“Oh, sure, honey. I’m on hormone replacement therapy, the whole thing. I’ve tried every supplement out there, but my doctor said that my hair probably isn’t coming back,” she said mournfully, lifting her bangs to show the slight highways in her hairline.
“Your hair is still beautiful, Mom. And don’t worry, this is super easy, and I’m happy to do it for you whenever.”
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
Within seconds, I had the enormous clog up and out of the drain, and the bowl was empty again. I tossed the mass of hair into the trash and washed my hands. Mom stood there, awkward, and I wished we had more to talk about. I went to give her a hug and say goodbye when she stopped me.
“I wanted you to know that I’m really proud of what you’ve accomplished with your business. I saw the article in the paper and showed it to all my friends.”
“Aw, thanks, Mom. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also gratifying to help in the community.”
She nodded, twisting her fingers. “It’s real good what that Mr. Paige did, giving that land to Beckett the way he did.”
She’d never directly addressed Mr. Paige’s impact on my life, and maybe it was just the emotional hangover from talking to Sawyer, but I was touched that she brought the topic up. “He changed so many lives. We all miss him something fierce, but we’re working hard to make him proud.”
“I think he would be,” she said with a fragile smile. “And I saw that Holden and Beckett are together now. They’ve got a little boy, yes?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, they do. His name’s Hikaru, and he’s Japanese, like Ren. They get along like a house on fire.”
Her eyes went a little sad. “Grandchildren are a blessing.”
“Yes, they are.” I looked at my phone. “I, uh, guess I’d better get going. Let me know if that drain gives you any more problems, okay?”
“I will. Thank you, Major. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Mom.”
I walked out to my truck and waved to her as I pulled out of the driveway. The drive back to my house didn’t take much time—just long enough to wish I had the kind of relationship with my mom that would let me ask for her advice in matters of the heart.
At least I had the Lost Boys.
CHAPTER 12
ren
Major had fucked me into an alternate universe last night. We’d had a bobble the previous week when he’d asked about going bare, but he hadn’t repeated the request, and last night he’d been all growly and demanding, like he was trying to work something out with each thrust. It’d been fantastic.
On top of that, the urn wasn’t mocking me, Allie threw in a cookie from her new baked goods line when I’d stopped by for my usual London Fog, and parking at the college was, for once, a breeze. Even though I’d had to get up at an ungodly hour for my Saturday morning class, I was in a festive mood.
Should’ve known it was too good to last.
After greeting my students, who only gave me a small amount of grief for announcing a pop essay, I opened my backpack to grab the essay prompts and realized that I’d left them at home on the printer.
“Mr. Paige, why don’t you do online assignments like everyone else?” Marnie asked, because she was annoying like that.
“I like paper,” I grumbled, exporting the prompts from my hard drive into Blackboard.
Blackboard was a sort of virtual learning space that I’d been forced to use when Covid hit, and I had tried—unsuccessfully—to avoid it ever since.
“Does that mean we don’t have to do the essay, then?” she asked, waggling her brows. They were turquoise today and had two slits shaved into them instead of one.
I glowered at her, and the rest of the students laughed. “Just because I don’t enjoy the technology doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use it,” I said. “The prompts are already uploaded, so log on to Blackboard and get going.”
I let out a huff, which the students also found amusing. Hopefully they didn’t realize how nervous I was. I’d barely remembered my password to the site, and if they had any technical questions, we’d all be shit out of luck. Then again, they wouldn’t have questions, because everyone in my class was a good thirty years younger than I was.
Nothing could make you feel old like technology.
Thankfully, the rest of the class went smoothly, and I was eager to get started grading the tests from my American lit classes. Only… the ungraded tests were next to the printed essay prompts at home.
