“So, Daddy—how does that feel? Not good, I imagine, except I don’t have to imagine because you all like to constantly remind me of my age. Thirty is a helluva lot younger than sixty-six, Daddy.”
“Clover,” Erick said. “Can I get you some water? Wine? Lavender
wipe?”
“No, but you can get out of my house,” she said to him. “You all can. Right now.”
“Wait, I have to leave, too?” Erick asked, looking thunderstruck.
“My mother insulted your daughter to your face and you said nothing?”
“You told me to grin and bear—”
“I don’t care what I said! They insulted Ruthie and you let them. I want all of you gone right now. Right this second. And don’t come back until you’ve learned how to behave like human beings.”
She turned her back to them and walked up the stairs and into her bedroom. She slammed the door behind her and locked it.
Then she sat down on the edge of her bed, the bed she and Erick had made love in just last night.
And she cried.
* * *
ALL OF THEM sat around the table staring blankly at each other. Erick looked from Mr. and Mrs. Greene to Kelly and Hunter and Lisa.
“Oh, I get it,” Erick said. “Hunter Greene. Clover Greene. Kelly Greene. All shades of green. Clever.”
Clover’s parents and siblings all slowly turned their heads to stare at him.
“What?” Erick asked. “I just figured it out.”
“What the hell just happened?” Kelly breathed.
“Your sister kicked our asses, that’s what happened,” Erick said. “A well-deserved ass-kicking from what I’ve seen. I think she’s been holding that in for a long time.”
“This is your doing, isn’t it?” Val demanded of Erick.
He could only laugh at that.
“God, I hope so,” he said, standing up. Everyone at the table looked horrified, stunned, pale and angry. “Well, shall we?”
“Shall we what?” Hunter said, glaring at him from the opposite end of the table.
“Leave,” Erick said. “Clover kicked us out. We have to leave.”
“I am not leaving until I get an apology,” Val said. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked as petulant as a small child.
“We’re leaving,” Erick said. “When you don’t leave a house you’ve been ordered to leave, you are trespassing. We are trespassing.”
“This is my daughter’s house,” David said. “My daughter.”
“Yes.” Erick nodded. “It’s Clover’s house. Not your house. I know all four cops in this town. I’ve worked on all their houses and given them all law enforcement discounts. Don’t make me have to call them, because I will.”
“Is that a threat?” Hunter asked.
“Pretty obvious it’s a threat,” Erick said. “Come on. Let’s go. We can see if the mac-and-cheese place is open today. They have truffle fries.”
“How can you be relaxed about this?” Val asked. She stood up and pushed her chair into the table so hard it would have chipped the finish if Clover hadn’t put the tablecloth on.