Page 40 of Ruined
CHAPTER TWENTY
“You boys must be starving.”
It was so good to see my mama holding the door open for us, a bright comforting smile on her face.
“I know I am,” Chase said as he stooped to kiss our mother’s cheek. “That one—” he jerked his head toward me, “—likes cheap labor. We help him with his damn deck, and he doesn’t even feed us.”
The laughter that sounded from my mother warmed my heart. With a gentle pat on her youngest son’s cheek, she placated him, “Good thing your mama made your favorite meal then.”
I stood back while my brothers and Brett walked through the door, each of them greeting Mama with a kiss. When it was finally my turn, I pulled her to my chest and simply held on for a moment. “You had me worried, Mama.”
Like she’d done with Chase, she pulled back and patted my cheek, “It’s not your job to worry about me.” Her palm was warm against my skin, her eyes smiling along with her mouth, but something seemed…off.
“Mama, are you sure you’re doing okay?”
She admonished me with a shake of her head, “There you go again…Who’s the parent here, mmm?” I said nothing as she swiped her hands over my shoulders. “I’m just a bit tired. your father told me to stay in bed, but I’ve missed my children too much.”
Her eyes begged me to leave it at that, and for tonight I would. Come morning, I was going to have another talk with Pops; between the two of us, we’d get Mama to agree to see a doctor.
My mom glanced toward the spot where my brothers and I had parked earlier, “Where are the girls and the little ones?”
“Molly’s with Harper and Flynn. They’re helping Lizzy test out a recipe or something,” I explained with a shrug of my shoulders. “And as far as I know, Kenzie went to Texas City with her friend.” What I didn’t tell Mama was that Kenzie had phoned Brett to let him know they would be home late. Since the call earlier in the day, I’d had a hard time not asking Brett exactly what the girls were doing in TC and why they were delayed.
“Oh no,” Mama cried. “I was looking forward to seeing Kenzie’s friend again, I had such a lovely chat with her at the wedding reception.” My mom’s tone turned wistful, “Such a beautiful young lady.”
Yes, she is, but there is so much more to her than just her looks. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked when I saw my mother stare at me with a weird expression on her face.
Mama had barely opened her mouth before she pressed her lips together. “It’s nothing.” Hooking her arm through mine, she ushered me through the house. “C’mon, I’m sure your father is itching to hear all about the new deck.”
Once we stepped into the backyard, I pulled a beer from the cooler box then greeted Pops with a hug. “I hear you boys had a busy day,” he said by way of greeting.
I slipped into the chair next to him. “Yeah,” bringing the bottle to my lips, I took a long swig and continued, “But it’s all good. The deck looks great, I can’t wait for you to see it.”And to have dinner with Zoe there tomorrow night.
“Hey Pops,” Chase piped up. “You should ask him why he was in such a rush to get everything done today.”
Glaring at my brother, I held my hand next to my ear and flipped him off. When I caught sight of Mama’s eyes on me, I pretended to scratch the spot. I should’ve known the little shit would bring up tomorrow night’s dinner. He’d been on me about it for the better part of the day.
And I wasn’t even the one who’d told him.
No, that honor went to ourdear friend, Brett. Apparently, a bunch of men could gossip more than the old ladies at the hair salon. After I’d left Zoe on Monday night, Brett couldn’t wait to tell Logan, as luck would have it, my little brother — aka the biggest gossip in town — happened to be at the shop at the right time.
Of course, he then went and told Lizzy who told Harper…and, yeah, you get the point.
“Oh, is this about the dinner date tomorrow?” Mama beamed while she walked over to stand behind Pops’ chair. The moment she placed her hands on his shoulders, his came up to cover them.
I, on the other hand, threw my arms in the air and gave my brother my bestpiss-offstare. “Really, you told Mama?” Not even fazed by me, Chase merely shrugged his shoulders.
“Hey, you leave him alone,” Mama chastised. “At least someone is keeping this old woman up to date on what’s going on in her sons’ lives.”
I had the good sense to feel ashamed. When I’d been a young boy, I’d told her everything. Hell, I could still remember the day I’d met Melissa; I’d came barging into the house declaring I’d met the woman of my dreams. As happy as she’d been for me, Mama had cautioned me to be careful and keep my eyes open.
Turned out, she’d had a sixth sense regarding Melissa. She never threw it in my face, or said me‘I told you so’, she simply loved and nurtured me while I tried to pick up all the broken pieces. I hated how that entire ordeal had caused me to pull away from everything and everyone, including the woman who loved me like no one else could.
I got the feeling that someone was watching me. It was confirmed as soon as I looked up to find five sets of eyes expectantly staring at me. “Okay, fine,” I conceded. “Molly wanted me to invite Zoe over for dinner, so I did.”
“Shame on you for putting everything on your daughter, man.” Brett threw in his two-cents. “You forget I saw the stars in your eyes when you toldsunshineyou’d see her on Thursday.” He then very dramatically recited what he’d seen, adding a few embellishments along the way. By the time he was done, laughter had broken out around the table.
Even though it was at my expense, it was damn good to see my family this happy.
