Read Online After the Morning After by Lisa G Riley - Free Book Online Page A

were hilarious.”
    Sanjay frowned as he thought about it. He’d forgotten that he’d walked out. He’d been in a hurry to get to Victoria. He’d been unsuccessful, which was when he’d come up with his plan for seeing her later that night. “Hilarity wasn’t my intent. I had other things on my mind.”
    “Well, she also said that they were pissed. One of the lawyers called you ‘a haughty braniac bastard.’”
    Sanjay grinned. “Yeah? ‘Haughty,’ huh? Must have been the woman. I felt her checking out my ass.”

Chapter Eight
     
    “No, Mom, I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard from Nana,” Victoria said into the phone as she dusted a bookcase. She’d invited Bella and Addie for dinner and was preparing the house. “I’m sure she’s all right, though. She’s left home before.”
    “Yes, I know that, Victoria,” Regina Howell said with frustration. “But Mother’s never been this upset before. Your father has really gone and done it this time. And aside from all of that, she’s seventy-eight years old. I don’t like it that she’s gone off and hasn’t contacted me. I’ve called all of her friends, and none of them have heard from her.”
    “Well, what exactly did Dad do?” Victoria stuck her finger in the soil of an African violet.
    “Mother wanted to redecorate the main dining room in the house in Boston. Your father told her no, that it was absolutely out of the question.”
    “But why? When was the last time that room was updated anyway?”
    Regina sighed. “You’re missing the point entirely, Victoria.”
    Victoria rolled her eyes. “Then why don’t you tell me what that point is, Mom?” she said, picking up her watering can to water the violet.
    “The point is that that room is practically the centerpiece of the house, and your grandmother knows that. Yet she insists on being given the right to decorate it in what she calls an African safari motif.”
    Victoria’s lips pursed as she tried to stifle a chuckle. She knew her grandmother and could well imagine what that meant. “And what does that entail?”
    “I heard you laugh, Tori. It isn’t funny. The swatches she brought home were just awful: Zebra print, giraffe, tiger —”
    “Actually, tigers are from Asia, not Africa —”
    “ Vic toria Renee Howell.” Regina demanded her attention in a strident voice, which made Victoria wince. “I do not need a lecture on the origin of species right now, young lady. Your grandmother is missing.”
    Victoria bit her lip. “Sorry, Mom, force of habit.”
    “Well, all right, then,” Regina said begrudgingly. “Now, back to your grandmother. Do you know she even had something that she called elephant hide? She said it was genuine,” she finished. The horror of it all came clear across the phone lines.
    “So what did Dad say to her? I assume the fact that he told her no wasn’t enough to send her away.”
    Mrs. Howell heaved a deep sigh. “No, dear. Now you know I don’t usually approve of your grandmother’s choice of language when she gets mad at your father, but this time I was in agreement with her when she called him a—just a moment, I have it written down.”
    Victoria heard some minor rustling, and then her mother was back. “Here we are. She called him ‘a dick wad with a mean streak a mile wide and a stick up his ass.’ Now I don’t exactly know what that first term means, but I can hazard a guess. Victoria? Victoria? Are you still there?”
    Victoria’s eyes had widened to the point of pain, and her mouth had fallen open. She tried to speak but couldn’t. Her mother had actually said the words “dick” and “ass.” What was the world coming to? She tried once again to speak. “Uh…hmm…”
    “Yes, dear. I know it’s shocking, but your grandmother was absolutely right. Your father not only told her that she couldn’t redecorate, but to add insult to injury, he told her that all of her fluttering and fidgeting about was giving him angina, and that to