Chapter 42
DeeAnn took her latest pain pill, then a bite of egg salad sandwich.
“Are you still not talking to me?” Karen asked.
“Why aren’t you talking to your daughter?” Jacob asked as he walked into the kitchen.
DeeAnn’s heart jumped and she bit her lip. Her daughter was dating Detective Bryant. How old was he anyway? Forty?
“She doesn’t like the guy I’m dating, Dad,” Karen said. “It’s not like we’re talking about marriage or anything. I like him. He’s a lot of fun.”
“What else is new?” Jacob said, reaching in the refrigerator for a beer. “Your mom never liked the boys you dated.”
“I don’t remember you being too thrilled with them, either,” DeeAnn pointed out.
Jacob took a seat at the table. “So who is it this time?”
“Adam Bryant,” said Karen.
Jacob set his bottle down and laughed. “I thought you said Adam Bryant. That’s not what you said, is it?”
Karen’s smile vanished. “Yep, that’s him.”
He shot DeeAnn a glare, as if it were her fault.
She glared right back. “What?”
“What is the big deal? What do you all know about him that I don’t?” Karen asked.
“First, he’s too old for you,” Jacob told her. “Second, he’s a cop.”
“And third,” DeeAnn finally spoke up “He’s a sarcastic SOB. And I’ve suspected . . . I don’t know. I’ve suspected that he’s a womanizer.”
“Womanizer? What is this? 1965?” Karen exclaimed.
“You know what I mean,” DeeAnn said.
“What’s wrong with being a cop?” Karen asked after a moment.
Her father spoke up. “Not a damn thing, except it’s dangerous work. Do you want to be a cop’s wife? Really?”
“Look, Mom, Dad, I’m not interested in getting married. We’re just spending time together. I mean whatever time we can. Between his schedule and mine, we haven’t seen that much of one another. I know he’s older than me, but he’s in great shape.”
“Hold on right there. I don’t want to hear about what great shape he’s in.” DeeAnn had lusted over the man from afar herself. She took a deep breath. Her daughter was grinning and DeeAnn’s face heated. “Look, I know you’re a grown woman. But you can’t expect your dad and I to not voice our opinions about the men you date. We’re your parents. It goes with the territory.”
Karen had grown into a beautiful woman. How had DeeAnn not seen that? It was hard to see your children clearly, even when they were grown. Of course, Adam Bryant would find her attractive. She was long and lean like her dad, with long, blond hair, her mom’s blue eyes, and a smile that would melt any man’s heart. She was a woman who glowed with happiness, as well. And she deserved to be happy after all her struggles as a teen. But Adam Bryant?
“I hear you, Mom. And I’ll think over everything you both have said to me,” Karen stood, then leaned over and kissed her parents’ foreheads. “I better get to work.”
It almost made DeeAnn cry. Damn, she wanted to be angry, shake her fists at Karen, but she couldn’t. She would have to bite her tongue about Adam—for the most part.
After Karen left, DeeAnn and Jacob sat quietly. He finished his beer and then stood up with a defiance that suddenly scared her.
“Jacob,” she said with a tremor in her voice. “Please sit down.”
“I’m going to find Bryant,” he said. Stern. Serious.
A shot of panic zipped through DeeAnn. Jacob was not an easily disturbed man. In fact, he was easygoing. But when he got angry, he was serious.
“Now hold on,” she said, standing a bit too quickly and becoming dizzy. Those pills! She landed hard back in her chair.
“DeeAnn?” he said, grabbing onto her. “What the hell just happened?”
“Just a little dizzy,” she said. “Maybe I need a different kind of pain pill. These make me so light-headed.”
“We’ll talk to the doctor about that tomorrow,” Jacob said, crouching down beside her.
DeeAnn nodded her head. “And what about you? You’re going to kick Bryant’s ass? I don’t think that’s what would happen. He’s a cop. In great shape. Has a gun. Please.”
“Nah.” Jacob grinned. “Not that I haven’t thought about coldcocking him from time to time. Especially now. But I would like to talk to him.”
DeeAnn reached out and held his hand. The hand of the man she loved. The man she shared her life with. “Please don’t do that.” She took a deep breath. “We have to trust Karen.”
His eyes met hers and then he looked away. “Okay, DeeAnn. For now.”