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“Do I have to do it in the hallway? Offer Jason a seat.”
He held his hand out toward the living room. Lily took Jason’s hand and led him inside, mouthing sorry.
Jason squeezed her hand and winked.
“Sit down,” Herbert commanded, so Jason sat. “Why should I trust you with my only child?”
“Dad, we’re going out to dinner. He’s not doing surgery on me tonight.”
A laugh popped out of Suzette’s mouth, earning a thunderous glare from her husband.
“I’ll answer,” Jason said. “I like Lily and want to get to know her. We’re going to dinner, like she said, and then to a club to dance.”
“I want her home by midnight.”
“No!” Lily shouted, standing up. “I’m twenty-five years old. I don’t have a curfew. If that is going to be added to the requirements of me living at home, I’ll move out.” She reached for Jason’s hand. “Let’s go. This is ridiculous.”
Herbert began to protest, but Lily wasn’t going to wait around. They went out the front door, with the parents trailing behind, jabbering, Herbert stepping out onto the snow-covered porch in his bare feet and underwear, hollering at his daughter.
“You unappreciative brat, rules are for your own good. You’ll regret this when I’m dead.”
“Ignore him,” Lily said after they were in the car. “Pull away before he runs after us. Thank god for the snow.”
Jason was entertaining a combination of emotions from amusement to concern to anger, so he didn’t say anything, just started the car and pulled slowly away from the curb.
Putting her head back on the seat, it was clear Lily was affected by her father’s behavior. “Do you mind if we skip the restaurant?”
“Of course not,” Jason answered. “Where do you want to go instead?”
“Can we just go to your place?”
“Yes, if that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want. I have my necessities in my bag. I want to spend the night unless you have other plans.”
“No, there are no other plans. I hate to cause a problem between you and your dad.”
“Jason, do you really think this is new behavior? He’s like this all the time. The question is why I have allowed it to go on for so long. I didn’t need to stay there to go to school. I had a scholarship for undergrad, and I could have worked. Ninety percent of my classmates worked. My parents didn’t want me to have to work, and I was just lazy and withdrawn enough to get caught up in that web.”
He reached over and brought her hand to his lips. She felt his beard and soft lips as he kissed it, and the sensation traveled down her arm, through her chest, erecting her nipples, and zoomed right in between her legs.
“Jason, I…” She almost said I love you again, but caught herself, although at that moment, she did love him. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“There are no thanks needed,” he said. “I want to spend the weekend with you, too. Do you want to go back home to pack a bag?”
“If you don’t mind, take me shopping.”
She directed him to a popular discount store that most of her acquaintances would never admit to shopping at, but he didn’t seem fazed by it.
“I grocery shop there. Where else can you get a case of motor oil, a six-pack of underpants, and groceries for a week?”
That defused the angst Herbert had instigated, and the couple laughed. Possessing a disposition just made for Lily, Jason seemed to know exactly the right thing to say as each crisis unfolded. But hopefully, they were done with drama for a while.
Arriving at the store reminded them that Christmas was just one week away. Parking was impossible, so they parked across the street at an abandoned gas station.
“Hopefully, my car will still be here when we return,” Jason said.
They pushed a cart through the unplowed parking lot and were glad they had because there weren’t any available inside. The store was packed.
