Page 150 of Like A Moth To A Flame

“Well, look at you,” she said loudly, looking down at me with one hand on her hip and a huge smile folding her features. “You look downright good enough to eat, little girl! What’s the big occasion?”

There was nothing but love in her voice, and the apprehension I’d felt slowly drained away. Across from me, Amelia had joined Carl in his glaring, and the unease began to rise in me again. Tommy was staring straight ahead, his fists clenched. I could feel the anger rising off of him in waves.

“We, uh,” I began, looking up at Mae again. I could feel tears choking me, prickling the corners of my eyes. Instead of finding my voice, I reached out my shaking hand to show her the ring instead.

Smiling, Mae picked up the glasses hanging from a beaded cord around her neck and slipped them on, carefully adjusting them on the tip of her nose as she looked down at the sparkling band on my finger.

“Boy, would you look at that,” she said, reaching out with her other hand and laying a heavy, if not comforting, hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “You sure do have some good taste, Tom.”

He jumped, slowly looking up at her and forcing a smile. I could see the anger in his eyes, and it scared me. Not for my sake—I knew he’d never hurt me—but for the sake of the ones angering him. After seeing what he did to Stephen, I didn’t want to see it again.

“Well, I’m happy for ya,” Mae said, her smile only widening. She dropped my hand, and I barely caught the wink she flashed me before she turned, glaring across the room where we were still getting looks and whispers. “And anyone who ain’t happy for you should be ashamed of themselves. You are both consentin’ adults and what you do with your lives ain’t nobody’s business but your own. So what, he got a few years on ya? My late Myron, God rest his soul, had seventeen years on me, and didn’t no one bat an eye—not that I saw, anyway. So if anyone’s got somethin’ to say? They can say it to me!”

She pointedly stared at Tammy and Ray as she spoke. I watched as they both paled and turned away. Ray pulled out his wallet and threw a handful of cash down on the table as Tammy turned tail and hurried out the door, her ears flushing scarlet as she scurried away. Carl chuckled, and Amelia barely suppressed a giggle as Mae turned back to us.

“Anyway,” she said, giving me a loving smile. “What would you like? As a wedding gift from me and Myron, it’s on the house.”

“Awe Mae,” Amelia gave her a hopeful smile. “You’re so sweet. People like you are the entire reason I was so excited to move here.”

“I do try,” Mae said with a nod. “And just know that there are more people in this town happy to see one of our heroes happy than there are judgin’ over something as trivial as a bit of an age gap.”

Happy that the weight in the air had finally let up, we ordered breakfast and thanked Mae heartily. After a few minutes, Tommy began to loosen up, and before long, he was smiling and joking along with the rest of us.

It was a speed bump we would have to overcome, but as I finished my food, it became the least of my worries. As I lifted the last bite of my omelet into my mouth, a wave of nausea so strong that it set my mouth watering instantly washed over me, and I dropped the fork to my plate, a hand pressing against my lips.

“You okay?” Amelia asked, looking up at me with an expression of concern. There was a spark behind her eyes, and I didn’t miss it.

She was thinking exactly what I was thinking.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, feeling a wave of heat overtake me, instantly bringing a sheen of sweat across my forehead. “I think I may need to step outside. Get some air?”

“I’ll come with you,” she said, shoveling the last bite of hash brown into her mouth. Taking the hint, both Tommy and Carl stood to let us out, promptly pulling out their wallets. Amelia took my arm, and as we stepped out of the booth and made our way toward the door, we heard Tommy and Carl playfully begin to argue about who was paying the check.

I stumbled towards the door, my head spinning and my stomach churning. The minute I shoved the door open and stepped out into the cool fall air, I felt a little relief—if only just a little. I felt the heat begin to recede, and the nausea started to throb just a little less.

“You thinking what I’m thinkin’?” Amelia asked, leaning against the side of the brick building as I fought to catch my breath.

I snorted, rolling my eyes as I looked up at her.

“I mean, duh,” I said. “We’ve been fucking like rabbits, and as far as I know, I’m not sterile. It’s bound to be… that.”

“That?” she spat, wrinkling her nose. “How will you be a mom if you can’t even say the wordbaby?”

It was my turn to wrinkle my nose. The word sounded foreign to my ears, as if saying it out loud would jinx it somehow.

“So, is there a drugstore around here, or do you have pee sticks at the house?”

“Pee sticks,” I groaned. “That’s so super gross.”

“No, what’s super gross is when you miss the stick and pee on your hand. So you got ‘em or are we stoppin’?”

“I’ve got a couple.”

“That’s good,” Amelia said, glancing back over her shoulder. “Let me borrow one, too.”

I could feel my eyes hell-bent on popping out of their sockets as I looked up at her, my mouth dropping open all on its own.

Wait. Was she telling me what I thought she was telling me?

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