Patti wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It was one thing to meet family members, but she knew, beyond a doubt, that this wasn’t just a “hey, how are ya?” type visit. This was the real deal. Somehow, a week’s worth of casual sex and hanging out had turned into a full-fledged relationship.

Making her even more uncomfortable, Jon leaned in and kissed her. Kissed her! Right in front of his parents.

“Just stick with me,” Jon said, releasing her. Winding his arm around her, he guided her around the truck toward the couple who sported matching grins. Patti squared her shoulders and pasted a smile on her face.

“There’s my handsome boy. Come give your mother a hug!” Jon dropped his hold on her hand and grabbed his mother up.

Left to sway in the breeze, Patti folded her hands in front of her and waited while his mother doted on him.

“You must be the woman we’ve heard so much about. Hi, I’m Walter, Jon’s father, but you can call me Walter.” Walter stepped forward, his salt and pepper hair glinting in the early morning sunlight, and reached out his hand. Patti had to crane her neck to look him in the face. Now she knew where Jon got his height.

“Hi, I’m Patti,” she introduced herself, and extended her hand to his. But instead of shaking it, Walter took her by surprise and pulled her in for a huge bear hug.

With her arms pinned down at her sides, Patti was powerless to move, let alone breathe.

“Dad,” Jon chuckled. “Put my woman down before you smother her.”

“Walt,” his mother scolded. She slapped his shoulder for good measure. “Put the girl down. I swear, the first woman Jon brings home in ages and you practically molest her. Hi,” she said, her voice dripping with sugar as his father released her back on her feet. “Sorry about my husband. I haven’t house broken him yet, but you know what they say about old dogs. You must be Patricia.”

Like his father, Jon’s mother pulled her into her arms and squeezed her to her breast. “Please, call me Patti,” she wheezed, giving her an awkward pat on the back.

“Patti it is.” She set her away from her, only to hook her arm in the crook of her elbow and begin leading her up the concrete path toward the house. “And you can call me Stephanie.”

“Nice to meet you, Stephanie,” Patti said with a smile. She glanced over her shoulder at Jon, who grinned back at her as he followed along with his father.

“Come inside. You can help me get the snacks ready while you tell me all about how you and my son met.”

And the interview had begun.

16

Jon stuck around long enough to make sure that Patricia would be all right alone with his mother. She was a feisty one, asking any and every question that popped into her hyperactive mind.

She reminded him of Patricia.

Jon was amused by Patricia’s attempt at being cordial while looking as though she wanted to run right out the door they entered through. Right from the start, he could tell his mother took a liking to Patricia, though he never had any doubt. What wasn’t there to like?

Patricia was sweet, kind, and always wore a smile on her face, even when it was the last thing she felt like doing. But that was just her way. She hid her hurt and discomfort behind a smiling face, and that just endeared her to him more, because each time he caught that look on  her face, he wanted nothing more than to go to her, hold her, and whisk it all away. He wanted to be her safe place to fall when in reality he was the hardest, most unforgiving place she could have landed.

Currently, Jon sat in the small living room with his father, who sipped a mug of freshly brewed coffee. That was how his father geared up for any task. He was working on his third at the moment, and Jon was silently waiting, using this sliver of quiet to watch Patricia and his mother through the kitchen pass-through his father had carved out soon after purchasing the house more than thirty years ago so his mother wouldn’t feel “cut off from the rest of the world.”

Patricia had her always there smile in place, while his mother rambled about something he couldn’t make out, but whatever it was, it made Patricia beam back at her. It pleased him to see two halves of his life fit together so smoothly. It was one less hurdle he would have to cross.

“Keep smiling like that,” his father remarked, “and your face is gonna freeze that way.”

“She’s beautiful, don’t you think, Dad?” Jon couldn’t take his eyes off her expressive face. She had her head lowered and her long hair tucked behind her ears, revealing the soft smile that he loved so much.

“She’s a looker,” his Dad agreed. “Seems nice, too.”

“She certainly is,” Jon said wistfully. “So where’s Cas?”

His father shrugged as he polished off the last of his coffee. “She said she can’t make it out today. Told me to tell you hello.” He gave him a pointed look. “Hello. Ready to head out?” Lumbering to his feet, his Dad carried his empty cup across the room into the kitchen.

Seeing it as the perfect excuse to steal a moment with her, Jon followed close on his heels. His gaze sought hers the moment he entered the kitchen, and as though sensing his presence, Patricia paused in the middle of stacking brownie squares on paper plates, and lifted her head to look at him over her shoulder.

Attempting to be as unobtrusive as possible, his mother transferred her conversation to his father, who hovered over the sink, and Jon strode across the room, coming up behind Patricia to wrap his arms around her narrow waist.

“How’s it going so far?” he asked silkily in her ear. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he nuzzled her neck while she continued, at a much slower pace, placing the rest of the brownies in neat pyramids.

“Better than expected,” she murmured, leaning into him. “Your mom promised to show me baby pictures later.”

Jon groaned.

“Hey now, save that stuff for the bedroom,” his father called out.

Jon ignored him, but he didn’t miss the flush of color creeping into Patricia’s cheeks. Feeling frisky, he flattened his hands on her lower stomach and rubbed his thumbs in smooth circles across her warm skin through the thin fabric of her t-shirt. “I’ll have to make sure we escape early then.”

Patricia twisted her head around to look at him. “You don’t want me to see your pictures?”

“My parents had a fondness of capturing me at the worst possible moments, so no, I’d rather you didn’t. At least not before I have you so seduced by my charms, that you won’t have the common sense to run away.”

A devious look passed across her face. “What if I’m already seduced by your charms?”

Jon’s jaw tightened and his arms constricted around her. “I want you,” he said, dropping his voice low so it wouldn’t carry. He knew his parents, and even though they pretended to be otherwise occupied, they were the biggest couple of eavesdroppers he’d ever met. There were no secrets growing up in their household, which was a bitch for a growing teenage boy with raging hormones and a line of willing girls practically prowling around outside his bedroom window.

Secure in the confidence that Jon’s large frame blocked her from view; Patricia poked out her tongue and licked across the seam of his lips. “Later. You can have me any way you want me.”

A low growl rumbled in his chest. “Already plotting the ways.” Jerking her up hard against his chest, Jon stole a kiss, slapped her hard on the ass, and walked out of the room calling over his shoulder, “Come on, old man, those boxes aren’t going to move themselves!”

In the garage, Jon was momentarily paralyzed by the sheer volume of random pieces of furniture and boxes overflowing with yard sale items, but he got over it quickly and kicked his ass into gear.

Leaving his mother alone with Patricia, especially after the promise of baby picture, made him a little unsettled. The last thing he wanted was to imagine the two of them oohing and awing over his awkward years. Or better yet, the photo of his five-year-old self racing through the house at break neck speed with his child-sized junk suspended high and to the left, and that he’d dreamt about burning more than once. Women. He shook his head and hefted one side of the old love seat in the air.

Together, he and his father carried it outside and set it down on the front lawn.

An hour later, Jon stood, digging his fists into his lower back to stretch out the muscles. He glimpsed several of the neighbors he’d grown up seeing every day in various stages of setting up their own yards.

“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Helmy,” he shouted across the street. A little gray around the edges, but otherwise still looking young and fit, the couple turned to wave back at him.

He was preparing to head back into the garage for round one hundred and eighty, give or take, when he was stopped in his tracks by an angel.

Patricia positively glowed as she stepped out of the house balancing two overloaded trays of snacks in her hands. Her hips swayed as she crossed the lawn to the table that was set up beneath the old elm tree he used to climb as a kid. His mouth watered.

“So, how did the two of you meet?” His father’s voice broke through his thoughts like a wrecking ball, and Jon forced himself to turn away from her.

He shrugged. “The first time or the second?”

His father’s bushy brows pulled together. “I’ll go with whichever story is more interesting.” He turned and led the way back to the garage.

“Well,” Jon said, crouching down to pick up a box of old books. “I kind of rear-ended her.”

“That’s a hell of a way to put it.” His frown deepened.

Puzzled, Jon paused halfway out the door, beads of sweat popping out across his forehead as he struggled to hold the weight of the box against his middle. “Wait, do you think? No! God, Dad, really?” He shook his head. “I didn’t mean I rear-ended her. I meant I literally rear-ended her, as in busted up her car with mine. Jesus…” He trailed off, shuddering at the mere mention of sex around his old man.

“I don’t know what you’re getting offended about, son,” his dad said, coming up beside him. They dropped their burden in the grass and knelt to unload the contents on to one of the many pop-up tables. “Your mother and I are well aware that you are a sexually active grown man. It’s a completely natural occurrence that you shouldn’t be ashamed of.”

“I’m not ashamed. I just don’t want to have this talk with you. No offense,” he added.

“None taken. You don’t tell me about your sexual escapades and I won’t tell you about mine and your mother’s, like that time in the hot tub up at the cabin…”

“Dad, seriously!”

His father nudged him in the side. “Just fucking with you, son. Don’t get all bent out of shape. Save that privilege for the young woman.”

Unable to take another minute of his good-natured ribbing, Jon bolted for the safety of indoors calling over his shoulder, “I’m going to hit the bathroom.”

Inside, Jon marched up the stairs to the second floor. He was hot, a little tired, but mostly he’d just needed the excuse to get away for a minute.

He loved visiting his parents, but what he really wanted to do with his day had nothing to do with sales or heavy labor.

Closing himself in the bathroom, Jon filled the sink basin with cold water. Cupping his hands under the faucet, he filled his palms with the cool liquid and bent to splash it against his heated face. It was a welcomed relief from the sweltering brilliance of the near afternoon sun. He couldn’t understand the appeal of having a yard sale during one of the hottest months of the year, but then he never did understand the minds of his elders very well. Jon much preferred the crispness of fall or the biting cold of winter to the heat of summer. At least he could warm himself during the colder months. Cooling off was much harder to accomplish and it always came with the added bonus of sunburns and farmer tans.

“It’s right up those stairs, third door on the left at the end of the hall.”

Hearing his mother’s muted voice, followed by Patricia’s gracious “thank you,” Jon stiffened. Literally. His cock just sprang right up at the sound of her voice. Interesting.

Scrubbing one of the hand towels down his face, Jon listened at the door as Patricia’s soft footsteps approached. They stopped, hesitating outside the door, and when she lightly rapped her knuckles against it, Jon grabbed the handle and ripped the door open.