He very rarely put his foot down about anything, but when he did, her mother listened. And he’d insisted that they at least meet Red before hating him officially.
So now it was a cool Sunday afternoon and they were parking in front of her parents’ house. At least their home looked neat and well tended. Dad always took care of the lawn; he enjoyed it. The backyard was big enough to have a grill on the deck and a badminton net too.
There were others here already. Why they’d insisted on inviting other people, she could only guess. Nicole had been angry when they told her there would be neighbors and cousins and the like. This was supposed to be a chance for Red and her parents to get to know one another, and now it would be difficult for them to really talk.
She could see people around back, sitting in lawn chairs, smoking cigars, drinking beer, talking and laughing. Some old classic rock station was playing on dad’s radio.
This was a familiar scene, and Nicole had to admit it brought back mostly good memories from her childhood.
“Here we go,” she said, and Red grabbed her hand and they walked to the backyard together.
Everyone stopped and stared. It was worse than she’d feared.
Luckily, The Beatles were still blaring from the radio, so it wasn’t total silence. And then her Uncle Joe was waddling over with his hand outstretched. “Hey, I’m Joe,” he said in his thick New York accent. “You must be the rich guy everyone’s blabbing about.”
This broke the ice, and everyone started to laugh, including Red. “I guess that’s me. Nice to meet you.”
Someone handed him a beer. People crowded around, introducing themselves, asking ridiculous questions about who he knew, had he ever met Jack Nicholson, what was LeBron like in person?
Red handled it all in style, charming the crowd with humorous encounters he’d had over the years.
But her mother and father just hung back and watched. Finally, after some of the hyperactivity among the partygoers died down, Nicole’s dad came up and said, “I’m Bud, Nicole’s father.”
Red had met his gaze and the two of them shook hands firmly. Something seemed to pass unspoken between them, but Nicole couldn’t be sure just what. It was a guy thing, one of those subtle male body language communications that women would never understand.
Maybe it was just her dad’s way of asserting himself, but Red seemed to purposely become less imposing, less dominating, not wanting to offend her dad or make him feel small.
And then mom was there, her arms folded. “Hello, I’m Barb.”
“Hi Barb, very pleased to meet you,” Red said.
She just nodded. “Hungry?”
“Always,” he laughed.
“Well, then, maybe you’d like to cook yourself something.”
Everyone got quiet and you could hear a pin drop. Nicole was just about to say that she would be happy to cook for a guest at the house, when Red responded. “Tell you what, Barb. I’m going to make you the best damn burger you’ve ever eaten.” And then he walked to the grill and started going to work.
There was some hearty applause when he got the burgers cooking, and it became clear that Red knew his way around a grill. Soon he was cooking not just for her mother, or himself, but the entire party.
He spent the next thirty or forty minutes taking orders and sending out burgers, hotdogs, sausages, chicken. Nicole’s dad stood with him and the two of them laughed and talked while Red sweated behind the grill.
Nicole’s cousin Jon was just two years older than her. He threw an arm around her shoulder and looked at Red. “I think he’s passing the test, cuz.”
“You think? I don’t know. They’re so determined to dislike him.”
“Nah, he’s a good guy. I got a nose for these things.”
“Thanks Jon.” She gave him a hug. He positively reeked of beer, but he was a nice person and it meant a lot that he’d said what he said.
Later, the sun started to drop and people began drifting home, waving and shouting goodbyes as they left.
Pretty soon it was just the four of them. Somehow they ended up sitting at the picnic table, swatting at the mosquitoes and drinking the last of the beer. Everyone was more relaxed now, and talk turned more serious.
“You must be a busy guy,” her dad said, scratching his belly and sipping from his nearly empty Miller Light can.
Red picked at his half-eaten burger bun. “Yeah, I guess.”
“You thinking about slowing down and starting a family soon?”
“Dad…please,” Nicole moaned. “Don’t start on that.”
“What, I’m just curious. He’s dating my twenty-two year old daughter.”
“It’s a fair question,” Red said to Nicole. Then he turned to her father. “The truth is, Bud—I don’t know. I mean, I think I want kids one day.”
Her mother snorted. “He thinks. He doesn’t know. This is not a serious man.”
“I know that I want to be with Nicole,” he told her.
She suddenly glared back at him. “How dare you make that pronouncement? How long have you even known her? A month?”