“Okay, fine. Let’s just cut to the chase, because I’m not eating dinner with you if you’re going to act like that. How much is this going to cost me to make you both go away?” I asked.
Fritz and Sarita both flinched at my words, but Marco had pushed me far enough. The man’s face turned a deep shade of red, and Fritz stood up, ready to protect me.
“There is no price that could be paid for my daughter’s virtue,” Marco spat. “You have to do the right thing and marry her.”
“I hate to say this because I’m sure you’re not going to like it, but I didn’t take your daughter’s virtue,” I said.
Then I did my Dawson bit: I shut up.
Marco looked at me like he could somehow decide if I had just told him the truth or not. When he couldn’t read me, he turned to his daughter. She withstood his glare for a minute before she broke.
“He’s telling the truth. David wasn’t my first,” she admitted.
All the fight seemed to drain out of him as he realized the truth of the matter.
“Let’s go. You’ve embarrassed me enough for one night. When we get home, I want you to pack your bags. I expect you to be out of my house by the end of the weekend.”
“But Daddy, where will I go? I can’t afford an apartment as a student,” Sarita said.
“Maybe you could live with Paz. Maybe your American boyfriend will rent you a place. I don’t really care. All I know is your mother will never allow you to stay,” Marco said.
Her expression made it clear that what he said about Sarita’s mother was true. She just nodded and followed her dad out of the restaurant. When they left, Cassidy and Paul joined us.
“Your life is more fun to watch than a soap opera,” Cassidy said.
“Some days it is,” I admitted. “Do you think I should help Sarita find a place?”
“I’d be willing to bet my next paycheck she’ll be back asking for that,” Paul said.
“Unfortunately, I agree with him. I think you’re being hustled,” Cassidy said, adding her two cents.
“Sarita’s dad seemed serious,” I said.
“He may have been, but that doesn’t mean she won’t ask for money,” Fritz said.
“The only good that came out of this was Cassidy got to knock someone out, so I don’t have to worry about her practicing on me.”
“I’m not done with you,” Cassidy warned, and then smiled. “Fritz said I couldn’t do it to you. I’m just waiting for you to piss him off so he’ll give me permission.”
Why did everyone think that was funny?
◊◊◊
Bianca showed up after I’d made my calls for the night. Saul was hard at work on the studio. He admitted that so far, I was the only client who had gone with him when he left. I was shocked Rita James hadn’t. I would have to talk to her to find out why. The good news about being his only client was that I got tremendous customer service. He even had another stack of scripts he wanted to send me.
Mom and Dad were doing well. Little David was now rolling, which had Duke worried. I expected it wouldn’t be long before my hound would have to chase after Little David. My namesake was also sitting up and babbling up a storm. Coby was still at the infant stage, where he would cry when he wanted to be changed or was hungry. He wasn’t sleeping through the night yet, so Peggy was a little worse for wear. I couldn’t imagine getting one through that stage only to have to deal with a second one right away.
Greg had taken Mac to the Pearsons’ farm to ride her horse, Bolt. Since they’d been out of school, she’d asked almost daily to go. Angie told her she had to wait for her Uncle David to come home and take her.
Angie, though, was made of sterner stuff than Greg. Mac had him wrapped around her little finger, and he’d made the mistake of taking her once. In the last two weeks, they’d been five times.
Zoe told Greg she was happy that Bolt was being ridden; he needed the exercise. Greg was also learning to ride, so Zoe would take Mac while Greg rode another horse. It seemed like a good father-daughter bonding experience. I hoped he would take over for me with Mac.
Kyle missed daycare, so when Mac would go riding, Nate and Kyle would spend the afternoon there. It gave Angie some much-needed mommy alone-time. Mom had explained the need for that to Greg and me when we were younger. It went something like, ‘go to your room and don’t come out until I tell you.’ What was funny was I still got that every now and then. Dad just told me I should do as I was told.
Grandma Dawson was busy supervising the planting of the vegetable gardens. Her crew had been planting green beans, lima beans, eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini, and had already planted lettuce, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. On a larger scale, they’d planted sweet corn.
The Mennonite girls seemed to have really taken to Yuri’s grandmother. From what I was told, they absolutely loved hearing her tell stories about when she was a young girl in the Soviet Union during the war years. They were hanging on to her words of advice as if she was preaching the gospel.
