The Valentine Grinch (3 page)

Her dad twisted on his chair to face her. As soon as
he saw her ratty sweatshirt with the gravy stain down the front,
and the baggy sweats she’d worn on the trip from the city and then
to bed, his warm smile evaporated. He turned back to his guest.
“She, uh, usually looks better than this.”

“Looks just like the Mandy I remember.” Dane
unfolded his big body from the kitchen chair and closed the
distance between them, until over six feet of hunky man stood
before her. His gaze filled with laughter and something else.
Something that looked a lot like affection and made her body heat
in a decidedly pleasurable way. “All you need is a box of Valentine
chocolates to complete the image of the adorable girl I
remember.”

She stifled the urge to throw herself at him and
scowled up at him instead. “Ha ha and hello.”

His broad shoulders shifted beneath the bulky
material of his winter coat. As he grinned down at her and held out
both arms, a slow, easy, sexy smile turned up the edges of his
mouth. “Give me a hug, your Grinchness.”

“I prefer princess.”

He laughed, as she’d expected him
to. “Never going to happen. Not when you’re so grinchy and
grumpy.”

Amanda hesitated for only a moment before she
stepped into his arms and against his big body. He wrapped her in
his warmth, and she inhaled the scent of delicious man and
aftershave.

Through the barrier of clothes that separated them,
she heard the thump of his heart, felt hers thump in response.
Desire sizzled through her body, awakening parts that had never
reacted to his presence before, and she shivered.

Against the top of her head, she felt his lips move,
heard his whispered words. “I’ve missed you.”

Oh no.

Amanda pushed out of his arms.

He rocked back on his heels, seemingly unaware of
her sudden retreat, his gaze flicking over her. “It’s obvious I
came at a bad time. Should I go?”

In unison, her mom and dad responded. “No. Stay for
lunch.”

Dane stared at Amanda and Amanda stared back, and
all of a sudden it occurred to her that he was waiting for her
permission.

Her gaze swept down his lanky length, taking in the
breadth of shoulders beneath his winter jacket, the easy stance
that suggested a confidence he hadn’t had back in high school.
They’d both been shy, leaning on each other to get through the
awkward years of adolescence. Best friends forever. Isn’t that what
they’d vowed?

It made the urge to crawl back into his arms, maybe
work her way under his jacket until she found bare skin, somehow
wrong.

The beeper on the oven sounded, breaking the tension
between them, and her mom opened the oven door and adjusted the
cooking racks. “Did we tell you that Dane is Morty’s best man?
Since you didn’t bring anyone, maybe he could be your date.”

Her gaze swept over his lanky form and she pictured
legions of women lined up for his attention. “Maybe he already has
a date, Mom.”

“I don’t,” he answered easily, and with another sexy
grin added, “So you can tag along with me, if you want. It’ll be
just like the old days.”

When they’d both been dateless and counted on the
other so they wouldn’t look like total losers. Only this time, her
unexpected attraction to him could complicate things. Amanda chose
to focus on their friendship and smirked up at him. “Just don’t
expect any side benefits.”

Tom cleared his throat and came to stand beside
Dane, reaching up to put one arm around the taller man’s shoulders.
“Side benefits? What are your intensions, son?”

Amanda recognized her dad’s protective stance. “Just
kidding, Dad. Dane has always been a perfect gentleman. I’m sure
he’ll be able to keep his hands to himself.”

“You better.” And then with a stern look in Dane’s
direction, he returned to the table and sat down.

Dane leaned forward slightly and she caught another
hint of warm, delicious male. “So are you still on the
anti-Valentine kick?”

Yeah, this was the way to act, teasing without
touching. Safe. Secure. “Definitely, so don’t be bringing me any
heart shaped chocolates or diamond rings.”

The rich sound of his laughter filled the room and
sent another sizzle through her body. As she flushed with warmth,
she caught a glimpse of herself in the shiny surface of the toaster
and swallowed back a groan.

What with the way she was dressed and the fact that
she hadn’t showered, she was pretty sure the attraction was all one
sided. She crossed her arms over the gravy stain and took another
step back. “Well, it was great to see you again, Dane. I was — uh —
headed to the shower but I ran out of soap. I’ll just continue on
with that and see you at the wedding.”

Her mom closed the oven door with a bang and
straightened up, her face aglow from the heat. “Actually, you’ll be
seeing a lot of each other. I have a list of things to do before
the wedding and Dane has been kind enough to offer his help.”

Before she could respond, the shadowy form of her
grandpa took shape in front of her. He swung out at Dane, but his
fist passed through the younger man’s body. “Morty, you stay away
from my woman.”

Without thinking, Amanda said to her grandpa, “This
isn’t Morty.”

The room turned silent and Amanda looked through her
grandpa up at Dane. He was staring down at her with a perplexed
expression on his face. When he spoke, he carefully enunciated each
word. “I’m. Dane. Remember?”

Her grandpa George floated away, appearing confused.
Until he tugged off his glasses, held them up to the light and
squinted through them. “Damn things. I told the eye doctor I needed
a new prescription.”

“Good grief, this is embarrassing,” she muttered to
herself.

Her grandpa nudged her in the shoulder. “Tell him
you object to the wedding and you won’t allow it.”

Dane peered down at her, concern in his eyes and on
his expression. “You okay, Mandy? You seem sort of off.”

“It’s my Valentine grinchness peeking out.” She
folded her hands together behind her back, rocked on the balls of
her feet and gave him her most disarming smile. “And how have you
been?”

With a laugh and a shake of his head, he brushed
past her and headed for the back porch. “Mr. and Mrs. G. Thanks for
the coffee. I’ll take a rain check on lunch and come back later,
after Mandy has a chance to shower and put on makeup and, you know,
get presentable.”

And then he was gone. Through the kitchen window,
Amanda watched him walk along the sidewalk until he was out of
sight.

Wow, he’d matured into a real hunk. Still the same
smart ass but those broad shoulders and lean hips kind of made up
for it.

Behind her, Amanda heard a noise and she turned to
see her grandma shuffle into the room, her frail arms clutching a
black marble box to her chest.

Grandpa George glided across the room, his feet two
inches off the floor, and crooned, “Elvira, my sweet wife. I miss
you, my love.”

Grandma set the box on the countertop. Dora stopped
beating the batter and gave the urn the evil eye. “Elvira, I’ve
told you a hundred times not to put that thing near the food.”

Grandpa winked at Amanda. “That’s my ashes in there.
See how much my dear Elvira still loves me. Can’t bear to be apart
from me.”

Grandma sniffed the air. “Tom, did you switch your
aftershave? It smells like your dad in here.”

“You’re imagining things, Ma.”

“No, I’m not.” Grandma spied Amanda. “Finally,
you’re up. Come give your old granny a kiss.”

Amanda crossed the room, noting that her normally
frail and sad grandma looked radiant. Maybe Grandpa was just being
a sourpuss about the entire affair. “Congratulations on the
upcoming nuptials, Grandma.”

Grandpa howled out in anger. “Traitor.”

Tom pushed away from the table and went to rummage
in the fridge. “Amanda, what can I get you to eat?”

“Nothing, Dad. I can help myself.”

But before she knew it, she was seated at the table
and her dad had laid out a spread of buns, homemade soup, and
enough pickles and cheese to feed an army.

At this rate, she wouldn’t fit into her bridesmaid
dress, she thought as she slathered butter onto a bun.

Grandpa glided onto the chair beside her. “That urn
is made for two. George and Elvira Goodwin. There’s no room for a
threesome in here. If you don’t stop this wedding, I’m going to
haunt you for the rest of forever.”

Over by the cupboard, Grandma picked up the urn and
cradled it lovingly in her arms. “Amanda, when you’re finished your
lunch, you can drive me to the cemetery. Everyone keeps telling me
it’s time to move on, so I’ve decided to pick out a plot and bury
your grandpa’s ashes before the wedding.”

With a howl, Grandpa vanished in a brilliant poof of
light that made Amanda blink ... and wonder what it would be like
to have him popping in and out for the rest of her life, or if it
would just happen when she came home for the holidays.

Chapter Three

The rest of forever could last an eternity, Amanda
thought as she went upstairs to shower and change. By the time she
headed back downstairs to collect Grandma, she’d decided to have a
heart to heart discussion with the older woman to find out exactly
why she was in such a rush to get married.

In the kitchen, the heart shaped cake pans had been
filled with batter and placed in the oven to bake.

“I’m ready to leave now, Grandma,” she called out as
she wandered through the kitchen and into the empty living room.
“Hello? Is anybody in the house?”

Odd. It wasn’t like her parents to leave the oven on
while they were away.

Grandma came out of her room, the black urn clutched
in her arms. She shoved it at Amanda. “Here, hold this thing while
I put on my coat and boots.”

Amanda caught the urn in her arms.
Surprised at how heavy it was, she juggled it onto one arm, dug
into her jacket pocket for the car keys, and thumbed the car
starter button. After Grandma had her coat and boots on, Amanda
handed back the urn. “I’ll meet you in the car. I just want to poke
my head into the garage to see if Mom or Dad is there and let them
know we’re gone.”

As her grandma headed out the front door, Amanda
carried her boots to the back door, slipped them on and headed
outside. The cold seeped through her jacket and she huddled deeper
into its folds as she followed footsteps through the unshovelled
snow to the garage. Opening the side door, she stepped inside.
“Dad? Mom?”

She noted that both cars were parked in the garage.
She was about to leave when her attention focused on the action in
the backseat of the car and the yellow can of whipping cream on the
window ledge.

In the dimly lit garage, she saw
her dad’s naked butt and her mom’s naked breasts. She turned and in
the mad dash to escape, tripped over the door sill. She hit the
snow on all fours, scrambled to her feet and didn’t stop until she
reached her Volkswagen Beetle, climbed inside, and slumped against
the seat.

“Did you find your parents?”

“Yes. No.” Desperate to block out the images, Amanda
sat forward, fished the keys out of her pocket, and stuck one into
the ignition to start the car. “Do up your seatbelt, Grandma.”

Grandma snapped on the belt and settled on the seat,
the urn on her lap. “Well, which is it? Did you find them or
not?”

“Not. Definitely not. I don’t know what they’re
doing or where they’re doing it.” She cleared her thoughts, slipped
on the seatbelt and reached into the console for her sunglasses.
They were missing.

No way was she going back into the house and risk an
embarrassing encounter with her parents. She stuck the car into
gear, checked the rearview mirror and did a U-turn on the
street.

“I have something for you.” Beside her, the elderly
woman dug through her purse until she produced a heart shaped air
freshener, which she hung over the car mirror. “There, a little
wedding cheer for your car.”

Amanda eyed the tacky decoration. The tart cinnamon
scent filled her nostrils and she inhaled deeply. If she was lucky,
the chemicals in the scent would fry out the part of her brain that
retained short term memories. “Thanks, Grandma.”

With one gloved hand, the older woman stroked the
smooth top of the urn. “Look how flushed you are. You should get
more exercise, like your mom and dad. Every afternoon, they leave
the house and go for a nice long walk around town.”

“That’s probably where they are right now.” Amanda
ground her teeth together, pretty sure she’d never lose the image
of what her parents were up to in the backseat of the car.

“We’re using your mom’s car for the wedding,”
Grandma continued, and Amanda decided right then and there that she
was walking down the street to the community hall. “I’ve made
arrangements with Dane to decorate the car tomorrow morning. You
can help him.”

“Sure.” As long as she didn’t have
to get
inside
the
car. Or for that matter, anywhere near it. She’d make Dane do all
of the work. He didn’t have to know
why
.

At the end of the street, Amanda steered left and
drove the short distance to the outskirts of town, where the
cemetery was located next to the Lutheran Church. “Grandma, why are
you looking for a plot for your urn? Don’t you want to keep it so
your ashes can be placed with Gramps?”

“Morty wants to be buried beside me.”

“He does?” Amanda shot a glance at her grandma.
“What about his other wives?”

Grandma clucked her tongue, a frown etched between
her snow white brows. “Girl, you’re making no sense. Morty was only
married the once.” An expression of understanding cleared the frown
from her wrinkled forehead. “Oh, I know what happened. You must
have overheard your grandpa teasing Morty about marrying for money,
then burying his wives in the back yard.”