She laughed and kissed him back. “Thanks, but are you willing to put that in writing?”
“Hell yes.” He laughed. “Just don’t take my boat.”
Her smile slipped and her eyes turned dreamy. “Never.” She kissed him again.
Jules’s aunt Rita was nothing like he’d pictured. First off, she looked younger than he’d expected. If she was the oldest out of four kids and Jules’s father was the youngest, he was pretty sure the rest of the family looked just as good.
Physically, she was, he imagined, exactly what a hula dancer should look like.
Even though Jules’s father was having health issues, the man could easily pass for a man half his age. Rita was in the same boat, only she was in incredible shape. Jules’s body style and shape were so much like her aunt’s that they could have passed as sisters.
She also wasn’t the depressed person Jules had made her out to be. Rita was a complete jokester. She was constantly telling jokes, laughing, or teasing everyone, including him.
It made him feel instantly accepted. He knew that her parents and Tutu had accepted him long ago.
The rest of her family, he’d never met. It mattered a lot what they thought of him only because she often talked about them. About their family trips to the islands and how important they were to her and to her father and Tutu.
They had just retired to the back deck after dinner when her father’s entire attitude changed. He grew quiet first. Damion wasn’t the only one who noticed. Jules’s mother suggested that he head upstairs to rest, but Roni just shook his head and said he was fine.
About five minutes later, Roni stood up and shouted at Jules for no reason.
“Damn it, Juju, I told you to be home by ten,” he said loudly, using his nickname for Jules.
Jules jumped slightly next to him. “Daddy?”
“Roni, I think it’s time…” Amy and Rita said at the same time.
“Am, don’t side with her.” Roni pointed at Jules. “We told her ten o’clock. It’s…” He glanced down at his clock and frowned, then swayed.
Amy, Jules’s mother, stood up and gripped him. “Why don’t we head upstairs?”
Roni shifted, his eyes going around at each person. “Rita? What are you doing here?”
“RonRon, head on upstairs. Get some rest. It’s been a long day,” Rita said as Amy led Roni back inside.
Tutu stood up suddenly. “I’m going…” She motioned.
“Need help, Mom?” Rita asked.
Tutu walked over and kissed Rita on the forehead. The gleam in her eyes had gone out after the incident. “No, sit, relax. They’ll be plenty of that in the future.” Tutu turned towards them and smiled. “This is good. This, I like.” She nodded. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” Jules and he said at the same time.
“Does that happen often?” Rita asked Jules.
“It’s beginning to,” Jules answered. “He tends to get violent and yell. I don’t understand that because, growing up, he never raised his voice.” Jules wrapped her arms around herself, and he saw the sadness in her eyes. “I think he was remembering the night I came back from prom half an hour late. My date’s car had a flat tire. He knew this and never yelled at me that night. I don’t understand why he’s getting this way.”
“I’ve done some of my own research,” Rita said, taking Jules’s hand in hers. “In some cases, people get confused, and anger is a direct result of that confusion. That’s why I’m here. To help him through the worst of it.” Rita smiled. “Now…” She leaned back and took another sip of her wine. “Tell me all about this weekend the two of you went on.”
Damion knew that Jules’s aunt was trying to lighten the mood again, but the damage to the evening was already done. Tutu and Jules’s mother never returned outside. Less than half an hour after her parents and grandmother had disappeared inside, Jules and he drove away from the house.
“I’m sorry about tonight,” he said softly.
“I’m the one who should be apologizing,” she retorted.
“What have the doctors said?”
“Nothing new. Just… Alzheimer’s. They’re checking for something else. I forget the exact name. CJD. It’s a brain-eating disorder… We won’t know it that’s what this is for a few more days.” She sighed heavily. “I think my aunt is correct. My dad turns to anger because he’s confused. It’s just so strange. The only time I can remember him raising his voice was to cheer me on in sports.”