Chapter 26
chapter twenty-six
Jude
Today's vocabulary word: insistent
When my mother arrived, she unhinged her jaw and swallowed Audrey whole.
She blew right past me and devoured my fiancée in a wild monologue that rambled on for minutes. Audrey gave up on trying to respond but she smiled and nodded and let my mother drag her all around the house to look at one thing or another.
"Janet, you're going to suffocate the girl before we get her down the aisle," Rita yelled from the kitchen. "Slow your roll."
"I've been waiting so long to see you two," my mother said, her hands outstretched to me and Audrey. At five feet even, my mother had to tip her head back to gaze up at us. "You've found a way back to each other and it's such a gift to finally see you together."
The way my mother smiled, so bright and raw and hopeful—it sliced right through me.
She looked genuinely happy, but more than that, she looked relieved.
That was the part that hit me hardest. She'd struggled for so long, and not just with the disease.
But in raising me alone, scrapping to make ends meet, putting me first again and again.
All I could feel was the weight of this lie and how much worse it would be when this ended.
"The real gifts here are the statement shirts," I said through a knot in my throat.
She pulled at the t-shirt that read Of course they're fake! The real ones tried to kill me. "I get the best compliments on this shirt. I have it in five different colors."
"I love it," Audrey said. "How are you doing, Janet? I'm so sorry I didn't call to check on your progress sooner—"
"None of that," Mom said. "I can talk about that bastard all day long. I can give you every ugly-ass story. But I'm not going to. I'm too busy living my life. That bastard is gone, he's not coming back, and that's the end of it."
"Amen," Rita shouted.
Audrey forced a smile and I could see her struggling to meet Mom's badass energy while also checking off the good manners box. "I'm so happy to hear it. I've been hoping for the best for you. Jude's kept me updated along the way, of course."
She gestured to me. I arched a brow. I knew she was asking me to step in and save her but I was running short on sympathy today.
"The best part of the whole ordeal is that I got these brand-new tatas." I turned my gaze to the ceiling as my mother cupped her breasts. "They don't sag! It's like I'm eighteen again. Nice and firm. You should feel them."
"Janet, don't force your daughter-in-law to fondle you," Rita yelled.
"I'm not forcing anyone," Mom yelled back. "I'm offering."
"And you wonder why it took them so long to visit," Rita said. "They're here for five minutes and you're whipping out the tits like they're some souvenirs from your last cruise."
"You look…amazing," Audrey said. "It's great to find that confidence again after going through a painful ordeal."
I bit back a laugh. Audrey stabbed my lower back with her bony little pinkie finger and pretty much skewered my kidney in the process.
"Such a sweetheart you are." Mom pulled Audrey into a squeeze and out of stabbing range.
"All right, you two. I hope you're hungry because we're going to one of Gary's restaurants.
I've told you about Gary," she said to me.
"From up the street? Well, he has a few restaurants and he wants to give you the VIP treatment tonight. "
I made a gruff noise that I doubted I'd be able to replicate on purpose. "Gary's at it again, huh?"
"Which one are you goin' to?" Rita called.
"Agave," Mom shouted back.
"That's my favorite," Rita said. "You're gonna love it. Get the mushroom fajitas."
I was beginning to think they came to know Gary simply because he could hear them yelling all the way up the street.
"You really will love it. If you don't see anything you like on the menu, Gary will have them make something special for you. I can't wait for you to meet him," Mom said to us. "I'm going to change and then we can go."
I blinked at my watch. I knew time zones could be tricky in this part of the world but—"Mom, it's four fifteen."
"We've already missed three days together and we have so much to talk about," she said. "We'll start with drinks on the deck so everyone can get to know each other. If you're not hungry yet, you will be after we chat for a few hours."
"Hours," I repeated.
"We'll take our time getting to the meal." My mother beamed. My stomach thudded. "I have so many wedding ideas to share with you two. Remind me to bring my binder with all my inspo collages."
"You're gonna need a wheelbarrow for that thing," Rita yelled.
My mother reached for me, her hands gripping my shoulders. "It's so good to see you happy." With a glance between me and Audrey, she asked, "Are you all settled in? I hope you know you're free to move things around in my room to make yourselves comfy."
"We're not taking your room," I said. "I've already told you this."
Mom's eyes flashed. "I'm not letting you spend money on a hotel."
"You know money isn't an issue for me," I replied.
"I know you've spent more than enough of it on me and you have a family to be thinking about now.
And there's plenty of space here." She swept her arm out and knocked a wind chime into motion.
She leaned close to Audrey, saying, "Did you know my son bought me this house?
Moved me out here when I finished treatment, and furnished the whole place. Did he tell you about that?"
Audrey glanced toward me, a knowing smile cutting across her face. Mom probably read that as Audrey being well aware of the lengths I'd gone to, to give her some post-cancer comfort. But I knew better and I knew that smile meant You've always been such a fucking softie.
"Did he tell you about the navy? He doesn't like to talk about it but they've been trying to hire him for years.
" She motioned for Audrey to come in closer like she had some classified information to share.
"But they can't afford him so they fly him in every few months to fix the problems no one else can figure out. "
"While you're great for my ego, Mom, that isn't—"
"He turned out all right, didn't he?" Audrey wrapped an arm around Mom, pulling her into her side for a hug. "You raised a good one, Janet."
My mother was already misty-eyed. Of course. "We raised each other," she said.
"Then you both did a great job," Audrey said, patting Mom's arm.
"I'd love it if you'd stay," Mom said. She thought she was capitalizing on the moment but I saw the game Audrey was playing. I didn't know her next move but I trusted it. "It just makes me so happy to have everyone here."
"We're thrilled to be here with you. Finally!
After the wackiest travel experience of our lives.
" She glanced up at me with a cotton candy smile.
"The thing is," Audrey went on, dropping her voice to an intimate whisper, "we could really use some privacy.
After the past few days with everything being so hectic…
" She gave a coy shrug. "I hope you understand. "
My whole body responded to the soft drag of those words.
I felt it across my shoulder blades and down my spine, at the base of my throat and behind my zipper.
I didn't even think before wrapping an arm around Audrey's waist, pulling her away from Mom and into my side, my hand settling high on her hip.
I traced the edge of her panties through the thin cotton of her dress and watched with a good deal of satisfaction as pink colored her cheeks.
It took a second but recognition dawned for my mother. "Oh. Oh, of course," she said, a hand on her brow. "Of course you'd need your own space."
I dipped my chin and brushed my lips over Audrey's shoulder.
It wasn't necessary, but it wasn't necessary for her to imply she wanted to be railed straight through a mattress tonight either.
And the dainty, ribbon-tie straps on this dress hadn't stopped filling my head with filth since finding her outside the farm supply store.
"You'll see plenty of us this week," Audrey promised, shifting toward her and out of my hold. Such a crafty little princess. "We won't be strangers."
"Like I'd let that happen," Mom chirped. "Stay right there. I'll be back in a dash." Before I could add anything, she flitted off to her bedroom.
An arm's length away now, Audrey whispered, "Do you think Gary's going to want to take you to baseball games and teach you how to change a flat tire? Since your mom is soft launching him as your new dad?"
"Bite your tongue, Saunders. There's a binder of collages waiting for you," I whispered back.
She stepped slightly closer and I picked up the scent of her shampoo. I didn't hate it. "That horror show is waiting for us both."
I glanced back inside to where Rita was busy slicing fruit and chucking it into the blender. "Do you think we can sweet-talk Rita into coming along?"
Audrey crossed her arms over her chest. Her elbow grazed my bicep.
I wanted— I didn't know what I wanted. All I knew was that I was deeply aware of her.
Every move, every word, every glance. "We aren't sweet-talking anyone.
I just maneuvered my way out of feeling up your mom and slipped the noose on staying here. Next one's on you."
I pushed a hand through my hair. "Fuck."