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We laughed. That was the salve we spread over our problems. When you laughed about them, they didn’t seem half as bad.
“Mom?” I sat closer, holding her hand. The skin was colder than it should have been, so I warmed it by rubbing and blowing on it.
“Yes, honey?”
“I think this is a place we can settle. At least for the next few years, until you get better, and I get my teaching diploma. I have a good feeling, that everything’s going to be alright.”
She placed her other palm on top of mine. “I think so too. And I’m sorry for all the disruption you had, growing up. I know it wasn’t easy, moving so often, all those different states we ended up in.”
I exhaled slowly, breathing in again deeply. It was a little bit of a sore point for me, Mom having insisted on never settling in one place for so long. But even worse was that she’d never told me why.
“Maybe one day you’ll tell me why…”
She looked away, a grimace telling of either shame or pain, or a horrible blend of both. “Maybe one day, honey.”
I clasped her hands tightly, looking deep into her eyes. “Mom, look at me, please.”
She did.
“Why not make today the day?” I asked gently but firmly.
As if trying to distract me, she rushed in with another apology. “I’m sorry you had to work so hard, we didn’t have enough to send you to college.”
I would never fault her for the money part. I hadn’t minded, even though I was starting as a freshmen now, at twenty. “You’re avoiding the real issue.”
“Honey, sometimes ignorance is bliss, trust me on that.”
“And sometimes it’s tortu—”
My phone rang. It wasn’t Jaxon already, was it? “Hold on, sorry.”
“That’s ok, honey.” She picked up the remote and raised the volume again. The drama had finished, and now the words of a TV chef chirped from the screen. Something about Alabama and fudge cake being inseparable.
I was looking at the unknown number on the screen, half-hoping itwasJaxon. I didn’t want to disturb my mom though, so I went into the bedroom, its paper-thin walls giving just enough privacy if I talked in whispers.
“Hello?”
There was silence, then a deep breath sounded on the other line.
“Um, hello?”
Goodness, was this a prank call?
“Ah, yes. Yes, hello.” A gravelly, manly voice responded. I wasn’t sure at first but then I recognized it. I’d heard it earlier in the day.
“Professor Belanger?”
Aaron
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.
I’d never been so nervous in my life. And as the most awkward and clumsy bear shifter to ever be, that was saying something.
I tugged at my shirt collar. My cheeks and neck felt like they were fresh out the oven, my forehead could have been used for frying eggs. My phone’s smooth metal back was quickly filming in sweat, causing my grasp to slip.
I switched my phone to my other hand and wiped my sweaty palm on my khakis.
“Hello…? Erm, hello?” her beautiful voice echoed. The words were sweeter than birdsong, the syllables chiming delicately.
