“Well, I guess that’s none of your fucking business, now, is it, Curry?”
“She must be damn good in bed to get you to think about taking on a brat for the rest of your life.”
Whitaker gives Curry a sharp look. “Man, shut up, dude. Let the chief be happy.”
“Chief,” Curry mutters, like it’s a filthy word. He’s got a chip on his shoulder about fourteen miles wide. I’ve noticed it before, but it’s never been quite so ridiculously obvious. Doesn’t matter. I’m not going to rise to his bait. I’ve got better ways to spend my time. “Good luck with that,” Curry adds. “No better way to fuck up a good slap and tickle than having somebody’s damn kid walk in on you.”
I just shake my head. “I guess that’s why none of your damn kids ever call, huh?” Maybe that’s going too far—everybody knows Curry’s got a terrible relationship with his ex-wife and their two sons—but he asked for it.
Curry shows his teeth in an ugly smile. “You have fun meeting the parents. I bet they kick you out on your ass.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” I say, and wrap up the last of the hose. “I guess we’ll find out.”
I stop my truck in front of a huge, beautiful house in a neighborhood so rich it’s making my teeth ache. This is where Maddy’s parents live? Holy shit. I don’t say it out loud; I don’t want Maddy to see me losing my cool over something so trivial.
What the hell am I doing here, though? I feel completely out of place. My house is nice, and it’s in a decent neighborhood, but this is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. The closest I’ve ever come to a house like this was when one caught fire a couple years ago.
We get out of the truck, and when I come around to join her on the passenger’s side, she reaches up to check the collar of my button-down shirt. She’s so nervous her hands are shaking. I grab them with both my own.
“It’s all right, Maddy. It’ll be fine.” I give her a quick kiss on the forehead. “I promise.”
She takes a deep breath and nods. “My parents are going to be watching every little thing. Just bear that in mind. They’re…”
“They sound shitty,” I suggest when she can’t seem to come up with the right words. I don’t understand why they would make her bend over so far backward just so she can follow a lifelong dream. Parents are supposed to support your dreams, not drop anvils on them.
She shakes her head and smooths the front of my shirt as I let go of her hands. “They’re just my parents.”
She leads the way up the sidewalk to the front door. The entryway on its own is intimidating enough. These are people who have a lot of money and like to be sure everyone knows that. Maddy presses the doorbell, and a moment later the door opens.
Her parents are both standing in the entryway. They’re dressed like they’re going out for dinner, and her mother is even fully made up. I see a slight resemblance in the shape of her face. Her dad is tall and has a long, almost gaunt face. He looks like he might have a stick up his ass.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bowan,” I say, and stick my hand out. “It’s great to meet you. I’m Jesse.”
Mom puts her hand out immediately, but Dad seems to be giving me a once-over while trying to act like he’s not.
“Nice to meet you, Jesse,” she says. “I’m Lydia, and this is Gregory.”
Gregory, I note. Not Greg. Lydia releases my hand, and I extend it to Gregory. He takes it, but seems reluctant. Hard nut to crack, I guess. “Nice to meet you,” he says, but it’s not terribly sincere.
“Dinner is almost ready,” Lydia tells us. “Why don’t you come sit in the parlor for a few minutes with your sister while I finish up?”
The parlor. Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever known anybody who had an actual parlor. It proves to look much like a living room, but with fancier furniture. There’s a younger woman and a man already seated in the room.
“Jesse,” Maddy says. “This is my sister, Melinda, and her husband, Jeff.”
I shake hands again and have a seat. “Where’s Christopher?” Melinda asks.
“We dropped him off with a sitter.” Maddy says it lightly, like she didn’t spend fifteen minutes telling the poor girl exactly what to do in case of any potential emergency. I know. I was there.
We engage in light, typically awkward small talk for a few minutes, then we’re escorted into the dining room. Its all weirdly formal. I’ve had dinner at friends’ houses, and it’s never been like this. This is like having an audience with the queen or something.
The food’s damn good, though. I haven’t had steak this tender in a long time. There’s a lull in the talk while we dish out food and start to eat, but after the first few bites settle and Melinda and Jeff have delivered their updates, Maddy’s dad turns his attention to me.
“So. Jesse. What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a firefighter.” No shame in that, I tell myself, although it seems pretty plebeian in these surroundings. “How about you?”
“Stocks,” he says, but that’s all I’m going to get, because he continues, “You went to college?”
It feels like the temperature in the room has gone down about twenty degrees. I can feel Maddy tensing up in the chair next to me. Even Mel and Jeff seem put off by the intensity of the interrogation. I wonder if they know something about Maddy’s deal with her father—that she has to have a boyfriend to get the money she needs to go to school. It’s all so petty.
“Football scholarship,” I tell him. “Full ride. Studied fire science.”
He gives me a narrow look. “Fire science? That’s a thing?”
“Yes, sir, it is.” It’s going to be like that, is it? Fine. I can handle him.
“So you’ve got, what? A bachelor’s degree?” He looks like he’s just waiting for me to step into some kind of muck. And I know I’m about to, at least as far as he’s concerned. I’ve got a sudden urge to look toward Maddy for support, but I quell it. I’m here to support her, not for her to support me. And I know what this guy will say, and I know how to handle it.
“No,” I tell him. “I didn’t actually graduate.”
He leans back a bit in his chair. It’s the kind of body language that says he knows he’s about to chew me up and spit me out. Maddy’s hand lands on my knee under the table and squeezes.
That’s a much more intriguing development. I put my hand on top of hers and keep my focus directly on Gregory.
“That’s interesting,” he says. “You got a football scholarship and then threw it all down the toilet? I’ll bet your parents loved that.”
He thinks he’s got me on the ropes. This guy’s a bully, plain and simple. “They were devastated, actually. Very upset about the whole situation. Especially since I dropped out of school to help take care of my sister.” I let a small piece of silence fall, and just when I can tell Gregory is about to make another comment, I sucker punch him. “She died a few months ago.”
His mouth snaps shut. I almost want to laugh at him, but there’s also a sharp sense of guilt that I’m basically using Lacey as a weapon. That’s not right. She’d bash me upside my dumbass head if she were here right now.
Lydia chimes in, breaking the tension a bit. “That seems very admirable of you. And I’m very sorry to hear about your sister.”
Mel and Jeff, who’ve been hanging tensely on the conversation as well, join in the sympathy. I give them a smile. They seem nice. I wonder how this set of parents managed to produce a couple of decent ladies like Mel and Maddy.
The conversation fades back to small talk for a few minutes, then Gregory says, “So, what are you planning to do with your career as a firefighter? Is that an upwardly mobile position?”
I almost want to laugh at him. He walked right into that one. “I’m interim fire chief.”
At the exact same time, Maddy says, “He’s interim fire chief,” and we look at each other. It’s a moment. I grin. Having moments right now is good. It’ll add to the evidence that we’re a Very Serious Couple.
I turn back to Gregory and wave a tiny imaginary flag. “Vote King! The election’s coming right up.”
Jeff and Mel both chuckle. I get the impression they’re enjoying seeing Dad get pushed into a corner.
“That’s good to hear,” says Greg in a tone that says, “Fine, you little shit, let’s see what else you’ve got.” “It’s good to know you’ve got a good career foundation.” Then he chuckles. “It seems so strange, though, to see you with someone like my daughter.”
I lean over the table a little. “Oh? Why’s that?”
“You’re obviously very motivated. You’ve got a sports background. Madison never bothered with sports—she just played video games and sat around reading comic books. Wasting her time and spending my money on nonsense. Then when she could have gone to college…well, I’m sure you know how that turned out.”
I’d really like to punch this guy in the nose. I mean, why not? I know how to fix it back up afterward. “Yes. I do. She went on to meet me in an apartment fire.” I turn and give Maddy a look that I hope looks devoted and loving. I’m so pissed at her dad at this point, though, that I might just look like a rabid weasel. Ah, well. I’m giving it the old college-dropout try, at least.