“Not long.” I’m lying. I’m hoping this takes hours. I’m going to need them.
“Okay.” Colette places one foot up onto the running board I had installed last week to make it easier for her to get in and out. “You put a step on this?” She looks down at her foot, then back at me.
“Yep.” And that’s all that needs to be said.
“Thank you.” She smiles at me, and again, it looks real.
“Hop up.”
I watch her do just that in those denim cutoffs of hers that I love. Her ass looks amazing in them, along with her legs. She’s got one of her funny little tees on again, but if you asked me what it said, I’d have to make something up, because my eyes were on other things.
Once we’re on the road, she asks, “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” I look over at her and wink.
“I’m not sure how I feel about surprises.”
“This one is good.” At least I hope she likes it. If not, I’m screwed. Both of us are quiet for a mile or two. “How’s the house hunt going?”
“House hunt?”
“Yeah. You said you were looking to move.”
“I—uh—haven’t done anything about that. Not yet anyway.”
Thank fuck.
I move on to a new subject. “Saw your mom the other day.”
Her head whips around. “You did?”
“She stopped by after leaving your place.”
Mumbling, I swear she says, “She’s such a flirt.”
I’m tempted to laugh, but when I glance over at Colette, her head is down and she’s staring at her hands. She looks solemn. Sad. “She came to read me the riot act about everything.”
Should I ask her to elaborate?
I don’t have to. “I’ve skipped all of the Funday Sundays recently. Well, after Dad was in the hospital, we postponed most of them, but the last two I’ve skipped.”
“Why?”
“Why?” She frowns. “Because I’m still processing some things.”
“I get it.” No. I don’t really get it. What does that mean?
“She, um, had some things to say about the deal with my dad.”
Again, I remain silent. If she wants to tell me about her conversation with her mother, she will.
“She told me that the thing with my father happened after something, um, bad happened to us.”
Us?She’s being cryptic. I keep my mouth shut.
“She said things weren’t good between them after that.”
I expect her to keep talking, but she doesn’t. I know she’s got more.
