Coda Books 04 - Strawberries for Dessert (MM)

smiled at me again.
    “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll get it.”
    I got dressed quickly, telling myself the entire time that it would be fine. There was no reason to assume that dinner would be a disaster.
    When I came out of the bedroom, I found that Cole had managed to shepherd my father straight into the dining room, where he had already set the table. Cole was talking a mile a minute. And my father?
    My father had a look on his face that was part shock and part horror. It would have been comical if it didn’t confirm what I had already suspected. This was not going to be fun.
    “George, I’m so sorry to have stolen your son away on your birthday,” Cole was saying to him. “I never would have hijacked him like I did if I had known. But this is nicer, anyway. Restaurants can be so noisy and impersonal. This will be much more intimate, don’t you think? We’re having cioppino, but I think I told you that already. It makes the whole house smell like fish for a week, but it’s so good, I make it anyway. I sure hope you don’t have a shellfish allergy, honey.
    That would put a real damper on the evening, wouldn’t it? I have no idea what we would do if you went into anaphylactic shock. I must admit, that CPR class I took in high school isn’t going to do anybody any good at all ! Even if I had paid attention back then, which I didn’t, I dare say I would have forgotten it by now anyway. Here, let me get you some wine.”
    Listening to him, even my head was starting to spin, and my father looked like he had no idea what language Cole was even speaking. Cole, however, seemed oblivious. He went in the kitchen and came back with three glasses and an open bottle of wine, hardly breaking his running monologue in the process.
    “Of course I didn’t pay attention in that class to begin with. I tried. Really I did, George. But there we all were on our knees, with those horrible dummies in front of us. And Tommy Nelson was in front of me. That boy was on the wrestling team and had a body to kill for.
    And I have to say, every time he bent over to blow—”
    “Cole!” I snapped, horrified, and he spun around to look at me.
    “What is it, love? You don’t want me to talk about Tommy Nelson?” He turned back to my dad and winked at him, and my dad’s cheeks started to turn a little bit red. “I never realized Jonny was the jealous type.”
    It was strange to hear my name on his lips. I wasn’t sure I had ever heard him say it before, and I wasn’t surprised that he would choose the derivative of it that I hated the most. “He doesn’t like to be called Jonny,” my dad said suddenly, and Cole smiled at him.
    “I know , honey. Why do you think I do it?” He slid a glass over to my dad and started to pour the wine. It was a red.
    “He doesn’t like red,” I said. “Maybe we can open one of the Rieslings.”
    “Oh sweetie, you know we can’t drink Riesling with cioppino.”
    He shuddered dramatically. “That just wouldn’t do at all. We could have gone with a Tempranillo, but I know how broody you get whenever I buy Spanish reds.” I felt myself bristle a little at that. It wasn’t my fault they reminded me of Zach. “So I bought the Barbera. It will be a nice pairing with the—”
    “But my dad—”
    “It’s fine, Jon,” my dad said, and I could tell he was trying to smile, although it came out more of a grimace.
    Cole went into the kitchen, and my father and I sat there silently until he came back out with the food. My dad may have been looking at Cole like he was some kind of sideshow entertainment, but once he started to eat, I could tell he was impressed. “You cooked this?” he asked.
    Cole actually batted his eyes at him, just a little. Was he actually flirting with my father? “Impressive, isn’t it?”
    “I’ve never known a man who could cook,” my dad said, much to my horror.
    “Dad!” I snapped. He looked over at me, confused for a moment, but then I saw a blush start to creep up his cheeks. He turned to Cole. “I didn’t mean—”
    “Honey, don’t apologize,” Cole said. “Listen, if it will make you feel better about it, I’ll wear a dress next time. How about that?”
    “Cole!” I said, but he ignored me.
    “It’s not something I normally do, but all modesty aside, George, I really do have fabulous legs.”
    Oh my God, this was worse than I had ever imagined. I had rarely seen Cole act so over-the-top, and I was starting to be embarrassed as well as