8: Introductions

Erin

      I'm surprised by how close his house is to mine. It's on the same part of the island. Mine faces the lagoon; his faces the ocean. I couldn't afford an ocean view.

     He parks my little scooter right next to his front walk. I cannot help but notice the Audi sitting in the driveway. Convertible. Of course it is, I think cynically. I guess with Adele, he can't exactly go around on a scooter all the time like I do. The bar must do very well. I look up. His house is huge. Hang on a sec...

     I ask, "Isn't the bar open right now? When do you have to go in?"

     "In a few hours. I have an assistant manager that opens for me. Why?"

     I shake my head a little. "Nothing." 

    He turns around and looks at me with a concerned expression and asks, "Is this your way of saying you'd rather just go home? You can, you know, if you don't feel comfortable meeting Adele yet."

     I shake my head a little again and say, "No, it's not that. I was just curious." And I appreciate you thinking of that.

     He smiles that smile that makes me worry my knees are going to give out on me and says, "C'mon. I'll give you a quick tour before she gets here." 

     He never just walks ahead of me and expects me to follow. No, he's got to get hold of my hands and pull me along. Maybe I look like my feet are glued to the ground all the time. Maybe that's just one of his things. Oh well, I like it. Sean used to just walk ahead real fast and expect me to catch up.

     He only has time to point to the living room, and we don't even make it back to the kitchen before Adele throws open the door.

    "I had fun, Daddy!" she runs up to him and hugs him like it's an automatic thing. I watch how much they love each other, and I turn to mush. He really loves his daughter. I have to work hard to keep from tearing up. I'm such an emotional wreck. I hear them whisper to each other, probably about me. Oh well, I'm assuming it's not bad.

     I think I guessed right because Adele walks right up to me and introduces herself.

     "Hi, I'm Adele Burch. Daddy says your name is Erin."

     "Yes, that's right." What else do I say?

     "I'm glad I told him to get up and go talk to you instead of just sitting there staring at you all the time. I'd been trying to carry on a conversation with him when I noticed all he was saying was 'yeah' and 'uh huh.' So, when I mentioned that this time the alien spacecraft was white with purple spots and the creatures inside had six arms and legs and a tail and he said 'uh huh,' I knew something was up. Nice to meet you, Erin."

      "Um, thank you, Adele," I say once I recover from what she said. I wink slightly at her to let her know I'm also thanking her for what she did, not only from the nice to meet you. "Nice to meet you too." I glance up at Bryce and see he's got his head down a little, held up by a few fingertips between his brows, and he's laughing silently. So, I'm guessing his last name is Burch too.

      The girl isn't bashful at all. She immediately strikes up a conversation, wanting to know what I do. I tell her I'm trying to become writer and that before I worked in a bookstore. We right away discuss several popular book series. She likes to read too. I don't think she should really read anything I've written. I think most people would be shocked to know I wrote what I wrote. Maybe I'll publish it under a different name. Then she says she wants to go upstairs and play, and she turns to look at her dad for a second before dashing up the stairs.

     When I look up at Bryce he has an unreadable expression on his face that causes butterflies to explode in stomach. I guess I did okay.

     

    "So that's what she was talking about just before she ordered me to get up and go talk to you," he says as he walks over to me. "I'd wondered. I guess I was just so mesmerized that I didn't notice anything else." Oh crap. That look. If he tops what he just said right now by kissing me I think I'll faint or something.

     "My sister will be over in a little while to watch her while I'm at work, so you can meet them as well," he says out of the blue.

     Daughter is one thing. Sister is another. I get worried.

     "You okay?" he asks all of a sudden. He puts his hands on my shoulders and says, "You don't have to. I just remembered that it's Saturday, and she comes over to cook dinner here on Saturdays." He leans over to get in my line of vision. "Erin?"

     "No, it's fine. I suppose I'm bound to meet her sooner or later, so why not today?" My voice almost sounds like a monotone.

     He smiles a small smile at me and brushes his fingers on my cheek as he says, "Don't worry. Thanks to Adele mostly, she already likes you." He clears his throat like he's berating himself for saying what he just said.

     He takes my hands again and starts pulling me towards his relatively small living room. "You look like you need to sit down for a minute." He tells me that Adele and Pamela were the ones to decorate the house and he hates the stupid pillows on the couch but if he moves them then Adele gets bent out of shape so he leaves them. I get the feeling he's rambling like he might be as nervous as I am about his sister and her husband coming over.

      "Erin, you don't have to stay to meet them," he says once we've sat ourselves down on his couch.

      "Do you not want me to?" I ask. He keeps asking me if I want to leave like he expects me to leave.

      "Only if you don't want to."

      I exhale exasperatedly and ask, "Do you want me to go, Bryce?"

      "What?! Hell no!" To emphasize his point I guess, he pulls me close. He says quickly and quietly into my ear, "Stay. Please stay. I just don't want you to be uncomfortable. I feel like I'm moving too fast for you, but I can't help myself. But if I have my choice I want you to stay. In fact, I don't want to go to work because I want to stay. Stay."

     I want to laugh at how he let all that spill out of him like that, but instead I turn myself a little and kiss him. This isn't too fast. I'm a little freaked out by meeting your sister, but this is just fine. He acts surprised for about a second, and I revel in that second. After he kissed me like that on the beach this morning, he needs to be surprised right back. However, that second is short, and he locks his arms around me. I guess I could say that he kisses me 'back,' but it doesn't feel that way with the exuberant way he clutches me to him and takes control. I get the feeling he'd been dying to kiss me for a while now, but hasn't because he thought I would think it was too fast.

   

      He pulls back a minute, taking deep breaths. I open my eyes a little and see a worried expression on his face. I lightly kiss his lips once, but he remains breathing heavily with that same worried look. I'm curious to know what's going through his mind right now, but with that look there's also the sense that he's trying to figure out how to say something. His emotions show so much on his face that I feel a little disoriented. I'm not used to this, but I like it. Who was this Ashley bitch?

   "Erin..." he starts to say, but then the doorbell rings. Both of us suddenly act like a couple of teenagers whose parents have come home earlier than expected.

     We hop up and head into the hallway. I want to go hide in the kitchen.

     I notice his sister carries a toddler in her arms. I don't remember if he mentioned a nephew. Her brown eyes immediately cut over to me. She doesn't smile, but she looks thoughtful not angry. Her husband watches her as well.

     "Hey Pam," Bryce says before the introductions begin. I learn all their names, and Pamela finally smiles -- once Bryce introduces me as his girlfriend. He takes Jeremy from her, and she asks me if I'd like to help her in the kitchen. I get that that's really code for 'time for girl talk.'

     "So did you go to the party last night?" she asks, breaking the ice.

     "Um, yeah. I left early though." I don't bother to explain why.

    "Oh? How come?" she asks innocently, slightly turning to look at me as she opens a hot dog package.

     I get the feeling it's hard to keep things from this woman. "Well, something happened but it's all better now." Butt out.

     "So, I take it since he introduced you as the girlfriend that you like my brother," she says and now I almost wish that she'd ask me more about the party last night. After I mumble a yes, she turns to face me and lean back against the counter. "I'm so glad!" she suddenly erupts and bounds over to hug me without warning. It's just a quick little 'I'm happy' hug to which she doesn't give me time to respond.

      "Okay, I guess I'm okay then," I say quietly.

      "I have been wanting and waiting for Bryce to introduce someone as his girlfriend for a long time. You have no idea," she breathes as she goes back to the hot dogs.

     "I kinda do, actually," I say. She turns to me with a question in her eyes. I shrug and explain, "He told me."

     Her mouth drops open slightly for a few seconds before she says, "How did you get him to do that?" To my dumbfounded expression she continues, "I can't get the man to tell me anything. I have to wheedle and trick him into telling me things, and he just told you right off the bat like that?"

     She walks over to the microwave and says, "Not that that's a bad thing that he talked to you about it."

     "I don't know what I did. He just told me. I even told him he didn't have to," I say to my feet.

     She turns around after washing her hands at the sink and dries her hands on a small towel she finds in a drawer. Once her hands are dried, she throws the towel on the counter and puts her hands on her hips. "So that's how you do it! You tell him he doesn't have to! Somehow I doubt that would work for me." She stands there like she's contemplating something while biting on the inside of her lip. She looks at me like she's deep in thought, and she keeps her thoughts to herself.

     We both jump a little when the microwave beeps.

     As she walks over to get them out, she says, "I'm sorry I only planned on having hot dogs today. I didn't know it wasn't going to be just us."

     I try to reassure her, "No, no. Hot dogs are fine."

     "Good. I worried you were a vegetarian or something," she says before she calls the guys to dinner. Adele says she'll be down in a minute.

     Simon gets Jeremy set up in a high chair in the kitchen, and the kid immediately starts putting his baby food in his hair. Apparently his parents aren't worried about him making a mess of himself.

     Simon turns to me and says, "He gets in enough food even though he ends up wearing half of it. We just anticipate having to bathe him after every meal." Then he laughs a deep laugh that I try to return.

     Pamela must really be a good cook. If she can do this with hot dogs, I can only imagine what she could do with better resources. Dinner goes smoothly. Pamela and Bryce almost never shut up the entire time. I get the feeling Bryce gets a kick out of getting on her nerves like any younger brother would.

     Sadly, the time for Bryce to go to work arrives. I say bye to everyone inside the house and walk out with him.

     "Are you okay? I mean, that was a lot to take in today," he says as he reaches for me.

     I shrug my shoulders and answer, "Today turned out much better than I expected."

     He smiles, kisses me quickly and says, "I'd better go now or I'll never get my butt to work." Then he looks me in the eyes and says, "Call me if the sky starts falling, okay?"

     I laugh a little and nod my head before walking over to my scooter and starting it up.

     After I park my scooter in its little spot, I decide to check my mail.

     "Hi, Erin!" I hear Jesse say as he walks up to me.

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