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Trey frowned. “Yes, and I’d feel much better if my investigator could find your mother. She’s still out there.”
“You know, if she’s pregnant, you’d think she’d want to be close to Daniel. I mean she’s almost 42 years old. It still blows me away that she’d have another child after all those years of neglecting me.”
“She’ll turn up,” Trey assured me. “Let’s think about something more pleasant, shall we?”
Trey and I showered together and I helped him pack for our trip to Bristol. I asked him questions about his brothers. Nigel, the eldest, was named after Clive’s father who passed away in England years before; the next younger was Tristan. Both brothers lived in California. Trey said he'd never been very close to them, mainly due to distance and their age differences. He made no secret of the fact that Nigel’s wife, Caroline, was a true bitch. He told me that if she gave me any attitude whatsoever, I was to give it right back. If I felt like I couldn’t, he said I was to let him know and he would.
I asked Trey how Susan felt about Caroline. He said that his mother loved all of her sons and that out of respect for them she would never make waves. He said Caroline had loved Tess like a younger sister.
There was that name again. I asked Trey if he'd heard anything from Tess and he said hadn't returned her call. He mentioned we could run into her over the holidays if she was visiting her family in Bristol.
This could prove interesting I thought.
CHAPTER 48
Trey and I set out early for the drive to Bristol. I brought my collection of Christmas music to play on the trip to nudge my Trey into the Christmas spirit. I bought each of us red stocking Santa hats with little bells on the end. I made the rule that we had to wear them until we reached his parents’ house. That got a major eye roll out of Trey, but he complied.
Within 20 minutes of leaving Atlanta, I'd fallen back to sleep. When I awoke it was light out and Trey was pulling into the parking lot of a Jerry’s J-Boy Restaurant. I loved Jerry’s and he knew it.
“Well, so much for us singing Christmas carols the whole trip, Ms. Sleepyhead,” he teased, flicking the bell on my Santa cap. Trey started to remove his hat.
“No, no,” I said, staying his arm, “we agreed to wear these hats the whole trip and that includes stops along the way.”
“Tylar,” he gave me his warning tone, “there was no agreement. You just made up this silly rule. I’d prefer not to wear this into the restaurant if you don’t mind.”
“But I do mind. We’re going to have the Christmas spirit the whole way there,” I said, wagging my finger. Trey heaved a heavy sigh and pushed his hat back down.
“Just sit anywhere,” the waitress called out, her hands clutching three glasses of water as she headed to a booth. Our bells jingled as we slid into a booth. Other patrons smiled as we passed.
“See Trey,” I said as we sat down, “people appreciate holiday cheer. It’s the one day of the year that makes up for all the rest of them. It’s nice to get started a little early.”
“Anything you say, Tylar,” Trey answered smiling. His eyes were warm as he took my hand into his. “Just think, next year we’ll have a seven-month-old baby to spoil at Christmas.”
“I know,” I sighed, “I can hardly wait. I think he’ll have some grandparents eager to spoil him too.”
“That’s a given, Tylar.”
Our waitress approached our table warmly. “Hi y’all, I’m Rowena and can take your order whenever you’re ready.” She glanced at Trey’s handsome face as he pondered the menu. She smiled, resting her hands on her generous hips. “Well if you two aren’t just as cute as Christmas,” she said, playfully flipping at the bell on Trey’s hat. “What can I get for youMr. Santa?” Her voice was thick with flirtation.
Hello? He's with someone!
Her eyes never left Trey, which was fairly typical when we went out. I was actually starting to get used to it. Trey always appeared impassive to it, unless our server happened to be a male and flirted with me, of course.
“Tylar, go ahead,” Trey said looking up, forcing the waitress to focus on me. I ordered a waffle with sausage, juice, and milk. Trey ordered coffee, bacon, and eggs. She flitted off to put our order in. I rolled my eyes at Trey.
“What?” he asked, feigning ignorance.
“You can take that hat off it if you want,” I said, “it seems to be drawing unwanted attention.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” he laughed as I rolled my eyes at him.
Rowena was back with the coffee pot. She leaned her cleavage over Trey as she poured coffee into his mug. “Cream, sugar?” she gushed at him.
“No, black is fine,” Trey replied ignoring her flirtation.
“Excuse me, may I please have my orange juice.”
“Sure, honey,” she replied, not taking her eyes off of Trey.
