“I’m making breakfast.”
“Mom, it’s almost midnight,” I pointed out.
“So? You can eat bacon and eggs at any time.”
It was hard to see that this woman had been asleep half an hour ago and now stood in the kitchen dressed in her purple robe whipping up a meal for a girl who’d shown up unexpectedly, blind drunk on her doorstep.
“I guess you can.” I shrugged, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator and unscrewing the cap before dropping into a chair.
“Jake, what’s Kellie doing here?” Mom came straight out and asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Well, how did she get here?”
“A cab dropped her off.”
“Has she said anything?”
“Geez, Mom. Take a breath. No, I don't know why she’s here. No, I don't know how she planned on getting home. But I’m going with it. Kellie’s here. After everything, she came here. Drunk or not, she made the decision, and I’m not going to send her away,” I stated matter-of-factly. Mom might not have the whole story, but I wanted to make it perfectly clear that I had no intention of sending her away. Not tonight and probably not ever.
“I’d never ask you to,” Mom replied, sounding offended.
“I can go,” Kellie offered, and I spun around, almost toppling off my chair.
“No. No. Not at all. Come, sit down. I’ve made you something to eat. Would you like a drink? We have lemonade, water, orange juice…” Mom started babbling, and Kellie looked at me for help.
“How about a lemonade?” I offered, walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out a can. “It might help calm your stomach.”
“I really should get home. Mom doesn’t know…”
“I’ll give her a call and let her know you’re safe. Did she tell you we were having lunch tomorrow?” Mom asked, and Kellie just nodded softly.
Pouring her lemonade into a glass, I pulled out a chair and waited for her to sit. When she stepped beside me, I got the scent of my body wash, but for some reason, on her skin, it made me crazy. At least I thought it was the scent until I spotted my T-shirt that was pulled tight across her tits.
“Yeah, she mentioned something,” Kellie answered unenthusiastically, and I got the feeling that she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the situation.
Mom dished up our midnight breakfast, and we all sat around eating like this was normal. It could be. It could’ve been. But I’d been a dickhead and fucked it all up. I’d made a decision without considering the domino effects. I had my reasons, and at the time they made sense, but sitting across the table from her, watching her push a piece of bacon around her plate, I couldn’t remember a single one.
Mom stood and put her plate in the dishwasher before wishing us both goodnight, surprising Kellie when she stopped and kissed her on the cheek before mumbling something in her ear I couldn’t catch, which had tears welling in Kellie’s eyes and left me desperate to know what she’d said.
Alone, I picked at my food, my eyes on Kellie the whole time. I hated that this felt awkward and stilted, but I had no idea how to fix it. Kellie yawned, trying to hide it behind her arm, but I didn’t miss it. How could I? I wanted to remember everything about this woman.
“Want me to take you home?” I offered.
“You don’t mind?”
“Well, you could stay here. I wouldn’t mind that,” I said stupidly.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Kellie replied, but I disagreed. I thought it was the best idea I’d had in years, but it was the middle of the night, and I wasn’t going to push. Not this time anyway.
“Let me grab my keys, and we can go.” I rose from the table, walked over to the entry, and dug my keys out of the bowl.
When I came back to the kitchen, Kellie was cleaning away the mess.
“Leave it,” I told her. “I’ll fix it up when I get back.”
“Or I can just do it now. It won’t take a second,” Kellie confirmed, shooting me a wry smile as she turned on the faucet and started filling the sink.
