I knocked and got no answer, so I went in.
The room was dark.
I moved to her bed, sat on it and gently slid her hair off her neck.
“Love you, baby girl,” I whispered.
She turned her head so she trapped my hand against her neck.
“Love you too, Mom,” she whispered back.
I gave her neck a squeeze, slid it away then bent and kissed her cheek.
I left her, closed the door and went to my son’s room.
At my knock, he called, “Yeah?”
I opened it and went in.
His room was dark but I closed the door behind me and moved to where he was lying in bed.
“Just wanna say goodnight, my handsome boy.”
He shifted so he was sitting and looking up at me.
“’Night, Mom. Sorry the day was all drama. Mickey probably thinks we’re all whacked.”
“It’s over and tomorrow’s another day.”
“Yeah, you and Scarlett O’Hara are all over that.”
I decided to take that as a compliment.
I bent, took his hand and held it tight.
“You did right, trying to protect your sister after what had gone on with your dad. You went about it wrong, but the impulse was right.”
“’Kay,” he muttered, sounding embarrassed.
“Mickey was the one who pointed that out to me,” I shared.
He sounded incredulous, but in a good way, when he asked, “Really?”
“Yes, kiddo.”
“He was pissed I cursed at you,” he noted hesitantly.
“He likes me. Like you with your sister, he was protecting me.”
“It won’t happen again,” he promised.
“That’d be good.”
His fingers gave mine a squeeze. I took it and took the hint, letting him go and moving to the door.
“Mom?” he called.
In the doorway, hand on the handle, I turned to him.
“Yeah, honey?”
“I knew about Polly. Everyone at school knows about Polly. That’s why I wanted to talk to you alone. Just Pip, you and me. Ash isn’t right. She’s living her own thing. I didn’t know who she was. Not being mean, but she’s a freshman. Junior guys don’t pay a lot of attention to freshman girls. I would see her in the hall but had no idea she was Mickey’s girl and never saw Polly go at her. But I’ve seen Polly pulling her crap and the freshmen might live in fear of her, but the upperclassman think she’s a pain in the butt. There’s gonna be a takedown, thinking as a freshman she can lord over the school, and that’s gonna happen soon. I’ve been trying to talk to Pippa about her to get her out of target range, but she wasn’t listening. We’ve been going around about it for a while. It’s been ticking me off.”
Yes, my son was a good kid.
And perhaps I had an explanation of why his patience was shorter with his sister lately.
Further, it appeared a small town didn’t extend to the bubble of the high school world.
“Okay, Auden,” I said when he stopped talking.
“That’s why I wanted to talk alone,” he continued. “I figured, you and me both having a go at her about Polly, she might actually listen. It sucks she had to go through that today, but you were right not to back down. If she’s in on it, that’s not cool. But it’s still a good thing it happened because she needs to be far away from Polly when the real mean girls make their move to show that girl her place.”
I forgot how many political minefields there were in high school.
This was a good reminder. I had two kids in it and three and a half years left of guiding them through it.
I felt badly for Polly, and her mom, who I liked, who would be next in line to deal. But Polly needed to learn a lesson too.
I just hoped the timing was right that my baby girl didn’t get caught in the crossfire.
Then again, if her past association drew her in, I had a feeling her brother would be at her back.
“You make me proud,” I told him. “You being you but also you looking out for your sister.”
“She isn’t a bully,” Auden told me, his voice softer, telling me my compliment meant something to him. “Pip and me talked after you went to bed and she told me Ash didn’t know Pip was your daughter because her name is Moss, not Hathaway. And she didn’t know Ash was Mickey’s, because, well, no one knows who kids’ parents are until they meet them or see them with them.”
“I should have probably shared more information with you before the meeting,” I admitted. “I was just nervous. I’ve never done this before. It didn’t even occur to me they were in the same grade and might know each other. My main focus was it all working out, you all getting along, making it safe for you, all of you, my two and Mickey’s two, when we tried blending. It’s a big thing, honey,” I said softly. “It means a lot to me, to Mickey, to all of us. So I guess I didn’t think beyond that.”
“It isn’t your fault, Mom,” he assured me. “We get that. This isn’t about you messing up. What I’m trying to say is Pippa was tight with her friends back home in California. She missed them. Dudes they adjust. New guy, they take him in. She’s a girl and it’s hard to find your way into a posse and they got so many games going on, it’s harder to know which is the right one. She messed up. Now she knows that and she’ll get it together.”
“I know she will,” I replied.
“Yeah,” he said.
“Thanks for sharing all this with me.”
“No probs, Mom.”
I waited to see if he had more and when he didn’t say anything, I said, “Okay, kiddo. I’m gonna leave you alone. Goodnight, sweets.”
I started to turn the door handle when he called, “Mom?”
“Right here, Auden.”
“Love you.”
The weight that had been lifting since Mickey called disappeared completely and I was again walking on air.
“Love you too, baby,” I replied and shifted out the door, closing it behind me.
I moved through the hall of my house toward my bedroom and did it shouting, “’Night, Lawrie. Love you.”
“’Night, MeeMee,” he called from the log room (more masculine, I’d put him in the beach room when he was there after he hooked up with Robin). “Love you too. Now stop shouting!”
I heard a giggle from Pippa’s room, a loud snort from Auden’s.
And my world was again happy.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Stem the Bleed
I was in my kitchen in slouchy, drawstring, gray yoga pants and a soft green lightweight sweater that drooped off my shoulder and had sleeves so long they had a hole in them that I could hook over my thumb.
It was an outfit I bought over the Internet that Josie had never seen to cast her disapproval.
I loved it. It was perfect for wearing it in my kitchen with my boys with me.
Or, two of them.
Though, I’d never wear it to the diner for lunch with Josie. She was the fashion queen and she’d shared her wisdom with me. It wouldn’t do to fly in the face of that. She might stop sending me links to fabulous shoes (etc.) if I did.
It was the next morning and Lawr was leaning against the counter wearing track pants and a tight long-sleeved wicking shirt. He was sipping coffee. His silvered dark hair was wet around his neck and ears because he’d had his morning run, come back and done his sit ups and pushups out on the deck.
This was why he was lean and I was curvy.
My son had just gotten up and he was in pajama pants, a long-sleeved tee, his hair was a mess and his eyes were still drowsy.
He was also sipping coffee.
This was a new thing for him since I moved to Maine.
My boy was definitely growing up.
This caused me to feel a strange euphoric melancholy. It was good and it was bad.
It was also life.
I was getting breakfast orders, walking on air that I had a house full (almost) of people I love
d and I got to make breakfast for them when the doorbell rang.
My eyes went to it and I saw the shadow through the glass telling me it was Mickey.
“Looks like Mickey, Mom,” Auden said, his voice still as drowsy as his face.
“Want me to get it?” Lawr offered.
“I’ll get it,” I replied, hurrying to the door because Mickey was there.
I unlocked it, opened it and looked up at my guy wearing his construction outfit.
“Hey,” I whispered.
His eyes smiled. “Hey back.”
I leaned into him and tipped my head back. He put a hand light on my waist and bent to me, brushing his lips against mine.
I kept whispering and didn’t move even as he lifted away a bit, “You need a key.”
I watched his eyes flare then soften as he replied, “Back at you.”
I grinned and stepped away, moving in but out of the way so he could come in behind me.
“Morning, Mickey,” Lawr called.
“Lawr,” Mickey said as he walked into my house, me at his side. He looked to Auden. “Mornin’, Auden.”
Auden held his gaze only a second before he muttered to his coffee. “Mornin’, Mickey.”
“You want coffee?” I asked and Mickey looked down at me.
“Yeah, babe, but can’t stay too long. Just checkin’ in to see you’re all okay.”
That was why he hadn’t called yet that morning. He decided to do it in person.
“I’m good,” I told him, gave him another grin, reached out and took his hand for a quick squeeze. Then I let him go and went to the cupboard with the coffee mugs.
I was in the process of taking one down when Auden declared, “I know you think I’m a dick.”
I turned and froze when I saw Auden looking up at Mickey who was leaning back against the counter two feet away from me.
“Don’t think you’re a dick, bud,” Mickey said low, his eyes leveled on my son.
“I don’t blame you seeing as I was a dick,” Auden replied.
“Your mom’s filled me in, Auden, so I get it,” Mickey told him.
“Okay, well, that’s cool,” Auden returned. “But just so you know I’m actually not the dick I acted like last night. And it’s not like I’m the school’s most righteous dude, but I think people know not to mess with me. And I didn’t know her before. I also didn’t know what was going down. But now that I’ve met Ash, I’ll look after her.”
Something was coming from Mickey and I continued not to move as I felt it and watched him staring at my son.
Finally, he spoke.
And when he did, his voice was gruff.
“Can’t be there to look after my girl. Would mean a lot, you do it.”
Auden held my guy’s eyes, his chest puffing up, and he nodded.
I looked to Lawrie to see him gazing at my son, the pride I felt inside shining on my brother’s handsome face.
It was in that glorious moment, with unfortunate timing, Pippa wandered out of the hall in her wrinkled PJs, her hair an attractive mussed bedhead, her eyes to her feet.
“Hey, kiddo,” I called.
She looked up, caught sight of Mickey and stopped dead.
“Come on over and take a stool,” I invited like nothing was amiss. “I’m making breakfast.”
I then turned to get Mickey his coffee, black, one sugar.
“Mornin’, Uncle Lawrie.” I heard her say timidly.
“Morning, pretty girl,” he replied.
“Yo,” she went on.
That I knew was for Auden.
“Yo,” Auden returned.
I turned to Mickey with his coffee when I heard her say, “Uh, hey, Mickey.”
“Hey, Pippa,” Mickey responded.
I looked and saw her leaning heavily against her uncle, his arm around her, but her eyes were aimed at the cupboards under the kitchen sink.
“Okay, let’s get breakfast going,” I suggested. “Who wants what?”
“You probably hate me.”
I stopped moving and looked at my girl who was looking at Mickey from under her lashes.
Shit, Mickey was getting it.
I just didn’t know how to intervene to make it easier on him or my kids.
I found out Mickey didn’t need me to.
But I should have known.
“I don’t hate you, darlin’,” Mickey said gently.
“I’d hate me,” she mumbled to his shoulder.
I looked to Mickey just as he said, “Come here, Pippa.”
She shrunk back but didn’t get far when Lawr moved his arm from around her shoulders to put his hand in the small of her back. He gave her a light push and she crept Mickey’s way.
When she got close, Mickey leaned her way, grabbed her hand and pulled her closer before he wrapped his arms around her loosely.
I held my breath as my daughter tensed in his hold.
Mickey bent his head and said quietly to the top of hers, “You got it extreme last night. You took it. You had the guts to apologize. That was big. It was appreciated. I appreciated it. My girl appreciated it. And once someone apologizes, no other move you got except to move on. You hold bad feelings, that makes you the bad guy. It’s over, darlin’. If it stays over at school, then it’s totally over. Let it go. Yeah?”
She relaxed in his arms somewhat and tipped her head back. “Is Ash gonna let it go?”
“Not gonna let my girl turn into the bad guy.” He gave her a grin. “We didn’t all have the greatest start. But one thing about that, it can’t get worse.”
Her eyes got wide with surprise and she let out a stifled giggle.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he said gently.
She nodded. “Okay, Mickey.”
“Now give me a hug and tell your mother what you want for breakfast.”
She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a quick squeeze. If I saw it correctly, he gave her a quick squeeze back. Then they separated and she looked to me.
“Cheesy eggs, Mom,” she ordered but added, “I’ll help.”
“Thanks, kiddo,” I replied, smiling at her, again walking on air wondering if anyone could see the cloud of love I had for the four people around me at my feet lifting me up. “Grab the eggs from the fridge.”
“You gotta stay for cheesy eggs, Mickey,” Auden invited. “They’re more cheese then eggs.”
“Sounds like somethin’ I can’t miss,” Mickey replied, glancing at his watch.
“If you’ve gotta go, honey, then I’ll make them some other time when you’re with us,” I offered.
He looked to me, sliding his eyes to Auden then to Pip, who was coming out of the fridge with eggs and milk, and finally back to me.
“Got time for eggs, Amy.”
He had to go.
But he was staying because my kids were worried that he didn’t like them and he wanted them to know it was all good.
I wanted to declare my love for him again right then and there.
I had to do it with a look.
Mickey gave me that look back.
“Mom, you want me to grate the cheese?” Pip asked.
I tore my attention from my guy and gave it to my daughter. “Yeah, Pippa.”
She dashed back to the fridge, and I was going to go for a bowl when I caught sight of Lawrie now studying Mickey who was sipping his coffee.
He didn’t look proud.
He looked like he approved.
As he would do.
Mickey was the greatest.
This still made me happy.
* * * * *
I sat at a table by the window at The Lobster Market.
Not the table I shared with Mickey, one closer to the front door.
I was sipping iced tea when Conrad, fifteen minutes late, walked in.
I watched his eyes move around the room until they found me and he came my way.
He was in work clothes, a very nice, very expensive suit that had not been tailored for him but made for h
im. His hair was trim and kept in place with minimal product. It was a style that suited him. He looked like a very successful businessman who used his money to take care of himself.
Or he looked like a talented neurosurgeon who did the same.
Studying him, it didn’t surprise me I no longer found him the least bit attractive. Harkening back, I tried to figure out how I ever did. This made me think about him coming outside during that ball.
The prince meeting his future princess, it had seemed to me at the time.
But he was a toad.
It just took me years of kissing him to find that out.
Continuing to regard him as he came to me, I didn’t take my eyes from him as he stopped at our table.
“Amelia,” he greeted.
“Conrad,” I replied.
He took his seat.
The Lobster Market was my idea. Not that I wanted to pollute my memory of being there with Mickey. Nothing would pollute that. But my ex-husband was not going to take me to some diner to have a chat, which was likely to be something I would not enjoy, and get away with an inexpensive diner bill.
He was going to buy me lobster.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” he muttered, his attention on putting his napkin on his lap. “Consultation ran long.”
I was used to that from our marriage. However, there was a high likelihood that many of those consultations running long were times he was fucking nurses.
I said nothing.
The waitress came with waters and Conrad ordered a coffee.
Before she went away, Conrad looked at me and stated, “You’ve been here before. Do you know what you want? Because I do.”
He wanted this to go fast.
I was in agreement.
I turned and ordered immediately, “Lobster and steak Oscar. Steak, medium rare. Salad rather than potatoes. But I’d like the roll.”
Her eyes got a little big because that was a lot for lunch but I just smiled because it was the most expensive thing on the menu.
“For you?” she asked Conrad.
“The lobster chowder. Bowl. Salad. No roll,” Conrad ordered.
Still healthy.
Quite boring.
Mine sounded tons better.
She slid away and Conrad looked to me. “You look well.”
God, he was going to try to be polite.
But I knew I looked well.
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