Controlling the urge to shake his head, Gideon stepped back through the laundry room and into the bathroom on the right. Sometimes, he wondered if Jade was even conscious of her constant need to please Sandra Lattimore, or was it now second nature.
After a few minutes of gathering hot pans and covered dishes, the round oak dining table was covered with enough food to put a Sunday night dinner at a Baptist church to shame. There were rolls, mashed potatoes, green-beans, a huge pot of roast beef, cornbread, black-eyed peas, and even a chocolate pie, all of which made Gideon's stomach growl with desperate need. Sitting down, Gideon waited as Jade and Sandra served each plate their portions before passing one to him and one to Henry, who was pulling out a chair to sit at his right.
With his hair still damp from his shower, Henry, a large formidable-looking man, gave his family a warm, genial smile as he held each hand out to his side in a silent request. Just as they did practically every night since the moment Gideon and Jade arrived at the Lattimores’ house, they both held out their hands, linking them together as one family, and respectfully bowed their heads as Henry led them in a short grace.
Opening his hands, Gideon focused on Jade's hand sliding from his left hand as his father's slid from his right.
"So, how did that haul go today?" Henry asked just before he took a huge bite of roast beef.
Swallowing his own bite of food, Gideon nodded as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "It went fine. Thought I wasn't going to make it back in time, though,” he confessed, annoyance coloring his tone. “They added three more pallets of beer to the order at three-o-clock, knowing damn well I leave at five."
"Gideon!" Sandra's hushed reprimand whispered across the table as she gave him a reproachful little shake of her head at his language.
With practiced ease, Gideon gave her a large smile. A smile he had used plenty on girls around the university, knowing the effect his broad smile and dimpled cheeks had.
Working just as intended, Sandra shook her head with a relenting smile.
"Shameless," he heard the delicate whisper from his left.
Grabbing another roll from the covered bowl, Gideon tore off a hunk of it with his teeth as he leveled his gaze on Jade. "What was that?" he asked between bites, purposely baiting her. "Did you say something?"
Lifting her chin, she didn't turn to look at him, forcing him to view only the profile of her freckled cheeks. Looking to Henry instead, Jade gave him a beaming smile that only stoked the fires of annoyance within Gideon higher.
"Would you like some more pot roast?" she asked, gesturing to the massive crockpot sitting on the kitchen counter. "I hope you like it. I made it a bit spicier for you this time," her voice dripping with bootlicking flattery.
As usual, Henry basked in his daughter's attention and shook his head. "No, no, I have got plenty, sweetheart. And it's all absolutely amazing." He cast an appreciative look over to his wife, who smiled gratefully in return, though Gideon wasn't sure why. They all knew it was Jade who did most of the work as Sandra probably sat on a barstool and cheerfully dictated instructions while knitting or something.
Not at all ready to let their battle end, Gideon took another huge spoonful of his food and swallowed. "Fishing for compliments, huh?"
He could see her stiffen out of the corner of his eye, and he smiled inwardly at the easy victory.
Whipping around to face him, a few brown curling tendrils of her hair glided around her face and stopped as she set those cat-like eyes on him with seething intensity. Reaching for his plate, she grabbed the edge of the china and began to pull it away from him as she smiled evilly. "Well, since you don’t find it good, there's no reason you would want to continue, right?"
Henry chuckled, but Gideon ignored him. Grabbing her slender wrist, Gideon stopped his absconding plate. "If you even think about it, I will make you regret it," he threatened, though everyone at the table knew the words were empty.
"Then maybe you will hush and just eat your food from here on out," she said, picking up a roll and attempting to shove it in his mouth.
Plucking the roll swiftly out of her hand, he gave her a look of surprise. "Why, you sassy little…"