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Tim’s shirt before it upchucked
all over the silk bows.
Reva’s confidence that Todd and Eric’s appearance would
warrant little more than a glance was quickly lost when they
arrived. Her mother dropped the beer she intended to hand
to Reva’s dad. Her jaw quickly followed suit by dropping as
well. The action caused a double-take from the entire group.
“Hi everyone!” Reva said, attempting lightness.
Ben,
enjoying
the
moment,
barreled
toward
them
and
hugged her. “Hi you.” He slipped a hand from her back to
reach
toward
Todd,
who
took
it
briefly.
“Ben,
Reva’s
brother,” he said.
“Ah, the artist…I’m Todd, and this is my son, Eric.”
“They’re
my
neighbors,”
Reva
answered
before
any
assumptions were made.
Ben grinned. “I thought all your neighbors were old farts
and married couples.” He released her from the bear hug
and stepped toward Todd. “You’re not married, are you?”
Reva slapped him on the back of the head. “Leave him
alone, goofball.”
Ben’s head bobbled and he growled back a nice Spanish
expletive.
“So, how’d you meet Reva? Don’t tell me you
were peeking over the fence.”
Ugh. This was a mistake.
Todd kept a serious face and answered, “Datemydad.com.
Haven’t you heard of it? Great website.”
Did he really say that? Ben’s face washed with confusion.
She knew he hadn’t decided whether Todd was serious. Reva
suppressed a giggle and confirmed. “That’s right. Great
website. Amazing how many single dads are out there. And
you know what they say about single dads, don’t you? Eric,
come meet my parents’ dog, Scooter.” She took Eric’s hand
and hustled him across the yard where the dog chewed
vigorously
on
a
rawhide
bone.
She
had
severely
underestimated her family’s reception of her companions.
Within seconds, Maria beelined toward her. She tugged on
Reva’s forearm and whispered into her ear, “Where’d you
find the hunk?”
“Online dating site,” she said, straight-faced. She might as
well keep rolling with the fun.
“No joke? Which one?”
Hook, line, and sinker . Reva kept her head down, concentrated
on Eric to suppress the twitch of her mouth.
“Desperategeeks.com,” she managed to say with a straight
face. “Strictly for technology professionals like me.”
“Wow. That sounds so incredibly thrilling.” Maria rolled
eyes and patted her hand to her mouth in a fake yawn. “I bet
you have all kinds of things to talk about. Why didn’t you
mention him this morning?”
Reva flinched as a hand grasped her shoulder. “Because we
were afraid we wouldn’t finish getting her furniture moved
in before we came over.” Todd’s voice sounded serious
behind her yet she could feel the hint of amusement as he
squeezed her flesh. His breath tickled the back of her neck.
He enjoyed the charade.
“What!” Maria squealed. “You’re moving in with him? Oh
my God, does Mom know?” She threw a hand over her
mouth and glanced nervously at their parents. Good grief,
when did her sister get so gullible?
“No.” Reva grinned. “And don’t tell them.”
“Don’t tell them? Are you crazy! You know they’ll have a
cow. You said you’re not even seeing anyone and now, all of
a sudden, you’re moving in with some guy and his kid? After
everything you’ve been through!” Maria strode frantically
toward the group gathered by the grill to spread the news.
Reva tsked under her breath. And she’s supposed to be the
peacekeeper in the family. Ben had already preceded her so Reva
felt sure they’d have a lot to talk about for a while. It takes
time to determine how to extricate a crazy sister or offspring
from the clutches of yet another wrongly-suited man.
Eric looked up. “She’s moving in with us, Dad?”
Todd patted him on the back. “No, buddy. It’s just a joke.
Nobody’s moving anywhere. We’re just pretending.”
A twinkle passed over Eric’s youthful eyes. “I love jokes!
Can I pretend too?”
“Don’t you think this is getting out of