Chapter Forty Two

Rachel took a deep breath as she punched in the code to the keypad on Jon’s side gate and balancing a large box in her arms sidled through. Jon’s plan had come to fruition and the Bongiovi clan were gathered at the Navesink house in force, the sound of kid's laughter floating across the still evening air to where she picked her way carefully up the path. A bundle of nerves unfurled in her stomach as she got closer and caught sight of several figures on the lawn tossing a football back and forth between who she presumed to be Jon’s sons. Just as she began to feel as if she was intruding on a private event, Jon let out a shout and came jogging down the path in her direction, a small sandy haired boy bouncing in his arms.

“Hey look buddy, it’s the dessert lady!” Winking at the look of wonder on the boy’s face, Jon chuckled at the size of the box Rachel was carrying. “Jesus! What’s in there I wonder?”

“Pies….lots of pies!” Rachel smiled nervously as Jon set his son down in order to relieve her of the heavy box. “Apple, pecan, chocolate and lemon….hopefully something for everyone.”

Jon crouched down to take a sneak peek under the lid, nudging the little boy who was shyly sticking to his side. “Look Romeo, chocolate! Smells good huh?” Laughing at his shy smile, Jon fondly ruffled the bangs of his forehead and straightened back up to Rachel. “How did you find time for all this today?”

“That – I can do in my sleep!” Looking past him up to where the group of people gathered at the side of the house were watching them curiously, Rachel laughed lightly. “Let’s see how my people skills are with this bunch of crazy Italians you call your family!”

“You’ll be just fine! C’mon buddy, let’s go show everyone all the nice pies Rachel brought us.”

A little while later after all the introductions had been made, Rachel was sitting politely beside Jon’s father when Jon turned to her with a wink. “Rachel, what are you drinking? Club soda or tequila??”

The faked innocence behind his smile made Rachel bite her tongue to avoid firing back a smart answer. Jon knew full well what tequila did to her, he’d experienced it several times and tonight was not a suitable venue! Before she could reply, Jon’s younger brother Matt piped up from across the table.

“Rachel! You’re a tequila drinker? My kinda girl! Line up the shots!”

Laughing, Rachel turned to glower at Jon. “I think I’ll leave the tequila for another time, thanks. I’m sure there’s a bottle of wine opened somewhere around here….”

Chuckling, Jon shook his head at her and muttered under his breath as he turned away with a sly grin. “Coward.”

With everyone gathered around the table enjoying a dinner of steaks and ribs for the adults and hamburgers for the kids, conversation centred around the family catching up on affairs with each other since they had last met. When Jon became engrossed at the other end of the table in talks with his other brother Tony about the oncoming disaster with the Soul, Rachel politely chatted with his parents, both seemingly genuinely interested in getting to know her. Jon’s father, a handsome man with a warm smile and eyes that sparkled like his son’s listened encouragingly while Rachel explained how her job had brought her to the East Coast and what it now entailed. She warmed to the older gentleman instantly, his casual and relaxed manner making conversation easy. Carol, Jon’s mother, a dignified blonde lady, sat quietly by her husband’s side chewing small bites of her meal thoughtfully as Rachel answered John Snr’s questions about the work she was having done on the house across the road. When she paused to take a drink of wine, Carol seized her opportunity.

“Tell us about your family Rachel, do you have any children?”

Not wishing to dampen the mood or make anyone uncomfortable, Rachel put her glass back down and shook her head with a smile. “I have a niece and nephew living in California, my sister’s children that I still spoil although they’re all grown up now and my parents still live at home.”

Seemingly satisfied, Carol smiled back and nodded, glancing over affectionately at her grandchildren who were busily devouring a mountain of French fries between them. “It is nice to be able to spoil them, heaven knows I do it enough! When I get to see them of course.” 

Her last comment was loud enough for Jon’s head to snap up in their direction and removing himself from his seat beside Tony, he came to stand behind Rachel, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder as he gave his mother a pointed look. “Mom, you see them more than I do so quit looking for the sympathy vote! Anyway you can’t handle Jake and Romey for longer than a half hour – admit it!”

Unable to refute her son’s claim, Carol shrugged and laughed him off. “Well it would be nice to see you more as well but you’re always so busy with this event and that event……..”

Leaning over Rachel’s shoulder to top up her wine, Jon snorted in amusement. “Mom, your social calendar is fuller than mine, I’m surprised your ‘girls’ even let you off cards this evening.” Grinning cheekily at her, he turned his attention to his father. “Hey Pop, you should see the tennis court over at Rachel’s place, it’s all just been totally redone – state of the art stuff.”

John Snr’s eyes lit up and he leaned eagerly toward Rachel. “Do you play Rachel?”

Grateful for Jon’s intervention in steering the conversation away from her family, Rachel smiled back at his father and nodded. “Not as much now as I’d like but yes, I used to play quite a bit back in California.”

“Well how about a game sometime? I’m always on the lookout for a new doubles partner!”

When Rachel readily agreed, Jon snagged his daughter as she walked by with a tray of Rachel’s pies divided out for dessert. “Hey Steph, whaddya say we join forces and whip your grandpa and Rachel here at a little game of tennis over at her place tomorrow?”

Smiling somewhat reservedly at Rachel, the pretty teenager nodded casually as she handed everyone a plate with an assortment of small slices of pie on them. “Sure Dad, sounds like fun…..”

Beaming, John Snr clapped his hands together enthusiastically and winked up at his granddaughter, “That’s settled then, tomorrow morning it is!”

When Stephanie politely excuse herself from the adults, Rachel glanced at her watch surprised to see how quick the evening had flown by. Any earlier apprehension about meeting Jon’s family had long since gone such was the welcome they had all given her but not wishing to overstay or intrude on what seemed like precious family time, she declined on dessert and stood to wish everyone goodnight.

“Thank you all for a wonderful evening but I better get an early night so I can be up early to polish up my serve!” Winking at John Snr, Rachel smiled warmly. “I wouldn’t want to let you down! Goodnight everyone.”

Choruses of farewells rang out from around the table with Carol lifting a hand to clasp Rachel’s in a soft shake as she rose from her seat. “Lovely to meet you Rachel, I’m sure I’ll see you again. I’d best start getting these kids ready for bed, goodnight.”

“I’ll give you a hand in a minute Mom, I’ll just walk Rachel home first.” Jon glanced back over his shoulder at his mother as he followed Rachel down the path, ignoring the smirks his brothers were throwing at him. Catching up to her side, he draped his arm casually around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“That wasn’t so bad huh?”

Aware that they were still in full view of the group, Rachel glanced up at him in surprise. “Are you sure you’re comfortable with this little PDA? Your kids and everybody else are bound to be watching!”

Chuckling Jon smirked down at her. “Lucky they can’t read my mind then!” Leaning in to drop a quick kiss against her temple, he squeezed her gently with his arm. “I thought things went pretty well tonight…..how about you?”

Enjoying the feel of his arm around her, Rachel sighed happily. “Yeah, I enjoyed myself……” Glancing up as they followed the curve of the path, she looked at him worriedly. “Your Mom asked me if I had children…….I didn’t really want to get into the story of my family like that in front of everyone and especially the kids……..Maybe you can explain the situation to your parents sometime so they’ll understand why I wasn’t completely truthful?”

Stopping to punch the numbers into the gate keypad, Jon stood back to let her walk through before him. “I will, I probably should’ve told them more about us before they had a chance to grill you about every tiny detail of your life…….but well I wasn’t sure how you felt about all that and I never thought about it coming up tonight…….” With an apologetic grimace he replaced an arm around her shoulder as they began the short walk up the road. “…….my bad.”

“It’s okay Jon, really, its fine.” With a tired smile to reassure him, Rachel stifled the beginnings of a yawn. Enjoyable or not it had been a stressful evening. Reaching the gates at the base of the driveway, she turned and wrapped her arms around Jon’s waist. “Thank you for walking me home.”

There was more than a hint of merriment in his eyes as he drew her close for their first proper kiss all day. “You’re not gonna invite me in?”

“NuUH! I refuse to behave like a horny teenager and have a quickie while your parents and kids wait for you to get back – they’re probably already timing you!”

The hard bulge rubbing against the thin fabric of Rachel’s light summer dress provided the answer to the frustration she could see mounting in Jon’s eyes as he whined, “What am I supposed to do with this?”

Giggling she reached up for a long kiss, purposefully nipping the soft flesh of his lower lip as she unwrapped herself from his arms and sauntered up the driveway. “Call me later and I’ll talk you through it……”

“Count on that phone call little girl, I’m gonna hold you to that.”

Standing with his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, Jon grinned in amusement as he watched her disappear into the shadows of the house. He had watched her carefully all evening, ready to jump to the rescue in case his family had proved too much but he had worried needlessly. In fact he was beginning to doubt there was any situation on the planet she couldn’t handle…….apart from the hard one between his legs that was. Reluctantly giving up on that particular quest for the moment, he turned to amble back down the road where the inevitable interrogation from his mother no doubt awaited. There was no chance of him dodging that bullet.