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“Oh, Daddy told me about this place.”
I was reminded once again who she was, as well as her family. I wanted to ask her about it but didn’t want to upset her. She clearly wasn’t comfortable talking about money and, despite my frustration, I didn’t want to upset her. I was just starting to get her back. I knew her family was wealthy. Her dad’s gas stations were all over the place. Though I was beginning to wonder how rich.
I got a better indication when the food came. Nina taking up her knife and fork in the traditional way, holding her knife in no way like a pen. Which was more than could be said for my clumsy ass. It wasn’t a problem until I started attracting attention from the surrounding customers, who seemed to be deeply offended. Wealthy people could be really weird about the littlest things.
Nina held out her hand and, after realizing what she wanted, I gave her the knife. Switching which hand the knife and fork were in, she also showed me how to hold them. I couldn’t help but smile. We were already beginning to teach each other things.
Visions of grand balls and diamond tennis bracelets were fox trotting in my head as I drove Nina home. In no way sure how I felt about it all. Except the biggest surprise was yet to come.
Far from a palace, her aunt’s house was a plain rancher in an ordinary neighborhood. Some touches like the black brick walkway looked really nice but could have easily been DIY projects added later.
“Get your tushies in here,” someone called.
“Serious?” I asked.
Nina nodded. “As a firing squad. You don’t tangle with Auntie Blair when she uses the ‘t’ word.”
Hopping down to the freshly paved road, I helped Nina down out of the cab. We walked hand-in-hand toward the house. Nina and Blair kissed on the cheek before Nina disappeared inside the house.
“Have a good night,” I said, though not sure to whom.
“Come in for some coffee,” Blair insisted.
“I have to get home and—”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. Nina’s Aunt Blair looked at me in such a way that I didn’t want to do anything else but stay there for some coffee.
The house was odd but charming. Artifacts and knick-knacks were on every available surface. My attention was caught by a massive dream catcher in the living room window —not the marker of wealthy elegance.
Nina squeezed my hand as I sat down beside her at the small kitchen table. I squeezed back, resisting the urge to kiss her, wanting to spare sweet Nina the potential embarrassment.
Suddenly I remembered what Nina said about being an only child. Not that she always was but that she was now. Like she’d had siblings but didn’t any more. Short of a serious disownment, I wasn't quite sure how that could be. Unless the sibling in question had died. I was even confused and curious than I’d been before.
“Milk, ice cream, or nude?” Blair asked when the coffee was brewed.
“Sorry?”
“In the coffee. She calls black coffee with vanilla ice cream a peasants cappuccino. Nude is the same as nothing in it,” Nina explained quietly, as though it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
“Milk, please,” I said, unable to hide my mirth.
I love every minute of it. Blair making me laugh with her wonderful eccentricities. The fact that she seemed to accept Nina and me without question only made me like her more. She didn’t seem snobby or rich at all. Which only made me more confused about Nina’s family. Why did her aunt live such a simple hippie life? She wasn’t in any way a flashy person, and neither was Nina if I thought about it. That night was the first time I’d seen her in anything remotely expensive, and it could well have been because I said we were going somewhere nice.
Eventually, I headed back out to my truck and went home, unsure of what to think anymore.Chapter Twenty-One - NinaIt was bliss just to wake up. It always heard that money can’t buy happiness but was only beginning to realize how true it really was. I had done the rich girl thing but had been given a glimpse of a very different kind of life. One with honest work that I loved and friends who actually liked me for me and my skills. A life where I made my own decisions but had Auntie Blair if I needed help. As well as a world where love really seemed possible.
Suiting up for work, I thought about everything that had happened with Chad to that point. Amazed and relieved, we were still together. Even if I wasn’t quite sure where we stood. Sex wasn’t likely to happen again for a while. At least not until we found our feet again, though the intimacy was still there, just expressed in different ways. I had little doubt that I loved him and was sure he was starting to feel the same way about me, despite his past reputation.
