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He dips his head like a nervous and fluttering Hugh Grant. “My love of sunglasses, ma’am. I’ve been collecting them since I was a kid, and it got a little crazy during my time in the Marines.”
“Loretta mentioned you were a war hero. Thank you for your service,” she tells him and pats his cheek. “I can see why Loretta likes you.”
“Yeah? Most days, I’m not sure she does, ma’am.”
I roll my eyes, but deep down, the way he keeps calling her ma’am is sending waves of heat darting through my body.
“I like you just fine. I’m just not falling at your feet.”
“Not yet,” he mouths the words to me. “What smells so incredible?”
My mom perks up at the question. “I wanted to cook tonight for our special guest,” she put a hand on his shoulder. “We have porterhouse steaks, buttery mashed potatoes, and roasted vegetables. I hope you like steak?”
“More than just about anything else, Clara.”
“Excellent. Are you a wine or a whiskey man?” Before Shades can answer, she turns to me. “Loretta, set the outside table for three, please. Your father is working late.”
I nod but hesitate. Mother is pretty nice to everyone but me, yet I still worry about Shades. “Uh, sure.”
“I’ll be fine, Letty.” Shades sends me a wink, and my whole body almost goes up in flames.
“If you’re sure,” I say uneasily. Then I do as my mom asks. I rush through the task as quickly as I can without making what she will see as a critical error in setting the table just so for company. Everything is perfect, and I sigh before rushing back into the kitchen.
To find Shades and my mother laughing. No, not just laughing, howling. Laughing like old friends indulging in wild memories.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing at all,” Mom says dismissively. “It’s time to put the steaks on the grill while everything else warms in the oven. Let’s go cook under the stars, shall we?”
Who is this woman, and what has she done with my mother?
I see the way she interacts with Shades as if he’s just another normal man, not a tatted up biker in a leather jacket.
But it makes me think that maybe I am the problem, not her. And that makes my stomach turn.
Mother can be judgmental, but usually, she reserves it just for me, not the world at large. So Shades has made choices in his life I wouldn’t have made, but that doesn’t make him a bad man. By all accounts, he seems like a good guy.
With a very dirty mouth and devilish kisses.
But then again, I only know him from church. Who knows what nefarious things the bikers do when no one’s looking?
“Shades, may I ask why you left the Marines?”
“Mother,” I chide. “That’s personal.”
She smiles. “And if that’s the case, he’s an adult, Loretta. He will say just that. Won’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He sends me a gracious smile, and I relax. “Nonstop war is exhausting, mentally and physically, and if you never get any rest, your risk of getting killed goes up.”
Mom nods as if she understands. “Perfectly reasonable. Do you miss it?”
Shades shakes his head. “Some days, but mostly, I’m grateful I made it out.”
The sincerity in his words makes me wonder if he made it out totally unscathed, but now isn’t the time to ask.
“And if I was still in, I wouldn’t be enjoying this wonderful steak with two beautiful women.”
