Cassidy
When I hear a car pulling up outside, I hurry over to unlock the front door, opening it in a rush…only to find my mother on the other side.
I’m a horrible daughter for being disappointed that she’s not Xavier.
“Mom. Hi. I didn’t know you were coming over,” I say with a smile plastered on my face.
“I just heard from Christine who talked to Darla who said her son saw Xavier Malone at the gym today. Since he’s back in town, I thought I would come check on you and see how you’re doing,” she tells me with a concerned frown on her face.
“I’m fine,” I say. “And Xavier is staying with me this week. I thought I told you,” I blatantly lie to my mother’s face. She never would have approved, so I didn’t bring it up.
“He’s staying here! What will everyone at church think?” she gasps, dramatically clutching her hand to her chest. “And isn’t he,” she starts before silently mouthing the word, “married?”
“Divorced now actually,” I happily inform her. Caving, since she doesn’t seem intent on leaving just yet, I step back so she can come inside the house.
“Are you and he finally…you know?” she asks when she turns to me in the foyer.
“Are we what, Mom?”
“Bumping uglies,” she whispers.
“Oh, my god,” I mutter, shutting the door and scurrying away from her and into the kitchen to pour myself a big glass of white wine to help me get through this conversation.
“I’ll take a glass too,” my mother says when she catches up to me at the kitchen island and tosses her perfectly styled blonde hair.
I guzzle up every drop before responding to her. “No, you’re driving,” I tell her since it’s true, and because I think I may need the whole bottle to get through this conversation.
“Ugh, fine,” she grumbles. Glancing around the kitchen, she says, “So where is that big hunky man you’re sinning with?”
“God, Mom. We’re not sinning! And can’t you just call him Xavier?” I ask, pouring myself another glass and throwing it back like a shot so I barely taste it. Right now, I just need the alcohol to soak into my bloodstream fast to make this discussion disappear from my memory.
“Well? Where is he?”
“He was going to visit his parents after he left the gym,” I tell her. I wonder if he’s having as much fun as I am with my mother.
“How long is he in town for?” she asks.
“Just until Sunday after our reunion on Saturday.”
“Oh, well, that’s a shame. I know how much you miss him…”
“Mom,” I start.
“I’m just worried about you is all,” she says. “I don’t want you clinging to him like you did in high school before he flies off and leaves you heartbroken again.”
“I just miss him. It’s completely normal to miss your friends when they live on the other side of the country,” I point out.
“Aww, honey,” she says, patting the top of my hand with hers. “We both know it’s a little more than that. Just remember that your flower is special and worth saving for marriage. But you’re not getting any younger. Soon your eggs will all be shriveled up…”
My mother has deluded herself into thinking that I’m still a twenty-eight-year-old virgin. Can’t say I really blame her. Growing up, I had few friends, like one, and no boyfriends at all. I’ll never admit to her that I’m currently dating and sleeping with two men.
I no longer bother responding to the getting too old for marriage and kids spiel.
After I guzzle my third glass of wine, I ask, “Was there anything else you came to talk about? Or are you just being nosy while reminding me I’m still single? It would’ve been easier to just call me, you know?”
“I did call you before I came by,” she says. “I called and called, and your phone kept going to voicemail.”
“Well, I didn’t hear it,” I say, reaching in my back jean pocket for my cell phone. It’s not there.
I don’t usually carry a purse, just my house, store and car keys on a ring and my phone and debit card in my pocket when I go out.
“Where the hell is my phone?” I ask as I spin around the kitchen looking for where I usually sit it down. Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen it since we got home from fishing…
“Want me to call you?” my mom asks, pulling out her phone from the purse hanging on her arm.
“Yeah,” I say as I continue searching.
She puts the device up to her ear and says, “It’s ringing.”
I run around the entire downstairs listening for it vibrating or ringing. I start to think I may have left it in Xavier’s rental when I head up the steps to check my bedroom and then my bathroom.
“Oh shit!” I exclaim when I finally spot my lime green case…completely submerged in the toilet bowl. “I’m going to kill him!” I say aloud.
And you can bet your ass I’m going to make him stick his hand in the toilet water to pull it out when he gets back.
Xavier
My dad is in the driveway, a garden hose in his hand, washing his classic Dodge Viper when I pull up at the curb in my rental car.
I wanted to call Cassidy from the gym and tell her what Coach said as soon as I left his office, but then I remembered that will be impossible after I got revenge for her throwing mine in the lake.
So, I’ll just have to keep the news bottled up while I visit with my parents.
My dad raises his hand to his brow, shielding his face from the setting sun when he looks over and I step out of the driver’s seat, shutting the door behind me.
“X-Man!” he exclaims in recognition. Dropping the hose, he walks over and meets me halfway up the driveway for a masculine embrace. “We thought you had forgotten the way home! See? Planes fly year-round, not just during holidays.”
Just for that, I lift him off his feet because I know it drives him crazy that I’m slightly larger and stronger than him.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he huffs with a slap on my back. “Put me down, you big mama’s boy!”
Chuckling, I lower him to the ground again and let him go, noticing there’s even more gray in his black hair than the last time I saw him.
“How you been, Dad?” I ask because he’s right, I usually talk to mom when I call home since he’s not big on phone conversations.
“Good,” he says. “I’ve been doing some coaching for your sister and a few guys at Havoc to help pass the time. You been by to see Macy yet?”
“Yeah, I just saw her at the gym,” I reply.
“Did you know she’s on a streak? Ten wins and no losses. That’s incredible, right?” he asks.
“Yeah, it’s incredible,” I agree, happy for my sister and a little jealous of how close her and my dad are because she had her mind set on a fighting career before she could drive. They spent a lot of time together while I went across country for college and then law school.
Dad looks around me at my rental car and then asks, “Where’s the wifey?”