“You had a tree house?” she asked, smiling against his lips as she imagined a mini-Danny holing up in his tree house, warding off his territory from his younger siblings.
“Yes, he did and I could only get him to come out for dinner,” a small woman with graying black hair and a huge smile said as Danny stepped back.
“Sweetheart, this is my mother,” Danny said, leaning down to kiss his mother on the cheek.
“Mom, this is my girlfriend-Mom?”
“Mrs. Bradford?” Jodi asked, panic taking over as she reached for the older woman just as her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she-
*-*-*-*
“I’m fine,” Mary, Danny’s mother, said, waving off everyone’s concerns and gesturing for everyone to eat.
“Honey, maybe we should go to the hos-” Dr. Bradford began to say only to stop mid-word when Mary turned a furious glare on him.
“My oldest son brought home his girlfriend to have dinner with me and I’m damn well going to have dinner with her!” Mary snapped at her husband, startling everyone at the table.
“Ummm,” Dr. Bradford began to say, swallowing nervously as he slowly, ever so slowly, handed his wife the ice pack he’d been holding against the back of her head where she’d hit the edge of the couch when she’d passed out, and sat back in his chair. “Just let me know if it starts hurting.”
“Uh huh,” Mary said, shifting her attention back on her. “Would you like any more chicken, Jodi?” she asked pleasantly, startling her even more.
“N-no, thank you, I’m fine,” she said, glancing down at the plate overflowing with food and wondering how she was going to eat all of this without getting sick.
“Are you thirsty?” Mary asked, sounding eager as she gestured towards one of the many pitchers lining the long dining room table.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she said with a smile.
“Are you sure?” Mary asked, gesturing for one of her sons to pour her a glass of lemonade.
“She’s fine, Mom,” Danny said, waving his brother off.
“Yes, yes of course,” Mary murmured, looking thoughtful as she absently pushed her mashed potatoes around on her plate.
“This is really good, Mrs. Bra-umm, Mary,” Jodi said with a smile as she took a bite of mashed potatoes.
“So, tell me about yourself,” Mary said with a huge smile as soon as Jodi had food in her mouth.
“You already know all about her,” Danny said, surprising her.
Mary’s eyes narrowed on Danny. “I have waited years for one of my inconsiderate sons to bring a nice young woman home to meet me! You will not deny me this moment!”
Jodi watched in astonishment as every single one of Danny’s brothers suddenly dropped their heads and become completely focused on their food while Jason, Trevor and Kenzie sat there, clearly enjoying themselves. Danny just sat there, pushing his food around on his plate as he stared down at the table. Frowning, she looked from Danny to the end of the table where his father was also staring down at his plate, pushing his food around.
“Jodi?”
“Hmm?” she murmured, tearing her gaze away from Mr. Bradford to focus on his wife, his really happy wife.
“Tell me about yourself, Jodi.”
“There’s really not that much to tell,” she said, feeling self-conscious as every pair of green eyes at the table looked up to watch her as she answered.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Mary said, smiling. “Danny said you went to college?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, clearing her throat as she shifted in her chair, subtly looking around, hoping that someone, anyone, was going to come to her rescue, but no one said anything. “I have a Master’s in History with a concentration in Antiquities.”
“Very nice, very nice,” Mary said, nodding approvingly. “And your family? Danny said that you’re very close to your father?”
“Yes,” she said, smiling weakly, because they were close, but over the last couple of months she’d been avoiding her father. She didn’t want him to see how far she’d fallen, because it would only take one hug from her father to make her lose it and break down, telling him everything.
She really missed him.
“Why are you here?” Danny suddenly asked, distracting her. She looked over at him to find him still sitting there, still pushing his food around on his plate.
“There was a party,” Jason said, taking a large sip of his ice tea.
“And we weren’t invited,” Trevor finished for him with a careless shrug.
Okay, then………
“And Haley and Zoe?” Danny asked, still pushing around his food.
“Were,” Jason answered, taking a bite of mashed potato.
“And the kids?” she asked, too curious to keep her mouth shut.
“Also invited,” Trevor said, taking a bite of chicken.
“Then why weren’t you-” she started to ask, only to get cut off when a small, pretty woman with jet black hair pulled up into a ponytail, wearing a tight black Bradford Construction tee shirt and hip hugging jeans came walking into the room, smiling hugely as she said, “I’m sorry I’m late. Uncle Jared needed a hand with some blueprints.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Darrin demanded, looking seriously pissed off.
“Darrin Bradford!” Mary gasped. “What is wrong with you?”
“Many things,” Reese muttered under his breath, taking a bite of food as he shook his head in disgust at his twin.
“I’m glad you’re here, Marybeth,” Mary said, smiling warmly at the small woman that looked nothing like the rest of the Bradfords. Actually, now that she thought about it, she thought that Marybeth looked like she had a little Native American blood in her. She had a flawless tan, warm dark eyes and a mischievous smile that far surpassed Danny’s. “I wanted to see if you’re still planning on flying down with us for the trip.”
“She’s not going,” Darrin said evenly, grabbing two biscuits off the large platter in front of him.
“Yes, I am,” Marybeth said, sitting down in the empty chair next to Darrin.
“No, you’re not,” Darrin said, even as he scooped some mashed potatoes on her plate and started to load it up with food.
“Yeah, I really am,” she said, taking a sip of his lemonade.
“No, you’re really not,” he said, throwing his arm over the back of her chair as he took the glass of lemonade from her and finished it off.