28. Waiting For Me
WAITING FOR ME
“ I t’s only Abe’s mother,” Daphne said to herself as she drove to Abe’s house the next day. “Just his mother.”
She kept repeating it to herself and hoping that it’d calm her down.
All it did was make her heart race more.
It was his mother. And his cousin. And Laurel.
She was meeting the people closest to Abe in his life.
Next weekend she was going to have Abe meet Aster. It seemed it hadn’t worked out well prior, but now they were cramming it all into a week.
Talk about show time and the curtain was getting ready to lift.
“Abe’s mother,” she said again. “Who Abe said he got his personality from. So it will be a funny dinner.”
She stopped at a light, took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then let it out. She did it again and then heard a horn beep behind her.
Her eyes snapped open, she saw the green light and stepped on the gas.
She hoped they hadn’t seen her talking to herself and just assumed she was on speaker or singing to the music in the car.
Before she moved here she didn’t have enough time to lose her mind like she was now.
Not a good feeling!
When she pulled into Abe’s driveway, she saw the two cars in Laurel’s and just Abe’s truck in his.
He didn’t visit last night and she had expected that. He’d want to see his mother, but he had called her to check-in.
She never had a guy call her before. Normally it was a text, but Abe did like to talk.
Man, did he like to talk. Sometimes she wondered if he just liked to hear his own voice.
She parked behind his truck and got out.
The front door opened and Abe came out. “Have you been waiting for me?”
“Like a kid at the top of the stairs on Christmas Eve. Did you bring me treats or coal?”
He was puckering his lips adorably and she leaned up to kiss him. “Always treats.”
“How was your night?”
“Good,” he said. “We had dinner with Easton and Laurel. Then my mother has been all over the kitchen driving me nuts for not keeping things where she used to keep them. I had to run to the store last night and again this morning because I didn’t have the right ingredients for whatever she is making. ”
She laughed. “She wants to feed her son. I bet she knows how much you like food and what you’re eating when you’ve got to fend for yourself.”
“Sad but true.” He took the plate out of her hands holding the two kinds of cookies she’d baked. “It’s more about making it perfect to meet you.”
“That’s sweet,” she said quietly. Just matching his tone. “I’m nervous. Do I have anything to worry about?”
“Nope,” he said cheerfully. “She’s going to love you. I’ve had nothing but wonderful things to say about you and because you put up with me, she’ll be fine.”
“Geez,” she said. “That doesn’t inspire much faith. All I have to do is put up with your antics and she’ll like me.”
He laughed. “You’ll have to do more than that. She’s going to love you for being you. Don’t worry about it. I’m just picking.”
“Abe, don’t be rude. Stop yammering, and bring your girlfriend into the house.”
Daphne turned and saw who she assumed was Abe’s mother in the hallway with a big grin on her face.
“You heard her. Time to go in the house before she grounds me for not listening.”
Abe’s mother snorted. “Abe normally got grounded for goofing off or not listening but never for being a bad kid. He’s never done much wrong.”
“That’s good to know. I’m Daphne Allen,” she said, putting her hand out to shake.
“We hug in our family,” Carrie said. “Bring it in.”
She laughed when Abe’s mother’s arms went around her.
There was a comfort in that embrace the same as when she was holding onto Abe.
Well, not the same, but similar enough that most of the tension escaped her body in a mad rush like customers into the store when the doors opened on Black Friday.
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said when Carrie finally let go of her.
“The same,” Carrie said. “Come in, though I know you’ve been here before.”
“I have. It’s a beautiful home. I would have loved to grow up in something like this.”
Not just the house itself but how welcoming Carrie seemed to be.
She didn’t know the last time her mother hugged her. Not even when she was leaving Texas to move here.
Nope, they’d had words like they always did and her mother couldn’t even wish her well, let alone give her a nice comforting parental hug.
“It was a great place to grow up,” Abe said. “Me and Easton got into more trouble here than my mother wants to admit. Why don’t we go in the back and you can meet him? You know Laurel.”
She followed Abe and his mother to the back and saw Easton and Laurel stand.
Easton came over. “You two do look alike,” she said when Easton put his hand out. “I can see where Laurel might have been confused from afar.”
There was laughter at that statement. Abe grinned. “Laurel says she feels like an idiot over that,” Easton said.
“I didn’t use those words,” Laurel said, smiling. “Nice to see you again.”
“You ended up with the right Cooke in the end,” Carrie said. “Both of you. Abe had told me about you some, Daphne, but I’d love to hear more.”
“Sure,” she said. “What would you like to know?”
“How hard it is to deal with Abe when he’s cracking jokes all the time,” Easton said. “That is what Aunt Carrie wants to know.”
“You mean like you’re doing right now?” Laurel asked. “Ignore them. How much fun is it working for Poppy? I love her and her sisters.”
Which reminded her they had the same employers.
“She’s great. I know she’s my boss and all, but she treats me like a friend. I’ve never had that with a job before.”
“It’s like that at Blossoms. Most times,” Laurel said. “They are still running a business, but if you respect them, they respect you and accept you into their fold.”
“Aster has made comments like that,” she said. She turned to Abe’s mother. “Aster is my brother, if Abe didn’t tell you that.”
“He mentioned it in passing,” Carrie said. “But you work for Poppy directly. I remember the girls as kids.”
“I’ve heard Poppy was a bit of a handful. She’s passed it onto her daughter,” she said, smiling. “I love every minute of it. Holly is so engaging and playful. Keeps me moving around and I’d rather do that any day than sit and watch.”
“You sound just like Abe,” Carrie said. “I never could keep him still. He was out helping his father in the yard before he even started school. Half the time I sent him out there to tire him out so he’d sleep better that night.”
“You wanted me out of your hair,” he said. “Admit it.”
“I’ll gladly admit it,” Carrie said, pursing her lips exaggeratedly. Oh yeah, she saw the resemblance between these too immediately. “He sure was a hyper one. Started talking early and never shut up. I can’t imagine having more than one of him. Thankfully Easton was more laid back.”
“Boring,” Abe said. “Easton was the boring one of us.”
“I don’t find him boring,” Laurel said. “I find him sweet and caring and a great partner.”
“You sound like a chick, Easton,” Abe said. “At least that is how your woman just described you.”
“Abe,” his mother said, coming over to try to swat at his arm. “Be nice. It’s like you two never stopped.”
“I grew up, Aunt Carrie,” Easton said. “Right, Laurel?”
“Not when you two are together. It’s great,” Laurel said, grinning.
“I think it’s funny to watch,” Daphne said. “Aster and I are close. Even with him having been gone for so many years, we were still close. But we didn’t have a lot of laughter like this in our house.”
“You’ve got it now with me,” Abe said.
“I do,” she said. “It’s nice to have and shows me what I was missing for so many years.”
“That’s very sweet,” Carrie said. “Abe, have some manners and get your girlfriend something to drink.”
She giggled at how quickly Abe jumped at that. “What can I get you to drink before my mother finds something else to boss me around with? Do you want your seltzer?”
“Yes, please,” she said.
“And she has manners,” Carrie said. “Thank God for that.”
She smiled. “I think common basic manners are a lost thing in society. I’m not sure why. When I worked at the preschool I felt as if I was the only one reminding the kids to say please and thank you. Or excuse me.”
“I’ve said that for years,” Carrie said. “I’m glad to know there are some people out there still trying to teach good values.”
“I’ll always be that way,” she said. Even though it was not her parents who taught it to her. Or even had the manners themselves.
She’d do anything to be the opposite of them.
Or not be compared in any way.
“Poppy is lucky to have you,” Abe said. “I’ve seen Holly. She doesn’t sit still at all, but you keep up with her.”
“That’s why I’m hungry at the end of the day,” she said.
“I swear I’ve never burned so many calories.
But she’s good with letting me spend time with Tatum too.
She knows her brother needs care and I can distract her with activities when I’ve got to feed the baby.
He likes to be entertained by Holly so that helps. ”
“Poppy told Aster that Reese is thrilled that Holly is sleeping after dinner every night,” Laurel said. “Some days she can barely keep her eyes open to eat.”
She laughed. “She naps too. Right after lunch, she is down for about two hours and that gives me time to recharge and play with Tatum if he’s awake.”
She couldn’t be one of those people who just put a baby down and walked away. They needed to be engaged too.
But she was cleaning up lunch and then eating herself once Holly was down for her nap.
Then the little girl was up and raring to go within two hours. Almost like she had an internal alarm clock.
“Babies are the best,” Carrie said. “Then you can give them back. I have to say I like it better when the kids can at least communicate so I know what it is they want.”
“I have to know,” she said. “Did Abe come out of the womb talking?”
There was a lot of laughter in that statement.
“My father said I did,” he said, grinning.
“Just about,” Carrie said. “He was wailing for attention and never stopped getting it. Now he’s getting it the way he deserves and from the right person.”
Abe’s smile looked forced and she had to admit she was confused over that statement.
What was she missing?