The Dare (20 page)

"No," Grandma took a sip of tea, "I was just
curious. You know me, flighty as a seagull." She laughed. "Ta-ta.
Use sunscreen!"

Beth jolted up from her seat, but I kept my
eyes firmly on Grandma. Something wasn't right. She was tricking
me, but I didn't know how. The longer I stared the more mischievous
her smile became. And then she blew on her hand and winked.

"You're evil."

"Thank you." She beamed as the door closed
behind us.

Beth was a good few feet ahead of me, making
her way toward the pool.

"Slow down!" I called after her.

"Keep up," she called back.

"Can you just, I grabbed her arm, "stop for
one damn second?"

She stopped walking and put her sunglasses
on. Hell, did that mean she was crying?

"What's wrong with you?"

"I just want to relax in the sun. Is that so
much to ask?

"Yes," I snapped. "I mean, no."

"Jace," Beth put her hands on her hips, "what
do you want?"

"I want you to stop yelling. I want to stop
going to therapy with a senile eighty-six year old with felt
pictures. I want my life back, but I want to kiss you more. So
that's what I want," I grumbled

"Your life back?"

I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her
against the wall. "The second part."

"A kiss?"

"I want more than a kiss, Beth. Don't you get
it? I'm trying to protect you. I'm trying to do the right thing. I
want you. Don't you see that I want you? Give me a reason not to
want you
—
"

"My cartoon character was She-Ra."

"Huh?"

"I wanted to be a warrior princess."

"That doesn't help."

"I thought it would weird you out?"

"You wearing battle gear and wielding a
sword?" I chuckled. "Not even close to helping."

"My most secure childhood memory was when I
got second place at the science fair. My mom and dad weren't able
to make it, so my grandpa came. He told me that as long as I had a
heart to go along with my brain I'd turn out okay. He said hearts
and brains shouldn't work separate but together." Her eyes
glistened with tears. "He said I was smart, but he kissed me on the
cheek and said what was more important is that he loved my
heart."

I reached for her hand.

"He, uh, died the following day. Stroke."

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her
head.

"And I hate vegetables." Her voice was
muffled against my chest. "If I had to be one, I'd ask to be put in
vegetable soup so I'd suffer a veggie death. I hate green things. I
know I'm supposed to like them. I know I'm supposed to be
super-healthy, but damn it, Jace, sometimes I just want a
cookie!"

"I think I can do that."

"Really?" She stepped away and wiped
underneath her eyes.

"Yeah." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders
and kissed her forehead again. "I'll buy you as many cookies as you
want. And if your plan was to get me to fall just a little bit more
for you, you succeeded."

"Oh yeah?" Beth sniffled, "Why's that?"

Grandma was a damn spy and had dug into my
childhood, that's how. "I wanted to be He-Man when I was little. My
most secure moment was when my dad said he was proud of me after I
won Student Body President. He said all leaders should have a good
head but needed to lead with their hearts first."

My hand trembled just slightly as I squeezed
Beth's shoulder. "And I've been on vegetable strike since the
fourth grade."

"A rebel."

"Oh yes. Every time my mom put carrots in my
lunchbox, I swapped them with the girl sitting next to me. Cheetos
and carrots? Same color. It helped that she was legally blind in
one eye, plus she had a crush on me. I'd send her to get milk.
She'd come back, and the Cheetos would be gone, leaving her with
carrots. I lied for two years, Beth, I'm not proud of what I did.
But sometimes a man has to do things, ugly things, to get what he
wants."

"You stole cheetos from a blind girl. How
does that not make the news and me walking with you into a hotel
does?"

"Easy." I grinned. "You're prettier."

Beth's face reddened. "So how about that
cookie?"

"How about it?" I reached for her hand and
didn't let go. We fell into easy talk of She-Ra and He-Man
escapades and decided that Grandma had broken laws of national
security to get the information that she had. The woman had done
her homework.

"Closed?" Beth pointed at the sign to one of
the snack shops lining the beach. "Why is it closed?"

Why was her voice rising? And then I
remembered her reaction to cookies a few days ago. The yelling, the
stomping, the throwing.

"Beth, calm down. We'll find you cookies." I
patted her hand.

She turned, her angry cat-eyes flashing with
irritation. Holy shit. Where was Donkey when I needed a quick
escape?

"Beth! Jace! Over here!" Someone or something
was waving at us.

I couldn't make out faces because of the way
the sun was setting. But I didn't need to make out faces. It was
too late anyway. A fist came flying into my face and everything
went very, very black.

"Did you?" The agent sounded irritated.

"Did I what?"

"Break laws of national security for personal
gain?"

Grandma seemed to think about the question.
"Of course not."

The agent breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was for their gain. Not personal at
all."

"Ma'am, that doesn't make it legal."

"I thought we've established I'm above the
law, Gus? Sheesh, you're so forgetful, and I'm the senile one."

Beth

"Char? Jake?"

I was caught between wanting to make sure
Jace was okay and also wanting to hug my sister and return the
punch to Jake's face.

"Hey!" Char hugged me and then shoved Jake.
"You ass, why'd you punch him?"

Jake cracked his knuckles. "He kissed you.
Twice. Tried to steal you away. And was inappropriately touching
your sister."

"Weren't you voted player of the year in
Playboy?" Char asked. "Just curious."

"I'm a reformed man and happily married."
Jake rolled his eyes. "Are you okay, Beth?"

"Since when is this one defending girls'
honor?"

I ignored Jake's question and put my arm
around Char.

"Marriage," Char rolled her eyes, "it's cured
him. Disgusting, really. He won't even answer when I call him
whore
. Tragic, really."

"Heard that!" Jake snapped then poured some
bottled water over Jace's face in an attempt to either drown him or
wake him up.

"Why are you guys here?"

"Grandma kept hanging up on us." Char rolled
her eyes. "And Rick's been trying to track down Jake and won't stop
calling him. It seems our senator has it in his head that he isn't
a public figure and doesn't need to keep his phone on."

"Sort of my fault." I meekly raised my hand.
"But to be fair, neither of us have even touched technology in the
past three days."

"We know." Char patted her on the shoulder.
"Also, that Dr. Z needs to chill out. When we were trying to reach
you, she kept saying that you were not to be disturbed, which
frankly just freaked this one out." Char pointed to Jake, who was
leaning on his hands and knees and now lightly tapping Jace's
face.

"Wake up, bastard. Fight like a man."

"Fight like a man?" Jace grumbled, not
opening his eyes. "Since when is getting sucker-punched fighting
like a man?"

"I breathed hard enough. You should have
sensed me."

"The man has a point, Thor," I agreed.

"Thor?" Char asked then looked at Jace. "Huh.
How 'bout that?"

"She calls you Thor?" Jake gave a disgusted
look.

"Wanna see my hammer?" Jace opened his eyes
and made a fist.

"Funny," Jake said dryly. "The dirty senator
makes jokes."

"Hilarious. The drunk billionaire comes to
the rescue."

"Boys!" Char shouted. "Keep your balls on,
okay? Damn, it's like the honeymoon from hell."

Jake got up from his position on the ground
and wrapped Char in his arms. "I'm sorry, baby."

She sighed heavily against his chest. "It's
okay. I blame Grandma."

"Economy failing?" Jake swore. "Blame
Grandma."

"Can't sleep?" Char added in. "Blame
Grandma."

"Please," Jace tried to get to his feet. "I
highly doubt you guys have been worse off than us."

"They couldn't find our reservation at the
hotel so we went to another hotel. They too were conveniently all
filled up," Jake growled. "And then, wonder of all wonders, Grandma
finds the perfect place for us to stay, all inclusive, nice little
huts…"

"Huts?" I gulped.

"There's two of these places." Jake grimaced.
"I hate damn couples' therapy. Some pictures can't be unseen, some
words, unheard. I need a damn drink and a
—
"

"She drugged me with Viagra!" Jace
blurted.

"Beth Lynn!" Char yelled.

"Not me!" I held up my hands in innocence.
"Grandma did."

"But Grandma's been with us!" Jake said.

"No, she's been with us, here. She's our
therapist."

"No…" Char squinted, "she's been our
therapist."

"Holy shit." Jake pinched the bridge of his
nose. "I'm going to strangle her. I don't care what you say, Char.
I'm doing it. I'm going to prison."

"Aw, baby, you know you're too pretty for
prison." Char patted his back. "They'd eat you alive."

"Drinks?" I offered lamely. "You know, before
you guys decide to bury your grandmother."

"Oh good!" A voice said from the dock.
"You're all here, just as planned."

I turned slowly to face Grandma. The woman
had no soul.

"Well." Jake cleared his throat, "may as well
get on with it. Why are we all here, Grandma?"

"Yes," Another voice rang out. "Why in the
hell are we all here?"

"Hi, Kacey!" Char waved.

Jake pulled her arm down and swore.

"All my kids." Grandma clapped and then did
something that I'd never before seen in my life.

She burst into tears.

"Does your meddling know no end?"

Grandma squinted. "No, of course not? They
need me. And by the time the story's finished, I guarantee you'll
agree. Grandma's ways are best."

"I highly doubt your grandsons agree."

"I beg to differ. My grandsons love me."

"Is that why one threatened to strangle
you?"

"Oh that." Grandma snorted. "He'd have to
catch me first."

Jace

Funny, how a few minutes ago I was ready to
kill the elderly woman, and now my heart felt like someone had
pulled it beating out of my chest, stomped on it, and then placed
it back inside, all twisted and dirty.

"What's wrong?" Kacey pulled Grandma into a
hug and gave Travis a helpless look.

He, in turn, looked to Jake who shrugged and
nudged me. Nothing. I had nothing.

"Oh, I've made a mess." Grandma wiped a few
tears. "I thought I could pull it off, but…" she sniffled, "I just…
I couldn't do it. The project was too big, the minds helping me
plan too damn small."

"Did she just call us stupid?" Jake
asked.

"No," I answered honestly. "She'll just come
out and say it if she wants to, believe me."

"And now his career's going to be over!" she
wailed.

I had a sinking feeling I was the
his,
and the career was already in the toilet, but hey, ever the
optimist, I kept listening.

"Jace."

Well, shit.

"Your approval ratings are low, it's true.
I've been monitoring the news briefings. As of right now, everyone
believes you've gone on vacation with your new family, but someone
went to the reporters and said you were bluffing to cover your own
ass. And when Kerry was interviewed again, she spouted more
nonsense about how you weren't a family man and often paid
prostitutes."

Jake's eyes narrowed.

"Ya, cast that stone, bastard. See if it hits
you or me in the ass first," I sneered.

He shook his head and crossed his arms.

"So why are we here?" Travis asked. "Seems to
me that Jace needs to get back to Portland and fix this. And you
need to help him."

"Well," Grandma wrung her hands together, "I
may have let it slip that he was here with his fiancée and her
family."

"Of course you did." I clenched my teeth, not
liking where it was going.

"So that explains why you called us, and why
Jake and Char panicked when Rick wouldn't stop calling them,
but…"

"Oh bother." Grandma wiped another few stray
tears. "I'll just come out and say it."

"Please do." Okay, my teeth were going to
grind clean off.

"I told them it was a destination wedding,
and that your honeymoons were cover-ups to keep the media
away."

I swayed on my feet. Not a proud moment.

Grandma continued talking. "I finally reached
Rick, and he said it was a good cover, but that if we could somehow
leak pictures to the media of us together, it would help."

"Hmm." Travis's eyes lit up with approval.
"That's actually quite brilliant."

"You think so?" Grandma beamed.

I smacked his arm. Friends don't give Grandma
compliments, or access to Benadryl, or any sort of encouragement,
for shit's sake.

"What?" He shrugged. "It's not like you guys
actually have to get married or anything. I mean, come on, Jace,
it's not like you'll ever get married again after what happened
with
—
"

Grandma smacked him on the back of the head.
He gave me a guilty shrug, while Jake looked nervously between me
and Beth.

She'd been eerily quiet the entire time,
driving me insane with the desire to jump into her head and find
out what she was thinking. Instead, she stood there like a frozen
statue, while everyone else planned the next few days.