Chapter 51
Jake
“Hey bro,” Amelia says as she walks in the door.
The smirk on her face is one I’ve seen a million times over the past forty years.
It says that she knows something that can get me in trouble.
The pit of my stomach drops out just like it did when I was Cami’s age and smoked weed with Tommy behind the bleachers.
Amelia had caught me and had this exact look all day waiting for dinner when she knew Dad would sit at the table and give us his attention.
“Mom, can I go see Henrietta before we leave?” Cami asks.
“Yes, go ahead,” I say before Amelia can say a word.
I scramble to fix my face with a smile so she doesn’t think I’m trying to get rid of her, even though that’s exactly what I’m doing.
Amelia nods, that shit eating grin on her face still.
I’m not sure if Cami really isn’t reading the room or if she’s just pretending not to.
Maybe it’s just me that feels all this tension because I’m sure I know what Amelia is about to say.
Regardless of what Cami thinks, she bounds out the door like nothing is out of the ordinary at all. Amelia turns to me and cocks her hip out to the side with her hand on it. She really has perfected the you’re in so much trouble mom look over the last fifteen years.
“I’m not sure if I should be disappointed that you snuck a girl into your home with my daughter in her room or proud of you for it.” She shakes her head and laughs a little bit.
“Well, like you said, it is my home.”
“Yep, and she’s my daughter. You guys could have done that on any other night. Cami stays here a few times a week when I have to work nights and while I know I’ve been pushing you to go after Scarlett, I didn’t think you’d pick a night where Cami was here. It feels… irresponsible.”
“Alright, first of all, Cami didn’t know she was here.
She came in after midnight and obviously you just saw her leave.
Cami is none the wiser. Second of all, there was zero drinking or anything else involved.
There’s nothing different than me being here alone with Cami.
If something major had happened I would have been able to deal with any sort of disaster that you always think is going to happen when she stays here.
” I love Cami like she’s mine so I’ve never given Amelia shit about her spending time here.
I baby proofed the house before she could walk.
“Listen, I know you’re responsible. I’m sorry, it’s been a long night,” she takes a deep inhale and lets out a long sigh.
“And I’m just surprised that you actually took my advice and went after Scarlett.
I’m happy for you, just now that we’re here, I worry that you or Cami or both of you might get hurt.
I’m being overprotective, sorry.” She shakes her head now and I notice how dark the bags under her eyes are.
“My therapist tells me I do that and I’m working on it. ”
“That you’re overprotective?”
“Yeah, because mom left and I saw how much it impacted you and Dad so I tried to take her place. Then having Cami so young I just continued to have someone who was my responsibility versus being an actual carefree young adult. She says that in order to heal my adult self, I need to heal my inner child. Part of that is to not feel like I have to be responsible for you or your choices anymore. Which I have to be honest is really fucking hard after like forty years of doing it.”
I am stunned. We don’t usually talk this much about feelings or trauma or anything that had to do with our childhood and this is now the second time that Amelia has brought up Mom.
“So she really helps you huh?” I ask.
“She really does. You should call her.”
“Because I’m fucked up?”
“You don’t have to be fucked up to go to therapy Jake,” she crosses her arms over her chest and gives me that look.
“It does help though,” she adds with a smile.
“Listen, I’m going to get out of your hair, and have fun with Scarlett.
Let’s just not tell Cami you’re dating until it gets serious. Okay?”
“Deal.”
Once Amelia and Cami leave I text Scarlett.
Me: Coast is clear.
Scarlett: Come over.
I gather up a few things and practically run out of the cabin and on my way over to the cottage I see Scarlett outside. She’s changed out of her pajamas and into a pair of black leggings and a lavender colored hoodie. A grin spreads across my face when I see her.
“So, how did it go with Amelia?” she asks with a grimace.
“It was weird, she started to lecture me about being irresponsible with you and with Cami in the house but then she remembered something she learned in therapy and just told me to not tell Cami about us until it’s serious.
” I look down at the ground, nervous that maybe something I said will be wrong.
Maybe Scarlett will judge Amelia for going to therapy.
Maybe she’ll think it’s stupid to wait to tell Cami, or even feel insulted by it.
“That makes sense,” she says.
“Really?” I ask.
“Yeah, of course. Cami is young and doesn’t need to know about what’s going on between us until it will impact her. I’ll just pretend to be your hot neighbor until you feel ready to tell her.”
I feel relieved that she agrees and makes the same points as Amelia when I remember something I have in my pocket.
I pull it up and let it dangle in front of Scarlett’s face.
The fabric, small, white, and made entirely of lace hangs between us for a few seconds before Scarlett realizes what it is and snatches it out of my hands.
“Where did you find my underwear? I looked everywhere this morning.” She hurriedly tucks them into her hoodie pocket as if someone will see her standing here holding them.
“They were at the bottom of the bed under the sheets,” I answer.
“Oh yeah,” she says, the memory flooding back in with the flush in her cheeks.
“So, did you call me over here for another go?” I tease.
“Actually, I really wanted to get your opinion on something.”
Scarlett leads the way into the greenhouse and at first I think she’s being coy and flirty but then she starts babbling about what all she wants to plant and the different ways in which she has been thinking of arranging them.
Quickly, I adjust my pants, giving in to the realization that she wasn’t flirting at all and get down to business on what I’m good at, aside from sex I guess.
We talk about the logistics of the greenhouse until Scarlett feels good about her plan. Then she leads me outside to look at the rest of the property and see what she could/should do with it.
“Originally, I was planning on getting a goat. However, would it be smarter for me to get a billy that you could breed with Henrietta in order to keep a steady supply of milk?” The question surprises me some.
It implies that she’s thinking about the future and with me being in it to the point that she’s planning her farm animals around it.
“That’s not a bad idea but billy goats can be temperamental. And smelly. You could always get another nanny goat and we could alternate with the stud I already use and keep milk in stock all the time without stressing Henrietta out.”
“That makes so much sense.” With each topic we discuss it’s like her shoulders lower a little bit more. She stands taller, gaining confidence and I love to see it. “Where do you think I should put the bee hive?”
We discuss every inch of her little five acre farm and all the things she could accomplish with it. When my stomach begins to rumble I suggest we get some lunch and continue the discussion over some club sandwiches in town.
“Like a real date?” Scarlett asks, a mixture of anxiety and excitement in her expression.
“I thought our dinner the other night was a date?”
“It was, but this one will be in public. Around other people,” she says with a conspiratorial whisper.
“That is usually how dates go.”
She laughs at herself and resigns. “You’re right, I am actually starving so the diner sounds great.”