“Hadn’t thought about it. I could heat some soup. Or there’s lunch meat for sandwiches.”
“I was hoping for something like pork chops.”
“We’ll fix that tomorrow night.” Gavin lifted a box off the floor. “Must be your day to get presents. This came from your mom while you were shopping with Grams.”
A snarky remark from Gavin? He was pissy.
“Yay!” Sierra grabbed a pocketknife from the bar. She carefully slid the tip of the knife along the airmail tape covering the box. As soon as she opened the flaps, a heavy perfume poured out.
Rielle sneezed.
Sierra offered an apologetic smile. “Sorry. Mom loves spritzing perfume on everything.” She excitedly pulled out wrinkled sheets of white tissue paper dotted with black images of the Eiffel Tower. Then she stopped. A bewildered look settled on her face.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Gavin asked.
Rielle watched the girl struggle to get control. Sierra tipped her head down but not fast enough; Rielle saw two tears plop onto the tissue paper.
Then she reached into the box and angrily threw a handful of material on the coffee table.
Upon seeing the contents, Rielle’s stomach dropped and she shot Gavin a sideways glance.
He appeared calm, but the air around him vibrated with fury.
Sierra handled each piece of lingerie. A black peignoir, sheer except for the lace edging and the tiny, strategically placed pink bows. A pair of matching G-string panties. The next piece she held up was a short white bustier with what looked like padded cups. Another pair of panties to match.
No one said anything. Rielle expected Sierra to explode with the drama sixteen-year-olds were prone to. But she just shoved the lingerie back in the box.
“Sierra, sweetheart. Can you look at me, please?” Gavin said gently.
She glanced up. “Mom doesn’t know me at all, does she? This is what she sends me from Paris? Not perfume or chocolates or even something tacky like a plastic Eiffel Tower, but something she likes?”
Gavin was on his feet, pulling Sierra to hers, hugging her. He murmured to her, comforting her as he led her downstairs.
As bad as she felt for Sierra, this was another reminder that Gavin had a higher priority than spending his free time with his live-in girlfriend. He needed to stay focused on raising his daughter. He also needed to deal with his hot and cold attitude toward Vi. That attitude didn’t extend to Charlie, as far as she’d seen.
Rielle realized she’d been lax in keeping in contact with Rory since the incident a few weeks back. She returned to her room and called her, expecting to settle in for a chat, only to have that parental gut wrenching worry as her level-headed daughter sobbed hysterically. School stressed her out. Her landlord was a prick. Her best friend in the Ag program was taking a job in Brazil. They’d overscheduled her at the bar. After Rielle calmed her down, she promised she’d spend the weekend in Laramie. She packed, made last minute phone calls and forced herself to sit at her spinning wheel and finish a few odd projects rather than pace and fret about her daughter.
A few hours later Gavin knocked on her door. She let him in only after she’d promised herself to resist the heated way he looked at her that always made her clothes fly off.
But there wasn’t any sign of her insistent lover. He dropped into the chair next to the bed. “Sorry I bailed on you before.”
“No worries. Sierra is your priority, as it should be. She had upheaval in her life today so it’s natural she’d need her dad. I assume she’s okay?”
“Yeah.” He dry-washed his face. “I don’t know what the f**k Ellen was thinking, giving a sixteen-year-old f**k-me lingerie. Jesus. How oblivious is she?”
Rielle didn’t comment, just let him ramble and started winding loose yarn into skeins.
“Plus, there wasn’t a note, or anything personal.” He slumped back in the chair. “Sierra hasn’t talked to her mom since that phone call, what…? Last month? I mean yeah, half the time I think Ellen is psychotic and she’s manipulative and Sierra is better off. But Sierra misses her and it’s cruel how Ellen just cut Sierra out of her life.”
He wouldn’t see the parallels to his relationship with Vi, so she kept her mouth shut.
“I told Sierra she didn’t have to write her mother a thank you note for an inappropriate gift. But now I’m thinking if we let it slide, Ellen will see it as acceptable and send her more of the same—or worse.”
She pulled more yarn.
“So I’ll have Sierra call her tomorrow from my office so I can hear what she says.” He paused. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“Sierra is your kid, Gavin. You know what’s best for her, not me.”
“Are you pissed off at me too?” He released a deep sigh. “I’m sorry I left you with Vi.”
“I like Vi. I always have.”
“What’d she say?”
“Don’t you think it’d be better if you asked her?”
“Jesus. You are mad. Are you so damn busy fussing with your knitting you can’t even look at me?”
Rielle glanced up. “A, I’m not knitting. B, I’m not mad at you. How you handle your family business is your business, not mine.”
“Meaning I f**ked up with Vi today.”
“No, meaning I don’t want to get involved. I’ve been neighbors with the McKays for years, and that hasn’t always been easy, but I won’t jeopardize that because I’ll still be neighbors with them when I build my new place.”
That reminder angered him. “So you have no opinion?”
“If I did I’d keep it to myself. Look, we’re roommates and lovers. It’s not my place to offer you advice or suggestions on how to deal with your family or to play referee when things don’t go your way.”
His mouth flattened. “Thanks for letting me know where I stand with you.”
“Huh-uh. You don’t get to get pissy with me. I like you. I like spending time with you, naked or not.”
“But?”
“No buts. We agreed to continue to lead our separate lives. We agreed that if we each had free time, we’d try and spend it together.”
Gavin stood and started unbuttoning his shirt. “Fine. I’m free right now. Let’s f**k.”
“Don’t be a jackass.”
“What’s the problem? Didn’t you just tell me this is all we are? Fuck buddies? So come on.”