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Chapter Eleven
“So, how are things going?”Mom asked at dinner the next night. She said she was tired, so I’d ordered lasagna and Greek salad that she loved from the restaurant twenty minutes outside Castleton.
“Oh, they’re going,” I said, just before I shoved a giant bite of lasagna in my mouth and promptly choked on it. Mom stared at me as I tried to get my breath back and wipe my watering eyes.
“You really need to take smaller bites,” she said.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So,” she said, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin, “how are things going?”
My fork paused in midair. I knew that tone. She knew something. How much, I was going to have to find out.
The two of us locked eyes as we waited for the other one to break.
My mom had many years more of practice, so I ended up caving.
“Okay, what do you know?” I asked.
She sat back in her chair, her smile full of smugness. I stabbed at my lasagna with my fork, wishing this conversation wasn’t going to make me lose my appetite.
“Well, I got not one, but three messages informing me that my daughter was looking extremely cozy with the local bartender at the beach. Would you care to elaborate and fill in the blanks?”
Phew. Okay. So far she just knew that I’d gone to the beach with Esme. As long as she didn’t know that Esme had stayed over. That part I’d rather keep between me and Esme.
“Yes, we went to the beach together. We hung out. I don’t know.” I could feel myself melting under her scrutiny.
“Do you think it’s something serious?” she asked.
“I don’t know, it wasn’t even a date. We just hung out. No definitions. I don’t know.” I needed to stop saying that or she was going to get suspicious.
“She’s a nice girl. I always thought it was so wonderful how she stayed with her father and took care of him.” She gave me a pointed look, as if I hadn’t done the exact same thing.
My mom was never going to forgive me for moving out, even though I was a full-ass adult who needed her own space. Lots of parents would be thrilled to have independent children, but not mine.
“Yeah, they’re really close,” I said, treading lightly. If I wasn’t careful, this conversation was going to turn into a guilt trip, and I didn’t need that.
“Well, if you do decide that you’re going to date her, I approve.” As if I needed her permission. Plus, she’d approved of Wyatt and look how that had turned out. Mom was not the best judge of character at all.
“Thanks,” I said. “I have no idea if it will go anywhere, but I really like her.” I shouldn’t have admitted that, but it was too late to take it back.
“I’m still holding out hope for Wyatt, but Esme is a good girl.”
I bit back a scream and covered by noisily getting up from the table and taking my dishes to the sink.
“I’m really tired, so I’m going to head out,” I said, pulling out a container so I could take some of the lasagna home.
“Okay,” Mom said, coming up behind me and giving me a hug. “It’s good to see you. And thanks for bringing me dinner.”
I turned around and hugged her back.
“You’re welcome, Mom. Always.”
Even though she was hard to love, at the end of the day, I did love her.
* * *
I need a drinkI sent to Esme as soon as I got home with my leftover lasagna.
