Page 13 of The Beachside Cafe 3
Jaymee grimaced in an amused way. “Oh. Sorry. Go ahead.”
“I… I think it’s time for me to move out.” She stared at her mother to gauge her reaction.
Jaymee was taken by surprise by the announcement. She’d known it would happen eventually and her daughter was 21 and old enough to take care of herself. She could be a responsible adult all on her own.
She didn’t need her mother anymore.
Jaymee felt an intense sadness sweep over her. She tried to keep the look from her face but Cheyenne must have seen it because she tilted her head to the side and gave her mother a sorrowful look. “I’m sorry, Mom. I know you don’t want to hear that. But just think, you’ll be able to spend a whole lot of alone quality time with Cameron. You want that, don’t you?”
“Yes. I do. But I can have that whether you’re here or not.”
Cheyenne laughed softly. “I’m not sure you know the definition of the word ‘alone’.”
Jaymee laughed with her. “I do, yes. I know what that word means. I just… I know it’s time for you to be on your own, Cheyenne. I just… don’t really want that to happen. But I won’t stand in your way. You know I won’t.” She added the last part quickly, so her daughter would know she understood why it was happening.
She turned back to her noodles, hoping her daughter didn’t see the tears in her eyes. A moment later, she felt Cheyenne’s arms around her shoulders.
“I love you, Mom,” she murmured. “You’re the best mom a girl could ever have. I hope you know that.”
Jaymee patted her daughter’s arm, tilting her head so it touched Cheyenne’s. “And you’re the best daughter a mom could ever have. I love you, too. I’m sorry you had to grow up. I remember when you were first learning to walk and talk and I couldn’t shut you up. You used to dance through the living room singing at the top of your lungs, making up songs just to amuse yourself.”
She sighed, turning the heat up on the noodles. “Let me finish this spaghetti and we’ll talk more about it.”
“Okay, Mom.”
She felt cold when Cheyenne left, even though she was standing in front of a hot stove with two burners going. She turned to watch her daughter return to the living room. A moment later, the war movie was back on.
As she stirred the food and finished the hamburger, Jaymee fought with her emotions. She would be so lonely here without Cheyenne. Even if Cameron visited, she would still be lonely most of the time. It wasn’t her style to live with someone and Cameron had his own lovely mansion to go back to whenever he wanted. He didn’t seem to mind living alone. Then again, he had a lot of house staff and people wandering the grounds at all hours for various reasons.
Jaymee turned around and gazed at the four walls in the kitchen, the decorations, the china cabinet, the high ceilings. The house was huge, luxurious.
Way more than Jaymee required.
She thought about Russo in his tiny little apartment with all his old furniture and his worn-down self. What kind of experiment had he been involved in? He said he was a researcher for IDL but it sounded from the lawsuit report like he’d been one of the guinea pigs, rather than an actual employee.
Either way, it hadn’t paid the bills for him. She wondered what adverse effects the experiments had done to him. He didn’t look like he was in the best of shape, but he didn’t look sick either.
She returned to cooking and when it was done, she called to Cheyenne.
“Bring it in here, Mom, if you would,” Cheyenne called back. “I want to finish the movie.”
“As long as you’re willing to talk when it’s over. We have a lot to discuss. Like whether or not you’ve found an apartment or if you’ve been looking for one.”
“I will! I mean, we will. There’s not much left of the movie. Come enjoy it with me.”
Jaymee wasn’t sure how much she could get out of a war movie in the last fifteen minutes. It turned out to be one she’d seen so she knew what was going on when she brought Cheyenne a bowl of spaghetti and sat with her on the couch to watch it.
When Cheyenne picked up the remote and clicked off the TV as the credits were rolling, Jaymee braced herself. This wasn’t a discussion she really wanted to have with her daughter but it was high time.
She pulled in a deep breath, reaching behind her for a glass of wine she’d left there for this exact purpose. She took a few swallows, holding up one finger toward Cheyenne so she wouldn’t start talking.
With a grin, Cheyenne waited patiently.
Jaymee set the wine glass back down and smacked her lips. “All right, I guess I’m ready.”
“Okay, well, I’ve been doing some research and I think I know where I want to live. It’s a place over on West 4thstreet.”
“An apartment complex?” Jaymee looked at the map of Grand Bay in her head. She didn’t see apartment complexes anywhere on West 4thstreet.
