But Mama, like me, is a little tipsy, and she already has the drink to her mouth.
“Oh, my, isn’t this delicious?” she says. “What in the world is it?”
“Midori Sour,” Celie says. “That’s more your speed, Mama. Forget the whiskey.”
The man beside Mama asks her a question. The music’s so loud Mama has to lean over to hear him. We see her laugh, well—we see her giggle and say something back. The man raises his glass, and Mama clinks hers to his in response.
“So. The game.” Celie elbows me. “Are we on?”
“I guess so. Tomorrow’s game is early, though; it starts at three.”
“No problem. I’ll leave work early,” Celie says.
“I know seeing Daddy here next week will be hard,” Molly says to me quietly. “But tomorrow’s game will be harmless. Plus, the three of us have done this before.”
“We did it for New Year’s Eve one year, remember?” Celie says. “Daddy had you drive us all to the game, Vannah. He was so disappointed you drove ‘like a woman.’ I mean, the nerve of you!”
I playfully hit her in the arm. “Why are you bringing that up? It’s not a good memory.”
“Memory lane,” Celie says. “Once you get moving, you can’t stop the train sometimes, good or bad.”
“He said I should drive more like you,” I say softly.
“Yeah, well, he said I should look more like you,” she shoots back. “More feminine, more beautiful. You inherited Mama’s good looks, after all. You look like a Minnesota princess with your thick dark hair and green eyes. And the best part? Your big heart shines through all of it.”
I glance over to see Cam heading toward us. His dark gaze is fixed on me even as a woman grabs at him when he passes the pool tables. He walks right by her like she’s not even there, and as he reaches my side, Celie whispers in my ear, “And somebody definitely likes all of you—a lot.”
* * *
After a short while later, I’m more than ready to leave.
“So before we all separate,” Celie says as we all stand outside our vehicles in the frigid Minnesota night, “let’s talk about how Mama got hit on tonight.”
“What?” Mama says. “I was not hit on.”
“By the man next to you,” Celie says. “He was flirting with you!”
“What did the man say to you, Mama?” Molly asks her.
“Oh, he just said what a wonderful night it was,” Mama says. “He heard Celie mention that I own a house now, and he wanted to be the first to congratulate me. He was very nice.”
“And did he ask you out?” Celie says.
“Celie, please,” Mama says. “He was very gentlemanly. I think maybe he was lonely, sitting at that bar all by himself.”
Maybe he wasn’t the only one who’s lonely. I look at my mother as she rubs her empty ring finger.
* * *
Pru says he and Celie will take Mama and Molly home, and Cam and I get into his truck alone.
He turns on the engine, and I sink into my heated seat. But he doesn’t put his hands on the wheel.
We watch Pru drive off with my mother and sisters, and still Cam doesn’t move.
My stomach lurches into my chest.
Cam’s long black coat hides his hot body, but all I’m staring at is his face. His facial hair is neatly trimmed, showing off his dark, kind, caring eyes, and he looks sexy as hell.
