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“Oh, God,” Marigold whimpers.
“And you couldn’t wait that long?” he responds, his voice is monotone and quiet, and I wince because being a man, I know what that means.
“It’s not that at all, baby. I was going through the change. I don’t know if you know this or not but that’s hell on a woman.”
“I remember, believe me,” he mutters. “I just didn’t realize you were using a substitute before you came back to me.”
“It was a poor substitute, honey. I finally gave up and tossed the dang thing.”
“If you got rid of it, how did it end up in a desk drawer in our daughter’s room?”
“Well, she wasn’t using that room back then and when she decided she wanted the empty room, I threw it in that old desk, knowing she’d never use it anyway.”
“Hey!” Marigold yells.
“Well, honey, it’s not like you loved school. You hate studying.”
I look down at Marigold and smile. She shrugs. “I really do,” she mumbles.
“Why not throw it in the damn garbage?” Jansen asks, he’s still mad but he sounds calmer now at least.
“I did!” she defends. “Then I started worrying that the garbage men would see it through the bags. You know how this town is when it comes to me, Jan. I had nightmares about it. So, I grabbed it before the truck ran and decided to hide it instead. I did think about burning it, but I was afraid it would melt in the fireplace, and I couldn’t get rid of it… Damn it! If you think about it, I was just protecting you. If they had found the dang thing, they would have thought you couldn’t satisfy me, and we both know how wrong that would have been. You’ve always been the only man I’ve ever wanted Jansen Reed.”
“Don’t try to sweet talk me now, Ida Sue.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she says and hell, even I can tell she’s lying.
“You and I are going to have this out tonight,” he warns.
“I’ll be ready,” she answers, and I blink because I’m pretty sure she’s looking forward to it.
“Your family is freaky as hell, Ace,” I mumble, picking up the glass of orange juice that Ida Sue gave me. I bring it up to my lips to take a drink and Marigold grabs my hand to stop me. The juice wobbles around in the glass and splashes out over the rim onto my fingers.
“Don’t drink that!” she demands.
“Why the hell not? Your mother’s not going to poison me. It’s just juice,” I complain.
“Worse! She’ll try and feed you something to up your sperm count so you’ll knock me up. The woman is determined to make sure all her kids are married with a million-gazillion babies.”
My gaze goes straight to Ida Sue. She has her hands on her hips, staring at her daughter.
“I resent that! I didn’t fix Slater one of my special shakes,” she argues.
“You didn’t? Marigold and I say together.
“Of course not. It’s freshly strained orange juice.”
“And nothing to up his sperm count?” Marigold clarifies. I’m left staring at the glass wondering if I should drink it or not. I want Marigold, but after I’ve thought about it, neither one of us are ready for kids just yet. She has dreams she wants to live, and I do, too.
“Of course not.”
“Well, why not!” Marigold says, sounding angry and surprising the shit out of me.
“Huh?” Ida Sue says, proving she’s as confused as I am.
“Why doesn’t slater get stuff to make his swimmers swim harder?”
“Uh…Ace?”
