I shook my head, reaching a hand out to squeeze her arm awkwardly. “No worries, yeah? I enjoy your company anyway.”
Amanda smiled, though she looked unconvinced. This didn’t surprise me. I wasn’t even sure I was convinced of that fact. I felt like I barely knew the girl, but she was still hanging around like we were best friends.
Take it easy on her, Korbin, she’s just trying to help.
“Look, you’re welcome here any time,” I told her, praying she wouldn’t take it as an open invitation. “Nina enjoys the company, too.”
“Sure,” Amanda said, turning to step off the front porch steps. “That sounds nice. Thanks, Korbin.”
“Have a good night,” I called, realizing just then that she had parked her car across the street. No wonder I hadn’t been prepared to find her in the house. Weird. “I’ll see you later.”
She turned to go but then stopped, her eyes still on me. “Would you—would you like to go on a date sometime?” she asked. “Maybe to drinks or dinner, or something?”
I almost said no, because no had been my answer for any and all women the last five years. But Amanda looked so sorry staring at me with those round, doughy eyes that I nodded before I could stop myself.
“Sure,” I said. “Let’s go on that date soon.”
Besides, it might actually be fun.
“Great. Plan a time!” Amanda waved over her shoulder and I stood out on the porch watching her go. I was not content until she pulled away, headlights vanishing around the corner. Only then did I turn to go back inside, feeling more annoyed than I should have been at my mother.
“Ma, it’s super weird to me when you invite random girls into the house for cookies,” I said, locking the deadbolt behind me.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I thought she was a friend of yours,” said Nina, that innocent smile lighting up the twinkle in her eyes. “She said she was.”
“I know her, but I wouldn’t consider her a friend,” I huffed, and my mother smiled.
“Maybe you should,” she scolded me gently. “You could use more friends, Korbin. Besides, she seems lovely.”
“I’m going to bed, Ma.” With a shake of my head, I kissed my mother goodnight and hobbled down the hallway towards my room. I was still annoyed but not enough to ream my mother anymore. She’d always been a beautifully kind person. It was one of her greatest gifts.
“She’s very cute,” Nina called after me, stopping me in my tracks before I could close my bedroom door. “Maybe you should consider the dating scene again.”
“Goodnight, Ma!” I yelled.
“Goodnight, son.”
Chapter6
Peyton
“Peyton, you know you didn’t have to do this,” my mother said softly, looking around the house we’d just walked into.
“It’s fine, Mom,” I assured her, resting my hand on her shoulder. “I’m happy to do it. Why would you want to come home to a dirty house?”
From the wheelchair she sat in, my mother patted my hand, the one that rested on her shoulder. “You’re a good girl,” she said. “I’ve always known that.”
Until I ran away and never came home,I thought, wishing that my saint of a mother knew better than to give me so much credit for the things she thought I did.
“I went grocery shopping, too,” I said, wheeling my mother through the spotless living room and into the kitchen. “But tonight, I figured neither one of us wanted to cook, so we can order from our favorite takeout place. How does that sound?”
“That sounds lovely,” my mom said as I went to the fridge to get her a cool drink of water from the pitcher. I handed her the glass and she took it, but there was no avoiding the tiny tremor I noticed in her hands as she did so.
“Are you okay, Mom?” I asked, and she nodded, putting her free hand to her chest as she handed the cup back to me with her free hand.
“Yes, sweetie, thank you. I think a lie-down might be good?”
“You don’t want to eat?” I asked, setting her cup aside to refill and bring it to her later. My mother shook her head, and it was then I noticed the hollowness of her face. She’d lost weight, plenty of it in the months she’d battled with this, and I had barely noticed. I also hadn’t noticed the way the lids under her eyes were stained black, but not with mascara. Just with…exhaustion.
