She threw her head back laughing. “Fine, fine, we won’t talk about it. But if you need anything, please don’t feel you can’t come to me. You know I’ve never kept anything from you.”
Other than Remington.“Thank you.” I moved in to hug her again. “Charlie. His name is Charlie,” I whispered. “He has the prettiest brown eyes I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re already smitten with this Charlie.” She brushed the hair off my forehead as I looked up at her.
“Mama, he’s a good man.” I hated how my voice shook when I spoke. I wanted to tell her that Charlie was sweet to me, told me I was pretty, and suddenly a thought occurred to me. “What does love feel like?”
Mama’s breath caught in her throat, and for a moment, I thought she might not answer. “Well, honey, it feels like you’re going a hundred miles an hour on an old dirt road without a seatbelt on. It feels like you’re free falling fromthe sky without a parachute. It’s like a hot summer day with a big glass of iced tea.” She pulled back to look at me. “It’s like winning the Daytona 500. Capturing that checkered flag and burning donuts into the asphalt while millions of adoring fans scream your name.” She tilted my head up. “Jones, you must promise me you’ll be careful. All joking aside; I’m your mother, and I worry about you. You’ve always been such a good boy.”
“I promise you, Mama. I just...” I worried my lip between my teeth. “What if he doesn’t love me back?”
Mama’s eyes glistened with tears. “Jones, you’re the most precious boy in the world. Charlie would be a fool not to love you back. I can see it written all over you face that you have already fallen ass over tea kettle for that boy, and if he feels even half of what you do right now, you two are going to burn up the night sky together.”
“I’m scared. I’ve never ever felt anything like this before. I look at him, and I just, everything explodes inside of me. My heart hurts, and my stomach feels funny. My brain gets all fuzzy. My toes curl while my teeth clatter. I clench my fingers together because I just want to touch him, Mama. Is that what love is?”
She nodded. “Yes, baby, that’s love.”
“I don’t think I like it very much,” I whispered.
Mama giggled softly and smoothed the hair against my head. “Love is special when it’s returned. It’s tough when it’s not.”
“There’s this pull here,” I confessed and placed a hand over my heart.
She nodded. “I’ve been there. I know all about what it feels like to fall for someone as fast as you have.”
“Is that what happened with Remington?” I hadn’t asked much about my soon-to-be stepfather because I had been a bit jealous when she’d told me. Maybe now that I had met someone, it wouldn’t bother me so much.
Mama pressed a kiss into my hair. “I told him to buzz off the first time he asked me out. I wasn’t interested in Mister Businessman in his fancy suit and expensive car. But he came back numerous times to the diner. Asked me out again and again until I finally said yes. And you know what, Jones?” She giggled softly. “Mister Businessman wasn’t that. He was a normal person, just like you and me. He likes cheeseburgers and fries dipped in mayonnaise. I just know you’re going to like him as much as I do. In fact,”—she pressed a kiss to my forehead— “I think you should bring your boyfriend to dinner on Saturday night.”
“Really?”
She nodded.
“Okay, I’ll ask Charlie if he can come with us. But I should go get ready because I’m meeting him at the beach.” I smiled shyly. “We have a spot.” I left out the part about going to his house. That could wait until later.
“You tell that Charlie of yours I will come for him if he breaks your heart. I mean it,” she warned. “You’re too good for him.”
I wish I believed that was true.
***
Charlie was waiting for me when I walked to our spot on the beach. He looked a little nervous until our eyes met, and then his face lit up with a smile. He met me halfway, grabbed me, and pulled me into a hug that caught me completely off guard.
“I thought you might not show up,” he told me. “Earlier, before, you seemed... I don’t know, different. Like you might have changed your mind about everything.”
I inhaled his scent of suntan lotion. “Charlie.” I pulled back to look at him, chewing on my bottom lip with worry. “You won’t hurt me, will you?”
“What... Jonesy... Why... How could you think that?”
“I’m scared, that’s all.”
He reached for my hand. “Come with me.”
I followed him along the beach, the sun beginning to set into the ocean. It was pretty. Like a postcard. I thought about tomorrow, what it might bring, and when Charlie might be going home. What then? Would this, whatever it was between us, survive long-distance, and would he want that? Charlie told me I was pretty, but had he taken the time to look at himself? He had to have hundreds of men and women lined up wanting to date him.
I was more than smitten with him already.
“We’re here.” Charlie stopped in front of a home that could only be described as a mansion. “My father is out tonight, so we have the entire place to ourselves.”
