Free Hanging on (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2) by K. F. Breene Page B

showed.
    Strange.
    “Hi mom. Trudy.” William kissed his mother on the cheek, than hugged the woman next to her.
    “Little Willie!” Trudy exclaimed. “Oh my word! You’re huge! What’ve they been feeding you?”
    When someone had asked that very question about William’s bulls, he’d replied that he fed them babies to keep ‘em mean. It was a joke. Judging by his polite smile to Trudy, he was not planning on joking now.
    This was very bad news.
    Tom, William's dad, came through the door a second later with another gentleman with red hair.
    “Well, what a surprise!” Tom said in such a way that said it wasn’t a surprise at all.
    William’s jaw clenched.
    “Lovely to see you again, Jessica,” Tom said, stepping forward and hugging me. It was a genuine hug. But then, Tom had always been a nice guy.
    His wife, however…
    “I thought y’all were going to the jazz club for dinner?” William asked stiffly.
    “Honey, you are being rude. Aren’t you going to introduce your…date?” Denise asked levelly. I didn’t miss her pause.
    War had been declared.
    “Of course.” William turned to me. “Jessica, this is Trudy. She owns a spa in town that has continually gotten great reviews.”
    “Hi, Trudy.” I smiled.
    “Hello! It’s about time Willie brought a date around! And my, but aren’t you pretty!” She laughed in an easy, good-natured kind of way.
    “And her husband, Dennis.” The red haired man nodded. “He manufactures video game consoles. His firm is now nation-wide.”
    I smiled and nodded, saying nothing since I didn’t really know what that meant.
    “You know my mother, of course.”
    I nodded, holding my smile so I didn’t lose it. I’d met her in the hospital when they were visiting Gladis. At that point she hadn’t been a road blocking snake. Things had changed.
    As William turned to his dad, Tom cut into the introductions. “And me. Boring ol’ Tom.” He laughed, shoo’ing everyone further into the restaurant.
    “And why don’t you tell everyone what you do,” Denise said before William could properly introduce me.
    William's arm convulsed around me, crushing me to his side protectively. Before he said something stupid, or felt bad he was dating the hired help, I answered, “I was recently promoted to Senior Accountant.” Trudy and Dennis both smiled and nodded. “I work for the Davies. Indirectly.”
    “Oh!” Trudy smiling bigger. “How great.”
    “Tell me, Jessica,” Dennis said, leaning toward me and lowering his voice. “Do they still treat their employees horribly?”
    Dennis backed up and started laughing, Tom mockingly shaking a fist at him. I felt like a pawn, somehow. Like I was used for show but really intruding on their time.
    “Well, our table is almost ready.” William slid his hand along my waist and gently nudged me away.
    It took everything I had not to hurriedly dash toward the bar.
    “Well, why don’t we all get a table?” Denise asked, eyes trained on me. Her smile was as fake as her nails.
    “Oh yes! That would be fun.” Trudy agreed, not realizing that deeper forces were at work.
    Tom and William both wore matching grimaces they were trying to hide within smiles.
     
    At the table, now holding six instead of our intended two, Denise started the cat fight with, “Jessica, I hear Californian’s know wine. Why don’t you choose for the table?”
    “Now, Denise, that is a sweeping generalization,” Tom chided softly.
    “Oh my gracious, yes!” Trudy bubbled. “I love California. I go whenever Denise has to fly down for work. Yes, do pick the wine. How exciting! What part?”
    Denise handed me the wine list with a smug smile.
    I was so thankful that I was a wino. I did know wines. Wine tasting with the girls was one of my favorite things, and we’d taken many a trip to various wine districts in California looking for that next great find.
    But would I recognize any in Texas?
    Getting back to Trudy’s question as I opened the extensive