Point of Retreat(48)

Lake is still glaring at me. "This is really interesting, Will," she says sarcastically. "There sure is a lot about you I don't know."

I look at her straight faced. "Actually, Babe…there isn't. You pretty much know everything about me."

She shakes her head and places her elbows on the table and squints her eyes at me, putting on that fake smile I’m really growing to hate. "No, Sweetie. I don't think I do know everything about you.” She says this in a tone that only I could recognize as her false enthusiasm.

"I didn't know you played the guitar. I also didn't know you were getting a roommate. In fact, this ‘Reece’ seems to have been a pretty big part of your life, and you've never even mentioned him….along with a few other ‘old friends’ that have popped up recently."

I set my fork down on my plate and wipe my mouth with my napkin. Everyone at the table is staring at me, waiting for me to speak. I smile at my grandmother who seems oblivious to what's going on between Lake and I. She smiles back at me, interested in my response. I decide to raise the stakes, so I wrap my arm around Lake and pull her closer to me and kiss her on the forehead.

"You're right, Layken." I say her entire first name with her same feigned enthusiasm. I know how much it pisses her off. "I did fail to mention a few old friends from my past. I guess this means we'll just have to spend a lot more time together, getting to know every single aspect of each other's lives." I pinch her chin with my thumb and finger and smile at her as she narrows her eyes at me.

"Reece is back? He's living with us?" Caulder asks.

I nod. "He needed a place to crash for a month or so."

"Why isn't he staying with his mother?" my grandmother asks.

"She got remarried while he was overseas. He doesn't get along with his new step-dad, so he's looking for his own place," I say.

Lake leans forward in an attempt to inconspicuously remove my arm that's draped around her shoulder. Instead, I squeeze her tighter and pull my chair closer to hers. "Lake sure made a good first impression when she met Reece," I say, referring to her shirtless tantrum in my living room. "Right, Sweetie?"

She presses the heel of her boot into the top of my foot and smiles back at me. "Right," she says. She scoots her chair back and stands up. "Excuse me. I need to go to the restroom." She slaps her napkin down on the table and gives me the eye as she walks away.

Everyone else at the table is oblivious to her anger.

"You two seem to have moved past your hump from last week," my grandfather says after she's disappeared down the hallway.

"Yep. Getting along great," I say. I shove a spoonful of potatoes in my mouth.

Lake remains in the bathroom for quite a while. When she returns, she doesn't speak much. Kel, Caulder and Grandpaul talk video games while Lake and I finish our meals in silence.

"Will, can you help me in the kitchen?" my grandmother says.

My grandmother is the last person that would ask for help in the kitchen. I'm either about to change a light bulb or receive a lecture. I get up from the table and grab mine and Lake's plates and follow her through the kitchen door.

"What's that all about?" she says as I scrape food off the plates and into the disposal.

"What's what all about?" I reply.

She wipes her hands on the dish towel and leans against the counter. "She's not very happy with you, Will. I may be old, but I know a woman's scorn when I see one. Do you want to talk about it?"

She's more observant than I give her credit for.

"I guess it can't hurt at this point," I say, leaning against the kitchen counter next to her. "She's pissed at me. The whole thing with Vaughn last week left her doubting me. Now she thinks I'm with her just because I feel sorry for her and Kel."

"Why are you with her?" my grandmother asks.

"Because. I'm in love with her," I say.

"Well, I suggest you better show her," she says. She takes the rag and begins wiping down the counter.

"I have. I can't tell you how many times I've told her. I can't get it through her head. Now she wants me to leave her alone so she can think. I'm getting so frustrated; I don't know what else I can do."

My grandmother rolls her eyes at my perceived ignorance. "A guy can tell a girl he's in love with her until he's blue in the face. Words don't mean anything to a woman when her head’s full of doubt. You have to show her."