Free Big Daddy Sinatra 3: The Best of My Love (The Sinatras of Jericho County) by Mallory Monroe

question.   Then she smiled and pointed. “Just like
Tony,” she said, and Charles and the others laughed.
    “Tony?”
Jenay asked, smiling too.   “What about
your father?   Or me ?”
    “But
Tony looks out for me,” Bonita said.   “He
takes me places and let me visit him at the radio station.”
    “I
heard about your new gig, Tony,” Carly said with a smile.   “A radio therapist, or, to be accurate, a
therapist with a radio show.   That’s all
right.”
    “I
thought you wanted to be a monk, or something,” Ashley said.   “Now you’re a therapist. You can’t seem to
make up your mind.”
    “At
least I have one,” Tony said deadpan, causing Carly and Robert to laugh.
    “Not
funny,” Donald said.
    “Thank-you,”
Ashley agreed.   Then she looked at
Jenay.   “Ma,” she asked, “are you still
going to California?”
    “Oh
yes,” Jenay said.   “My father is still
having his surgery in a couple weeks, and I’m still going for a week to help my
mother with his recovery.”
    “But
what will Dad do without you?” Tony asked.
    Jenay
smiled.   “Ah, Tony, that’s sweet!”
    “Sweet
my ass,” Charles said, and everybody laughed.
    Tony,
however, corrected his father.   “You
really need to watch your language around the children,” he said, sweeping his
hand, not just toward Bonita, but Donald and Ashley as well.   Robert laughed.
    “Bump
you, Tone,” Ashley said.   She looked at
Jenay again.   “I’m asking because, since
I’ll be graduating soon, maybe I can go to Cali with you.   It’ll be a nice graduation gift for me.”
    “But
she’s going to visit her parents before you graduate,” Carly reminded her sister.
    “So?”
Ashley said.   “It’ll be an early gift.”
    Carly
shook her head.   “You really ought to
stop partying and study more.”
    “I’m graduating
before you,” Ashley said, “so bump you.”
    “First
of all,” Tony said, “you’re two years older than Carly, so naturally you’re
graduating first.   Second of all,
Berkskill College has its good points, I’m sure, but let’s not delude
ourselves. It’s no Harvard.   Carly will
be a graduate of Harvard, just as I am.   Big difference.”
    “A
college degree is a college degree,” Donald said.
    He
and Ashley high-fived.   “Thank-you!” she
said, and they both laughed.
    “Guess
who I saw today?” Jenay asked Charles in the midst of their laughter.
    Charles
looked at her.   “Who?”
    “Aaron
Gentry and the good old boys.”
    “Aaron
Gentry?” Donald asked.   “What did that
prick want?”
    “After
they left your father’s office, they came to the Inn to inform me of the fact
that they have selected me to be the queen of the Founder’s Day parade.”
    Tony
laughed.   “Those guys!”
    But
Charles was not laughing.   He stared at
her.   Was she tough enough to say no to
vermin like that who once wanted to restrict her access to a club she actually
owned?   “What did you tell them?” he
asked her.
    “I
told them to go jump in a lake,” Jenay said.   “What do you think I told them?”
    Charles
was pleased.   He should have known she
wouldn’t disappoint him.
    Tony
shook his head.   “Go jump in a lake.   You sound like Pop,” he said.
    “They
don’t want me in their parade,” Jenay continued.   “They know it and I know it.   I told them to jump in several lakes.”
    Charles
smiled.   “A woman after my own heart
right here,” he said braggingly.
    “What
did they say,” Tony asked, “when you suggested such an odd water destination to
them?”
    “They
told me that since the parade isn’t for several months, I should think about
it.   They insist, despite my water
destination suggestion, that the so-called honor is still mine.”
    “Bunch
of fucking losers,” Robert said.   “Who in
hell wanna be in their parade?”
    “So,
Bobby,” Carly asked, “how does it feel to be Dad’s property manager now?”
    “It
feels great,” Robert