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My father pulled his head back. “You haven’t officially moved here, Vi?”
She looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Of course not. I still need to sell my house in California.”
“So, that storage unit we bought and stored all of your stuff in, you living in my house for the last five months, that’s not you moving to Texas, Vi?”
Vi let out a roar of laughter. “Hell, no. That was me dipping my toes into the water to see how I liked it.”
The smile on my mother’s face said it all. Aunt Vi was a hoot and I knew my parents loved having her in their house, but they were ready for Vi to move on and settle down in her own home.
Wade and I exchanged glances. “Actually, we were thinking we would live in this house and rent out the main house. It’s huge. The perfect house to throw garden parties, tea parties. Any kind of party you could think of.”
Vi’s eyes grew wide. “You don’t say? You know I don’t want to buy. This girl doesn’t want to be tied down. You never know when I’ll meet a man.” She wiggled her brows and my father groaned.
“It’s for rent! It would be perfect for you, Aunt Vi!”
She tapped her finger on her chin. “Well, let me think about it.”
“It has a wine cellar and an enclosed area around the pool. Perfect for pool parties.”
An almost evil smile grew across my aunt’s face. “You had me at wine cellar and skinny-dipping parties.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t say anything about skinny dipping!”
She winked, and my father quickly said, “So, it’s settled. Vi’s renting the main house on Wade’s property to have her little orgy parties.”
“Oh, John!” my mother said, hitting him in the stomach.
“You’re just jealous, little brother,” Aunt Vi said.
Lifting his brows, my father said, “Yeah. Okay, Vi. Let’s go with that. That’s exactly what I am, my green-eyed monster rearing its ugly head over a bunch of old farts running around naked and jumping into a pool. No, thank you. Come on, Wade. Finish showing us the house and we’ll head on back and have lunch.”
“Daddy, I’ve got a lot of painting to do, and the girl who is going to wallpaper the parlor is coming tomorrow. I need to have the trim finished.”
My father gave me a look that said I wasn’t going to win, I sighed. “Fine, but then Wade and I are coming back over here and he gets the rest of the week off!”
“You want me to give him the week off just so you’ll come have lunch with us?” my father asked with a half-hearted laugh.
“The faster the house gets done, the faster I move out.”
“That brings us that much closer to an empty house,” he said aloud. “Meli, between you and Vi moving on, you just made yourself a deal.”
After the tour, we headed back outside. My mother stopped me behind everyone else. She pushed me out at arm’s length while she scanned me and grinned like a fool.
“Being in love looks good on you, Amelia Renee.”
I could feel my cheeks heating. “It feels good.”
“How is Wade doing?”
Peeking at where the other three were walking across the lawn, I said, “He’s doing really good. In a way, the flood has helped him.”
She pinched her brows. “How?”
“Well, I think it brought to the forefront some underlying issues Wade was trying to bury and not deal with.”
“His family?” she asked, sadness in her eyes.
I nodded.
My mother hooked her arm with mine and started walking. “I’m glad he listened and talked with someone,” she said.
“Me, too.”
“And I’m very glad you came up with the idea of Vi moving into the main house. I love her, but Lord, she is driving me to drink. I told your daddy I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.”
Giggling, we crossed the front porch. “Just think, now all you have to do is get rid of Waylynn, and you and Daddy can have your own little private naked party in an empty house.”
She grinned. “Bring on the Viagra! Oh, who am I kidding. Your father doesn’t need that. He’s still a young stud.”
I shrieked and covered my ears. “Mom, really? Now I’ve got the visual. Yuck!” I gagged a few times and my mother laughed her ass off as she walked toward their truck.
“What’s wrong?” Wade asked, holding open the passenger side door to his truck.
“My mother just told me my father was a young stallion who could still get it up without Viagra.”
Horror moved over his face as Wade glanced at my father. “You could’ve taken that with you to the grave, darlin’.”
He took my hand and helped me up into the truck. I grabbed his T-shirt and pulled him to me. I gave him a quick kiss on the lips and said, “If I have to live in this nightmare, I need company.”
