Going Wild by Gretchen Galway

Author:Gretchen Galway [Galway, Gretchen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eton Field
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

17

“Shit,” Jane said, lifting her drink.

“Too late for evasive maneuvers?” Grant mumbled to April.

April smiled at someone over his shoulder and nodded.

“Hey there, Jane, I thought you might come over and say hello to Mrs. Kilpatrick,” a woman said behind them. She sounded a lot like Jane, too.

Jane turned. “I was just about to.”

After sharing a meaningful eyebrow wiggle with April, Grant also turned around. Up close, Jane’s mother didn’t look as much like her. Her eyes were very different, a pale blue instead of brown, her skin was lighter, and she was much taller. But the bone structure and figure and expression were eerily similar.

“Hi,” he said. “I’m Grant. The invited man meat.”

Behind him, he heard April snicker.

“Sorry,” he added, genuinely regretting his joke. She was Jane’s mother, after all, and the party’s hostess. He held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs.—” He realized he didn’t know her surname.

She clasped his hand. “Karen Morrison. I heard April calling you man meat earlier, so I know you got it from her.”

“I’ve always been a bad influence,” April agreed.

“Jane tells me you’re renting out a room at the house?” Karen asked.

Grant’s mind went blank. To his surprise, he was nervous. “Yes.” That was as good as he could come up with.

“Writing a book, isn’t that right?” Karen continued.

He nodded. “That’s what I do.” When no more words came to him, he lifted his drink to his lips.

Jane jumped in. “He’s an award-winning writer of creative nonfiction about the outdoors, California wilderness areas in particular but the West more broadly.” Her hand landed on his shoulder. “The Chronicle put his first book on their ten-best list that year.”

Slowly he turned his head to look at her. “How did you know that?”

Jane squeezed his shoulder. “He’s too modest to tell people that. I found it online.”

Before he could cop a feel, Jane removed her hand, stepped to one side, and gestured at the makeshift bar. “Do you have something to drink, Mom?”

Karen winked at him—yes, he was quite sure that was a wink—and then helped herself to a bottle of mineral water. “April, please let me know the second you’re sick of doing this. Jane has more than enough experience mixing drinks.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jane asked, but her tone was mild, as if she and her mother bickered out of habit, not passion. “I guess my secret’s out. April, you might as well know I lead a wild, irresponsible lifestyle.”

“I can relate,” April said. “Before I met Zack, I crashed on my brother’s couch and slept with strangers. You?”

Jane helped herself to another lime from an orange bowl on the table and squirted it into her drink. “That actually sounds fun, except my brother is a college student. I don’t think he has a couch.”

“You want to sleep with strangers?” Karen asked.

Jane brought her glass to her lips and drained it, which couldn’t have been healthy. She coughed a little and then said, “Sometimes, yes. Sometimes it crosses my mind.

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