Ch 103: What Tangled Webs We Weave

“Let’s try this one,” Luke said, sitting down at the piano and only then letting go of Janet’s hand. 

He had forced her to sit beside him on the bench much to her dismay. Were they really going to sing here at the party in front of everyone, before they were even ready? Janet looked up at Alana who grinned at her and gave her the thumbs up. She must know exactly what was going through Janet’s head.

Peter leaned on the piano staring at Luke’s fingers as they played around the keys and nodded when he recognized the song. “One of my mom’s favorites. Clapton. Sounds better on the guitar, of course, but this will do for now.”

“Do you know this, Janet?” Luke said and he started singing the slow ballad. 

 ♪ ♫…It’s late in the evening; she’s wondering what clothes to wear. She puts on her makeup and brushes her long, long hair…♩ ♬ 

“Blonde…it’s long blonde hair,” Alana interjected.

Luke grinned and shook his head. “Not when I sing it for you, babe,” he said and returned to singing while Alana blushed scarlet.

♪ ♫…and then she asks me, “Do I look all right? And I say, yes, you look wonderful tonight …♩ ♬ 

Janet joined him where appropriate, humming in the background or singing in harmony making Luke smile.

“That’s what I like about you, Janet. You instinctively know when to blend voices,” he said, as he continued playing the piano.

“No, Alana told me when to come in,” Janet said.

Alana’s emerald green eyes widened and she turned red again when everyone stared at her. “No, I didn’t!”

“Yeah, you did, you just don’t know it,” Janet said giggling. “You have a tell.”

Peter laughed. “Like in poker?”

“But I don’t know anything about poker,” Alana said.

Janet laughed. “But you seem to know everything about music. I can tell when you think I should join Luke and where and how.”

“Damn, you’re good if you can do all that just by looking at her!” Peter said, staring at Janet in amazement.

“No, Alana is. I’m just good at reading her cues,” Janet said.

“But…but I don’t do that,” Alana whispered.

They all laughed at her. “Told ya you didn’t even know you were doing it, but you are!” Janet said, just as Wes came over. “Hi, Wes, hope you don’t mind us using your piano.”

“No,” Wes said, although he didn’t sound convincing.

Janet knew why. She got up from the bench and forced Alana to sit beside Luke instead. Then she grabbed Wes’ hand and giggled. “There’s no keeping Luke away from an instrument when it’s nearby,” she whispered in his ear. Then she kissed his cheek; a reassuring gesture which clearly said without words, "I like you, not Luke."

“Sing some more,” Wes said. “You sound great.”

Luke needed no other inducement. He played another tune, but it made Peter shake his head.

“What? Don’t like it?” Luke asked.

“You play the piano like a guitarist,” Peter derisively said. 

“I am a guitarist," Luke countered.

"Get outta my way. Let me show you how it’s done, Son.”

Luke obediently stood up taking Alana with him and he watched in astonishment as Peter did indeed show him how it’s properly done. 

“Dang, Pete! You didn’t tell me…”

“Yeah, I did. You chose to ignore me,” Peter said grinning up at him so the adorable dimple in his right cheek came out full force. 

“Think we have a concert pianist in our midst,” Luke whispered to Janet. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“Very!” she said.

“Has the pizza come yet? Hey! What’s all this?” Billy said, suddenly showing up at the piano.

“Pizza? You ordered pizza?” Wes shouted.

“I was hungry,” Billy replied, needlessly.

“We’ve got tons of food in the kitchen,” Wes said.

Billy shook his head. “Not anymore you don’t. I said I was hungry. What part of that didn’t you understand?”

Wes gaped at his cousin. “I ain’t paying for your pizza!”

“Already done. Just answer the door when it comes. Ten minutes or so. So…” Billy said, turning away from his cousin and watching Peter play and the others singing. He rubbed his greedy manager’s hands together in glee. “A pre-concert, huh? I like it! Building up anticipation. That’s what I like to see. I should sell tickets for this.”

“Don’t you dare!” Wes shouted. “I won’t have tons of people I don’t even know in my house.”

“Take a chill pill, will ya?” Billy said.

“We’re just goofing around, Billy,” Luke said.

“We should play this one at Ms. Palmer’s wedding. It’s one of her favorites,” Peter said, going into a funky tune.  

♪ ♫…it was 1999, my thoughts were short, my hair was long, caught somewhere between a boy and man. She was seventeen and she was far from in between. It was summer time in northern Michigan…♩ ♬  

Janet started dancing and singing along. She took Wes’ hand and got him dancing, too. 

♪ ♫…We were trying different things, we were smoking funny things. Making love out by the lake to our favorite song. Sippin’ whiskey out the bottle, not thinkin’ ‘bout tomorrow. Singing sweet home Alabama all summer long  …♩ ♬ 

“You are so hot,” Wes whispered in her ear. He pulled her away from the group and kissed her.

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You’re kinda hot, too,” she said.

“Wanna sneak upstairs and make out for a while?” he asked.

“No! Everyone will think we’re…you know,” she said, her eyes wide.

“Like I care what anyone thinks,” he muttered going in for another kiss.

“But I do!” she said just as the doorbell rang. 

“Ugh, Billy’s pizza’s here. Come on, you can help me. Doubt he bought just one.”

He grabbed her hand, went to the front door and opened it. The smile on his face swiftly vanished and he mumbled, “Oh, crap.”

“So busted,” Stevie said, gleeful.

 Cindy right beside him giggled. “Totally busted. Dad’s gonna kill ya, you know,” Cindy said. 

“Daddy!” Janet gasped watching her father standing behind the two kids with either hand on their shoulders and an odd expression on his face, a mixture of amusement and disappointment.

“We’re not doing anything wrong,” she said.

“So, you’re not having an unsupervised party with your friends at your boyfriend’s house without your boyfriend’s father’s permission?” Jeff asked.

“Uh…” Wes said.

“There’s nothing bad going on!” Janet insisted.

“Ooh, is that Luke singing in there?” Cindy said, excitedly. “Come on, Stevie! You’ll love him. He’s so cool!”

She then grabbed his hand and pulled him into the house leaving the others staring at each other speechless and extremely uncomfortable.

“Ah, what tangled webs we weave, when first we practice to deceive…” Jeff recited.

“I…I’m sorry, Daddy. I didn’t mean to lie to you,” Janet said.

“Don’t blame Janet, Mr. Fummel. It was all my idea,” Wes said.

“No, it wasn’t! It was…all of ours, Jasmine and Troy, too. We’re all in it together, so…I’m sorry we lied to you,” Janet said.

“You’re not gonna…like…make Janet break up with me, are ya?” Wes asked, squeezing her hand as he fearfully stared at Jeff. “I’d rather you tell my dad than do that. Please!”

“Why would I do that?” Jeff said.

“Cuz…I just got her in trouble,” Wes answered.

Jeff’s eyes narrowed and he stepped close enough to bite Wes’ nose off. “Are you saying you got my daughter pregnant?” he hissed.

“No!” they both shouted.

“Daddy, we don’t…don’t do that,” she said, blushing bright pink.

“I mean…the party. She’s in trouble cuz of the party and lying to you and.... That’s all!” Wes insisted. 

“I see,” Jeff said, stepping back.

“Guess we should tell everybody to leave,” Wes said.

“No need. It’s no longer unsupervised, so no harm done,” Jeff said, stepping into the house and removing his jacket. “I hope there is no alcohol or anything…funny being snorted, smoked or otherwise used?”

Wes closed the door over, shaking his head. “Just soda and snacks and…” He paused when the doorbell rang again. “And pizza.”

“How many kids do you have coming?” Jeff asked as he saw no less than ten pizzas.

“Not many, twelve all together, but since two of them are Troy and Billy—Billy is Wes’ cousin and eats even more than Troy…” Janet said.

“Oh, I see,” Jeff said, relief flooding him. “Thought you were expecting a hundred kids or something.”

“Jasmine wanted loads more of her friends, but Wes refused. He didn’t want his house trashed,” Janet said watching Wes give a tip to the delivery guy, grab the boxes and close the door again.

“Hungry?” Wes said.

“Just had ice cream, but maybe later,” Jeff said, smirking.

Wes went off to the kitchen with the pizzas.

“Daddy, are you really not mad at us?” Janet said.

He smiled and caressed her cheek. “Now I understand why you didn’t seem to want to leave me. I get the feeling this was mostly Jasmine’s doing despite what you said. I don’t wish to ruin your party, but I can’t just let you guys do whatever you want. Wendy would kill me,” he said, kissing her forehead.

“I love you, Daddy,” Janet whispered, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Right back atcha, Baby,” he said, holding her close. “Go on now. Go have fun, but save me a slice. Hide it in the fridge and don’t let Troy see you!”

She giggled and grabbed his hand. “I want you to meet my friends, especially Luke. He picked me to sing backup with his band.”

“Really? Does Jazzy know this?” he said.

“She does and she’s not thrilled about it,” Janet replied with a sigh.

“Don’t let her get to you. I’ll deny it if you tell her, but you sing nicer than she does. Your friend Luke must know it, too,” he said.

Janet smiled and brought him over to where some of the kids were gathered around the piano.

“Hey, Mr. Fummel,” Marc said, shaking his hand before Janet introduced him to any of them.

“Marc, great to see you,” Jeff said. “And you, too, Amy.”

“Hi, Mr. Fummel,” Amy said. “Janet, you didn’t tell us he was your father.”

“Um…you know each other?” Janet said.

“Sure! He’s the jewelry guy,” Marc said. “My dad is forever buying stuff for my stepmom and his sisters and stuff.”

“Which reminds me,” Jeff said. “I finally got that blue stone you…”

Marc shook his head furiously behind Amy’s back and luckily Jeff got the hint. “…your dad was looking for. You can tell him for me the whole order will be done by next week, but I’ll give him a call.”

“A text would be great,” Marc said, looking endlessly relieved. 

“Why would your dad get anything for your step mother now? It’s not her birthday or anniversary or anything,” Amy asked.

Marc shrugged. “You know my dad, Amy. Money burns a whole in his pocket, barely needs an excuse to buy something for her,” he said steering her away and giving Jeff the thumbs up while mouthing, “Thank you!”

“Hmm, me thinks I’m not the only one weaving tangled webs or whatever,” Janet said.

Jeff laughed. “I guess not.”