Dating A Silver Fox (Never Too Late) (38 page)

“Not my business anyway,” she said reluctantly, “but I can still wish.”

Lydia finally finished and turned to see a young girl’s hopeful expression staring at her from the grown-up Jane’s watchful gaze. She walked to Jane, putting her arms around her, feeling the woman tense in her arms before relaxing into the friendly embrace.

“Your mother must have been so proud of you every day of your life. You’re intelligent, beautiful, and have an exceptionally kind heart. Find a good man to share it with, won’t you? It really seems to be worth dating the occasional bastard,” Lydia said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jane said, swallowing against the lump in her throat. “Dad really screwed up this time when he lost you.”

Lydia patted Jane’s cheek. “You can’t live his life for him. Best go on and make your own mistakes. At least in Walter’s case, you’d get to enjoy that exceptional body of his for a while. Have you ever patted his chest muscles? If not, you should try it sometime.”

Jane laughed then. “Please don’t talk about Walter. It’s hard enough not to think about his body without anyone’s suggestions.”

“I’d say just about everything on that young man is hard,” Lydia said with a snort.

Jane blushed. “Okay. . .now I’m totally embarrassed. I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. I also can’t believe what I used to think about you.”

“I can. I well know what I was like. You can thank your father for unlocking the box I kept everything in and letting out all sorts of things I never knew about myself,” Lydia said sharply. “I highly recommend you find someone just like him, no matter how it works out long term. It’s incredible while it lasts, and men like your father are rare. Trust me, I know. You won’t find many of them crossing your path.”

“Can we stay friends? I’ll come back to visit North Winds now and again, and probably Harrison. I’ve grown quite fond of him. Maybe we can do lunch sometime,” Jane said, discovering she really would like to do it.

“Certainly. We’ll take my good car. I’m going to be driving it a lot more often,” Lydia said, linking her arm in Jane’s as they walked back to the Lodge together, chatting.

Inside the side door, she saw Dorothy Henderson standing by the front doors, no doubt watching for David to pull his car around and collect her.

Looked like the time had come to confront the other woman.

“Excuse me, Jane,” Lydia said, pulling herself upright. “I have go speak to a woman about leaving my man alone.”

Jane followed Lydia’s gaze, her own growing wide as she spied Dorothy Henderson. “What are you going to do?”

“Stake my claim or give it up totally. I have no idea which yet,” Lydia said, walking away.

As she walked across the floor, Lydia wished she had worn something low-cut and tight, but it wasn’t like she had a lot of that in her wardrobe. It had taken almost four days to catch the woman milling about. She hadn’t had the nerve to seek Dorothy out in her own home.

“Dorothy, we need to talk for a minute,” Lydia said.

Dorothy turned to face the woman who was practically in her face when she did. She backed away two steps, hoping David pulled up soon and saw. On a good day, even a smiling Lydia was intimidating. She knew the woman was highly upset over Morrie and her teasing.

“What do you want to talk about?” Dorothy asked, figuring she might as well ask. When all else failed, pretend you weren’t scared shitless. That was her new motto.

“You know what I want to talk about, so don’t play stupid. Is there something going on between you and Morrison or not? I know he slept with you, so don’t try to tell me I’m imagining things,” Lydia said, crossing her arms as she glared.

“That happened months ago, and it was only one time. He felt sorry for me, and it wasn’t even good. . .well, not the way it’s supposed to be. And if you’re upset about the other day, I was just joking with him. It was not what it might have looked like,” Dorothy said.

“Really? His hands running around your breasts was what then? Explain to me how it wasn’t what it seemed,” Lydia demanded.

Dorothy sighed heavily. Reaching out, she wrestled Lydia’s arms uncrossed.

“Stop that,” Lydia ordered.

“No,” Dorothy said, snatching up Lydia’s hands and bringing them to her body to cover her breasts, pushing the firm mounds into them. “These are new. When I slept with Morrie, I didn’t have them. In fact, I had no breasts at all. And I thought if I didn’t have breasts, David wouldn’t want me. Morrie convinced me they didn’t matter, and later, so did David. But they mattered to me, so I had breast reconstruction done after all.”

Dorothy dropped her hands. Lydia’s remained. “I was showing him my new ta-tas and joking with Morrie about what he was missing. I never thought about how it would look to anyone else who saw us. After having both breasts removed a year ago, I learned the hard way not to be too concerned with appearances.”

Lydia swallowed, thinking rapidly. While she thought, she let her fingers explore, repeating actions Morrie had often done with her.

“Well—I must say they feel pretty real,” she admitted, making Dorothy laugh.

“They better. I paid for the best,” Dorothy said. “They’re going to last longer than I do. My corpse will have perky breasts for a decade after I’m gone.”

Lydia dropped her hands then. “That’s morbid, but still funny,” she said on a laugh.

“Yes. I’m going to enjoy my expensive, perky breasts while I can. And just so you know, I show my new ta-tas off to everyone. Morrie was just one of the crowd,” Dorothy said.

“I suspected as much,” a masculine voice said from behind them, causing both women to turn.

Morrie looked between them. One was grinning. The other was shocked to see him.

He should say nothing, absolutely nothing. Certainly, if he was smart he’d let his
true
thoughts remain unsaid.

But Dorothy was grinning while Lydia was staring and looking like she might cry any second. If Lydia cried, he was going to cry. That was a given.

“I don’t suppose you’d put both hands on Dorothy’s perky new breasts again and let me take a picture, would you? David will probably want a copy too. Come on. What do you say, Lydia?”

Dorothy sucked in a breath and squealed at his audacity, even as she looked fearfully at Lydia who stiffened. “Morrie—shame on you!”

He laughed as Lydia walked to him, drew back, and punched his right arm as hard as she could. The punch sent him reeling.

“If you ever put your hands or anything else of yours on another woman again, she’ll be the last thing you’ll ever touch in your life. Are we clear, Mr. Fox?” Lydia demanded.

“Clear. Crystal clear,” Morrie said, rubbing the arm she hit, making sure this time not to smile.

“And there will be no more incriminating pictures. We’re infamous enough because of your damn bet with Harrison about kissing me,” Lydia said, drawing back and punching him in the other arm, happy when he yelped in pain again. “No more bets either.”

“Okay,” Morrie said. “Are we good now? I’m bruised enough as it is.”

“No,” Lydia said, throwing herself into his arms. “Kiss me before I die from wanting you to.”

His arms came around her so tightly that the embrace took her breath again, but this time Lydia didn’t complain.

“I’m sorry for hurting you. I missed you. I missed you so much,” Morrie said, kissing her hair and holding her close.

“I love you too,” Lydia said. “Never hurt me again. I’m going to be the worst ass-kicking, swearing bitch you’ve ever seen if you do. I’m never going back into hiding over you or anyone else.”

“I’m going to be the model of discretion from now on,” Morrie promised, hearing Dorothy snicker from her post by the door. “Shut up or I’m going to tell David you like women now.”

“Before or after you tell him about the picture you missed getting?” Dorothy demanded.

Morrie felt Lydia laughing against his chest and squeezed tighter. “After—of course,” he said, laughing as Lydia struggled against him.

When he finally turned her loose, Morrie was already running away to save what was left of his arms from being pummeled.

Chapter 28

“Turn it now. No one likes it burnt,” Morrie ordered. “Perfect. I think you’re getting the hang of it.”

“I don’t want it to be raw. Lauren shouldn’t be eating red meat cooked too rare while she’s pregnant,” Lydia argued.

“It won’t be too rare. It will be medium well if you just do as I say,” Morrie ordered, pursing his lips and frowning. “Now leave it alone a minute and look at these.”

He fished a set of airline tickets out of his back pocket where he’d stashed them earlier. He handed them and a pair of rhinestone reading glasses to her. She slipped on the glasses and looked the tickets over. Morrie smiled. It was like having Evelyn’s blessing.

“San Francisco. So we’re really going?” Lydia asked, drawing in a breath.

“Yes. Now don’t start fretting before we even get on the plane. It’s just three days. I’m sure you won’t be asked to take off your pants in front of strangers,” Morrie said, crossing his fingers behind his back. “Let’s just keep an open mind and go check it out. If you get too uncomfortable, we’ll drive through wine country and have ourselves a vacation.”

Lydia sighed and folded the tickets. Her sense of self-worth was stronger, but Morrie seemed determined to make sure she got a master’s degree in the subject. It was hard to say no to a man that would do just about anything to please you.

“This is not going to count as our honeymoon,” Lydia said firmly, handing the tickets back. “Are we going to be married by then? I didn’t look at the dates.”

Morrie shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. We’re already married in the way that counts. If we’re legal by then, more the better. I’m happy you’re going to let me be your OM partner. I don’t want anyone else touching your perfectly toned ass.”

“Aaaawwwww….No. No. No. Dada an,” JD said, shaking his fist as he looked up at Morrie and glared, his face a perfect little reflection of his parents.

“I’m sorry, Buddy,” Morrie said sincerely. “Want to go see Daddy and hang out with the men?”

JD’s answer was to raise his arms. Morrie looked at Martha, who nodded.

“Burger should be done, baby. Just slide it onto the bun and take it to Lauren,” Morrie directed, heading out the door with a squealing, excited toddler in his arms.

“I’m the luckiest woman that ever lived,” Lydia said, putting the burger on the plate just as the man had ordered. “And I’m glad to finally be getting a turn.”

“We should all get a turn with someone like that,” Martha said, grinning.

“Yes. We all absolutely should,” Lydia declared, carrying the sandwich out of the house like it was a prize.

***

“How many men does it take to barbecue? I own three barbecue stands all run by a single person. Yet I’m counting five males hovering around the mega grill Jim had installed out here,” Alexa said, shaking her head. “But are the burgers coming off any faster with all that focused attention or superb equipment? I don’t think so. Jim’s baby momma is scowling at the vegetable trays. She wants meat, damn it. The man better feed her soon before she starts getting mean.”

Regina laughed from her lounger, positioned near the one Alexa was in. “Ben told me you’re going to be a grandma again too.”

“Yes—I am. I think Seth and Jim are timing their wives’ pregnancies on purpose. Lauren and Jenna may continue to have babies together until they quit. You got to give them credit though, it has created a great support network among our little group,” Alexa said. “My grandma demands are probably only a fraction of what they could be.”

“Despite being a grandmother, you are still a very astute business woman, Mrs. Carter,” Regina declared.

“And you are still a sterling judge of character, Mrs. Kaiser,” Alexa replied. “By the way, who’s the hunky dude at the other end of the pool watching Allen and the kids?”

Regina wrinkled her forehead. “Lauren introduced me earlier. That’s Walter Graham. He’s with the man in the wheelchair, Harrison Graham. Lauren invited them because Lydia asked her to.”

“
Graham
,” Alexa said, rolling the name around in her brain. It sounded familiar to her—very familiar—almost too familiar. “I think I dated a Graham once. Someone between those two though. Probably not related. I don’t remember him having much of a personality. Those two seem to have it in spades. The old guy is going to run the battery down on his wheelchair giving the kids rides around the pool.”

Regina watched the younger Graham studying Morrie’s daughter, or at least he was watching her legs, which she had to admit were quite nicely featured in the shorts the woman was wearing.

Lauren joined them on the third lounger, heaving a frustrated sigh as she lowered herself down. “Jim said the burgers are only half done. It’s been an hour. What could be taking so long? Even my mother could cook a burger faster than that.”

“Only because Morrie’s been teaching me,” Lydia said, coming up behind her daughter and passing her the plate. “Here. I snuck one away from the men and borrowed your kitchen.”

“Wow-thanks. I’m starved.” Lauren took the plate in one hand and patted her mother with the one that was free. She scooted to make room for her on her lounger. “I’d hug you, but I don’t want to drop the burger.”