P.I.T.A. (L.A. Liaisons #3)(27)

Another difference in the Dawson household: they didn't believe in having chefs, and Gail saw to it that every meal consisted of all the appropriate food groups. She also made sure you were never dehydrated.

"I'm fine, thank you. I don't want to intrude; I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd say hi. Well. Hi." Turning on my heel, I had every intention of leaving, but Dawson was there blocking my path.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"Richard, you can't let her leave. Paige, I'm making ginger snaps later, and I know those were always your favorite."

"Holding the woman hostage with ginger snaps. I think it might work." Dawson's grin was infectious, and it had my lips turning up.

"Well … I guess maybe I could stay for a little while," I said.

"Good," Gail said. "Now why don't you help me put the hooks on these ornaments?"

Stepping over one of the boxes, I took a seat on the floor. "I can do that."

Gail slid over a small container of sparkling red and green jeweled balls. "I had to buy new ones, since these two over here forced me to do blue and silver the past few years. They'd already tried to convince me to decorate a palm tree." She glared in their direction, and they both ducked away.

After sliding a hook through one of the balls, I held it up, letting it catch the light. "I think these are gorgeous. And while I do love palm trees, I don't think it's meant to substitute a good Fraser fir."

"See?" Gail said. "This is why I need you around. I'm outnumbered."



       
         
       
        

"She says that, but you know she always ends up getting her way. Don't let her fool you," Dawson said.

Gail didn't even bat an eyelash. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you right back out of it too."

"Only if you can catch me," he replied.

I laughed, the good-natured banter between them taking me back to an easier time. One where hormones didn't play a part in big life decisions.

"Well, on my side or not, it's good to see you around these parts, Paige." Gail gave me a smile. "I'm glad you came by."

"Nah." Charles tossed down the strand of lights he'd been working on and grabbed another. "I'm sure she came over this way because she wanted to see that they'd up and gone."

"Charles!" Gail said.

"No, it's okay. He's right," I said. A twinge of guilt twisted in my gut as I realized that not only had I neglected coming over because I'd been avoiding my parents, but the Dawsons had gotten the short end of that stick too. "I, uh …  I'm not sure how I ended up there, honestly. My car sort of … drove itself. Maybe I wanted to see the house one last time, or maybe I thought they hadn't really cleared everything out, or … I don't know."

Gail's face was full of sympathy. "Oh, honey-"

"It's fine, really. Can we talk about something else?" I said.

She nodded. "Sure. As long as you know you're spending Christmas with us this year."

"Christmas? Um, I don't think-"

"Paige, we won't take no for an answer. We'll even have Richard throw you over his shoulder again if we have to," Charles said, a smile dancing on his lips.

"Oh geez, you had to bring that up," I said, inwardly cringing that they'd-quite literally-seen me show my ass. "I'm sorry about that. I'm normally quite well behaved."

When Dawson snorted from across the room, Gail held back a smile. "I think you've forgotten we've seen all your sides, Paige Iris. You were quite the little troublemaker when you were younger."

"Me?" I said.

"Corrupting our sweet Richard … " she continued.

"Oh hell no. You've got that backwards, and you know it."

"Everyone knows I was the angel face, Pita," Dawson said, as he pulled an oversized wreath out of a box.

"Then you've got everyone fooled," I said.

"I remember the first time I ever laid eyes on you," Charles said. "You were a scrawny little thing, 'bout six, maybe-" 

"Seven," Dawson supplied.

"Right, right, seven. You came over and knocked on the front door and said you'd seen a little boy move in next door to you and that you needed to meet him so you could be best friends."

"I'm sure I didn't put it quite like that-"

"Oh, you did," Charles said. "And that was the last time you ever used the front door. Always came in the back or snuck in through Richard's window. Naughty little thing." There was a twinkle in his eye that had me cracking a smile.

"Hey, you're not supposed to gang up on the guest," I said.

Dawson rolled his eyes. "Please. You've never been a guest here any more than I have."

The truth of those words hit me like a Mack truck. He was right. Growing up, I'd spent more time over here than my own home when I could help it, and the way we all were able to sit around like this, like no time had passed at all, had me wondering why I'd let any distance come between us.

As if she could sense the change in the air, Gail said, "Paige, could you hand me another package of hooks? They're on the mantel."

"Sure." Relieved that no one was going to acknowledge the elephant in the room, I got to my feet. After grabbing the package she wanted, a box of overflowing video cassettes stashed in the corner caught my eye. "Wow … are those home movies?" I asked, going over to check them out.

"Oh … just a few old tapes I needed to go through," Gail said, waving her hand. "Nothing we need today."

I picked up a cassette and read the spine. "'Richard's high school graduation.' I forgot you guys taped that." I picked up another. "'Richard's sixteenth birthday.'" Glancing up at the three of them, I said, "Been walking down memory lane?"

Gail's eyes flicked to Dawson, and they seemed to have an unspoken conversation before he turned to me and shrugged.

"Mom wanted them all transferred onto DVDs."

"Right," Gail said. "That's why they're all laid out. Just … going through to see which ones to use first and all that." Then she cleared her throat. "Richard, why don't you and your dad go try to find the box of garland from the garage? I don't see those down here, and I think he needs a time-out from untangling those lights or he might end up breaking them all."

Charles dropped the lights back into the box. "I say we buy all new ones."

"We're not buying a new set when we've got a perfectly good set right here. Now, shoo and let us take care of it." Gail practically pushed the guys out of the room and then turned back to face me. "Now. Where were we?"

"Umm … I think we're about done with the ornaments, so maybe we could try working on the lights?"

"That would be a good plan," she said. Then we cleared off a couple of spaces on the couch as I took one knotted pile and she took another. "Heavens, there must be an easier way to do this. You'd think after all these years we'd have a system down pat."

"Nah. Gives you something to argue over every year."

"Mmm, that's true." Gail peeked at me from under her lashes. "Speaking of couples who argue … how are you and Richard getting along these days?"

"Like a house on fire."

She laughed, finally managing to get one strand loose. "The stories you tell, my sweet."

"We have our moments."

"That you do. And by the way, since chances are I'll never get another chance to say this, congratulations on marrying my son. I should have both your hides for not inviting us."



       
         
       
        

"I figured you'd say you'd have our hides for doing it in the first place."

"Oh, Paige. You know I'd do just about anything to have you as a daughter-in-law. I've never hidden that."

"Well, it is your fault we ended up married, since you coerced him to babysit me that night."

"I did no such thing."

"You did. I saw the look."

Gail set the light strand down in her lap. "You know as well as I do that Richard would never do anything he didn't want to." Then she went back to unraveling the mess. "Same goes for you."

She was right about that. And as much as Dawson loved his family, I doubted he would've agreed to give up his prowling time just because his parents had asked.

There was something else gnawing at me, though.

"Gail … can I ask you a question?" I said.

"Of course you can."

"I've always wondered … how do you stay friends with them?"

"Your parents?" When I nodded, Gail let out a sigh. "It's not easy sometimes. Especially when you remember the people they used to be. Time changes so much. So does money."

"But my parents have always had money."

"Eh … " She tilted her head from side to side. "Extreme money changes people. Not that your parents are bad people, but … well, we're not all as close as we used to be. And, truth be told, we didn't want to lose you."