Chapter 59
Ten minutes later, we were all settled around the long, oval table, with my dad at the head and Loretta at the foot.
With a smooth, practiced move, Loretta settled the cloth napkin onto her lap and gave me her sweetest smile. "We're all so glad you could make it, Chloe."
With a tittering laugh, she looked around the table and added, "We were just about to send out the cavalry." She gave my dad a significant look. "Weren't we, Dick?"
Nodding, my dad pulled out the booming voice he used only in front of company. "Anything for our little Chloe," he said. "It sure wouldn't be a family dinner without her."
Resisting an eye-roll of epic proportions, I glanced at Lawton across the table. Either he had one heck of a poker face, or he didn't see the humor.
He'd been seated between Josh and Lauren Jane. Josh was looking at Lawton with undisguised awe. Lauren Jane was all teeth and eyes, studying Lawton like a wolf studies a mutton chop.
Lauren Jane reached over and ran a finger along Lawton's forearm. "I like your tattoos," she said. "Do you have more?"
I wasn't sure whether to laugh or rip Lauren Jane's arm off and beat her over the head with it.
So instead, I stood. "Who's ready for salad?"
At Loretta's insistence, we were eating the meal in courses. Salad first. And the way it looked, it was time to get the show on the road.
My heart racing, I stood and retrieved my salad from the sideboard. The salad plates were already on the table, so all I had to do was pass the bowl around and pray that no one noticed it was already half empty. With a shaky smile, I handed the bowl first to Loretta.
Her brow wrinkled. "Where's the rest of it?" she asked.
I bit my lip. "Well, you see, on the way here—"
"I ate it," Lawton said.
She turned toward him. "Pardon?"
"I thought it was a snack." He shrugged. "Sorry."
Loretta's gaze narrowed. I was still holding the bowl. She looked up at me. "Is that true?"
"Oh Mom," Lauren Jane said, "of course it's true." She licked her lips. "I mean, just look at this guy." She gave Lawton a long, appreciative look. "You don't get a body like that on cheeseburgers."
I stifled a laugh.
"Is something funny?" Loretta said.
I shook my head. "Nope. Sorry."
With a little sniff, Loretta started serving herself some salad. She nodded toward my chair. "Sit. Please." She gave me a stiff-looking smile. "We'll just pass the courses around, family style." She looked around. "Now, isn't this nice?"
"Mmm…it sure is," Lauren Jane said in a low, husky voice.
I looked over and spotted Lauren Jane's hand wrapped around Lawton's right bicep. The way it looked, she'd caught him in mid-motion of sipping from his wine glass.
The glass, still poised at his lips, was nearly full. This wasn't good. A few more minutes of this, and he'd be needing the whole bottle.
Matter of fact, I should've gotten him drunk on the way. Better yet, I should've gotten myself drunk. Lawton was driving, after all.
Lauren Jane gave the bicep another squeeze. "You must work out like crazy," she told him. "Just how much can you lift, anyway?"
"Wait," Josh said, "I know this. Three-hundred pounds."
We all turned to look at him.
He shrugged. "I read it on the internet."
"Chloe dear," Loretta said, "Will you be taking your seat any time soon?"
I looked around the table. Was I still standing there? Oh crap. I was.
Silently, I returned to my seat. I watched as the salad was handed from person to person around the table. When it got to Lawton, he passed it along without taking any.
"You don't want any?" Josh said.
"Nah. I'm good," Lawton said. "Since I already ate half on the way." He made a show of lowering his voice. "Don't tell anyone, but there was also this chocolate cake."
Josh's eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," Lawton said. "And a side of beef, couple of hams." He shrugged. "A pie. A dozen donuts. After that, I lost track."
"Oh, you," Lauren Jane said with a playful pat on his arm. "Stop teasing that boy. He'll believe anything."
"No I won't," Josh said.
"Josh," Loretta said, "don't sass your sister. It's not polite."
Josh looked to his plate. "Sorry."
Lawton leaned over and said something in Josh's ear. Josh grinned.
Loretta cleared her throat. "Lawton? Care to share with the rest of us?"
"You mean salad?" Lawton glanced down at his empty plate. "Sorry, I didn't take any." He turned to Lauren Jane. "How about you? Got any spare salad for your mom?"
Frowning, Lauren Jane looked down at her salad plate. She gave it a worried look. "There's not that much here," she said.
Loretta pursed her lips. "That's not necessary. I wasn't referring to—" She made a little huffing sound. "Oh, never mind."
When the salad reached me, I took two small pieces of lettuce. Then I stood to return the bowl to the sideboard, located just behind Lawton. On the sideboard were silver platters covered with big, domed silver lids.
Loretta thought it looked upscale. Personally, I thought it looked like room service for twelve.
But I'd gotten almost used to it. Just like dressing for dinner, Loretta liked things a certain way. If things weren't always so tense, it might've actually been fun. But it was tense, and fun was a word I never associated with this house.
Walking back toward the table, I looked down and spotted Lauren Jane's bare knee rubbing against Lawton's leg. Either Lawton didn't notice, or he was choosing not to react.
I had a reaction, alright, but nothing I could act on. If sassing was rude, stabbing Lauren Jane in the leg with my fork was definitely off-limits.
So, with a stupid smile plastered to my face, I returned to my seat and glanced in Lawton's direction. With his muscles, tattoos, and T-shirt, he looked completely out of place, but somehow, it only made him look better, at least to me, anyway.
As I watched, Lauren Jane nudged her chair closer to his.
Okay, make that two of us.
As if feeling my gaze on him, Lawton looked up. Our eyes met. He gave me a smile filled with secrets and just the tiniest hint of amusement. He was laughing at them. Did they realize that? I looked around.
Apparently not.
"So I hear you're some kind of fighter," my dad boomed at Lawton.
Lawton turned to give my dad a deadpan look. "Yup."
My dad's smile faltered. "You're not gonna try any of those fancy punches on me now, are you?"
"Nope." Lawton smiled. "At least not 'til dessert."
My dad's eyebrows furrowed, and then he laughed, a big booming sound that rang hollow in the formal dining room. "Hah!" He pointed at Lawton with both his index fingers. "You got me there."
Lauren Jane giggled and leaned in close to Lawton's ear. "You're so funny," she said. She turned to my dad. "You'd better watch it, Daddy, or he's gonna get you."
Daddy?
Lauren Jane flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Speaking of funny things," she told Lawton, "did you notice that your name begins with an 'L' and my name begins with an 'L'?"
She gave me half a glance across the table. "Sorry, Chloe, I guess you're not in the club."
"Uh-oh," my dad said in mock concern, "My gal's name begins with an 'L', too." With a big chuckle, he shook his index finger in warning. "But you don't be stealing my Loretta."
I glanced at Loretta. She was giving Lawton a speculative look, like my dad's comment had gotten her thinking.
I jumped up. "Want me to get the turkey?"
Loretta's cool gaze slid in my direction. "Are you the hostess?" she asked.
Oh crap. There it was. That look again.
"No," I said. "But I'm happy to help." I paused. "Unless you'd rather do it?"
With a little sigh, Loretta pushed back her chair and stood. "So much for a relaxing dinner," she said. "Chloe, will you please sit? You're making everyone nervous."
So I sat. And with a solemn air, Loretta started delivering platters to the table, lifting the silver lids to murmurs of appreciation, mostly from my dad, as she announced what each dish was. There was baked turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, along with dinner rolls, whipped butter, and homemade cranberry sauce.
The mashed potatoes were making me nervous. I knew we'd probably have them. Almost everyone had mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving, especially with the turkey. So we'd be having turkey gravy, right? But as each dish was revealed, and no turkey gravy had been presented, I started to get that sick feeling in my stomach.
She wouldn't do it. Not again. Would she?
And then she brought over the final platter, a small one with a tall silver lid. With a great flourish, she lifted the lid. My hands grew clammy. There it was, a small silver gravy boat filled to the rim.
I couldn’t afford to be obvious, but I was desperate to know what it was.
But soon, I didn't have to guess, because with a thin smile, Loretta announced, "and finally, my very own holiday specialty, oyster gravy."
Shit.