Free The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp

Heaven. "Have you ever considered taking up flying?" she asked.
    "About ten years ago my brother Frankie and I took a few lessons," I said. "It just didn't do it for us."
    "Speaking of Frankie," our father said, "what do you hear from him?"
    "Not much. It's been over a week," I said. "But you know Frankie, the telephone is not his favorite way to communicate." ; "Unless he's putting his money down on a basketball team," Jim said. I could tell he regretted it as soon as it left his mouth. He tried lamely to recover. "He's a good kid," he told Diana. "Runs a health club in Beverly Hills." Jim turned back to me. "If
    you hear from him, tell him to call his aging father."
    The main course was over, and we all heaped mucho praise on Angel. I helped clear the table. "I made flan for dessert," she announced. "I'll have to take a rain check," Diana said. "I'm on an early morning shift this week."
    We all expressed our regrets as Diana threw a white cardigan sweater over her shoulders and picked up her purse. "Thank you for a lovely evening," she said. "Mike, the Sauvignon Blanc was particularly excellent." I smiled. Mr. Big Shot Wine Connoisseur.
    "Mike, do me a favor," Big Jim said. "Let me know if those automatic floodlights over the truck garage went on. They've been giving me trouble lately. And as long as you're going out, you may as well walk Diana to her car." "Oooh, a police escort," Diana said, and once again I caught a glimpse of the bouncy cheerleader from days gone by. "How exciting." She kissed Jim and Angel goodnight. I clucked to Skunkie, and the three of us walked to her car. The sky was peppered with stars. The moon was a few nights away from being full, and Diana Trantanella looked extremely desirable in the heavenly blue-white glow of night. Under different circumstances, it could have been a hell of a moment. I took her hand. "I'm sorry," I said. "I'm usually better company. I really do apologize."
    "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to sandbag you," she said, squeezing my hand ever so slightly. "I didn't even know you were coming. Big Jim told me ten minutes before you got here." I shook my head. "There's nothing worse than a well
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    meaning parent."
    "What do you expect from a jerk who flies a Piper?" She smiled. Her mouth looked very kissable in the moonlight. But I had been a total asshole this evening. I know the rules. I was in no way entitled to a goodnight kiss. And then she kissed me. She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to my cheek. It was just a kindhearted little peck to let me know that she accepted my apology, but her lips were soft and full and warm, and I felt a tingle run from my brain to the pit of my stomach. '"Night, Mike," she said, and she got into the Jeep and drove off.
    Skunkie was parked at my feet, and I crouched down to scratch him behind the ears. "What do you think, boy?" I asked him. "Interesting woman." He didn't answer. He just rolled over on his back so I could scratch his belly. Hey, we've all got an agenda.
    II

CHAPTER 15
    When I got back into the house Big Jim had finished eating his flan and was already working on Diana's.
    I sat back down at the table, picked up a spoon and toyed with my dessert. "The outdoor floodlights seem to have come on just fine," I said, drilling a hole in him with my best pissed off stare. "I'm not surprised. They've been working well for years," he said, inhaling the rest of his second bowl of custard. "I didn't send you out there to check on the lights. Did you apologize to her for behaving like an asshole?" "Me? What I should have done is apologize for you behaving like an asshole. What the hell were you thinking? Since when do I need you to mastermind my playdates?" "It's six months today, isn't it? I loved Joanie like a daughter, but it's time to move on with your goddam life," he said. "Look who's talking. When Mom died you spent the first six months holed up in this house."
    "That was different. Your mother and I were married