Page 18 of The Mating Frenzy
Alarm tightened Nellie’s face.Oh, boy. Here wego…
“Ella, please don’t leave me," her mother cried out." I need you so much. Please, please. Don't be mad at me. Haven’t I been good to you? Your father was all I had, and now you’re all I have. It doesn’t matter how much you would make in the city. I can’t bealone."
When her mother began showing signs of the telltale crystalline tears in her eyes, Ella knew she was beaten. Feeling utterly defeated, she mustered her bravest smile." It's okay, Mom. It's okay, Mom," she said quietly. “I was just thinking aloud. I won’t leaveyou.”
They ate dinner, Nellie talking about her new job and responsibilities. Ella forced herself to eat the steak, though it tasted like cardboard in hermouth.
Nellie’s cell phone buzzed. Her mother went to get it and then vanished into the living room. When she returned, Nellie looked far more animated and happy than Ella had seen in aweek.
Since El Creepo had lastvisited.
“Stan is on his way here to drop me off at my new job! He just called. I have to get ready. Can you entertain him in the living room until I can put on my face, do my hair and change mydress?”
A quick glance at her watch and she cringed. “Mom, you told me I had to get to work two hoursearly.”
Her mother’s watery gaze darted away. “Well, it might have been five o’clock instead of three. I needed you here, Ella. I worry about you when you’re nothome.”
Terrific. Now she had no excuse not to talk with Stan.I’d rather eat a bucket of worms.He’s such a creep. Can’t she seethat?
No, her mother had stars in her eyes, and she was desperate to find a new husband who could take care ofher.
Nellie’s belief that a woman needed a man in her life was one reason Ella seldom dated in the past. Now she was simply toobusy.
When had life spiraled so much out of control? As Nellie went upstairs, Ella dumped the dirty dishes into the sink. Then she rushed upstairs to snag her backpack with her waitress uniform and plodded into the living room, dropping the pack on the floor. Maybe Stan would get a hint and entertainhimself.
Darcy jumped on the armchair where Stan liked to sit. “Good girl,” shemurmured.
Suddenly the cat raised her head and hissed, her ears drawn back. Ella heard the cough and sputter of an old truck ramble up the mountainroad.
A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. Maybe if she ignored it, he would go away. Think her mother was asleep or in a coma or had been spirited away byaliens.
Another insistent ring, the buzzer soundingsickly.
“Please, Ella, answer the door,” her motheryelled.
Sighing, Ella opened thedoor.
Thumbs jammed into the pockets of his faded jeans, Stan Nestito stood on the stoop. “You gonna let me in,dollface?”
She stepped aside. Asking him to quit calling her that endearment would only empowerhim.
His eyes were slate blue, and his jaw was square and bore graying stubble. His body, clad in a plain white T-shirt and jeans jacket and faded, but clean jeans, was thickset, but not preciselyfat.
He had the look of a steelworker who enjoyed downing a Budweiser or two after work, except Stan neverdrank.
In fact, he didn’t seem to have any obvious vices. He worked as a clerk in an insurance firm and he liked to garden. It was the oddest thing. With those credentials, Ella might have likedhim.
Stan might have been borderline handsome if not for his personality. He constantly mumbled about entitled people and tourists and when her mother wasn’t around, even making racial slurs. Once he even suggested that wayward women who didn’t obey their husbands should bepunished.
When Nellie was present, Stan changed. He became a polite gentleman, bringing her flowers, doting on her. Never speaking of anythingugly.
Small wonder Nellie adored him. She was starved forattention.
Stan immediately headed for the one good chair now claimed by Darcy. “Off, cat,” he ordered, jerking histhumb.
Darcy hissed athim.
“It’s her home,” Ella remindedhim.
