I set up the table, all the while, trying to listen to their conversation in the kitchen. For the most part, I was unsuccessful, save for hearing my mother’s laughter every now and again. Despite the fact that I didn’t want to, I felt the side of my lips tug into a smile.
A short time later, the three of us sat around the tale, bowls in front of us.
“Jocey, are you not hungry? You usually devour my chicken and dumplings.”
I hated the concern in my mother’s voice.
Both she and Don stopped talking and eating and looked at me with concern in their eyes. Don slid his hand under the table, clutched my thigh, and squeezed it.
The move asked,“Are you okay?”
I had to put effort into not letting my eyelids slide shut at the warmth brought on by that small gesture.
“I’m fine, Mama,” I assured, smiling at them both. “I had a big lunch. That’s all.”
She turned back to Don. “It took a while for this one to enjoy anything outside of box macaroni and cheese when she was a little girl.”
“I can’t believe that,” Don said, with another squeeze of my thigh.
A battle between moving his hand away and asking him to never let me go warred inside me. It became almost impossible to breathe at the thoughts spiraling around in my mind.
Absentmindedly, I listened as Don, and my mother talked about my eating habits as a young girl.
“Ain’t that right, Jocey?’ my mother called.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, having missed the first part of the conversation.
“I can’t believe that,” Don said. “She has no problem eating these days.”
I finally grew interested in the conversation at hand and looked to my mother, who appeared stunned by what he’d said. Slowly, a smile spread across her face as her gaze floated between Don and me.
“Uh yeah, well, food is delicious,” I said. “And we need it to survive, right? No big deal.”
Don made a skeptical face. “Babe, you finished half of my plate the other night when I cooked steak and eggs for dinner.”
“It was so damn good,” I practically moaned but then remembered where the hell I was.
Stilling myself, I slowly moved my gaze over to my mother. Her smile grew wider, and there was a twinkle in her eyes. I knew the question was coming, and I braced myself for it, hating what I’d have to do in front of Don.
“Well, this is a nice surprise. Jocelyn never told me you two were dating.”
I groaned.
“That’s probably my fault, Ms. Lynne,” Don said.
I stared at him.It is?
“I wanted to tell Corey face to face, which was why I stopped by tonight.”
I cleared my throat, drawing their attention. “Well, he’s not here. Maybe we should go.”
Don wrinkled his forehead and frowned at me.
“It is getting late, and I know you two want to get on,” my mother said, rising from her chair.
“We can stay a little while,” Don started to say, but my mother shook her head.
“No, please. You two have better things to do. Don’t even think of asking to help me clean up. Jocey knows I like my kitchen a certain way. It’s better that I do it.”
