Page 26 of Cruising for You

“Call me Grandma,” she whispered in my ear. She released me from the hug but held onto my hand. “I’m so happy to meet you, Jenna.”

“Get over here, Adam!” The woman in her sixties who had to be Adam’s mom, Beverly, threw her arms wide. Adam turned to hug her and then his sister before shaking hands with Frank, the boyfriend, who immediately started enthusing about all he’d seen since he arrived in Miami.

“This place is crawling with beautiful women. I’m in heaven!” He sketched out a ridiculously curvy figure with his hands.

Adam’s sister Nicole didn’t bother disguising her disgust at Frank’s conversational gambit. “Adam has a girlfriend, Frank.”

“Doesn’t stop him from looking now, does it?” Frank laughed, but Adam only stared back coldly.

Beverly either hadn’t heard Frank or was doing an excellent job of pretending. “Don’t keep Jenna all to yourself, Grandma. I want to meet her.”

Grandma let go of my hand, and I found myself swathed in Beverly’s arms and a cloud of what smelled like expensive perfume. “So nice to meet you!”

Rather than hug, Nicole waved at me. She had a chin length bob and dramatic cat-eye glasses. “Hi Jenna! Can’t wait to hear all about how you two met.” She turned her gaze to her brother. “How long has it been since you dated anyone, Adam? Four years at least.”

Adam just shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets in response to the embarrassing question.

Frank started forward as if to hug me, and I took a half-step back. I didn’t want to be touched by someone so obviously creepy.

Adam immediately moved beside me, close enough to make it seem like we were a couple. “We got a table for everyone.”

Beverly laughed. “Yes, we saw you two over there when we came in! Can’t keep your hands off each other, huh?”

I laughed uncomfortably. “Guess not.” On that awkward note, we all made our way to the table.

Adam pulled out my chair. “Sorry,” he mouthed as he took the seat next to me. If the tension in his body language was anything to go by, he was mortified.

He couldn’t control how his family acted. I squeezed his forearm lightly to show it was okay then drew my hand back quickly since we’d agreed on no touching. Adam’s expression was impassive, no way to tell if it bothered him or if he’d even noticed I’d already violated his rules twice.

At Adam’s urging, Grandma accepted the seat at the head of the table and immediately tried to discover every last thing she could about the restaurant man. To her delight, Javiero was the direct descendant of the man who’d owned the restaurant seventy years earlier.

“May I tell you something?” Grandma asked. Javiero leaned in so he could hear her soft voice. “My husband and I ate here on our honeymoon!”

“Bueno.” Javiero kissed Grandma on both cheeks. “A beautiful story for a beautiful—”

“I want a margarita,” Frank interrupted, oblivious to the tender moment.

Nicole shot him another disgusted look.

“Good idea, Frank. We all ought to look at the menu.” Grandma said, unoffended by Frank’s interruption. “We have a ship to catch!” She picked up the menu and held it only a few inches away from her face.

“No margarita for me, please,” Beverly told Javiero. “And you shouldn’t either, Nicole, not if you want to fit into all those new swimsuits.” She laughed like she’d just told a hilarious joke.

Eyes wide, I looked between Beverly and Nicole, who was glaring at her mom. Nicole was slender, not even half my size.

“Thanks a lot, Mom. I happen to like myself. You should try it.” Nicole turned to Javiero. “I’ll take a margarita, please.”

“Nikki, I was only joking!” Beverly quickly protested. “I didn’t mean anything by it!”

My gaze darted to Grandma. Surely all this arguing couldn’t do her heart condition any favors? But she was busy reading the names of all the dishes aloud, sounding out every “j” and “l” the way you would in English.

“I can’t believe you’re so insensitive,” Nicole hissed at her mom. “Did you forget my eating disorder?” She turned to Adam with raised eyebrows, as if asking what he was going to say in response.

“Just a water for me, thanks” was his only reply. Despite the calmness of his voice, his knee was bouncing so rapidly under the table that he might have been keeping time to a techno beat at a rave.

“Oh!” Grandma cried out, placing a hand over her heart.

Adam and I both jumped up so quickly we knocked our chairs over.

---