Lillie wasn’t like him—or the kids he’d grown up with. She had family. People who’d ask questions about her choices. Give opinions on decisions.
Judge him.
People who, like Kate’s family, found his “kind” something to avoid. At least in the close relationship sense. He was considered good enough to work for them, though.
And that was what he was doing for Lillie....
His mind spun with thoughts, taking him down and then back up.
Her end of the line was still silent.
“You said you went to college in Shelter Valley,” he said, having himself firmly in check again. “Did you grow up here?”
“No.” She sighed as if she was settling back—against a chair? In bed? “I’m a California girl. Inland, though, not a beach baby. My father was an engineer. He worked for the government doing different testing things in the desert. I was never really sure what it was all about.”
His chest tightened. A guy with government clearance. A man like that would never accept a man like Jon in his daughter’s life.
“What about your mother?”
“She taught school when I was little and was an elementary school principal by the time I was in junior high. It was nice because she always had the summers off.”
“What about siblings?”
“Nope. My folks talked about having another baby sometimes, but they never did have one. We were good together, just the three of us. Happy.”
Reveling for the moment in the picture she painted, Jon laid back in his bed, and shut off the light, figuring there was no harm in living vicariously for the duration of the conversation.
“What about grandparents?”
“My father’s folks were in Florida. We saw them several times a year. They were both older, though. Had him when they were in their forties. They passed away when I was still a kid.”
He had no idea if he’d had living grandparents. “And your mother’s parents?”
“My grandfather died of a heart attack my first year of high school. Gram didn’t last long after that. Mom said Gram died of a broken heart. They were fairly young, both in their seventies.”
“That must have been rough.”
“Yeah, they lived down the road from us. I used to stop in at Gram’s after school, to wait for Mom to get home, and she always had a snack waiting for me. More often than not, it was homemade cookies.”
It was his dream. The “real family” dream. He could almost taste the cookies and smiled. It was good to know that the ideals he’d conjured in his head really did exist.
Sliding his heels along cool sheets, Jon asked, “So where are your folks, now? Still in California?” With the lights off he could see it all so clearly: the home she’d grown up in, with an afghan her mother had made on the back of the family room couch. A nice sofa in the formal living room. A cherrywood dining table with matching chairs. Hardwood floors and plenty of windows letting in light.
Flowers everywhere. He could almost smell them....
Lillie’s thick silence imposed itself over the image. Something had gone wrong with his picture.
He heard her sniffle and sat straight up. “Lillie?”
“I’m sorry...” She was crying. And he couldn’t do a damned thing about it. Why in the hell had he started in on the questions? He had no business.
“Don’t be,” he said. “I’m sorry for prying. I?”
“No. It’s not you, Jon. I just...it’s been a long day and...I don’t know, I guess I needed a good cry.”
Was this a female thing, then? For a second he hoped it might be, but he didn’t really think it was.
“I’m... It... I actually feel better talking to you. Really.”