Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (118 page)

"He doesn't have to stay if you don't want him to."

"We wouldn't want to look inhospitable to your new friend now would we?  How long are you planning to stay?"

"A few days."

"You would do best to keep your legs shut.  Not that men will take no for an answer.  I know your father wouldn't.  But you don't want to hear about that now do you?  You'll have your money by tomorrow.  I'll have to break it to Langston that his little girl is going to be bringing a boyfriend home."

Tory almost choked.  Her Langston's little girl?  She'd never thought of calling him 'Dad'.  She HAD a father.  Granted, he hadn't always been much of a father but Langston had certainly never called her his daughter in her presence.  He'd never given her a hug that she could remember.  Hell she didn't think he'd ever touched her.  Not that she had minded.

After stepdad number two, she'd given up doing anything besides trying to stay out of the way of the men that her mother married. 

"Yeah.  I guess I'll see you Friday then."

"Don't think that just because this is a big house that your boyfriend will be able to sneak into your room without getting caught.  Langston is a very light sleeper."

Yeah right she thought.  That's why he snored like a grizzly bear.  "Yes ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am.  It makes me feel old."

"Yes Mother."

Lindsey sighed.  She hated it when Tory called her 'mother'.  She could barely stand to be called 'mom'.  She’d requested that Tory call her Lindsey from the time she was ten.  Most mothers would find it an insult but not good old Lindsey she thought. 

"Goodbye Tory.  Make sure your boyfriend drives the speed limit.  We want you to get here in one piece."

That was as close as her mother could come to motherly concern she thought.  "Yes, Mom.  Bye Mom."

She clicked the phone shut, wondering when the last time had been that her mother had said 'I love you'.  She got up off of the couch and stretched.  Tony had come back in and was stuffing the cash he'd gotten for his car into the lock box. 

"You wanna come outside with me?  Say goodbye to old Bertha before he tows her?"

Tory laughed.  "You car's name was Bertha?"

"Yep, named her after a fat chick I dated in high school.  She wasn't pretty but she was reliable and always gave me a ride when I needed one."

She shook her head at him and followed him to the doorway, watching a middle aged Hispanic man load the old car onto a tow truck. 

"Goodbye Bertha." He wiped a fake tear from his eye.  "I'm gonna miss you old girl." He turned to Tory.  "You're not gonna say goodbye?  We had some good times in that car."

The man turned and gave Tony a wave as he finished hooking up the car, and went around, getting in the drivers' side of the truck.  Once the man was behind the wheel, she blew a kiss at the car and said "Goodbye Bertha."

She pictured Tony riding on the back of some poor fat girl down the street and started laughing.  "Do you have any of that weed left?"

"A little.  We don't want to end up vegging out on the couch.  We can smoke some after we get back with the new car."

"Okay, let's get to it then."

"So how'd it go with your mom?" he said after they were inside. 

"The usual.  She was griping at me about how much money it costs to wire money.  It's like ten bucks.  She doesn't seem to give a shit any other time when she's spending Langston's money."

"She can't be that bad."

Tory snorted.  "Right.  I forgot that you grew up with normal parents."

"And look at me now." He laughed.

"Lindsey and Langston aren't exactly a ball of laughs.  She already warned me that Langston would catch you if you tried to sneaking into his daughter's room at night.  She acts like I'm HER stepdaughter instead of his.  She makes me want to throw up." 

He pulled her into his arms.  "Hey, nobody's parents are perfect.  You've only got another few months to worry about dealing with them.  You hit eighteen, you graduate, and you can do whatever you want." 

"But I don't know what the hell it is that I want to do with my life Tony.  The only thing that I do know is that I want to be nothing like my mother."

"Haven't we all heard that one before?"

"I'm serious Tony.  I'll work three damn jobs before I marry some man for his money."

"That's my girl.  Now get your pretty little butt back to work.  Carl will be here to pick us up around two."

"Okay."

She had finished another load of laundry, had cleared out the living room and was starting on the kitchen when there was a knock at the door some time later.  Tony came out of the bedroom from which he'd only exited twice since he'd come back inside saying "I'll get it."

He reentered followed by Carl and a teenage girl who looked like she'd stepped off the cover of a magazine.  She was dressed in a skin tight pair of jeans and a baggy t-shirt that did nothing to hide her well-endowed chest, but she still looked like she could have been a model after a fashion shoot.

Carl had a goofy look on his face.  Tory could tell that he'd already gotten laid.  Tony was trying his best not to look impressed.  She smiled at Tory and offered a glimpse of her perfect white teeth. 

"You must be Tory, Tony's girlfriend.  Carl told me all about you.  I'm Andi.  It's Andrea but everyone's called me Andi for so long that I've almost forgotten that it's really my name.” She let out a breathy laugh.

"Nice to meet you Andi," Tory said, trying to keep an eye on Tony out of the corner of her eye without looking too obvious about it.  Good she thought, his attention was already elsewhere.  It was hard not to feel like a total clod in the presence of this girl but at least she seemed nice enough. 

Tony was holding her jacket.  She gave him a weak smile as he helped her into it.  He kissed her lightly behind the ear and whispered "Don't worry.  I'm with the one I want and I think she's fully smitten with my cousin."

And it did seem that they had hit it off she thought.  Carl was practically floating he looked so happy and she had her hand on his arm in a possessive gesture.

Tony grabbed his lock box, and started towards the door. 

"You're going to take the whole thing with you?"  Tory gave him an amused smile. 

"Oh yeah.  I'll be right back.  You all go ahead."

She silently followed the two out to the jeep.  Carl first opened the front passenger door for Andi and then came around to the back, holding the door open for Tory. 

She mumbled a thank you and got into the backseat, sliding over to leave room for Tony, remembering that the driver’s side in the back didn't open

Andi nodded.  "Carl said that you go to Crestview.  I heard that's a really great school."

"I guess." 

Wondering what was taking Tony so long, she dug around for the seat belt. 

"I wanted to go there so bad my freshman year but my folks couldn't afford it."

"If you've got the grades I think they still give out two scholarships a year.  I can ask around if you want, see what it would take to apply."

"Thanks Tory.” She flashed another bright smile.  "That would be great.  It would be cool to be closer to Carl." She turned her thousand watt smile on him. 

Carl blushed.  Tory could see the wheels turning in his head, thinking about what it would be like to be with Andi on a regular basis.  Tony finally came out, still stuffing bills into his wallet. 

Carl looked back at him.  “You think you got enough money stuffed in that damn thing?"

"I have to pay for the car don't I?"  Tony laughed as he slid in and shut the door behind him, throwing his arm around Tory's shoulders. 

"That car's pretty nice.  It's not an old boat like most old lady's drive." Carl put the car into gear and pulled out onto the road.  "It's kinda sporty looking.  Dad says it should be pretty good on a gas."

"Yeah, but that lady died in it." Andi turned to look at Tory and shivered.  "Isn't that kind of scary?"

"We'll have a priest perform an exorcism before we leave town right Tor?"  Tony said with a wink.

Andi rolled her eyes and turned around in her seat. 

"So Tone," Carl said.  "Are you two gonna come to Dad's big New Year’s Eve party?  Andi's trying to convince her dad to stay in town a few extra days so they can come, too."

"Yep, we'll be there.  You think you can convince your old man to stick around Andi?"

"I don't know.”  She sighed.  "It drives him crazy to stay with my grandma.  My mom and he are both teachers, but it's like pulling teeth to get him to come down here.  I don't know why we can't stay in a hotel instead of at Grandma's but they'd probably say it was the money, having to put two kids through college."

"We'll work on him for you kid.  Maybe Uncle Keith can convince him to stay, reminiscing about their high school days.  I heard they had some pretty wild times back then."

"Yeah," Andi said softly, biting her lip, blue eyes wide when she glanced at Tony.  "My dad knew your dad, too.  They all used to be good friends."

"I know.” Tory could see that his smile was forced.  "Small world isn't it?"

"Sure is." She gave him a quick smile and then turned back to Carl. 

They pulled into the driveway.  Tory could see a black four door car sitting in the yard.  A tall man was trying to get the tape of the 'for sale' sign to come off of the window.  The car only looked a few years old and the outside was in perfect condition, not a scratch on the paint. 

She followed Tony over to stand beside the tall man who was still struggling with the last piece of stubborn tape, and peeked into the window.  She saw that the interior was in good condition too, free from the ever present light coating of dust that always accumulated in the vehicle of a smoker, even one who smoked with the windows wide open like her mother.

Tony nodded his approval at her and then turned to the man who had finally managed to free the tape from the window. 

"Good to see you Tony.  So you're gonna take this thing off of my hands huh?"

"Definitely, Rich.  I can't believe you don't want to keep it for yourself."

"I can hardly stand to look at the thing knowing that Mom died in it.  Besides, it's too small for me.  When you've got a wife and four kids, you really can't drive anything besides a minivan."

"Yeah, I suppose not," Tony said.  "So you really only want two grand for it?" 

"Yep.  Mom got a hell of a deal on the thing herself.  There's no use of it sitting in my garage gathering dust.  I checked the fluids, gave her a little tune up for you.  Your uncle told me you were planning on taking your girl there on a little trip, taking her home for the holidays."

"I didn't mean to be rude.  This is my girlfriend Tory.  Tory, this is my uncle's good friend Rich."

"Nice to meet you young lady.  I knew Tony's dad too.  Damn good man he was.  Hell of a waste when that kid plowed into him." 

"It's nice to meet you, too," Tory said, glancing up at Tony.

He always seemed a little uncomfortable when someone talked about his father she thought.  But he looked okay now, admiring the car.  She stepped back as Tony started pulling money out of his wallet.  They went around to the picnic table in the corner of the yard to take care of the paperwork. 

Tony's aunt came out the door then.  She expected the woman to pass her by, headed to Carl and Andi, but the pretty woman stepped up beside her, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. 

"You must be the Tory that I've heard so much about.  I'm Lorelei, Tony's aunt." 

The woman gave her a big smile and stuck out her hand.  Now SHE looked like a mother Tory thought.  Not some fake, can't be bothered to care for your own child mother like Lindsey, but a mother who baked cookies and made sure dinner was on the table and gave her son hugs and held him when he cried.

"It's nice to meet you Lorelei.”

The woman's eyes had drifted across the yard from Tony, who had a cigarette clamped between his lips as he stood with Rich, to Carl, who was leaning against the hood of the jeep holding hands with Andi. 

"I've heard so much about you from both of my boys.  It's such a pleasure to finally meet you.  Would you like something to drink?  We have fresh orange juice or I can make some cocoa if you prefer.  It is getting a little bit nippy out here.  I think Tony's still going to be a while with Rich.  You don't need to stand out here like those silly men and freeze."

Tory smiled, trying to stop the sudden tears that wanted to prick at her eyes.  "Sure, that would be nice."

"Are you okay honey?" Lorelei reached out a hand and put it gently on Tory's arm. 

Whoa, she thought, she would have been way more okay growing up if she'd had a mother like this, a woman that obviously cared.  She'd seen the look in her eyes when she'd looked from Tony to Carl.  She obviously cared deeply for them both, having called them her 'boys'.  It made her feel good to know that with all that had happened in Tony's life he had an aunt and uncle that obviously cared for him as much as they cared for their son.