“I’m not a table, Oscar. I’m not a game. And I’m not without brains, so thanks for your interest in locking me away in a tower, but no thanks.”
“Brenten Pierce!” he cries out again. But then he changes his tune. “Actually, you know what? I like him for you. Good choice.”
“What?” Mom spins away from her mixing bowl.
“He has less personality than a fucking mailbox, Angel. I doubt he’s lost his virginity yet. His mother still breastfeeds him to sleep. So yup.” He turns to me. “Get a meal with that wet rag, Beauty. Let him pay, laugh at his shitty jokes. Then you come back home with your fifty bucks from Mrs. Pierce for babysitting her boy all evening. You want a second job to get a little spending money? Go for it. You babysit that nice boy. Make sure you cut the grapes in half so he doesn’t choke.”
“You’re so dramatic.” I roll my eyes.
“Or don’t. I wouldn’t be sad if his obituary said something about choking to death.”
“You’re supposed to be a cop! A protector of all men.”
“Yes, but see, Pierce is no man. He’s a fucking tampon.”
“He’s a…” I swear, something explodes in my brain. “What? What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know!” he cries out and spins away. “I’m going to pick up your little brother. When I get back in twenty, I expect all boy talk to be over.”
“You won’t be only twenty minutes.” I hound the man and follow him all the way to the front door. “You’re going to see your mommy, so we all know you’ll be six hours and a smooshy hug away.”
“Ma is an angel,” he shouts with drama coating every word. “It’s okay to be a momma’s boy if the mom is as awesome as mine!”
“Don’t forget to collect my mom’s fifty dollars!” I shout after him as he crosses to his truck. “She’s been babysitting your ass for a decade. Ma owes her!”
“You’re grounded for a week for sassing me!” He stops at his door and turns back to point a finger. “Grounded!”
“I’m going out tonight. And I’m probably going to drink!”
“Two weeks, young lady. Wanna make it three?”
“Tell Ma I said hey and that I’ll visit tomorrow.”
“Will do.” He smiles and slides onto the bench seat. “Love you, Beauty.”
“Love you too.” Smiling, I turn back into the house and wander back to the kitchen. “He’s so silly.”
“You’re such a brat,” Mom laughs. “He has never ever grounded you before. But now you’re twenty-five, and he’s gonna try to lay some shit down? I think he missed that train.”
“He’s scared a man is gonna come along and take his place.”
“And a man will,” Mom slowly pours prepared batter into the pan I neglected to grease. “That’s just the way it is. Our daddies are our first loves, but eventually, a new man comes along and nudges the first aside. A good father will always struggle to scoot aside. But he’ll know when the right one arrives… they know when it’s real. And eventually, they move and make room.”
“Do you think he’ll scoot for Brenten?”
She snorts. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell. I have no clue what you see in that guy. But honestly, who am I to judge? I married the world’s most horrible guy.”
“Oz isn’t that bad, Mom.”
She sets down the empty mixing bowl and shakes her head. “I meant my first husband, silly. The second time, I got it right, which means I have a fifty-fifty chance of good instincts when it comes to men. Plus, you and I have a deal. I keep my nose out of it unless, of course, there are massive red flags. In which case, I know where the guns are.”
I go to work assembling slices of pineapple right beside my mom. Shoulder to shoulder, matching smiles. “I’m taking him to dinner tonight. And I’m going to tell Ben to mind his manners or else.”
“He won’t shut his mouth, honey. We both know that.”
“Yeah, I know. But I still have to lay the rules down. It’s what a good girlfriend would do. It’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
“So… girlfriend, huh?” Mom pauses and looks to me. “You’re his girlfriend? That seems so…” She wrinkles her nose. “Official.”
“I’m at that point in my life where I should live, right? Try new things, date men, fall in love, take risks.”
“Okay… but is Brenten the fall in love, or the risk?”
I smile and study my work in front of us. “Both, I guess. All of the above. But don’t worry about me, okay? Worry about Oz, because he’s way too stressed. This stuff at work is going to make him gray, and it’s been going on for months.”
“I know, honey.”
Gone is our silly laughter and smiles after Oz’s show about Brenten, and in its place is the stress we hide from him. We worry for him, because he works so hard and takes things a little too personally when he can’t close a case in record time.
“Trust me,” she continues. “I know. Let’s finish this, and while it’s in the oven, you can shower and dress here. Saves you doing it when you get to your apartment.”
“Solid point.” I step back when we place the last of the pineapple slices down, then I watch as Mom opens the oven and slides the tray in. “I left clothes in my closet anyway. Can I use all your hair stuff?”
“It’s a deal.” She closes the oven and grabs the hand towel to flick it in my direction. “Go. I’ll keep an eye on the cake.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
Instead of walking away, I head in her direction and press a kiss to her cheek.
“Did I ever thank you for showing me how strong a woman can be?” I step back, and smile when her eyes turn misty. “Maybe you picked wrong the first time, and maybe you learned some really harsh lessons because of it, but your strength and grit and tenacity…” I smile. “They’re all directly responsible for how I turned out. “I’m a grown woman, Mom, older than you were when you married that asshole. I’m smart, and confident, and because of your fifty-fifty instincts, I know now what a relationship is supposed to look like. You showed me that asking for what I deserve isn’t being high maintenance or rude. It’s simply refusing to settle. You showed me how to become me, without apology, without shame, and you allow me to make my choices, because you know what it’s like to not have those freedoms.”
“I pray every single day that I did right by you, honey.” Mom dives back in and pulls me into a hug. “I couldn’t stand up for myself back when you and Ben were babies. I wasn’t strong enough to stand up to that man when he hurt me. But then he wanted to hurt you guys—”
“And you found your strength.” I pull back but hold her hands and study her eyes. “It’s okay that you were scared at first. You still did what you needed to do in the end.”
“He could provide for us. He was respected in his job, he earned enough to make us comfortable, and your birth certificates…” She swallows. “You had his name. I was so scared of making trouble and losing you guys.”