Relief flooded me, though there was always the possibility
he was simply trying to ease my distress. On the other hand, if it really was
his puzzle book, and the receipt fell out of it, did that mean Jon ordered the
ring?
OMG, OMG, OMG
! I stole a glance at his expression. He didn’t have
one. What a time for a poker face! Fine. I’d just have to sniff around the
edges a little.

“You do crossword puzzles in your parents’ powder room?” I
asked, my arms crossed.

“Used to. When I first moved back to Dallas, I didn’t want
to move in with Thalia just yet so I crashed at their home for about a month
until I found an apartment and got all moved in.” The expression Jon wore
remained noncommittal, neither sincere nor teasing.

As much as my curiosity goaded me into asking about the
ring, any mention of such—if the paperwork was in fact Jon’s, and damn
Kruger’s for not putting a name on it—would surely tip him off that I
knew. I couldn’t do that. The presumptiveness that he’d do such a thing so
early in our relationship was an unhealthy place for my head to hang out.
However, the possibility that he might actually have ordered an engagement ring
scared the bejeesus out of me. I did not want to have such a serious
conversation. We hadn’t been together long enough to wear such a heavy coat.
Best to drop it.

With a sigh, I uncrossed my arms and leaned back into my
seat. I scavenged for a new discussion topic. “So, small world that your sister
knows my brother, huh?”

A hint of a smile curled the edges of his mouth. “Yeah.”

Okay, he obviously didn’t find that tidbit as fascinating as
I had. Next topic. “Scott was certainly … interesting.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. I guess I had a certain impression of him
before I arrived at your parents’, then a different one when I first met him,
then it changed again, like midstream, once he mentioned the Bible and Jenny
said he was a born again Christian. I found that a little weird.”