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“Doreen. Come here and let me put your fire out,” I tell her, trying to do my best to inject charm and be as over-the-top as I think this situation calls for. Which is to say—a lot.
Doreen’s eyes widen and then she sighs.
“Okay Bonnie, you’re right. That’s not Bolt.”
“Told you! He wouldn’t even pass for that has-been Dr. McDreamy!”
“Well duh, McDreamy died! I should have known Bolt wouldn’t show up here in Idaho anyways.”
“I’m sorry, Doreen,” I say, feeling like I let the old lady down somehow, because she looks so dejected.
“Whatever,” she grumbles walking past the table, now completely through with me.
“What was that about, do you think?” I ask Hope, once Doreen and Bonnie make their way to the other end of the restaurant.
“I have no idea. That was beyond strange,” Hope answers.
“She thinks you’re that movie star. The one with that movie that came out a few months ago. You know the one, about the fireman whose girlfriend was cheating on him with another man? The guy turned out to be a serial killer,” the waitress chimes in helpfully.
“Uh… I must have missed that one,” I respond.
“It sounds kind of lame,” Hope shrugs.
“It was. That’s why it bombed at the box office,” the waitress answers. “She is right about one thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
“You do kind of look like the actor that played Bolt.”
“Wow really? Hear that honey? I look like a famous heartthrob actor,” I joke, telling Hope with a leering look, that in turn makes her roll her eyes.
“You’re a lot older than he is, though,” the waitress adds, before going to the next table.
Hope starts laughing and I love her laugh, but still. No man wants to hear they’re freaking old. Shit, I know Hope said I was fifty, but I didn’t feel fifty—at least not until this moment.
“I’m not leaving her a tip,” I growl—which makes Hope laugh harder.
I enjoy that so much, I kiss her.
And in the end I left the waitress a tip, because with Hope’s kiss, and her laughter ringing in my ears, it’s impossible to hold a grudge.
forty-one
hope
“Hello?”
“Hey,” I whisper softly, Aunt Ida Sue’s voice instantly bringing a warm rush of memories of my father.
“Hope? Is that you baby doll?”
“It’s me. How are you Aunt Ida?”
“Bad time to ask. Lotus Petal is driving me nuts. I swear you would think she’s the first woman in the history of the world to go through morning sickness.”
“Petal is pregnant?”
“Yeah, Luka knocked her up months ago. She’s starting to look like she swallowed a watermelon now.”
“Nice, Mom,” I hear Petal in the background.
“Just stating the obvious,” Ida Sue laughs, then she lowers her voice. “I was actually being nice, because she’s so damn touchy. She looks more like she swallowed one of those huge beach balls.”
“Oh gosh.”
“And you know how short she is. It’s not pretty. Dang girl waddles when she walks and she’s only about four months. By the time she hits month seven we’ll all be crying if her attitude doesn’t improve,” Ida Sue continues.
“I heard that!” Petal yells in the background.
“I meant for you to! I was hoping it would untie a knot out of your ass and make it enjoyable to be around you for at least a hot minute,” Ida Sue screams back.
“Maybe I’d be nicer if you’d quit trying to force-feed me your homemade morning sickness remedies,” Petal responds, to which Ida Sue sighs.
“I keep trying to feed her those drinks because they make her sleep. Honest to God, I couldn’t stand her otherwise. She’s so hateful.”
“She is! It’s like she’s having Aunt Flo visit every damn day,” this comes from the background, it’s one of my cousins—I think maybe Black.
“Bullshit. She reminds me of one of those Sumo wrestlers,” I hear an answer. I think this one is Blue. “She’s like six hundred pounds of anger hurling at you and you just know she’s going to squash you.”
“Pfft… maybe if the wrestler had a yeast infection in his back flaps and he couldn’t reach it to scratch,” Ida Sue grumbles.
“Blue Lucas! Did you just say I weighed six-hundred pounds?” I hear Petal cry in the background.
“Oh shit,” Blue mumbles, and he must be sitting close to Ida Sue because he’s lowered his voice but I can still hear him. “When does Luka pick her up and take her off our hands?” Blue asks his mom.
“Not for three more hours. If I was you I’d find a place to hide and I’d do it fast. Shit, I’m going to as soon as I get off the phone with Hope.”
“You talking to Hope? Hey honey,” Blue says, and I smile.
“Tell him, hi. Listen if this is a bad time—”
“Don’t you dare hang up. I never hear from you girls anymore! How are Charity and Faith?”
“Charity is stationed overseas. She’s reporting about the rebuilding going on in Jabar. I don’t hear from her much,” I answer, talking about my younger sister who works for a major news outlet. “And Faith is in Las Vegas. Last time she checked in she was working as a blackjack dealer in a casino.”
