Smoke and Mirrors

by M. Mabie

  It was almost gone already. I had no shame.

  “It’s delicious, but I haven’t had one in a long time. So that’s probably why.” Maybe that explained why sex the night before had been amazing too. A thirsty person doesn’t complain about drinking tap water, but Aaron wasn’t lukewarm water from the faucet. He was Himalayan spring water in a golden challis.

  “Some things are just good.”

  I wanted to believe him, but the vixen in me wanted to test my theory.

  There weren’t many things sexier than a shirtless man eating donuts in the morning. A spark of desire flashed in my stomach, or it could have been the celebration going on inside me from the sugar I’d been deprived of.

  However, I didn’t feel like scrutinizing it.

  We both picked another donut from the box and chowed down, then we shared a cinnamon twist and warmed up his sheets again.

  ME: ...AND NOW I’M home.

  After recounting the last twenty-four hours for my girlfriends, not leaving out a single detail, I sat on the washing machine waiting for the dryer’s cycle to end so I could swap out the laundry.

  Aaron had a shift that Monday evening, and I had all of Sunday’s chores to catch up on before Delaney got back. The linens needed washing, my junky old refrigerator needed a good cleaning, floors needed to be done, and Delaney’s room could have used a quick once through, but I didn’t even care. I’d been buzzing from room to room since I’d come home.

  It was cooler outside than it had been the day before, and I opened the windows, enjoying the smell of the rain that was headed our way.

  Emma: OMG. You have a boyfriend.

  Noel: Does he have a single brother? Fuck it. I’ll take a sister too.

  I read their replies, which were coming in slower since they had the scoop.

  Then my phone rang and I didn’t recognize the number. I hated getting unknown callers, but it was local so I answered.

  “Hello.”

  “Faith? It’s Howie at the bank. How are you doing?” Howie’s voice matched his physique, thin and drawn out.

  “Oh, hi. I’m great. How are you? How was your vacation?” My heart pounded. I’d left my application with him a week ago and hadn’t heard anything. I knew they were desperate for help and feared they’d hired someone else. Maybe he was calling to let me know.

  “It was great, too short as usual, but all-in-all a fine getaway. Anyway, that’s why I’m calling. I was bogged down last week catching up on things here, but I wanted to see if you could come in for an interview sometime this week. How about Friday morning? Connie is gone for the next few days to a funeral out of town, so I’ll be busy helping out up front, but she should be back by then. Sound good?”

  I hopped down off the machine and slapped the dryer’s buzzer the second it went off. “Of course. Friday is fine.” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I’d make it fine if I had to.

  “Great. Say eight that morning?”

  My hands were shaking. “Eight is great.” I cringed hearing myself rhyme. “Eight is perfect,” I recounted, sounding less like Dr. Seuss.

  He laughed. “I’ve got you down. I look forward to talking to you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “All right then. Bye, Faith.”

  “Goodbye.”

  He hung up and I spun in my hallway. It was crazy how things were changing all at once. It was sort of scary, but my heart felt so full.

  I breezed through the house, and just as I was putting the cleaning supplies back into the cupboard, I heard car doors close next door.

  “Mom,” Delaney called, busting through the front door. “Mom?”

  I popped out of the kitchen doorway and she jumped right into my arms.

  “Mom, have you ever ate frogs?” Her legs locked together on my hip as she waited for me to answer.

  “Not whole frogs, but I’ve had frog legs.”

  “They’re called saddles. Not like horse saddles—frog saddles. Darrell let me try one. Gramma ate one too.”

  Mom came through the door beaming when I caught her eye.

  “She did? Did you like them?” I quizzed.

  Delaney was usually a chicken strip and fries kind of gal, but the older she got the more daring she was getting.

  “They’re not green. Are they, Gramma?”

  Mom sat on the couch and placed a half-eaten bag of kettle corn on the coffee table. “Nope. They weren’t green. I told you.”

  Delaney leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Frogs are crunchy, not slimy. I thought they were going to be gross.”

  I whispered back. “Were they?”

  Her eyes were huge when she pulled back and said, “No, and I can’t believe it.”

  I kissed her over and over until she squirmed. “Hey, I cleaned your room.”

  When I put her down, she cocked her hip at me. “It was already cleaned, Mom.”

  “I found two cups in there, one in your toy box and another under your bed.” Neither had milk in them—praise Jesus—and her room wasn’t in the worst shape I’d seen it in before, but the cup thing had to stop. “If you can’t remember to bring them to the kitchen, maybe we shouldn’t take them in there.”

  “I bring ‘em to the kitchen all the time.”

  I cocked my head to the side.

  “Okay, sometimes.”

  “Tell Gramma thank you and go check it out.”

  I didn’t have to tell her twice. She flung her arms around my mom and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks for taking me. Tell Papa D too,” she said and then ran off.

  I sat on the other end of the sofa. “Papa D?” I asked my mother.

  “I think she heard Sawyer call him Papa yesterday. She’s been calling him that all day.” She smiled and the lines at the edges of her eyes wrinkled up. “I think it’s sweet and he likes it.”

  “Okay,” I said, not seeing the harm. It was just different, but kids didn’t have rules for that kind of thing and it could be confusing. If she thought of Darrell like a grandfather, then who was I to say otherwise?

  My mom rocked side to side and patted the back of the couch. “How did last night go?”

  Now my mother and I were close, really close, but there was nothing about the night before that I wanted to tell her.

  “Mom.”

  “What?” She winked at me. “He’s so handsome, Faith. And sweet. And he’s good with the baby girl.” Her brows bunched, and she confessed, “I really like this.”

  I couldn’t deny it. “I like it too.”

  “So you’re dating or what? What do you kids call it these days?”

  “Hell, I don’t know.” I thought back to my chat group and how they’d said he was my boyfriend. I loved the sound of it, but it also felt juvenile in a way. Childish. Yet, I didn’t know how else to label us.

  Was I his girlfriend?

  “We’re still figuring it out, I think.” It was a guarded answer, but it was the only one I was sure of.

  “I tell you what. I don’t care what you’re calling it, sweetie. As long as he keeps putting that gorgeous smile on your face. I love seeing you happy.” I believed her because my favorite thing in the world was seeing Delaney’s smile. I guessed it was a mom thing.

  And since she was my mom, and not just some employer, I needed to talk to her. I didn’t want to jinx myself since I hadn’t even had an interview yet, but I didn’t want to leave her high and dry either.

  “Anyway, there is something I need to talk to you about.”

  Her smile fell by half, and she patiently waited for me to go on.

  “I have a job interview at the bank on Friday.”

  I wasn’t sure how she’d react but also wasn’t too worried. I simply didn’t want to add stress to her or put the diner in a pinch.

  “Really?” she asked and sat back.

  “I was in there a few weeks ago and Connie told me they were short staffed and gave me an application. Mom, it’s got benefits. Regular hours. I think it would be a pay increas
e, so maybe I wouldn’t have to pull so many shifts at the bar.”

  Sympathetically, she nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. Are you excited?”

  “Trying not to get my hopes up, but yeah. With everything going on with Aaron, and Delaney starting school in the fall, I want her to be able to do stuff in the evenings. She loved karate through the winter, and I’m sure a lot of the other girls do dance. This job will give more time in the evenings with her to do that stuff. Cheaper insurance. I think it’s only smart to see if I’m a good fit for them.” I ran my hand through my hair and gripped the strands through my fingers. “Will you be upset if I leave?”

  She slapped my leg. “Oh, Faith. You know better than that. I want what’s best for you and Delaney. I know how hard it is to juggle work and a kid by yourself.” She tossed a pillow at me. “You’d be stupid to pass up an opportunity like that. Hell, if I’d had the chance I would’ve done it myself.”

  “What will you do at the diner?”

  “Well, we’ll see what happens, but Naydeen is always asking for more shifts, and I can find someone else to cover what’s needed. Don’t worry about it.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  I felt relieved but not all that surprised. My mom had never failed to support me, even after I’d made some terrible decisions.

  With that out of the way, I moved on to the next situation at hand.

  “Is that my kettle corn?”

  She chuckled and kicked me. “Your daughter bought it for you, but then ate half of it on the way home.”

  I rolled my eyes playfully, thankful there was still some left. “Motherhood.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  AARON

  Thinking about Faith wasn’t anything new. Thinking about things I’d actually, in real-life, done with Faith was a completely different ball game.

  All those years, I’d kept it to myself, but when Smokie and I walked across the street that afternoon for our shift, I was met with a lot of high-fives, and it wasn’t just because I brought them our leftover donuts. They’d seen her car at my house. They knew it had been there all night.

  Things calmed down quickly when I wouldn’t talk about it, but that didn’t keep my mind from reliving the hours we’d spent together.

  My phone was burning a hole in my pocket, but I didn’t want to suffocate her or come on too strong. Still, I couldn’t wait to hear her voice.

  So after I swept and mopped the floors of all three bays and the common areas, and did every equipment check I could think of, I pulled my lawn chair out of the closet and set it up in front of engine two and called her.

  It rang three—although it felt like three hundred—times before the call went through.

  “Hello.” The voice on the other end wasn’t who I expected, but nevertheless, it brought a smile to my face.

  “Hi, Delaney. It’s Aaron.”

  “Hi,” she sang back through the receiver.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Watching a movie.” Additionally, it sounded like she was munching on something crunchy.

  “Which movie?”

  “Moana. Do you like this one?”

  I gave Smokie’s head a scratch when he rested it on my knee. “I’ve never seen it.”

  “What? It’s a big movie, Aaron. Everybody has seen it.”

  “Not me. I can’t remember the last time I watched a whole movie.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she exclaimed. She was fun to talk to, and her conversation skills were more advanced than most of the guys at the station.

  “It’s true. Hey, is your mom around?”

  Crunch. “Yeah, she’s here.”

  “Can I talk to her?”

  “I think she’s poopin’. She’s been in the bathroom for a long time.” There was some rustling around on the other end, and then she bellowed. “Mom, are you still poopin’? Aaron’s on the phone.”

  I slapped my hand over my mouth, but laughter rocked through my stomach and chest.

  “Delaney,” I said when I caught my breath. “Can you just ask her to call me back?”

  “I’ll talk to you until she’s done. Sometimes it takes a while.” Again she shouted at her mother. “Do you need some toilet paper?” Then I heard her pound on the door. “Mom?”

  I couldn’t hear what Faith said back to her, but faintly I picked up her voice. A few seconds later, Delaney changed her tune.

  “Aaron, I gotta go.” Then she hung up.

  While I’d been on the phone, I’d received a text.

  Vaughn: What afternoon are you off this week? Want to do nine holes?

  Me: Thursday afternoon good for you?

  I had to work the next few nights, but as long as there wasn’t an emergency and Faith didn’t make plans for us, I was up for hitting a few balls.

  Vaughn: Perfect. I took Thursday and Friday off for a long weekend. I’ll call and get a tee-time.

  My phone rang as I read his reply. I couldn’t answer it laughing, knowing she might be pretty damn embarrassed, but taking the call without cracking up was going to take some effort.

  “Hello.”

  “We are pretending that didn’t happen.”

  I coughed through my chuckle, but it was in vain.

  Faith groaned. “That’ll teach me to not leave my phone alone with a four-year-old. Lesson learned.” Quickly, and before I could comment, she changed the subject. “So I hear you’ve never watched Moana.”

  “Nope.” I waved at a car passing by.

  “Well, you don’t really have to. If you’re interested, I know the damn thing by heart. I’ve only suffered through it a few hundred times.”

  “That’s all?” It began to sprinkle, so I moved my chair back a few feet. I could have gone inside, but Will and Carol were in there and I liked the rain.

  “How’s your shift going?” she asked.

  “So far, so good. Get caught up on your laundry?”

  “Yep. I even have clean sheets.”

  The mention of sheets had me revisiting the vision of her naked in mine that morning. Where was the rewind button on life when I needed one?

  Her tone was charming and her words were paced, but unrushed. “Del said she had the best time yesterday in your pool. I give it a day before she asks to go swimming again.”

  “I had the best time yesterday too,” I admitted and messed with a rivet on the armrest of the chair. “You guys can come over whenever you like.”

  Anytime. All the time.

  “Did you decide which flowers to put on your porch yet? Those planters only look good if they’re full, you know.”

  The rain started coming down harder and I watched it rush out the front down spout, hoping her gutters were still in good shape. “What flowers do you like?”

  “It’s kind of late to plant, I think. You might just have to see what’s available out at Motley’s. Then again, what do I know? I’ve almost killed the rose bush Delaney gave me three times.”

  Four, but who was counting?

  She hummed. “I like mums in the fall, but those won’t be out for another month or so. I can’t believe it’s already August. The summer will be gone before we know it, but Delaney is so excited for school.”

  “She’ll do great. She’s a fun girl.”

  “She is, isn’t she? When she’s not trying to give me a stroke, she’s even funny.”

  I went ahead and laughed because it felt safer than when she’d first called. “I seem to remember another girl who used to say whatever she wanted.”

  “What?” Faith cackled. “Yeah, there’s no denying she’s mine.”

  I loved our small talk, but I was ardent to know one thing. “When can I see you? Do you have plans for the weekend?”

  “I’m off Friday evening,” she answered in a sing-song voice.

  I hated being the bearer of bad news when she sounded so happy. “I have a shift. How about Saturd
ay?”

  She groaned. “I’m at the diner and the bar.”

  We knew it would be like that, and although I was dying to spend more time with her—with them—I wasn’t about to let our schedules cause any more trouble than necessary.

  “Well, I can come see you at the diner and the bar. What about Sunday? Bring Delaney over. We’ll swim and hang out.”

  “It’s supposed to be rainy this weekend.”

  “I guess I’ll get to watch Moana then.” That made her laugh and even though it was over the phone and I didn’t get to see her smile, it still counted.

  Her voice got quieter and she said, “I had a good time last night.”

  I was glad to hear it.

  We talked for a while longer before she had to put Delaney to bed and I had to let her go. Will and Carol had been called to the nursing home, so I found my way upstairs for a few miles on the treadmill.

  I wasn’t sure if it was the late night workout or the excitement from the past weekend, but that night I slept sounder than I had in a very long time.

  RANDY MADE A HUGE POT of chili the next day, citing the rainy weather, but I still went to the diner, sat in my usual spot, and watched the same woman I had for years work in the kitchen. The only thing that was different was how she looked directly at me and beamed now.

  What a welcomed change.

  Her mom took my order, and like she usually did, headed home shortly after. Delaney had hung out with Darrell that day, and I missed catching up with her while I waited.

  “Meatloaf, extra gravy, extra mashed potatoes, and green beans,” Faith recited back to me when she brought out my plate. I’d decided on eating there since I wasn’t taking food back for the station. Also, because I didn’t want to leave.

  “Take a break with me.” My hand found hers as she stood beside my two-person table. The diner was empty at that odd hour of the day. Not many people eat at two in the afternoon.

  She looked around, and then her eyes fell on mine.

  I gave her my most persuasive grin.

  After a deep breath, Faith beautifully conceded, “Well, I haven’t had lunch yet and we’re not busy.”

  “Go get a plate.” I hated feeling like I’d guilted her into it, which hadn’t taken much more than an invitation and as much charm as I could muster. I didn’t want to interrupt her work, but selfishly, I’d missed her.