“Knock, knock!” he hollered from the doorway.
“Come on in!” Mrs. West hollered back. “I’m in the kitchen!”
“Where else?” Derek mumbled playfully.
He gave her a wink and an adorable sideways grin.Damn, he’s nice to look at.
They made their way through the cozy living room on their left and into the kitchen. Hundreds of pleasant memories assaulted her as she entered the room she’d spent much of her childhood in.
Mrs. West saw them come in and quickly sat the metal tongs she’d been using to turn the chicken down onto the counter. After hastily wiping her hands on the front of her apron—Charlie loved that she still wore one of those—the older woman rushed over to greet them.
“There’s my boy. Well, one of them, anyway. Come give your mama some lovin’s.”
Charlie watched with envy as the woman embraced her son the way she wished her own mother would’ve done with her. Instead, her mom was always too busy either trying to make her dad happy or trying to calm him down when he wasn’t.
Mrs. West’s sudden laughter broke through the depressing memories.
“Good lord, son. Are you ever going to stop wearing those ridiculous t-shirts?”
Charlie’s thoughts had been so scattered, she hadn’t even paid attention to the one he was wearing today. Looking at it now, she understood why his mom was laughing so hard.
It’s not the size of my hard drive that matters. It’s how I use it.
She snickered, and Derek immediately looked her way. The boyish grin he wore made her insides flutter.
“And Charlie!” Mrs. West exclaimed as she slid over to her. “Oh, my goodness, child. It is so good to finally see you again.” The sweet woman pulled her in for a tight hug.
“Hi, Mrs. West.”
“Oh, don’t you Mrs. West, me. I think you’re plenty old enough to start calling me Marcia.” The other woman pulled back. “Now, let me get a good look at you.” A set of beautiful, blue eyes ran across her face. “Aren’t you just the most beautiful young woman? Isn’t she beautiful, Derek?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he agreed, wearing that same, almost sultry look he’d had in the car.
“And you’re blonde, now,” Marcia noted with a surprising tone. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
Before Charlie could stop her, Derek’s mom had reached up and brushed a bit of hair from her face. The same section that had been covering the cut and bruise there.
She gasped. “Oh, honey. What on earth happened?”
“It’s nothing.” Charlie moved the hair back into place, but it was too late.
Mrs. West had already seen it, and the look she was giving Derek told Charlie she understood exactly what had happened.
“That sonofabitch.”
“Mom!” Derek reprimanded.
“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me.” She turned to Charlie. “Your husband did this to you, didn’t he? That’s why you left him?” Marcia put her hands on her hips. “Did you press charges?”
An obvious blush crept up the back of Charlie’s neck and into her cheeks. She opened her mouth, but nothing would come out. God, she didn’t want to talk about this. Not with his mom.
“I hope like hell you did,” his mom continued. “A man does somethin’ like that to a woman, especially his own wife, he deserves to be locked up for the rest of his life.”
Charlie looked to Derek, unsure of what she should say. Thankfully, he took over.
“Mom, stop. Charlie doesn’t need you badgering her over this.”
The woman’s eyebrows bunched in confusion. “I’m not badgering her. I just want to make sure the bastard who did this to my girl pays for it. That’s all.”
