“He might be my future son-in-law, Emma. Why wouldn’t I be excited to seehim?”
I take a bite of my pancakes, letting her words stew for less than a minute before I drop my fork down onto the glass plate. “Mom, I know you're sort of joking right now, but you better not say any of that to him. Seriously, that would scare any guyoff.”
“I don't know. He seems like the marrying type. A doctor always wants a nice wife to come home to,” shecontinues.
“Yes, in your dreams, or soaps…whatever—samething.”
“It’s important for him to know he’s welcome, though. Some men are scared off by families, and I certainly wouldn't want that to be the case. I would never forgive myself if I thought I could have done more to make him feelwelcome.”
“One date. That’s all I've been on. One date,Mom.”
“One date that has you smiling even though you’re completely annoyed by me right now.” I’m not smiling, am I? I feel the need to touch my lips to confirm this, and as it turns out, there isn’t a straight line across my face like there normally is at this time ofday.
“Did he kiss you or not?” Mom continues with herbadgering.
“No!” I shout. “Feel better?” I smile and force an awkward laugh so she knows I'm not upset aboutit.
“Oh, honey, I'm sosorry.”
I close my eyes because this woman knows how to push my buttons more than any other person in the entire universe, and right this second, I might just lose it. My brain is already on overload, and I can't handle her drama. “It was a first date, Mom.” How many times have I said that in the past fiveminutes?
“Maybe you weren't smiling enough? You sometimes have that—what’s it called? A lazy bitchface?”
“God, Mom, what is with you today? First, it’s resting bitch face, and second, I don’t havethat.”
“You don’t right now,” shesays.
“It’s not resting, it’spurposeful.”
“Oh, honey,relax.”
By the time I’m done being berated by my ticking ovaries—a.k.a Mom, I’ve finished my pancakes, and I'm ready to get this day started. I’m going to be losing clients soon if I don't get some work done, and I’ve already heard my phone buzz at least six times in the last tenminutes.
“I’m going to shower and head to the hospital,” I tell her. “Thank you for breakfast. It was great, minus the tabletalk.”
I take our dishes, drop them into the dishwasher, then take a mug from the cabinet and fill it up from the fresh pot of coffee. I'll take it black today. It’s definitely going to be black coffee kind ofday.
A cold shower too. That always helps. I wash my hair and body quickly, shivering against the frosty water.What is going on?I wrap a towel around myself and open the door. “Mom, what’s wrong with the hotwater?”
“Oh, the water heater’s not working. I meant to callsomeone.”
“Seriously? How have you beenshowering?”
“I’ve actually heard that cold showers are good for your heart. I read that it prevents some kind of cancertoo.”
I cannot live here. Nope. Can't do it. “Okay, well, I’ll call a repairman for youtoday.”
“Thanks, honey, I guess it's time,” shesays.
It takes me until I’m in my Jeep and halfway to the hospital before I stop shivering. My hair dryer didn't even warm me up. It’s bad enough it’s already in the forties in the middle of fall. A cold shower on top of that is a great way to start an already stressful day…ornot.
The parking lot is fairly empty this morning, and I can’t stop myself from parking beside the shiny black car that stimulates a rush of heat in my cold veins as I recall moments from my date lastnight.
I walk through the front doors, quickly concluding that the receptionist is beginning to recognize me as she offers a big smile while I pass her by. “Tell your grammy Paula says hi,” she shoutsover.
Oh boy. That's a goodthing.
I make my way upstairs and hear laughter echoing down the ICU hall. The laughter isn't familiar, but I can only imagine it's coming from Grams’s room. It takes me less than a second to confirm my thoughts as I walk into her room, finding half of this floor’s nurses laughing at whatever Grams just said. “Oh, and this is my granddaughter, Emma,” she says, introducing me as if she were a game showhost.
