Maurice glared at her as she puffed on her cigarette without an ounce of irony.
I slid my arm over the back of his chair, and he shot me a glance. “Maurice dead-lifted three hundred pounds this morning. I’d say he’s healthy.”
Bertie exhaled a huge stream of smoke and crushed her cigarette into the ashtray.
Maurice leaned forward and his cheeks flushed pink. “You know, I try to ignore this, but the fact that you would do this in front of someone is rude, Mother. It bothers me when you talk about my weight at the table.”
I rubbed his shoulder.
She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I didn’t realize I talked about it so much for you to be in a snit about it.”
“You do! Anytime food is around.”
She groaned and dragged another cigarette out, lighting the new one while she frowned. “Hell, I am sorry, honey. I care.”
“Then stick to telling him how good he looks in a suit. Don’t badger him about his meal,” I grumbled.
She looked at her husband, then whapped his shoulder. “Winston, what do you think?”
He glanced up at us, then swallowed his mouthful of food. “Meatloaf’s good, honey.”
Maurice snickered.
The rest of dinner went without further incident because Bertie asked for an update on Lacey. Apparently she knew Maurice and his cousin saw a good bit of each other, and Maurice was able to keep her on safe subjects by talking about Snowbell and Edgar. We made it through helping Bertie clean up without another tense moment, but I didn’t relax until we were outside on the walking path near the house with the fresh air blowing the cigarette smoke out of our clothing.
“Oh look! Water hyacinths!” Bertie pointed at a small pond as we passed it that was absolutely clogged with the floating leafy, green plants. Purple flowers stuck up and waved in the gentle breeze.
“I believe they’re an invasive species,” I called to her because she’d gotten ahead of us with Winston at her side.
“Oh, but they’re so pretty. Who cares?” She laughed, and I began to worry as she took out yet another cigarette. The woman had smoked half a pack or more since I’d arrived.
Maurice clutched my hand and slowed a bit until his parents were out of immediate earshot. “Thanks. I’ve been dealing with her for a long time and didn’t quite know how to restart the conversation. It’s hard when it’s your family.”
I brushed a quick kiss to his temple. “I will always stand up for you, I promise.”
He grinned. “Same.”
“You won’t see this often, boys!” Bertie jabbed her finger at the tall weeds beside the path, and as we got closer I spotted the plant she wanted us to look at. The green stems were about up to my chest, with reddish buds on the sides that hadn’t opened. I was familiar with a lot of foliage in the area because I sometimes went out to do surveying for several local companies, if no one else was available, but I was stumped.
“What is it?”
“Chafseed.” She appeared so delighted it was impossible not to grin.
“Thank you for enlightening me, Bertie.”
She flushed and laughed, waving me off as she turned to continue walking, and Maurice leaned against my side as if to tell me I was doing a good job. My heart swelled as he smiled up at me, and I slid my arm around his shoulders. This wasn’t the type of afternoon I’d thought I would have meeting his parents, but I was very glad he’d invited me.
14
MAURICE
How isthis my Friday afternoon? Friday is supposed to be the best day of the week. Fuck.
The mass email that glared at me from my computer screen had gone out to everyone in the company. The longer I thought about the fact that every single employee had seen this flaming dumpster pile of words, the more the top of my head felt like it wanted to pop off my body and explode into confetti.
“What the hell? All because you were removed from one project that you half assed? You self-entitled prick,” I snapped. It was too bad the man in question was nowhere near me... or was that good? I took deep breaths.
Violence was never the answer, but right now it felt like serious ass-kicking was in order. I pushed my glasses up my nose before I leaned forward to read the goddamned email yet again.
