Figure of Speech
Page 18

The dress was A-line, the floral print subtle, the sleeves fluttery. It was a much more subdued version of the violently red, white and purple sister-wives dress, but had a lower, squared neckline and hit the model just above the knee instead of being floor-length. The flowers were a pale blue, almost an exact match for Glory’s hair. The model had belted a blue belt around her waist, but that could be changed out easily for a metallic one, or left without a belt at all.
“Maybe.” Glory tilted her head. “I’ll add it to the list.”
“Have you picked your dress yet?” That might help in picking out the bridesmaids’ dresses.
Glory winced. “Not yet. I wanted all of you there when I do, but with Tabby’s due date so close I wanted to wait until the bun burst from the oven.”
“I’d do it sooner rather than later. Once the kidlet pops out she’s going to be even more grumpy and tired.”
Glory shuddered. “Please don’t tell me that.”
“And if she’s breastfeeding? No coffee.” Chloe picked up a cheese fry and happily munched away as Glory toppled over in a shower of bangles and blue hair.
“Ugh,” Glory moaned.
“No alcohol.”
Glory whined.
“No spicy food.” Chloe bit into her burger, humming happily at the cheesy, meaty goodness.
Glory glared at her from under the powder-blue cloud of her hair. “You are so wearing a sister-wife dress.”
Chloe cackled evilly and continued to eat her lunch. Picking on family could sure raise a person’s spirits.
Jim opened his front door to go to work and stopped dead in his tracks.
There were a crap-ton of Bears and Foxes on his front step, and all of them looked way too happy to see him. He put his hands in the air. “I didn’t do it!”
Barbra Bunsun laughed. “We need to talk, Mr. Woods.”
Wait. Wasn’t he supposed to see them all at dinner on Sunday? “Why are you here?”
“Just what my mate said.” William Bunsun took a step forward. “We wanted to talk to you.” He smiled, and Jim shivered. “Can we come in?”
Jim barely had a second to step back before his home was inundated with Chloe’s family. “Make yourselves at home,” he muttered. With any luck they wouldn’t take too long, because he had to be at work by one. He had been planning to grab lunch on the way, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
At least all he had to do was check on the animals, feed and water them and make sure they’d done the business they were supposed to do. Irene was doing the Saturday half-day the clinic was open, and Phil had agreed to stay in the clinic during the night. He’d told Jim he needed the peace from his roommates so he could do a big report, and Jim had happily given him the overtime.
He watched as Steve and Laura Williams, Ryan and Chloe’s parents, nodded to one another before seating themselves at his dining room table. Will and Barbra Bunsun headed straight for the kitchen and set about ordering enough pizza and soda to fill the bellies of a bunch of Bears, Foxes and one lone Wolf.
Ray and Stacey Allen, Chloe’s uncle and aunt, were watching Spencer watch them.
After a few moments of silence between the three, Spencer wheeled himself forward. “You must be Chloe’s family, right?”
Jim hoped he was the only one who could see how nervous Spencer truly was. His brother wasn’t used to a large family, and the Bunsun-Williams clan was not only big but boisterous. If they made Spencer uncomfortable in any way he was going to have to throw them out.
But they surprised him. Stacey embraced Spencer and welcomed him into the family, while Ray shook his hand and thanked him for knocking some sense into Jim’s thick skull.
Jim rolled his eyes and turned, only to find William Bunsun standing in front of him with a huge grin on his face. “Let’s talk.”
“I have to be at work by one.” But Jim allowed himself to be steered toward the dining room table. When William Bunsun wanted you to move, you moved.
“We called the clinic and told the nice lady who answered that you’d be late due to a family emergency.” Will pulled out a chair for Jim and gently pushed him into it. Not surprisingly, it placed him in the middle of the table, directly across from Steven Williams.
Steven smiled serenely and steepled his fingers. “So. I hear you took my baby girl on a date.”
Laura Williams sat next to her husband and gave Jim an encouraging smile. “Now, Steven. Just because, after waiting four years for her mate to claim her, he finally took her out to dinner, doesn’t mean he won’t do right by our girl.”
Ah. Now it made sense. The beating he’d expected from Ryan and Alex wasn’t going to be physical. It was going to be verbal, and delivered by the elders of the clan.
“Of course he will.” William patted Jim on the shoulder so hard he heard the chair beneath him creak. “He knows how much Chloe means to us.”
As one they beamed at him, freaking him the hell out.
“Chloe’s a special girl.” Laura’s sweet smile didn’t fool Jim for a moment. “She knew from a young age she wanted to work with animals.” The sweet smile turned devilish. “Probably because she was used to dealing with wild ones all the time.” The look she turned on Will and Barbra Bunsun was filled with merriment.
“And she’s always known how she wanted her life to be.” Steven’s smile had faded completely. “You’ve been the most important part of that equation since the moment she met you.”
He sighed. The guilt was eating him alive. “What do you want me to do? I know I fucked up big time, and I’m thrilled she’s giving me another chance. I’ve promised her I’m going to do everything in my power to make things right between us, and I’ve already apologized.”
The pair glanced at one another while the rest of the family looked on in silence. That alone scared the crap out of him. The Bunsun-Williams clan wasn’t known for their reticence.
It was Steven who finally spoke. “We want to know one thing. Did you use your brother’s situation as an excuse to deny our daughter?”
“No.” He couldn’t quite believe they were asking him that.
“But you did use her age and her supposed relationship with Gabe. I’m sure you can understand why we’re skeptical now.”