Doc told Billy to run go tell his sisters to get their shoes on and get ready. Once he was gone, he grinned up at me. “Dang, Major. I was hoping to sit next to you at the theater,” he said with a wink. “What if I get scared?”
Before I could tease him back, Lois came out of the house. I could tell by the way she was dressed she had plans to go into town for the evening.
“Room for one more?” she asked with a false cheer.
Doc’s eyes flicked to me before glancing back at her. “Uh, sure. Of course. But I thought you and Dad were—”
“Jackie, run on inside, sweetie. See what’s taking the girls so long,” she said.
I set her down, and she took off inside the house calling for Gina and Brenda to hurry.
Lois looked more awkward than I’d ever seen her.
“What is it, Mom?” Doc asked.
“Billy said you and Weston were both going.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I just think… I mean… it will look strange, that’s all.”
Oh hell.
I glanced at Doc. “I can stay here.”
Doc’s forehead creased. “What? No. Don’t be ridiculous. You’re coming with us.”
“Honey, maybe he’s right. You know how people in town talk, and if you and the major go to dinner and a movie together with the kids you’ll look like… well… a family, you know?”
Uh-oh. I knew Doc’s angry face well. It didn’t come out often, but when it did, it was no joke.
“We are a family,” he said through clenched teeth.
“You know what I mean, Liam,” she said with a frustrated sigh.
“Mom—”
The way he said it set off alarm bells. This was not the time to come out to his mother. The situation needed to be diffused ASAP.
“Doc,” I said with a cough. “You remember Letty, whose son Chuck plays baseball with Billy?”
He stared at me in confusion before the lightbulb went on. “Yeah. The one who’s always trying to set you up with her sisters?”
Bingo.
“Maybe we should see if they want a burger and a movie too,” I said with a wink.
So that’s what we did. And damned if that wasn’t what started all the trouble. Sometimes when you choose a path without thinking, when a spur-of-the-moment decision sends you catapulting toward the inevitable whether you realize it or not, you can trace it back to one stupid moment, one idiotic decision.
Inviting those twin sisters out with us that night was it.
Chapter 31
Liam “Doc” Wilde
At the time, I thought it was a brilliant plan. Hide my date with Major under a double date with two women. Easy, right? And it was. That first night.
But then we got the harebrained idea to do it again. There was a new roadhouse out on the county highway toward Valley Cross, and they had pool tables and dartboards. We’d already been just the two of us a few times, but the last time we’d been in, Major had overheard someone refer to us as the Bobbsey Twins and he’d gotten worried about my reputation. I’d told him to shove my reputation, but he’d somehow convinced me it would be a good idea to ask the girls out again.
So that’s how we ended up at the Nutcase Roadhouse with Bonnie and Deb. They were both super sweet. I knew Deb from work at the clinic. She was one of Dr. Holben’s nurses, but I’d still shied away from being too personal with her. Her sister Bonnie had gotten a job at the regional hospital in the labor and delivery ward, so I focused on asking her how she liked it there.
Deb was perfectly happy to flirt her fool head off with Major. Clearly she felt that she’d won the lottery as soon as he’d taken the seat next to her in the red vinyl booth by the pool tables, which was funny because I felt the same way the minute his cowboy boot slid alongside my loafer and pressed in. I looked at him over the top of my beer glass. His denim blues met mine.
Why in the world hadn’t we just stayed home to watch television and make out on his sofa?
As Deb and Bonnie chatted animatedly throughout the night, Major’s and my eyes couldn’t help but meet from time to time and pass unspoken messages across the wooden table. I was struck by how different it was to spend time in the company of someone you knew almost as well as yourself than to spend time getting to know new people. But since we’d invited the ladies out with us, I tried very hard to give them plenty of attention.
Major wasn’t nearly as good at it. What they didn’t know was that he was simply a quiet man. He was a better listener than talker. He was a steady rock who didn’t get riled up over little things, so he wasn’t the best person to gossip with if he didn’t know the players involved. Because of his sexuality, he tended to keep himself apart from people which meant he didn’t know any of the players involved most of the time.