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“Ma, let’s be nice,” she said, a forced smile on her face. “Can we go back to see my room?”

“Sure. I changed your sheets, and at your request, I put the blow-up mattress in there, too. Earle had a good laugh at that.”

“Ma, please.”

“You haven’t been datin’ long, I told him. But still an’ all, it’s a novelty.”

“Oh God,” Wendy muttered, mouthingsorryto Oliver.

The front door opened and Helen ran to greet Earle.

“Calm down. She’s fine,” Oliver whispered.

“I didn’t expect this,” she said. “She’s usually not so abrasive. The comments about the dog and then about us sleeping together are over the top even for my mother. And I didn’t think Earle would be here. Start thinking of a way to get out of staying here.”

“Well, let’s go meet him,” Oliver said, wishing there was a kind way he could ask if they could leave.

First impression: Earle was a rabid Green Bay Packers fan, complete with a Packers sweatshirt stretched across a huge abdomen and a baseball cap covering a few greasy strands of hair. Helen was right; he was not happy about the dog visiting.

“You shoulda asked your ma about bringing that hound. I don’t care for dogs, never have. They smell up a place and leave hair all over everything.”

That gave Oliver an idea that he’d sit on for a while. He’d give Wendy and her mother a chance to talk while Earle insulted Oliver’s team.

“Green Bay is Detroit’s number one rival. I don’t even know why they bother playing Detroit anymore. Detroit never wins.”

He spent the next fifteen minutes bad-mouthing Detroit, commenting on the plays he’d seen Oliver make and how he could have improved them, or prevented getting knocked in the head. Oliver couldn’t take any more with his blood pressure surely high, heart pounding. He pretended that Sadie had given him a sign she needed to be walked.

“You go ahead and chat. I’m going to take Sadie for a walk.”

“I’ll come along,” Wendy said.

“No, that’s fine. You keep visiting.”

Finding the leash back in the bedroom, he then crept out of the house without creating a stir. He truly didn’t know if he could tolerate a night under that roof. But would it be possible to leave without insulting Wendy?

“Oliver!”

He turned around to see Wendy running to him.

“They really don’t want the dog there.”

“We’ll get a room,” he said, the relief so intense he wanted to start crying.

“I’m so sorry. Earle overpowers my mother. I now remember why I eagerly took a job so far away.”

“You actually lived with them? You’re a strong woman.”

“Ha! Not really. Desperate was more like it.”

He pulled her over and kissed the top of her head. “How long do we have to stay?”

“Frankly, I’m ready to head down to San Diego. Don’t you have a faux relative who is dying that we can say you need to see right away?”

“That’s low,” he said, laughing out loud. “Just make something up.”

“I don’t think I’ll have to because we have the dog the whole time we’re here. Even for Christmas Eve.”

“I’m glad we didn’t bring the suitcases in,” he said.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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