Epilogue
Casey sat back in Simon’s office chair after hanging up with her parents. She informed them of her accident, the totaled car, and the man she met, but she didn’t know what shocked them the most. It didn’t shock them when she told them what transpired at her aunt’s house.
“She’s always been so cold. I was hoping she’d soften over the years,” her mom said.
“No, if anything, she’s just gotten worse. When Simon came to get me, we hugged, and you would have thought the world was going to end. She kept screaming about how sinful I was.”
“If you ask me,” her father said. “If she’d gotten laid, she’d be better.”
Her mother gasped while Casey laughed until tears came to her face.
“My God, James. You just said that in front of your daughter,” her mother yelled at him, making them both laugh harder.
Her mother, Debbie, hissed. “I swear you two are so much alike. It’s a shock that I haven’t had a nervous breakdown yet.”
James spoke up. “Dear, she’s twenty-four years old and in a relationship. Unless it’s one of those bizarre ones I read about…”
“Like what?” Casey asked.
“The ones that marry their dogs, car, or blow-up doll,” he said.
“Oh, my. Please tell me it’s a normal relationship,” her mother pleaded.
Casey snorted. “Well, Simon’s really a turtle, but that’s okay, right?”
Her dad burst out again, and she heard her mother sigh.
“Do you see the resemblance, you two?” Debbie asked.
Both her father and she started laughing again. Casey was shocked to hear her mother curse a few times. But that just set off her father again.
“Honey, we have to go, but I want to meet your boyfriend,” her mother said.
Casey cringed. She could just imagine what Simon would do when he heard that.
“You will. I’ll bring him home for Christmas if he’s able to.”
“That would be wonderful, Honey. Please stay safe, and no more driving,” her mother pleaded.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Simon doesn’t let me drive and won’t even get my car fixed.”
“Now, that’s a smart man you’ve got, Honey.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll tell him you said that.”
“I love you, Dear,” Debbie said.
“I love you guys, too.”
“Love you, Peaches.” Her father always called her that.
“I love you too, and good luck, Dad.”
She hung up the phone and grinned.
“I take from the smile on your face that it was a good conversation,” Simon said, leaning against the doorjamb with his hands in his pockets.
“Yes. My dad says it’s a good move, keeping me from driving.”
“He’s a smart man.”
She snorted. “That’s what he said about you.”
Simon grinned.
“They want us to go there for Christmas. Would that be possible?”
“Absolutely. I want to meet your parents very much.”
“My dad wondered if we were in an unusual relationship. I asked what he meant, and he told me about how people are marrying their cars, dogs, or blow-up dolls.”
Simon threw his back head, laughing. “I’ve seen shows about that. But, I always said to each his own. It’s none of our business what they do as long as it’s legal and ethical.”
She nodded and then grinned.
“Uh-oh. What’s with the smile, Baby?”
“My dad also said that if my aunt had gotten laid a few times, she’d be nicer. My mom was horrified he said that, but Dad and I laughed.”
Simon grinned. “That’s hilarious, but I thought the same thing a few times.”
“Oh, heck. My mother’s going to go crazy.”
“Why?” Simon asked.
“Because you’re so much like my dad.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Simon asked.
“She always says he keeps her on her toes.”
“You and your dad are a lot alike?”
“Yes.”
“Crap,” Simon said.
She was confused. “What?”
“That means you’re going to keep me on my toes, isn’t it?”
Casey grinned. “Oh, yeah.”
The End