Not Planning on You (Danvers #2)(44)
When she felt Gray tap on her shoulder, she realized that while she’d been studying them, Gray had been making the introductions. She felt her face flush in embarrassment. Luckily Gray’s father stepped forward and held his hand out. “Hi Suzy, I’m John Merimon and this is my wife Victoria.”
Suzy shook his hand, returning his smile and then turned to Gray’s mother. She was shocked when instead of taking the hand that Suzy had extended to her; she stepped forward and threw her arms around her. She was holding her crutches and couldn’t return her hug and truthfully she was too surprised to try. Victoria pulled back still holding onto her shoulders and said, “Honey, it’s so nice to meet you. Nicky has told us all about you. Of course being Gray’s mother, I knew he’d been mooning over some girl for ages.”
Suzy couldn’t help but laugh at Gray’s moan behind her. Gray’s father walked over to his son and put a sympathetic arm around his shoulders. “Your mother is a force of nature, son, you just have to hang on and ride the hurricane force winds out.”
“Very funny, John,” Gray’s mother snorted, but Suzy could see the love in her expression as she looked at her husband. “Oh geez, look at us standing here running our mouths and this poor girl is forced to stand here on her crutches and listen to us.” Shooing the men out of the way, Victoria ushered Suzy to the couch. She pushed an ottoman over to the couch and insisted on propping Suzy’s foot up on it. Standing back with her hands on her hips, she surveyed her handiwork with pride. “Now Suzy, what can I get you to drink? Would you like water, soda or something stronger like I’m fixing to indulge in?”
“Water would be great, Mrs. Merimon, thanks.”
“Oh God, please call me Vicky, when I hear Mrs. Merimon it makes me think of John’s mother, which in turn gives me a serious case of road rash.”
Gray’s father rolled his eyes as he walked to the living room to take a seat. With a smirk, Gray clapped his father on the back as he walked by. “Force of nature, right dad? Guys, I don’t believe I caught the reason for the ambush you staged today?”
His mother had returned from the kitchen with a bottle of water for Suzy and a glass of wine for herself. She perched on her husband’s chair and after taking a drink of her wine, she said, “I told you that Nicky told us everything, and before you rip him limb from limb, remember you boys can’t keep a secret from me. He tried his best, but I knew he was hiding something.” Smiling as Suzy, she continued, “Every time they did something wrong growing up, I knew the minute I looked into their chubby little faces they had been up to no-good.”
Almost choking on her water, Suzy said, “Chubby?”
“Oh, dear, yes. Gray and Nicky were round as little butter-balls until they were around ten or so. I think they got that from John’s mother.”
Suzy didn’t know who was more horrified at this point, Gray or John. All she knew was that she loved this woman. She was so outspoken that she made her seem tame. She’d never imagined she’d feel so at home with Gray’s parents, but it was as if she’d known them for years.
“Mother, I’m sure Suzy is fascinated by my fat years, but you didn’t finish answering the question about why you were waiting for us.”
With a dramatic sigh, Victoria said, “He’s always so impatient. So as I was saying Gray, your brother told us about that tramp Reva and what she’s been putting you through. I will say, Gray, that I’m not proud of you for sleeping with that girl.”
Gray looked completely mortified to be having this discussion with his mother. If they hadn’t been discussing him sleeping with another woman, Suzy would have found the whole conversation hysterical.
“Mom, I’m sorry that you feel that I didn’t treat Reva well, but I don’t think this is the time to discuss it.”
“Gray, honey, I’m just pointing out that if you had listened to my pep talks all of these years, you would have remembered the most important one concerning people like Reva, “If you roll with dogs, you will get fleas.”
Suzy couldn’t help it; she threw her head back and laughed until her sides hurt. Gray hung his head in defeat as his mother continued imparting more of her wisdom. When she finally caught her breath, John winked at her and said, “Welcome to the family, Suzy, imagine our Christmas dinners each year.”
“So what’s the plan with this woman, son? We could talk to her parents, Bart and Jean, but I don’t know how much good it will do. We aren’t really friends, and frankly I find them both obnoxious. Have you thought of a restraining order?”
“I’m thinking of talking to her first, Dad.”
Suzy put her hand on Gray’s arm and added, “He means that we are going to talk to her first. I told Gray that I felt that she needed to see us together so that she’d understand that he has moved on.” With a dead-pan expression, Suzy added, “If that doesn’t work, I plan to shove one of my crutches up her ass.”
Victoria jumped to her feet and clapped her hands. “Grayson, you have found your match. There will never be a boring day in your life with this one; she and I are going to be the best of friends.”
Gray looked as if he couldn’t decide if that was good or bad news. He rarely ever stood a chance against his mother and now with her firmly aligned with Suzy; the men in his family might as well wave the white flag now. “I think we are going to settle in, and Suzy needs to rest for a while after our ride. I’m going to arrange to meet Reva later on for a drink. I don’t want her in my house and I don’t want to go to hers. Hopefully this will be the end of it tonight.”