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Mrs. Faust ushered us into the small dining room while her dad brought out dishes.
“Well that went fantastic.” Lia pulled me away from the center of the room.
“Easy, babe, it’s been five minutes.” I tried to reassure her when I saw on the mantle her mother’s religious shrine and stepped closer to examine it. A collection of picture tiles and candles praying to the religious saints and Mary were line up with exacting precision. It was a little weird and mostly unsettling, but I supposed there had to be something off about her parents. Nobody was perfect and she had warned me after all. “Well this explains the holy water, rosary and crucifix in your back pack that first time.”
Lia snorted waving her hand over the space. “Have you seen the shit these hard core Catholics pray too. You’d bring that stuff too.”
I leaned down kissing her neck while we were alone for a brief minute, “I’m praying for something, but it’s more along the lines of bending you over this table and introducing you to my holy rod.”
Lia backed away so quickly that I reached for her afraid she’d fall over. She hissed, “Whittaker Jones, you filthy animal.” The horrified look on her face was tempered by the lust in her eyes and I knew I’d barely make the drive back home if she kept this up.
“What?” Shrugging, I chuckled to her icy glare.
Her jaw clenched with a hiss. “Not in my parent’s house.”
Her mother called from the kitchen interrupting our staring match. “Honey, I had salads and sandwiches catered from that place you like.”
“Thanks mom.” She deadpanned. I was in for it once we left, but I was sure today’s visit would keep this conversation for much later.
“Tell us about school.” Her dad pulled out chairs and we all sat down to eat.
“It’s um, going well.”
“You know we don’t get your grades anymore, but we still get asked to pay the bill.” Her mother scolded.
“All A’s and B’s I swear.” Lia added biting into her sandwich.
“How did you two meet?” Her dad asked scooping potato salad onto his plate watching us. I swallowed down my soda wondering what Lia would share. Our story was one that made me feel ridiculously protective over her. I didn’t care if she told them. I just hoped the sexier parts were sufficiently edited. She tended to blurt things out under duress. I crossed my fingers under the table and waited for Lia to say something.
She cleared her throat and began with, “We met on a hiking trip. You told me to be more active so I joined a club.” She barely smiled shoving food in her mouth faster than she could chew. At this rate, her parents would witness me performing a finger swipe and mouth to mouth Heimlich maneuver on their daughter if she started choking. Probably not too different from sharing body warmth naked after the storm, but I wasn’t offering that up.
“I guess he was the group leader.” Mrs. Faust muttered nodding in my direction as she sipped from her wine glass.
Her dad looked at us both and I knew without a doubt that he didn’t believe Lia’s bullshit story, but to his credit he also didn’t grind her on it. Instead his smile looked kind and he nodded.
“I did ask you to get more involved and enjoy the college experience that’s true. Did you take your camera on the hike?”
“No, not that time. I’ve been reading the manual and signed up for some specialized photography courses coming up. I’ve a seminar now which is teaching me the basics. New Paltz has a lot of pretty things to take pictures of so I’ll send you some when I get into the editing part.”
“I’d like that.” And I believed he did. He seemed supportive of Lia which she needed while she struggled to find her way.
“And you’re obviously not a student, Whittaker, so what is it that you do?” Her dad asked and I didn’t mind the question. I loved my job and his interest was again, generally friendly.
“Forest ranger actually. I help preserve and maintain the park service lands up there. Went to forestry school at Yale and worked out west in Yellowstone National Park for a while before coming back home.”
“Ah, Yale. Very impressive.” Mr. Faust seemed to consider what I was saying and continued to ask relevant questions.
“Thank you. I enjoyed my education there.” I had a feeling that we would get her dad’s approval, although her mother seemed stalwartly against me.
As if on cue, Mrs. Faust directed the attention back to her. “Amelia, we need to discuss the dress fitting for your sister’s wedding.”
“Mom, Lilian has had two dresses already and my size hasn’t changed. Can’t we keep one of the dresses?”
Her dad was the one who rolled his eyes this time. “God love a reasonable child. Yes, let’s keep one of the dresses already and be done with this.”
“She doesn’t want maroon anymore because it doesn’t match the early summer palate. We’re going with raspberry and I agree.”
“Wasn’t it cranberry?” Lia questioned looking as confused as her father.
