Almost Home (NG2)

Chase

Rob Taylor appeared in Robbie's office while he was eating lunch. The younger Rob had his phone out, trying to see what the news was from Nashville.

"I was sent to invite you to dinner."

Robbie didn't need to be asked twice. As he swallowed his sandwich, he decided he could put off his leftover chicken another day.

"What's she making?"

"I don't know, but anything she makes is delicious."

Robbie smiled. "Unlike me."

The older man laughed. "I can grill."

When Robbie was a kid, occasionally his mother went out, and his father would take care of them. He made meals like hot dogs. His mother only served hot dogs with burgers in the summer.

Robbie laughed and his father walked away from his doorway. He heard him greeting people as his voice faded.

The news about Beau kept getting worse. More and more women claimed he promised to give them a big break for sex. None of the ones who came forward ever got the break. Robbie had so many suspicions through the years and felt dirty by association. None of the women said he forced them, and Robbie wondered why they all slept with him willingly. Maybe it was the attraction of his big house. Wealth could be intoxicating. He had felt the allure from time to time.

He left the office at five-thirty. The drive to the house was shorter than to the cottage, although neither was a long commute. When he walked into the kitchen through the garage, his father had already changed into jeans and a sweatshirt.

"I'm overdressed."

His mother looked up from the stove. "You look handsome."

He rolled his eyes, because it was such a mom thing. He scanned the large living space attached to the kitchen. Most of the furniture he recognized. It included a dining area, because his mother gave up her formal dining room with the move.

"Is Lily coming?"

Chellie shock her head. "She works tonight."

"Why four plates?"

His mother set the table with placemats and cloth napkins. His way was to grab a fork and a paper napkin and to sit down with a plate.

"I invited Phoebe. I promised Betsy." He didn't volunteer that he had seen her the night before. "She must be bored. School doesn't start until mid-January."

He shrugged. The doorbell saved any response. "I'll get it."

When he opened the front door, she smiled at him. "No, chicken for you."

"Unless she's serving chicken."

Phoebe laughed as she kicked off her shoes and shrugged out of her coat. "Remember, this doesn't count."

He remembered the fine print. His mother called out to them. "Robbie, hang her coat in the back hall. Phoebe, honey, you're a backdoor friend. Just walk right in. Robbie did."

"But this is his house."

"It's not." It was but it wasn't.

Chellie frowned. "I supposed I understand how you feel that way. We'll change that."

Phoebe asked, "How was day two?"

"Good. I remembered some names. I had a meeting with a dog wandering around the office and then my father interrupted it."

Rob laughed. "My meetings used to be interrupted by Cecelia. She doesn't visit as often as when she was a baby."

Chellie asked, "Will you have a difficult semester?"