“You know it’s my job as a mother. I get to ask.”
“I appreciate it.” My phone vibrates in my pocket. I reach for it too quickly, hoping it’s Brook. I catch the way Mom’s eyes spring wide in response to my quick hands.
Hope you guys are enjoying your Saturday. <3
She’s added a picture of herself walking down the street as she blows a kiss to the camera. I think I do a decent job of ignoring the heat that’s blooming in my chest. I quickly send her a response, trying to wipe the smile off my face as I type.
Back at you. We’ll give you a shout later. <3
“Something important?” Mom asks as I slip my phone back in my pocket.
“No, just a friend.”
“You’re not stepping out on Shaw are you?”
“What? No.” I know she’s joking. She knows Shaw and I are open with our wants and needs. She knows neither of us would cheat, especially after what happened.
“You know I’m just giving you a hard time. I haven’t seen a smile like that on your face in a while.”
“I wasn’t smiling. Was I?”
She smirks at me and pats my hand, just as I hear Shaw come back through the side door.
“I need more wood glue. I’m going to run to the store,” he says. “Need anything while I’m out?”
My phone vibrates again and I feel my expression fall as my mom’s eyes drop to my phone.
“You okay?” Shaw asks, glancing between me and Mom. She’s doing a horrible job holding back her laughter.
“I got a text and Mom thinks my behavior’s off.”
“You’re standing like you have a rod up your ass, so maybe she’s on to something.”
“He said he got a text from a friend,” Mom laughs.
“Oh. Ooh!”
I let out a deep breath and Shaw nods. He knows the drill. I can’t keep shit from Lynetta Coleman.
“We did meet someone,” I confess.
“Oh? Who is it? Do I know them?”
“No. We, uh—I. I definitely acted alone here. Last year, I reached out to Brooklyn Lewis. She was engaged to Josh Delinsky. The guy Corrine was with when everything happened. The man who was killed…”
My mom cringes, bracing herself for more. “Okay. So you two are seeing her now?”
“I don’t know actually.” I glance over at Shaw and he doesn’t have any answers either.
“I just wanted to talk to her at first. And we did talk. That was over a year ago. Right after it happened.”
“Okay.”
“I wanted to talk to someone since Mrs. Johnson was freezing us out.”
“And she was dead wrong for that. She still is.” My mom is still pissed at Corrine’s mom for thinking the worst of me and Shaw. She figured, like we did, that there was an opportunity for our family community to grow, not to be diminished by the fact that her daughter loved two men instead of one. That’s water under the bridge for me and I need to save my brain cells for things like explaining to my mom how talking to Brooklyn isn’t as bad as it sounds. I don’t need to waste more time thinking about how Mrs. Johnson probably still thinks we’re sexual deviants and users of women.
“Well, we talked and it was good, but she said she was still processing stuff, as were we, so we basically left things at that. She had our numbers and we made it clear that we wouldn’t bother her about Corrine or the case or anything. But then—”
