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“You know, I think we’ll be okay,” Alex said. “Besides, Kelly’s looking forward to student loans, aren’t you sweetheart?”
“The backbone of the American economy,” Kelly replied lazily. I smiled. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree.
Garth looked at Kelly, a look that gave me chills, and smiled. “Smart girl.” He turned back to Alex and smiled even more. “I heard your wife passed. Sorry I missed the funeral, man.”
I winced. That was a low blow.
Alex, though, seemed unfazed. “That’s okay,” he said. “We hardly noticed you weren’t there.”
Garth’s smile dropped. I quickly turned away, hoping he didn’t see the smile I had failed to control, and adjusted myself in my seat again.
“I’ll be seeing you around, Alex,” Garth said, the leaned in and kissed my neck. “And I’ll see you tonight.”
With that he gave us all a wide smile and walked back to his table.
“Your boyfriend’s weird,” Kelly said as her father sat back down.
“Kelly, I said be nice,” Alex chastised.
“Well, he is!”
“That’s okay,” I cut in before Alex could reprimand her for telling the truth. “He’s not really my boyfriend, anyway. It’s an on and off kind of thing.”
“Hopefully more off than on.”
I smiled at Kelly. I really like this girl.
“I hate to put my nose into other people’s business,” Samuel said, “but I have to agree with my granddaughter. That boy’s nothing but bad news.”
“He’s not always like that,” I tried to defend, but didn’t feel like I had my heart in it.
“He looks like he has a stick up his ass,” Kelly said, and I laughed at both the comment and the way Alex’s eyes widened.
“Language, Kelly, seriously,” Alex said.
“He’s got more than that up there,” Samuel said.
“Maybe there’s still space for your double barrel?” Kelly asked her grandfather.
I couldn’t hold my laughter back anymore and almost fell off my seat, grabbing the table and tipping my glass over in the process. If I only liked Kelly before, I was in love with her now. The girl had a wit about her I wished I could match, and it was even more impressive at her age.
“How about we all try and give Jenni a break here,” Alex said, stifling his own laughter. “Maybe not comment on her personal life?”
“Believe me,” I replied, tears stinging my eyes as I choked on my merriment. “At this point, I really don’t care what they say.”
“I’m glad to see you’re amused,” Alex replied, letting himself go and laughing along with the rest of us.
Kelly leaned over, grabbed my hand with both of hers and shook it dramatically. “You’re better than this,” she gasped. “So much better. You deserve to be happy. Get out while you still can!”
“Alright, Emma Stone, that’s enough,” Alex said, pulling her back. “Choose what you want to eat.”
I wiped the tears from my eyes and picked up my own menu, but my eyes never left the three people sitting at the table with me. For the first time in a very long time, I actually felt happy. At ease. Like I belonged, although I was technically still a stranger to both Alex and Kelly. Nevertheless, I felt welcomed, and they had drawn me in as if I were part of their family. It felt nice, different than what I was used to, and it wasn’t hard to sit back and relax.
From across the restaurant, Garth was watching us, and for some strange reason I didn’t seem to care. I’d deal with him later. Right now, I just wanted to enjoy my meal and the company I was in.
Chapter 9: Alex
We drove Jenni home right after dinner, although a part of me wanted to humor my father’s suggestion that we get a few drinks. If I had been a little more comfortable with leaving Kelly home alone, I might just have done it, too. But after the little run-in with Garth at the restaurant, and the fact that Heath was making daily visits to the house, the notion of Kelly in the house by herself made me incredibly uneasy.
