Page 54 of Catching Sparkles

“Who are you texting, honey?” My mom asked as she passed through the kitchen, where I was seated at the counter.

“No one,” I responded. Case in point.

Did I want people to know? I still wasn’t sure. I actually wasn’t even sure if he wanted people to know. I knew he’d had a crush on me forever, but that didn’t mean he’d be eager for everyone to know he was hooking up with a divorcing, jobless loser.

And he’d mentioned something back at the cabin, about how he was usually pretty subtle with his dating life and didn’t really go around flashing it in people’s faces. So maybe it wasn’t just me holding back from that kind of thing.

“Well, you’re texting someone,” she pointed out as she pulled up a seat on the other side of the bar. She’d plucked a tangerine out of the fruit bowl on the counter, and started peeling the skin. “Is it Brie?”

“No,” I said, tilting my phone away from her prying eyes and out of her reach, just in case.

“You never did go out with her again after that one night, did you?” She mused.

“No.”

“How come?”

“I just didn’t feel a connection,” I answered carefully, trying not to sound like a defensive teenager. My mom was overexcitable, nosy, and loved poking fun at us. It was embarrassing at the best of times, but the last thing I wanted was to discuss my sex life with her.

“Well, you must have felt some kind of connection,” she insisted. “You spent the night with her.”

“I wasn’t with her that night,” I corrected her, even though I really didn’t want to. But it was better for me to be honest and vague about who I’d really been with. If I lied, it’d be too easy to eventually get caught in it, seeing as how everyone in this fucking town was constantly talking and gossiping with each other.

“Well, you didn’t come home.” She popped a segment of the tangerine into her mouth as she eyed me.

“No,” I agreed. “I didn’t.”

“So you… went on a date with one girl, and ended up spending the night with a different one.”

Suppressing a sigh, I pushed my glasses up to rub at the corner of my closed eye. “Do we really have to talk about this? Am I being punished?”

“Of course you’re not! I’m just curious what’s going on in your life.”

“You’re looking at it,” I said flatly.

“Oh stop,” she chided me. “Tell me about her.”

“No.”

“You smile at your phone way too much these days. I know that smile.”

“Maybe I just really like Candy Crush. Did you ever consider that?”

She grinned, shaking her head at me before popping another piece of fruit in her mouth.

“Do you think this is someone you might be getting serious with?”

“Mom, I’m not even divorced yet. Do you really think it’s a good idea for me to get serious with anyone right now?”

“Maybe,” she responded, and I could only scoff. “You seem happy.”

Clearing my throat, I could practically feel myself starting to squirm in my chair. I was happy. Even though sometimes it felt like we were having to play this whole thing like brain surgery, never making a mistake or else we’d get caught. I was happiest when I was with him. Talking to him was a close second. When I couldn’t have either, I was just thinking about the next time I’d be able to.

“That wasn’t a criticism, Rhys. You’re allowed to be happy,” she said, before sighing and propping her chin in her hand, staring at me with affectionate exasperation. “I don’t know where you’ve gotten this aversion from.”

“Aversion?”

“It’s like you think you deserve to be miserable.”