Feels Like Home

by Jennifer Van Wyk

  “So, are you dating? Together? What? I’m so confused,” Carly admits.

  “Honestly? Right now, we’re just hanging out. Getting to know each other. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more. I mean, for one thing, look at the guy,” I say on a sigh, to which all the girls follow.

  “He is kind of dreamy.” Tess giggles. “Even though I’m old enough to be his mother.”

  “Uh, if you could be, then I could be, and that’s not something I’m okay with thinking about.”

  “Christine the Cougar,” Lauren says, her body bending over in half as peals of laughter burst from her.

  “Shut up!” I shout but laugh right along with her.

  “He’s not that young. And you’re definitely not that old,” Lauren shocks us all with a moment of sincerity.

  Another sigh.

  “I know. He’s thirty-five so really, it’s not even an issue. It’s just… he’s overwhelming.”

  “In a good way?” Carly guesses.

  “Very,” I admit and look out one of the living room windows.

  “What is it?” Tess asks quietly, probably noticing my thoughts were beginning to run away from me. Perceptive woman.

  “He asked me to join him and the boys at the cabin next weekend.”

  Lauren chokes on her margarita, and Tess erupts into a series of hand claps that makes her look more like a seal. I glance over at Carly only to see a wistful smile spreading across her face, her diamond ring glistening on her left hand as she reaches over and grips my fingers in hers.

  She squeezes once and nods her head.

  “This. This is a good thing.”

  “Is it?”

  “It is. You’ve been through so much, Christine.” And the way she says it, the look in her eyes, it makes me think she’s not just talking about losing my husband to cancer. “I get it. Moving on is hard.”

  I narrow my eyes, trying to decide if she knows about the affair, too, and briefly wondering if Andy told her what happened.

  As quickly as the thought enters my mind, it vanishes. Knowing that he would never do that to me.

  Betrayal isn’t in his bones.

  More likely, she’s remembering only a few months ago when she, herself, moved on. James pursued her with such patience.

  “Carly’s right. As usual. This is a good thing, Christine. You deserve the happy. You deserve the hot younger guy salivating over you — and believe me when I say he so does. It’s almost sickening to be around you two, watching him track your every move like he’s a lion on the prowl. Just… say yes to this weekend and enjoy yourselves. Let loose and allow him to be more.”

  “You make it sound so easy. He has little boys.”

  “Aidan and Reece are hardly little. They’re fourteen now. And you know Andy. Would Andy bring anyone around his boys if he didn’t think they were going to be a permanent part of their lives?”

  “No. He wouldn’t.”

  “Go to the cabin. Enjoy yourself. Is Bri going?”

  “No. She wants to stay home and get some hours in to keep saving for college. I’ll only be gone a few nights, so I’m not worried,” I tell Tess, knowing she’ll understand what I’m getting at.

  “I’ll keep Grady home as much as possible.”

  I laugh, knowing she will. Or she’ll just make sure Bri is over there and under Harper supervision the entire time. Which is just as good as adult supervision.

  “Maybe time away will be good.” I shrug, hoping it to be true.

  “See? You just need to get your mind on board because I can see already your heart is there. It’s ready. For him. Take that leap into your happiness, Christine. Just rip it off like a Bioré strip.”

  “That’s not the term. It’s rip it off like a Band-Aid.”

  “I don’t give a flying turkey what the saying is. Ripping off the Bioré strips hurt like a son of a bitch.”

  “It hurts?” Carly asks, a horrified expression covering her face.

  “What do you mean, it hurts? Doesn’t it hurt when you do it?”

  “Ummm… I’ve never done it before.” Carly… expression innocent and eyes wide after just shocking the crap out of each of us.

  “You say what, now?” I shout.

  Carly shakes her head and looks at the three of us.

  She sniffs and finishes her margarita, because we've become bad influences and have taught the girl how to get her drink on. Safely, of course, and without needing to join AA.

  “No way! You're lying!” Lauren accuses as she walks back into the living room, pitcher in hand, and tops off Carly’s glass then proceeds to the rest of ours.

  “I've never done it before! It's not my fault! I was a single mother to a boy! I didn’t exactly have a lot of privacy.”

  How does her reasoning make a bit of sense? But far be it for me to question it because the focus is finally off me and Andy and our non-relationship for a few blessed moments.

  “And that's your excuse? Girl, I've been doing it for years! Anyone who says they don't get satisfaction out of it is a liar, too. When it pulls just right… oh yeah. It's so awesome. Not only can you see the results, but you can feel it, too! I literally can't even with its awesomeness.”

  “She's right. You really haven't lived. You'll feel and look decades younger,” Tess adds.

  Lauren pats her arm. “Decades, Tess? Really?”

  She pouts and shrugs her shoulders. “You don't know everything,” she mumbles and throws back her margarita like a boss. Hmm, I wonder if her fine line has been reached yet. I'll let Barrett worry over that one.

  “Trust us,” Lauren says, but it sounds like the snake on the Jungle Book.

  “Yeah, my hoo-hah trusted y’all once, too!” She points an accusing finger in their direction.

  I raise my hand. “Do I or do I not want to know the when, where, and why to the you trusting them with your hoo-hah question?”

  “Awww, Little James is rubbing off on you! Saying y’all all Southern like. So proud,” Tess says, clutching her chest, ignoring me.

  “Ladies! Focus! We need to settle this! Carly can't go through life without experiencing this at least once! And telling me the hoo-hah story.”

  “I'll do it at home! I promise!”

  “No. We want to see!”

  “For real? That's kinda gross, isn't it?”

  “Not gross! It's so satisfying. You'll love it. Then you'll be addicted to it and want to do it all the time.”

  “Come on,” I tell her, dragging her to my bathroom.

  “Now? In here? In front of y’all?”

  “Damn right. This is gonna be awesome. Don't take away our happiness, Carly. That's not what true friends do.”

  Lauren, folks. Master manipulator.

  I reach into the closet in the bathroom and pull out the box.

  “You have them on hand?” Carly shrieks.

  “Keep up, Carly. We said it was addicting.”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Oh, stop being such a baby! Get yourself wet, ok? It won't work dry.”

  “How wet do I need to be?”

  “Not like dripping — you don't want it to just slip away.”

  “Okay, hold still.”

  “Wait. Let me get ready.”

  What the heck does she need to get ready?

  “How do you need to get ready?” Tess voices my question aloud.

  “Just… let me take a breath. I've never done this before! I'm kind of nervous, and you guys are watching! You could turn around, you know.”

  Lauren scoffs and sticks her hand out to shake, “Hi, I'm Lauren. Nice to meet you for the very first time ever.”

  “Okay, fine. Just tell me if I'm doing it wrong. I mean… look what happened the last time I took your advice with my hoo-hah! I almost had to live the rest of my life on the bathtub! I'm not going through that again!”

  Seriously, someone needs to tell me the story!

  Tess brushes away her complaint.

  “You need to g
et wet again since it dried up while you were delaying. It’s not like you need to be dripping wet. Just enough to…”

  “Fine! Okay, so I just need to get myself wet then…”

  “Christine?” I hear Andy’s amused voice come through the door.

  “Yeah? We’re in here, Come on in!”

  “Uhh, not sure I'm supposed to come in there.” I think his voice actually cracks at the end. He clears his throat. “Right?” His voice is full of fear.

  The girls and I look at each other, trying not to laugh. The conversation he must have overheard coming to me, and oh yeah… we need to make this good.

  “Yeah, maybe you're right. We’re not exactly…”

  “Decent,” Tess says, trying not to laugh.

  She fails.

  Though, to her credit, it does come out low and husky, so we roll with it.

  “Right. Wouldn’t want you to see something you, uh, shouldn’t,” Lauren says.

  “Umm, okay? Well, umm, can I? What I mean is… what is it you're… okay maybe I'll just… wait?”

  “Maybe that would be best. It will only take us ten minutes.”

  “No!” Carly shouts. “We need more… time. Sometimes it takes me a… while.”

  Lauren shoves her face into a towel, and I bite my fist to keep from laughing. How she said it all with a straight face, I’ll never know.

  “Oh. Okay. Yeah. I'm just… I'm gonna get a beer, yeah? Yeah. That's where I'll be. In the kitchen. While you guys are in here. Getting Carly… wet,” he says, his voice faltering.

  “Sounds good!” I shout.

  The second we hear his footsteps bound away, bumping into some piece of furniture in the bedroom, curses exploding from his lips, we all fall to the ground in a fit of laughter.

  “Oh damn. That was so good!”

  “If that were Barrett, the guys would have already been told.”

  “Right? Oh, my gosh. That's the best thing ever.”

  “That's what he's thinking right now,” Lauren snickers.

  When we finally regain composure, I straighten up. “Okay, Carly, here's the Bioré Strip.”

  17

  Andy

  “We’re on our way. You ready for us?”

  “Born ready,” she jokes over the phone line.

  When we first asked Christine to join us at the cabin for our trip, I could tell she had her reservations about it. I don’t blame her.

  For me? I guess having a cheat for a wife allows you to move on much quicker.

  But after her night in with the girls, in which I was both horrified and turned on by what I overheard, things shifted with her. Whatever her squad, as the boys always say now, said to her seemed to work.

  She called the next morning to let me know she was bringing the food, since I was supplying the place to stay. We argued over whether or not it was necessary, and she eventually won. I never stood a chance.

  I don’t think I’ll ever stand a chance against her, if I’m being honest with myself.

  “See you soon,” I tell her and look to the boys who both have smiles on their faces.

  “Can’t wait,” she says, excitement in her voice.

  And that’s all it takes for me to realize that bringing her along is probably the best decision I’ve ever made.

  And after talking with the boys last night and settling on something, I’m even more anxious to get up there.

  We’ve got plans.

  Plans that feel like they’ve been a long time coming.

  Plans that required me to bring a few groceries of our own.

  When I pull up to Christine’s house, Bri is standing on the front porch, phone to her ear. She sees me pull in and smiles, opening the door and leaning her head in before ending the call and sliding her phone into her back pocket.

  “Whisking away my mom for a weekend without me, huh?”

  “Hey, I told her you were welcome to come, but you seem to think earning money for college is more important,” I tease her.

  She descends a couple of the stairs, meeting me halfway. She leans down and gives me a hug, her affectionate side coming from her mother, no doubt.

  “If you change your mind, call me, got it? I can give you directions to come up there and relax. Even if just for a day.”

  Her eyes light up, and she bites her lip. “Do you think it would be okay if Grady came with me?”

  “I have absolutely no doubt in my mind it would be okay. Though I’m pretty sure the boys would monopolize his time,” I chuckle.

  Aidan and Reece look up to Grady like crazy. Even last fall when he had his little mishap, decking some punk kid who thought he could take advantage of Bri, they never wavered. They know what kind of man he is.

  And if they are looking up to a high school kid, wanting to be like him? Grady is definitely who I would choose.

  Bri beams in my direction before wiggling her fingers at the boys still seated in the pickup.

  “I’ll go get Mom. She has a ton of stuff.” She chuckles.

  Before she gets too far away, I snag her arm to ask her a question I was hoping I’d get the chance to ask her before we left.

  “I need to ask you something first,” I tell her, nodding my head to the pickup.

  She looks at me curiously but follows anyway.

  “Hey, boys, what’s up?” she asks through the open window of the pickup door.

  “Not much, Bri, how’s it going? How’s Grady?”

  She smirks and reaches in to give each a fist bump. Reece leans clear over Aidan to get his turn, earning a scowl that he promptly ignores. “He’s good. You ready for vacation?”

  “So ready.”

  “Mind if Grady and I bust up the party one day?”

  “Yeah! That would be awesome!”

  “What’d I tell ya?” I chuckle.

  “So, what is it you needed to ask me?”

  “He’s gonna ask your mom on a date! Isn’t that awesome?”

  She turns her gaze to me, smiling. She looks so much like her mother, it’s almost shocking. Aside from her lack of diamond stud in her nose and red streak like her mom has, they could be sisters, especially considering Christine looks young.

  “What?”

  I look at the boys and wink before walking Bri away from the open window, not wanting them to overhear everything. “Well, that’s what I wanted to ask you. While we’re at the cabin, the boys and I have a plan for how to ask your mom out on a date. But you need to know, my divorce from Heather isn’t finalized yet. We’re supposed to meet with our lawyers at the end of the week so it will be, but I want to be up front about that. And I want your permission to date your mom. If she says yes, she’s not just saying yes to me, but to my boys, too. And I want to know you’re okay with us coming into your family that way. Because I’m not just asking her, I’m asking you, as well. I’m not saying I’m asking her to marry me, but I like your mom. She means a lot to me, and I don’t see things being short term with her. Before I go forward, I want to ask you. Are you okay with me dating your mom?”

  “Are you serious right now?” Bri asks, her voice incredulous and her eyes wide. I can’t tell if she’s shocked or annoyed. Teenage girls are hard to read.

  “Umm, yes?”

  “This is so weird.”

  “That’s not really the answer I was hoping for,” I admit.

  “Andy. I kind of thought you two were basically dating already.”

  Her statement doesn’t really surprise me. Christine and I have been spending a lot of time together, usually the boys are present but not all the time. And I’m sure she knows how often we talk on the phone and text. But still… I need to be sure.

  “You’re okay with us dating? Officially?”

  “Andy. Stop. You’re crazy if you think I’d say no! Mom has always been happy. Everyone sees that, but there’s something different about her happiness since she’s been hanging out with you. And it’s not just the boys. If you need to hear the words, weirdo, yes, you can go on a
date with my mom,” she teases right back, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

  I blow out a breath and sag a little bit in relief. I truly didn’t know how this would go. I’m not used to having girls around, much less teenage girls. Boys are easy to read. They’re simple. They say it like it is.

  “Thank you, Bri. Even if you didn’t think it was necessary, you need to know it was. Single parent dating is not the same as when we’re just two single people. And even though you’re eighteen, you’re still her kid, you know? I don’t want to get in the way.”

  “Never. I promise. You make her happy, Andy, and that’s all I can ask for.”

  “Yeah, Grady kind of warned me to not mess it up,” I admit, trying to hide my chuckle.

  “He told me about his “talk” with you,” she giggles. “What a dork.” Her eyes roll, but the love is still shining in them. “He kind of goes all in when he cares for someone, doesn’t he?”

  “I would say that’s an affirmative. Considering he went to jail for someone he loves.”

  This might not be the right reaction, but I feel a sense of pride knowing that Grady defended Bri when that punk Dawson assaulted her at a party during the football season.

  He was stopped, by both Bri herself fighting back and Grady’s friend stopping it before he got there.

  She blushes, probably over me saying Grady’s in love with her, but doesn’t deny it.

  “I’m glad he was there for you, Bri.”

  “Me, too.”

  The door to the house swings open, and I watch as Christine appears, flustered and sweaty.

  I choke back a guffaw and shout, “What happened to you?”

  “I am the worst packer in the history of packing!”

  “It’s true. She really is. One summer, she and I went on a road trip and she forgot underwear so now every time she packs like three times the amount she needs.”

  My eyebrows raise, and I press my lips together.

  “You bring underwear?” I ask her when she gets closer.

  “Ugh, Bri, you’re such a brat!”

  “You love me,” Bri teases.