Page 55 of Temptation
Tenn helped her finish setting up everything, feeling much better about being here and a little disappointed he wouldn’t get to meet B.R. She knelt on the blanket and patted the space beside her. “Hungry?” She opened the cooler and began pulling out food. “We have Buffalo Chicken Wraps, Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad, Homemade Coleslaw, and Cheese and Tomato Tarts with Banana Cream Pie Parfaits for dessert and Strawberry Lemonade to drink.”
“If I wasn't hungry before, I'm starving now.” Tenn chuckled and sat beside her. She handed him a plastic plate, let him pick up his food, and then did the same. “When did you have time to make all this?”
“Some of it I put together last night; the rest I did this morning.” She shrugged like it was no big deal and she hadn’t just announced she made what was essentially a three-course meal for a picnic. Tenn wondered what Joel thought of her cooking like that, then decided he didn’t want to ask.
“You're setting the date bar really high for me; you know that, right?” He teased her. “How am I going to top a picnic on a private beach?”
“I'm very easy to please; don't worry.” She smiled at him. “I like pretty much anything that has me outside in nature, public gardens, zoos, animal sanctuaries and hiking trails. Museums and art-related stuff is a safe bet as well, or anything involving food.” They spent the rest of the meal discussing their hobbies and interests, and Tenn found himself falling more and more as they discovered they shared a lot of similar interests, views and hobbies. Besides their interests in art and gaming, they both liked history and trivia and weren’t into clubbing and partying, even in their university days, preferring to have game nights with their friends.
They were both homebodies and leaned toward introvertedness. They both wanted to have kids and would have been happy to adopt if Joel and Viki had agreed to it, and despite being raised in more conservative households, were very liberal and had the view that as long as people weren’t hurting anyone, they should be free to live their lives however and with whoever they wanted without judgement. As they finished eating and stretched out on the blanket to let the food settle, the conversation turned to their families.
“Do you have any contact with your family besides Quill?” He had bits and pieces of her story and was very curious about the rest.
“Not with Mom and Dad.” Quinn shook her head. “Mom refused to take responsibility for my eating disorder, and Dad refused to acknowledge that he enabled her and neglected me in favour of Quill. They both said I was dramatic and looking for attention and later admitted they were disappointed I wasn't as beautiful as Queenie or as athletic as Quill and saw me as spare parts.”
“Spare parts?” Tenn felt a wave of heat wash over him, profoundly insulted and angry on her behalf. “Like if something happened and someone needed an organ, they'd get it from you?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” Quinn nodded. “My grandparents on both sides were outraged and disowned them when it all came out after our high school graduation.”
“They just admitted that to everyone?” Tenn was astounded by their stupidity.
“They felt the fact that I graduated on time was a huge deal, considering I spent a year doing inpatient care and when my parents bought Quill a car for graduating and had a huge party to celebrate, but didn’t get me anything or even invite me to the party, they demanded an explanation for why they treated me so horribly. They kept pushing, and my mom exploded, shouting that I was a disappointment and the only reason they kept me was in case Queenie or Quill got sick, but I even managed to fuck that up by starving myself. When my dad agreed with my mom, my grandparents said they were ashamed to call them their children, and they wouldn’t get another dime from them.”
“My maternal grandfather was very well off; he died not too long after I got out of inpatient care, leaving my grandmother in charge of the estate, and she had been giving my parents a set amount every three months. She stopped the payments, and when she died just before we graduated from university, she left everything to Quill and me except two dollars—one for Mom and Dad and one for Queenie. Quill was almost disowned too, but I showed her our emails and chats to prove he hadn't abandoned me and was planning to go to the University of Boston so we could live together again. He could have gone straight to the School of the Art Institute, but he wanted to reconnect with me. When he told me he wanted to start an architecture firm, I gave him my half of the inheritance.”
“So, you have half ownership of Q?” Tenn swallowed his rage at her parents and focused on the fact that other members of her family had stepped up to make sure she was looked after and taken care of.
“No, I told him I didn't want it. He named it after me though.” She grinned. “And bought and renovated my house for me as a thank you.”
“Q.” Tenn chuckled as he understood. “Right, they all call you Q. So, what about Queenie?”
“When Quill left home and pretty much cut contact with Mom and Dad, she put it down to us being twins and Quill taking my side like he always did. When she found out Gramma had disinherited her, besides a dollar and a letter that laid out exactly what she thought of the three of them, she began thinking maybe there was more than she was seeing. Her fiancé got upset about what she told him when I was hospitalized after I graduated from university and pushed her to learn about anorexia. She spoke with my aunt, who told her about what I had gone through without sparing any details. Mom and Dad had downplayed how sick I was to her and kept saying, “You know how dramatic Quinn is. It's not that bad.” She didn't realize I almost died.”
“To her credit, she kept reaching out until we agreed to meet with her, and she apologized sincerely without trying to excuse herself or put the blame on our parents. Sadly, we have nothing in common besides the fact that we're family, so our relationship is very surface level. She has defended me to Mom and Dad a few times since she learned about everything, though. She's married to a former male model who is now a fairly famous fashion designer.”
“The fiancé who got upset with her?”
“Yeah, he also struggled with anorexia when he was a model. From what I understand, he threatened to end their relationship if she didn’t educate herself and pull her head out of her ass when it came to our parents. She didn’t want to lose him, so she did what he asked.” Quinn elaborated with a smirk. “Killian and I became close after we met. He even designed my wedding dress as a wedding gift to me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt as beautiful as I did in that dress.”
Tenn smiled and traced his finger along her cheek as she rolled on her side to face him. “What about your paternal grandparents?”
“They moved to Everglades City in Florida and were killed when Wilma hit in 2005. My grandfather was an extremely stubborn man and refused to leave his home despite the mandatory evacuation order. My grandmother stayed because she wasn’t leaving her husband.” Tenn shook his head.
“I mean, that’s terrible, but at the same time…” He trailed off, not wanting to offend her by voicing his thoughts on her grandfather’s stupidity.
“Oh yeah, one hundred percent.” Quinn nodded in agreement. “Gramps was from Florida and had lived through lots of hurricanes, which made him over-confident to the point of stupidity. Everyone was telling them to get out, but they refused, saying they were prepared to be without water and food for at least two weeks. What they weren’t prepared for was the tree that landed on their place. I loved them, they were who I was staying with when I collapsed at school. They knew I was neglected and tried their best to make it up to me without being too obvious about it. I was angry about it and at him for a long time for being so damn stupid. Both my aunt and I did therapy about it.” She smiled and caught his hand, kissing the palm and making his stomach flip. “What about your family?”
Tenn cleared his throat, trying to focus on the question, not the urge to pull her to him and kiss her. “My dad is the CEO of a medical equipment manufacturing facility in Bismarck, North Dakota; my mom's family owns the facility. They were very adamant that their children be able to stand on their own two feet without handouts from them. My oldest sister, Dakota, is a rising star in the banking industry, but she'll be taking over the family business with three of my cousins when the time comes. Virginia is an aide in the White House, and, as you know, Del was a professional hockey player; he has a couple of Stanley Cups under his belt with different teams. He retired from the Bruins a couple of years ago and decided to stay in Boston. Del and I were always close, and when he suggested I move here to be closer to him, Trisha and my nephews, I jumped at it. My sisters and I talk on the phone at least once a week, and I talk to Mom and Dad every few days. My family is pretty normal despite having a lot of money. My parents made sure we had chores and helped out in the community. We were punished if we stepped out of line. We were expected to get part-time jobs when we were old enough and to maintain at least a B average. I'm the black sheep, so I'm not sure what that tells you, but other than that, there’s no drama or skeletons in the closet as far as I’m aware.”
Quinn laughed. “The artists are often the black sheep.” She looked at him with a mischievous smile. “So, are you ready to go to war?”
“I'm still not sure what you mean by that.” Tenn smiled. He wanted to make out like teenagers and maybe see about getting to second base, but he was willing to indulge her. She planned the day for him, and he wanted to see what she thought he would enjoy. Quinn sat up with a huge smile and reached into the tub, pulling out two pump-action water guns.
“Let's see what you got, Aston.” She passed him a gun and jumped to her feet, pumping it and spraying him.
Laughing, he rolled over and attempted to retaliate, but nothing happened. “This one's empty!”
“Is it? Oh, I'm sorry. “I guess I forgot to fill it.” Quinn giggled as she hit him again. He jumped up and ran to the ocean to fill it up.