Page 80 of Lyrical

I white-knuckled the steering wheel. “Yes, usually.”

He laughed. “So, are you, Mom? Having a shower for her?”

“I’m still working out the details.” The only ‘details’ I had to work out were solid color decorations versus sparkled. I had a date, I had a location—at the house—with catering arranged, and I had a guest list that sure as hell didn’t include Cassie.

“Great. You can let me know when you get it figured out. I know it’ll mean a lot to her.”

I could no longer feel my fingers, and my teeth were halfway through my tongue.

“Mom?”

“What? Oh, right. Sure.” I smiled, feeling as phony as a deranged drama teacher. “Hey, what do you think about getting together with me and Chase some night for dinner?”

He shrugged. “Whatever you want, Mom.”

Wait, that didn’t sound so good. “You guys get along okay, don’t you? Chase seems to think so.”

“Yeah, he’s all right, but….”

“But what?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“No, Daniel. I do not want to forget it. What were you going to say?”

“It just seems a little weird, that’s all.”

“What seems weird?”

“You know what, it doesn’t matter. Just forget it.”

Dammit. “I’m assuming you’re talking about the age difference here?” He shrugged again. “What’s going on, Daniel? You didn’t seem to have a problem with it before. In fact, you said it was fine.”

I turned onto my street, going even slower than the posted twenty-five limit. I considered circling the block a few times so we could talk this out before we got home.

“And I’m not saying it’s not fine now. It’s your life, Mom.”

“Yes, and you’re a huge part of that life. So much so that I want you to be honest with me.”

He sighed. “It’s just that… I don’t know. Lately it’s been coming up more, making me question how it would be if I had a girlfriend your age. It’d be weird for me, that’s all.”

“Coming up more from where? I don’t get that.”

I crawled into my driveway, and he already had his hand on the door handle, ready to bolt. The dress was cutting into my rib cage, and I struggled to get a decent breath.

He wasn’t answering me. “Daniel, it’s not the age. It’s the person. Where’s all this suddenly coming from?”

We were barely in the garage when he was opening the car door. “Like I said, it’s your life. I’m not trying to start anything, okay?”

“But you’re not finishing it either.”

“I have to go, Mom. I have to work.”

He was gone and inside the house before I could get out another word.Where’s all this suddenly coming from?Like I didn’t already fucking know.

I lay my head back and closed my eyes. The purse sitting on the floor behind my seat was frantically trying to get my attention. My cell was inside, and with each ding it felt like I had an annoying kid kicking my chair during a flight.

I reached behind and grabbed my purse, plopping it onto my lap. I pried it open to see Perry’s text lighting up the screen.

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