Hot Sauce (Suncoast Society #26)(67)

“That bitch,” her mom said, “put on a good act of pretending to be worried about you, about your state of mind, and that there were two guys with you. I told her she should mind her own goddamned business, that the best thing Tony ever did was divorce her, and then I hung up on her.”

“Um, wow.”

Her mom smiled. “Yesss. I’d been looking forward to that for a looong time.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“I called Jenny, because I was worried about you and didn’t want to stress you out any more than you already were. She explained the two guys were very dear, trusted friends of Tony’s and hers, and that Kelly was a bitch. Which we already knew. We thought about flying back out, but unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly in the budget. I regretted letting you talk us into such a short visit, but it wasn’t like I could force you to let us stay, either.”

“We knew,” her father said, “that you needed to find your own way. You’ve always been like that. Even when you were a kid. Tony was the only one you ever really opened up to. For everything else, you walled up and withdrew until you were ready.”

“That makes a lot of sense,” Reed said, staring at her. “A lot.”

“But,” her dad said, “you’re here now. I’m guessing there’s going to be some news dropped, so how about you just tell us instead of stressing out about it any longer than necessary.”

And here she thought her parents hadn’t known her at all. Not that she didn’t love them or feel loved, but yes, of anyone, it’d been Tony she always ran to first. And hell, the past thirteen years, they’d lived out here in Seattle, so it had felt like it’d been just her and Tony for the most part, even though they texted and talked on the phone.

There wasn’t any other way around it but through it. “Lyle and Reed are partners and getting married. And I’m poly with them. So it’s the three of us together as a family.”

She couldn’t read the expression on her parents’ faces. “Is that all?” her dad asked.

“No,” she admitted. “They were good friends with Tony. They hadn’t…become lovers, but given some more time, they probably would have. I found Tony’s journal after he died, and it revealed a lot about him. Stuff we didn’t know.”

“If you think it’ll shock us that he was kinky,” her mom said, “think again.”

Vanessa’s eyes widened. “What?”

She laughed. “You might have been too young to remember all the times he wanted to play cowboys and Indians with you, and he always played the cowboy and wanted you to be the Indian and tie him up. I told your father then that it probably meant something.”

“Um…okay, other than that being borderline racially offensive, what?”

“We’re living in Seattle,” her dad said. “We’re not involved in the alternative culture here, but we have friends who are. We’re not prudes, and we’re not strangers to that kind of thing.”

Lyle snickered. “Wow. She’s really been stressing over this.”

“I could tell,” her mom said. “I can see the strain in her face.”

Her mind reeled. “Um, let me get this straight. You’re cool with me having two boyfriends, and that Tony was kinky?”

They both looked sad. “You’re our only child,” her dad said. “Do we agree with every choice you make in your life? Probably not. But once you hit eighteen we had to trust we’d done the best we could by you. I think, considering your track record, you’ve made some remarkably sound decisions in your life. If you want to be happy doing this? We’re not going to judge you.”

She’d suspected acceptance from her parents, but not…this.

“Wow. Okay, thanks.”

“So was this a visit for you both to sort of ask for her hand in…commitment?” her mom asked the guys.

The men exchanged a glance. “Yes, ma’am,” Reed said. “That pretty much sums it up. We didn’t want to be a secret, and we told her we wouldn’t get married until she told you.”

“And that’s not something I wanted to do over the phone,” Vanessa added.

“Every time I’ve talked to you for the past several months,” her mom said, “I heard about these two. I don’t even think you realized it at the time how much you talked about them. After my initial talk with Jenny and her assurances that they were good men, I let it go and knew when you were ready, you’d talk.”

And here she’d thought she’d been sneaky.

“The last time I talked to your brother,” her mom continued, looking sad, “was about a week before…” She trailed off. “I remember him mentioning them in passing. Kind of the way you had. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard about them, but I didn’t put it together until later. Now, it makes sense. Everything.”

“So welcome to the family,” her dad said. “Jenny warned us if we ever needed long-distance ass-whupping, that there’s a mutual friend of yours, Tilly, whose number she’ll give me.” He grinned.

Vanessa shuddered. “No, seriously. That’s not necessary.”

“From the little we talked with Tilly on the phone to arrange getting us the video,” her dad said, “she seemed very nice.”