Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (126 page)

Tory frowned.  Let him say something snide she thought.  She wouldn't mind punching that self-righteous ass in his perfect nose.  But he surprised her by sitting his cup on a coaster on the table next to the couch and reaching out to Tony with an out stretched hand. 

"I'm Langston, Tory's stepfather.  And you must be, damn Lindsey.” Tory could tell that he was a little drunk as he turned to glare at her mother.  "I don't think you bothered to tell me the boy's name."

"It’s Tony sir," Tony said, reaching out his hand to shake Langston's.  "Nice to meet you."

"You as well son.  Always good to see you Tory.  You look well dear.  Let me help you with those bags.  It looks like they're getting heavy."

Ah, so they were going to play at being civilized then huh, Tory thought as she watched Tony follow Langston up the stairs.  She figured they were going to stick Tony in the guest room that was as far away as possible from her bedroom.   And of course she was right as she watched Tony
follow Langston to the far end of the hall and then back to the other side where her bedroom was, next to Lindsey and Langston's. 

Lindsey was silent, twirling a pearl necklace on her finger as she chain smoked on the couch, not bothering to look at her daughter as she sipped her drink.  Ah home sweet home she thought. 

"So why'd you answer the door Mother?  Thought you had servants to do that."

Langston walked back into the room then, followed by an uncomfortable looking Tony.  She wasn't sure what it was that Langston had said to him while they were upstairs but it had clearly bothered him. 

She gave Langston a dirty look which he ignored.  "We gave them time off for the holidays.  Lindsey, would you mind popping that casserole that Miranda made into the oven?  The instructions are on top, the little sticky note.  It might be nice to eat dinner before midnight."

Lindsey heaved a dramatic sigh as if she were a teenage drama queen and walked into their state of the art kitchen, high heels clicking on the polished floors.

"Have a seat you two." Langston gestured to the matching love seat that sat at an angle next to the sofa.  "You must be tired out after all the driving." He looked at Tony. 

"Tory drove sir.  I've never been to the area before.  I figured it would be easier for her to drive on the way up."

"I see," Langston said, looking as if he did not see at all. 

Though Lindsey had a car, he seemed to think that it was unbecoming of a woman to do anything other than shopping and getting manicures.  Of course that only pertained to women of a certain caliber.  Lowlier women were for things like cooking and cleaning.  All of the staff in the house was female.  Tory wondered what Langston's mother had been like.  He certainly had a strange view of women she thought. 

"Where do you go to school Tony?"  Langston took a sip of his drink.

"I'm not in school.  I had some family issues at the end of high school and haven't really gotten a chance to take more than a course or two here and there."

"I see," Langston said. 

And again by the look on his face Tory could see again that he did not see at all. 

He looked at his empty glass then as if it would fill itself and then called to Lindsey, "Honey would you bring me a drink back please?"  Then as an afterthought he turned to them sitting uncomfortably on opposite ends of the loveseat, as if they were afraid to touch.  "Do you want something kids?"

Tory shook her head.  Langston scowled at her and called back to Lindsey "Bring your daughter a bottle of that sparkling water.  Do you want a drink Tony?  Is it Anthony?  Anthony has always sounded so much better to me than Tony."

"Uh, yes it is."

"May I call you Anthony?  If you don't mind that is."

"Of course not sir."

"Enough with the sir.  You can call me Langston.  You make feel old calling me sir.  And you may call my stunning wife Lindsey.  She's bound to take your head off if you call her ma'am, right Tory?" He winked. 

He made her want to throw up she thought.  Calling Tony Anthony when she knew it drove him crazy.  She was surprised that he hadn't made her mother change her name to Victoria since it probably sounded more civilized. 

She nodded, looking at her fingernails, wanting to reach out and take Tony's hand for some small measure of comfort in this house of hell.  But he was plastered to the other end of the couch.  She wondered again if Langston had made some sort of threat when they'd been upstairs.  What could it have been that made him afraid to brush against her she wondered?  She could understand
a warning about sex, but she might as well have a contagious disease with the way Tony was acting.

"Lindsey, where are you with those drinks?"  Langston called irritably toward the kitchen.  "Do you want a scotch Anthony?  You look like you're of legal age son; am I right?"

"Uh yes, si.  .  .  I mean Langston.  I am twenty-one.  But water is fine for me as well."

"Nonsense." He got up from his chair.  "Damn it Lindsey, would you hurry up?  We're getting thirsty." 

She appeared a minute later and shoved a glass into his hand.  "There you are dear.  I'm sorry I wasn't faster.  I'm not used to acting like a maid."

She dropped back down onto the couch and gulped half of her drink down, scowling at Langston. 

"Where's Tory's water and Anthony's drink Lindsey?" 

"Again I am not a maid." Her blue eyes were full of fire. 

"I'll get them." Langston glared at Lindsey as he left the room. 

"Will you two excuse me for a moment?" Tony said, getting up.  "I need to make a phone call."

Lindsey waved him off.  Tory gave him a pained smile, half afraid that he was going to sneak out to the car and drive away.  As he went up the stairs to get his phone Langston returned, handing Tory a bottle of water and sitting Tony's drink on a coaster on the glass coffee table. 

"Where did Anthony go?"

"He had to call his aunt.  Let her know we got here in one piece." Tory gave Langston a tight smile. 

"Ah, family obligations." He nodded. 

As if he knew anything about family she thought.  He was an only child, the son of two only children who had died when he was in his early twenties, leaving him with enough money to live more than comfortably for the rest of his life. 

She wanted so badly for this trip to be over she thought.  She wanted a cigarette so bad that she could see herself grabbing the newly lit cigarette from Lindsey's hand and taking a satisfied drag.  Everything Lindsey and Langston did or said was bugging the hell out of her.  She wanted to tell them both to go to hell.  That she'd never be happy until she was old enough to never have to see either of them again.  How she hated both of them. 

Luckily Tony returned then and sat close enough to her on the couch that she could reach out and take his hand.  He squeezed her hand.  All she wanted to do was crawl up into his lap like she was a little girl and make him protect her from her evil mother and stepfather. 

"So you're twenty-one Anthony?" Langston said.  "An older man for our little girl here huh?"  Tony almost dropped her hand then, but held on when Langston laughed.  "It's not a problem son.  I'm six years older than Lindsey, so there’s not much I can say then is there?" He winked. 

Oh she wanted to scream Tory thought.  Him with his stupid winking and Lindsey with her chain smoking and sullen sipping at her drink.  They'd probably been sitting around all day, getting drunk on expensive liquor. 

There were no decorations in the house like usual, and nothing in the house that would ever make you believe that it was Christmas.  No corny songs on the radio or Christmas specials on the TV, which was on mute on the other side of the room, turned on to some news channel.  Even Tony's house was more festive she thought, with his sad little fiber optic Christmas tree with the bent branches. 

She fingered the locket around her neck, and wondered what it would be like to have a real Christmas again.  With a real dinner, a tree, and presents and family.  Why couldn't they be back with Tony's family she thought?  Lorelei had made her feel more cared for in the half an hour she'd been around her than Lindsey ever had. 

"Will you go check dinner dear?"  Langston said, turning to Lindsey.

"The timer is set to go off when it's done.  I can read Langston, remember?"

"Will you two excuse us for a moment?"  Langston said, coming up out of his chair and practically dragging Lindsey with him to the kitchen. 

Through the closed door, they could hear loud voices arguing.  Tory couldn't make out what they were saying but she didn't care.  She was so humiliated she couldn't stand it.  "I'm so sorry Tony."

"Everybody's got problems.  It's okay baby."

"No, it's not.  I hate them both."

"Tor.  Don’t say that.  I'm sure things will calm down.  I think they're both a little tipsy.  I'm sure things will get better when they both sober up."

"It's not like either of them will stay sober long," she said under her breath as Langston led Lindsey back into the room. 

"We owe you kids an apology," Langston said as he deposited a stone faced Lindsey onto the couch.  "I've got a really important presentation coming up which could pretty much make or break the business.  Things have been a little tense around here lately.  Tory would you mind setting the table and getting the salad out of the fridge?  Dinner should be ready in a few minutes."

"I'll help you Tor," Tony said, helping her to her feet. 

Tory could feel Lindsey's eyes on her back as Tony took her hand and walked with her to the kitchen.  And if looks could kill she thought.  Did it bother her that her daughter was with someone that she cared about when there was trouble brewing between her and Langston? 

She pulled plates and silverware out of the cabinet and drawer, marveling that she knew where anything was when this place had never felt like home.  She turned towards Tony, not knowing what to say.  He shook his head and took the dishes from her, carrying them to the dining room. 

She dug around in the spotless refrigerator and finally came up with a tightly wrapped salad.  She carried the bowl out to the dining room and placed it on the table.  She heard the timer ding in
the kitchen and returned to remove the casserole from the oven, feeling a bit like a maid herself, though it was just the house, the atmosphere; she thought. 

She never would have felt like a maid when she was helping out with dinner at her grandparent's house, had always liked helping her grandmother in the kitchen.  But this spotless kitchen with its state of the art appliances was miles away from the cozy kitchen of her grandmother. 

Sighing as she carried the dish into the dining room, protected by pot holders, she placed it in the middle of the table.  Even the dining room table was too big she thought, as if ten people lived in the house instead of two. 

"Dinner's ready," she called. 

Not that she was in the mood to eat.  Her stomach was still tied in knots from the stress of being in the same house as her mother and stepfather.  She'd really much rather crawl into bed and pull the covers over her head.  Even her bedroom offended her, though.  Lindsey had had it decorated in what she thought was a perfect feminine style, with lots of pink and lavender. 

Tory hated the whole damn thing, from the frilly curtains on the windows to the stupid bed skirt that she was always managing to trip over. 

Lindsey and Langston walked in, having both stopped to refill their drinks on the way by. 

There was silence at the table at first, but after Tory had finished her small plate of salad, and was staring disdainfully at the casserole, of which she still had entirely no appetite for, Langston returned to the table, having refilled his drink yet again and said "I'm afraid Lindsey and I have a prior engagement this evening.  We would have tried to get out of it, but it's a rather important meeting with a prospective client.  I hope you two don't mind."

Did she mind she thought?  She was ecstatic to not have to spend the evening with those two. 

Feeling Langston's eyes on her, she looked up.  "No, of course not.  I think we can find something to do."

"I'm sure you will." He gave her a tight smile.  "You'll remember what we spoke about earlier Anthony?" 

"Oh yes, of course sir."

"If you'll excuse us, we must get ready to go out.  You don't mind clearing the table do you Tory?"

Right now she'd clean the house from top to bottom if they'd just get the hell out of her sight she thought. 

Once her mother and stepfather were out of earshot, Tory turned to Tony.  "If we're really lucky they'll have something to do for the next couple nights, too."

"On Christmas?"

"Look at this place.  Do you see a Christmas tree?  Do you see a stack of presents or anything at all that would lead you to believe that anyone in this house gives a flying fuck about something as petty as Christmas?  I don't know when the last time was that my mother bothered to pretend that it mattered.  She didn't bother when I was a kid, so why in the hell would she bother now?  I would not give a shit if her and her husband of the moment were gone.  I would prefer it if I had the peace and quiet that only exists in this house of horrors when Lindsey and Langston aren't here."