Mama Knows Best

by Taylor, Reece

  “I know I need to ask how you’re doing and how you’re handling everything since your dad died, but all I want to do is talk to you about Maggie, and I know that makes me a selfish bastard. You’re the only one I trust, though.” He scrubs his face with his hand, and I reach over to squeeze his shoulder.

  “I’m good, it hasn’t been easy, but I’m good. Now tell me what’s wrong with Maggie.” I’m worried and hope it’s nothing life-threatening because my brother would not be able to function without his wife. He’s loved her forever, and they’ve been married almost five years.

  “She had a miscarriage two months ago. You know we’ve been trying for a couple of years, and nothing, I mean nothing. We went to doctors and they couldn’t find anything wrong with either of us, so we figured it would happen when it did, and she did get pregnant. We were both over the moon but didn’t tell anyone until she was further along. She was about seven weeks and started bleeding. It devastated her, and there was nothing I could do to make it better.” I look at him shocked. Maggie acts as she always has.

  “I know, she acts like nothing has happened, but I catch her crying at times and all I can do is hold her. Then she pops up and acts like everything is fine. The doctor gave us the go-ahead to try again, but I wonder if that would be the best thing. I don’t think she’s dealt with the loss, and I don’t know what to do.” My brother of few words just spilled his heart out to me and I’m slightly awed, but I’m also at a loss as to how to help him. I think about MaCee and know she would know what to do. Man, I wish she was here.

  “Have you talked to her about it?” I feel so inadequate and don’t know what else to say.

  “I’ve tried, but she refuses to mention it. She says she’s fine and doesn’t want to bring it up. She thinks we should move on, but I worry she truly hasn’t.” He looks like a man at his wit’s end.

  “Colin, I don’t know how you feel about this, but my girlfriend is an OB nurse and she’s even studying to be a nurse practitioner for women’s health. I could ask her if she thinks you should be worried.” He shakes his head and I let it go.

  “Not right now, she doesn’t want anyone knowing. It would only upset her more if she found out I had discussed this with a woman we don’t know. I don’t mean any offense and I’m sure she’s great, but I think it best we keep this between us.” I squeeze his shoulder to reassure him I understand. “I just had to talk to someone, I’ve been so worried.”

  “Brother, you know you can call anytime you need me. I wish you would have instead of dealing with this on your own. Women are strange creatures, and I know Maggie is probably grieving something fierce, but if she says move on it’s best to move on and let her come to you when she’s ready.” Colin takes another sip of his beer as he thinks about what I’ve said. I hope I’ve helped him in some way.

  “You’re most likely right. I’ll just have to be patient, let the chips fall where they will and be ready to pick up the pieces when I need to. It just breaks my heart to know she’s hurting and there’s nothing I can do about it.” I agree with him, I can’t imagine MaCee hurting like that and me having to stand by and watch. Damn, I almost had a fit over her minor upset tonight.

  “Little brother, I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you. I know it was hard losing your dad the way you did. I always liked Alan and he tried to be a good stepdad to me, although shit, he was too much like Mom to be a great dad.” We both laugh a little because it’s true. Our parents were so awkward, it’s a miracle we turned out as normal as we have.

  “Yeah, it was a shock. Such a freak accident, he was walking through the back pasture and a damn tree fell on him, no lightning or wind, it just fell. Talk about when your number is up.” I shake my head thinking of how strange it all was and take a sip of my beer before I continue.

  “Thank goodness Joe, the hired hand, was here or he may have lain under that tree for God knows how long without anyone knowing where he was. At least, he died instantly and didn’t suffer. I hate that we weren’t closer, though. I would have loved coming here with him, and he could have given me the history of the place. It’s kind of impersonal going to the library and looking up my family history. From what I’ve found, they were pretty interesting. Seems my grandfather, several generations back, won this place in a poker game.” Colin listens, and I’m happy to be able to talk to someone about this who knew my dad and understands what I’m going through. He knew the relationship I had with my father, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

  “I get it, and you look like you’re happy here. Hell, even Mom commented on how settled you looked. It’s almost as if you belong in this place. Grandpa will be happy to hear it. He’s been worrying you might be staying out of some stubborn obligation. Oh, and be expecting a call, he’s gonna want to meet your little woman.” I laugh because I know he’s speaking the truth, I believe MaCee and my grandpa will get along wonderfully. It’s my mother I worry about.

  We talk for another hour and once Colin makes his way to bed, I head into my office to finish my work. As much as I enjoyed talking to my brother I wish we could have done so tomorrow or I should say later today as it’s after midnight now. This project must be finished by the morning, and I’m only about halfway done. Looks like I’ll be burning the midnight oil. I’m beginning to think I need to convince Cash to get his ass down here, so we can open an office and share some of this workload. Even though I was against us expanding to that level, it’s beginning to be more than I can handle.

  Chapter Eleven

  MaCee

  Tyler picks me up at eleven o’clock on the dot, and my nerves are about shot. I mean, it’s not every day you meet your boyfriend’s mother. I’m dressed in a very conservative sun dress that my mother told me I look adorable in, but she may be biased. She’s instructed me to find out when Tyler’s family is leaving. I believe she wants to invite them to dinner, which is scary in itself.

  I can tell Tyler is nervous, and that has me worried. Does he think his family won’t like me? Oh crap, now I think I may throw up. Damn, I need to calm down. I don’t believe I’ve ever been this upset about meeting someone.

  “So how long is your family in town for?” Tyler jumps at the sound of my voice and yeah, that really helps calm my jitters.

  “They’re leaving tomorrow morning. My mother has to be back for work, and Colin hates to leave my grandfather alone for long. There’s no telling what trouble he could get into.” He looks at me and gives me a very weak smile.

  I text my mother and give her the information, and she immediately messages me back to invite them to dinner around six this evening and let her know if they can come. She’s going shopping but will have her phone. My mother always tends to give way more info than necessary. I shake my head and then turn to Tyler, he’s staring straight ahead and drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “Okay, what gives? Do you think your family is going to hate me? I’m nervous about meeting them, but you’re beginning to freak me out.” He turns surprised eyes to me and then lets out a nervous laugh.

  “Oh babe, it’s not them liking you, it’s you liking them, or rather my mother, that has me worried. Let’s just say she’s different.” I look at him curiously, and before I can ask any further questions, we’re pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant. I reach over and squeeze his arm.

  “I’m sure it will be fine.” He doesn’t look too confident, but surely it can’t be that bad.

  We walk inside and are led to a table where a lady that appears to be in her early fifties with very attractive iron gray hair and striking features is sitting with a couple that I assume is Tyler’s brother and his wife. His mother has high cheekbones that bespeak Native American ancestry and striking blue eyes. Obviously, this is where Tyler gets his lovely eyes from. She stands, and she must be close to six feet which makes me feel shorter than ever. Tyler introduces me to the group, and th
ey all smile and shake my hand. Colin and Maggie are striking also. He is as tall as Tyler but with light blond hair and the same striking blue eyes. Maggie is also tall with vibrant red hair and green eyes. She has a very friendly face and smiles at me. I instantly like her and know we could be friends.

  We all sit, and our waiter appears to take our order, then returns with a fruity looking drink for me. I look up surprised and he explains, “The bartender said to give you this, compliments of the house.” I turn and see none other than Daniel James, the guy I stole from Melody in high school, waving at me from behind the bar. I smile and wave back awkwardly. Wow, he’s really gone far. Okay, that was a tad bit snobbish. I taste the drink and it’s actually pretty good. I turn and give him a thumbs-up without thinking, hoping to give him some encouragement. When I turn back everyone at the table is staring at me. Well, this is awkward.

  “Old friend from high school. I didn’t know he worked here, I mean I knew he dropped out of college, but I didn’t know…You know.” I stop talking, and Colin and Maggie smile at me while his mother is looking at her phone and paying me no attention.

  “Which friend was he?” Tyler asks, and I know my cheeks are turning red because I can feel them burning.

  “Daniel James.” He looks at me and then starts laughing. I reach over and shove his shoulder without thinking.

  “Stop it. Poor fellow really didn’t have a chance, he wasn’t that bright to begin with.” This causes Tyler to laugh harder, and I choose to ignore him and focus on the rest of our group. Tyler introduced his mother as Dr. Sara Stone, so I’m assuming she kept her maiden name.

  “Dr. Stone, what is it you do for NASA?” She looks up at me from her phone as if she had forgotten she was at lunch.

  “Oh, I’m to interact and participate in conversation. Sorry dear, but I’m a bit socially awkward. I tend to function better at work than I do in these types of situations. Since you called me Dr. Stone, I would imagine the correct thing for me to do is instruct you to call me Sara. So, please call me Sara and from the look on my son’s face, I guess I wasn’t supposed to say that either.” I just sit there slightly dumbfounded, and she takes my silence as a sign to continue.

  “I am an aerospace engineer. Tyler tells me you are a registered nurse and going to school to be a nurse practitioner? Why not a doctor?” Maggie starts doing this snort, snicker kind of the thing that has Colin whispering something to her and Tyler is just staring at his mother as if she has two heads. What he doesn’t realize is I’ve worked with some very odd ducks in my day, and this isn’t as awful as he thinks.

  “Well, I love being a caregiver and nursing just called to me in school. As a matter of fact, I volunteered at the hospital when I was in high school. But the reason I decided not to become a doctor was I wanted a life. Doctors tend to have to devote themselves to their patients and practices and are not home much. I want to eventually marry and have children, but I also want my children to know who I am and to be a part of their lives, so this was the best option for me.” She looks at me for a moment then smiles.

  “Very thought out and logical, I can respect that. I’m dedicated to my work and tend to be an absent mother. Colin was my one and only venture into the wild side in college, and after I had him, my father took over the childcare aspect of everything, which was for the best. Tyler’s father and I worked together and had much in common. Alan was very intelligent and also a bit awkward, so we eventually evolved into a marriage. Also, the sex was quite stimulating.” I had just taken a swallow of water when she said this and almost spit it across the table, then began coughing uncontrollably while Maggie continued to do the snort-snicker thing. Both boys looked like they wanted to faint.

  “Mother!” They yell simultaneously, and she gets a confused look on her face, which only causes Maggie and I to both do a snort-snicker thing.

  “I guess I’m not supposed to discuss sex with your father at lunch, am I Tyler? I don’t see what the problem is. It is a natural biological process, and Alan was very good at it. We even continued to have sex after we divorced.” She turns to me to explain, and I smile at her encouragingly. This is so great! “Trying to maintain a relationship day in and day out became more than I could bear, it was too distracting. Alan and I came to the agreement we would separate and have conjugal visits occasionally. We also agreed to have Tyler live with my father because we were working so much at the time. Alan was a much better parent than I, and we decided to divorce so Tyler would inherit all of Alan’s assets in the case of his death.” I nod as if in understanding, and Tyler looks as if he wants to crawl under the table. I reach over and pat his hand which earns me a glare. You really shouldn’t have done that big boy. My mother so needs to meet this lady.

  “I almost forgot, my mother wanted me to invite y’all to dinner tonight. She was very excited to hear Tyler’s family was in town and is dying to meet you.” Tyler is shaking his head no when Maggie decides to pipe in.

  “Why that sounds lovely, we would love to.” Colin glances over at her and grins and about that time our lunch arrives. The rest of our meal is uneventful, and we part with promises they will be at my house around six that evening. As soon as I’m alone with Tyler I can’t help but give him a hug.

  “What was that for?”

  “You just looked like you needed it. Don’t be embarrassed, your mom is who she is, I understand because my mother can be a challenge also. At least you know exactly where you stand, and she never faked having dementia to get you to move back home.” This earns me a laugh, which causes me to join in, and before we know it we’re sitting in the parking lot of the Bent Oak with tears rolling down our cheeks from laughing at how absurd lunch was.

  “You’re so evil. You just had to ask my family over for dinner tonight with your mother?” Tyler asks as he turns to stare down at me.

  “Of course, you know how my mother is and she insisted I find out when they were going home. She would have made both our lives miserable if we hadn’t caved to her demands. Besides, I really want to see how they interact together.” The thought of my mother and Dr. Stone in the same room causes a giggle to escape, although Tyler doesn’t look as happy about it.

  Dinner with my mother was not the disaster Tyler imagined it would be. My mother handled Sara Stone quite well. There were only a couple of awkward moments when Sara told my mother she was very forward thinking in treating her black maid as if she were family. I thought Tyler was going to faint, and I wondered if I could do permanent damage from holding laughter in. My mother was gracious though and informed her Liza had been her best friend since childhood and always would be. Liza ran into the kitchen and I could hear her guffawing which made me start doing the snort-snicker thing Maggie was famous for.

  Later during dinner Tyler’s father came up and my mother informed Sara she had known him most of her life, and Sara proceeded to ask her if she had had sex with him because he was actually very good at it. I’ve never seen my mother speechless until that moment, and it was priceless. Liza suddenly had to get something in the kitchen and ran out as if her ass was on fire. I joined Maggie once again to snort-snicker, and the boys paled and looked in serious danger of hitting the floor. Overall it was a great dinner.

  As they were leaving Maggie pulled me off to the side and whispered in my ear, “Don’t hold Sara against Tyler. She’s odd but harmless. Actually, she’s the best mother-in-law because she never gets in your business.”

  “I don’t, she’s actually quite wonderful and very interesting.” Maggie gives me a hug and then goes out to join the rest of the family. I walk over to Tyler and grab his hand and squeeze. He whispers for me to apologize to my mother, and I tell him there is no need. He shakes his head and kisses me goodnight. I pull him down, so I can whisper in his ear, “I liked your mom, and I like you even more now that I’ve met her.”

  He grins boyishly at me and walks out the door
. My mother walks up to hug me around the waist, and I lean my head on her shoulder.

  “Odd woman, but I do like that boy. He’s a keeper, my MaCee girl, definitely a keeper.” She turns and walks back into the house. I watch them leave thinking, as amazing as it is, my mother and I might actually agree on something.

  Chapter Twelve

  MaCee

  It’s Wednesday, Tyler’s family has left, and I have a rare day with nothing due, no papers to write, no tests to study for or work to go to. I decide tonight is the night, I’m going to make my move. I plan to cook Tyler dinner, have bought some sexy underwear which I plan on him seeing, and told my Mama not to wait up. Now, I have to figure out how to get him out of his house, so I can set the stage for my seduction.

  I call to find out he’s in Baton Rouge for the day and won’t be home until around six that evening, which works out perfectly for my plans. I inform him I have a rare day with nothing to do and want to cook dinner at his house. He’s all in and tells me where the extra key is to let myself in. To be clear his exact words were to make myself at home, and I plan on doing just that.

  I need to go to the grocery store and pick up supplies before I head over to his place. I’ve decided to make a shrimp and rice casserole with fresh French bread and a green salad. While I’m in the store I run into Hannah, and we decide to get some lunch before I do my shopping. I haven’t seen her since we did our bit of detective work on a certain cheating surgeon, and I want to know what she’s been up to. We grab a booth at the diner, and after we place our orders I don’t waste any time in quizzing her.

  “So, girl, what have you been up to?” She looks up and then frowns at me. Wonder what that’s all about?