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Chapter Twelve
Linkin
“I’ve met someone.”
Mom looks up from the bowl of brownie batter she’s mixing to give me the look. It’s part shocked, part amused, and well, more shocked. She works in an hour at the café that I ate lunch in earlier with the Summer clan. I was bored at home, and since the boys are probably driving her crazy by now, I decided to come see her for a bit before taking the knuckleheads back to my place.
Good thing I did.
Something’s up.
Mom only bakes when she’s stressed, which lately has been a lot more than usual. Not that her life has been a walk in the park these last six months–hell, last year–but even when her marriage was falling apart and secrets were exposed, she didn’t bake like this. She didn’t have time. She was too busy putting out fires she didn’t start and keeping the mess as far away from the boys as possible.
“Oh?”
“Her name is Lexi. She’s actually my neighbor,” I tell her, leaning my hip against the counter and tossing an apple into the air and catching it.
“Would this be the woman your brother Jack is planning to marry?” she asks, her lips curling up into a smile. God, I’ve missed that smile. My mom is gorgeous, but she was dealt a bad hand, and life has slowly sucked the joy right out of her. The only time she smiles anymore is usually reserved for the boys and me. And even then it’s rare.
“It would. But in my defense, I kissed her first,” I quip with my own smile, recalling Jeff’s taunts to kiss her before Jack.
“Tell me about her,” she insists as she pours the batter into the pan. I watch as she slides it into the preheated oven. Excitement races through me as I realize I’ll be eating hot, gooey, awesome fucking brownies in about thirty minutes.
“She works at a salon uptown. She’s the youngest of six and a twin. She’s feisty and gorgeous and isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with me. She’s a smart ass to boot.”
Mom’s quiet so I glance over and see the warm grin. “And you like her.”
“Yeah.”
“Does she know?” Mom asks quietly, averting her gaze. I know exactly what she’s asking.
“No.” When she glances up at me, I continue. “I wasn’t planning to tell her for a bit. I don’t want to bring our shit down on her.”
“Link, you can’t hide it from her for too long. When secrets lay between you, no one really sleeps.”
I get what she’s saying. Shit, she lived those secrets; being kept in the dark and finding out too late that the one you love is a dirtbag.
“I know, Mom. I’ll tell her, I promise. But I want to wait to see where this thing goes first, you know? I don’t like anyone knowing our business.” Ain’t that the truth. As soon as our dirty laundry started coming out, and the whispers started to get too close to the twins, I pulled them out of town and relocated us all to Jupiter Bay. Here, no one cares what our last name is. No one knows why we up and moved to a new town practically overnight. No one knows the secrets that trail behind us like a shadow.
“I know you like your privacy, Link. Hell, I do too. I haven’t told a soul about Arnie.” Fuck, I hate it when she says his name. Makes my knuckles twitch to connect with something hard. “But I don’t want this mess to come between you and this Lexi. Just the fact that you’re telling me about her lets me know that she’s special. I trust that when the time is right, you’ll tell her what she needs to know.”
“I will.”
“Good. Now, grab the container on the counter. I cut up some fresh fruit for you to take home with you. The boys should have it for snack.”
“Fruit?”
“Yes, fruit. It’s one of the basic food groups. You should try it sometime,” she quips, snapping the hand towel my direction. “Tell me more about your girl.” My girl. Damn, I like the sound of that.
“Well, she’s going through a divorce,” I state, waiting for the reaction I know is coming.
“She’s not divorced yet?” Mom asks, the concern I expect written all over her face.
“Not yet, but it’s in the process. The douche she was married to is dragging his feet,” I tell her, popping a grape into my mouth.
“You’ve met him?”
“Unfortunately. He shows up randomly at her place. Both times, I was there to intercept. He doesn’t like to be told no.”
