17. Chapter 17
Chapter 17
“Oh, honeyyyy,” my mother cooed, walking around my living room, her eyes taking in everything. “This place is beautiful!” She was wearing black leggings beneath a long T-shirt, and her blonde hair was styled in a cute, curly bob that framed her face.
“Thanks, Mom. I’m so glad you’re here.”
She wrapped me in a fierce hug that was about the best thing in the world. “I wanted to check on my girl. I know breakups can be hard, and I needed to see you with my own two eyes.”
“I’m really okay, I promise. I think it was a long time coming, and it took everything coming to a head to make me realize it.”
“I wish you’d told me you were struggling,” she said, leaning back and looking up at me, her smile as warm as a fresh cake from the oven. “I could have helped you through it.”
“I know, Mom, but you’re so busy with work, and I didn’t want to worry you. How are things at the hospital, by the way? And how’s Dad?”
“Oh, you know,” she said, waving a hand at me. “Same old, same old in the emergency department. And your dad is good. He said to tell you he loves you.”
A knock at the door interrupted us, and I found Cruz on the other side. “Hey, I ordered some Chinese and wanted to see if you wanted some. I couldn’t decide what to get, so I ordered way too—Oh, crap. Sorry, I didn’t know you had company.”
“I’m Tabitha Kincaid,” my mother said, walking over with her hand extended for a shake. “And who might you be?”
“I might be in love,” he replied, patting his heart, and my mother let out a girlish giggle. Good grief! “Let me guess. You’re Lehra’s sister?”
“Oh, you! Cut it out,” she flirted, swatting his chest. “I’m her mother, and you can call me Tabby.”
“Nice to meet you, Tabby. I’m Cruz Estrada, Lehra’s neighbor and resident spider killer.”
“One time,” I shot back, holding a finger in the air, “and he was one of those jumping ones. Scared the hell out of me.”
“Well, Cruz sounds like a good man to have around. Did I hear something about Chinese food?” she asked sweetly.
“Yes, ma’am. It should be delivered in about twenty minutes. There’s plenty for all of us.”
“Ooh, can we eat Chinese, Lehra?” Mom asks me with pleading eyes before turning back to Cruz. “The only delivery we have in our little town is Domino’s Pizza. This is all very exciting.”
“Sure, Mom,” I said with a laugh, “if Cruz doesn’t mind.”
“Not a bit. I’ll just go wait for the food and come back in a few.”
“Well, he’s a cutie patootie,” my mother said when he left, her shrewd eyes narrowing on me. “Boyfriend?”
“Motherrrr,” I groaned, “I just got out of a relationship about ten seconds ago.” No way in hell was I telling her about the hot tub tryst.
“I think it’s smart to wait. It’s hard to find your footing after getting out of a long relationship. The next person you date is rarely the one you end up with. I dated the same boy for three years in high school, and when he broke up with me after graduation, I immediately started dating the boy from the farm next door.”
“Really?” I asked, settling onto the couch and patting the cushion beside me. I’d never heard this story before.
Mom took her shoes off and sat. “Oh yes, his name was Jimmy. Or was it James?” She drummed her fingers along her jaw as her eyes rose to the corner of the room. “I don’t really recall. What I do remember is that he smoked a lot of weed.”
I snorted out a laugh. “And what about you? Did you try the Mary J?”
She leveled me with a flat look. “It was the eighties. What do you think?”
“Probably more information than I needed to know.”
“You asked,” she pointed out.
“Guilty. So what happened with Jimmy James?”
She waved a hand at me. “Oh, he was just a placeholder. Someone to have some fun with until a certain handsome plumber moved into town.”
“Dad.”
“Yep. Easton Kincaid was a hottie of the first order. And he knew what to do with my pipes, if you know what I’m saying.”
I closed my eyes and grimaced. “You could say less right about now.”
My mom bellowed out a laugh. “I’m just saying, don’t use this Cruz fella for a good time. He seems like he could be a keeper.”
“You’ve talked to him for all of five minutes, Mom.”
“I know that, but in my old age, I’ve developed a good eye. He’s polite and funny, as well as a spider assassin.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “And not bad to look at.”
Cruz arrived with the food before I could reply. She wasn’t wrong though. The man looked as good in khaki shorts and a black tee as when he was wearing one of his suits.
“Here we go, ladies. I got Mongolian beef, kung pao chicken, and garlic butter soy prawns.” He set down the bags, and the air filled with the scent of spices. “Also got pot stickers and egg rolls.”
“Good lord, Cruz! Were you buying for the entire building?” Mom asked.
“It’s good to have choices.”
I grabbed paper plates, and we settled onto the couch, Cruz in the middle, with me and Mom on either side.
“Tabby, Lehra tells me you're a nurse.” He spooned a little of everything onto his plate.
“Yep, for thirty years, the last twenty in the emergency department.”
“Bet you’ve seen a lot,” he said, shoveling a shrimp into his mouth with chopsticks.
“A lot of things in people’s butts,” she replied dryly, and Cruz choked on his food. Mom pounded him on the back. “It’s true. People will stick anything up there. We had one last week that had a giant dildo stuck in the backside.” She motioned with her hands to show us exactly how giant it was.
“Wow, and it just got stuck in there?”
Mom took a bite of chicken and then pointed at him with her chopsticks. “If you’re going to stick something in your anus, the key is to make sure you can get it out, either with a handle of some sort or a wider base. My motto is flared base for that dark, dark place .”
“Words we should all live by,” Cruz noted with a grin. “What’s the weirdest thing anyone’s ever stuck in there?”
“Oh, let’s see. In the animal category, I’d have to say an eel. Damn thing was seventeen inches long and had bitten through the colon, requiring surgery. The person said they didn’t know how it got in there.” Mom rolled her eyes. “Most of them either say that or that they accidentally fell on something and it went up their hole.”
“And they think the medical staff will believe that? That people are just walking around naked and accidentally falling on things at the perfect angle?”
Mom shrugged. “They’re embarrassed that they’re having to go to the hospital for such a personal issue. We had one last month with a cell phone in her butt. Damn thing rang every three minutes.”
“Gives a whole new meaning to the term butt dialing,” Cruz quipped, and Mom and I burst into laughter.
My mother wiped tears of mirth from beneath her eyes. “Okay, enough of all that. Can we watch a movie? I haven’t seen Bridesmaids in forever.”
Even though we’d watched the movie last weekend, Cruz readily agreed. “Sounds great, Tabby. I love Princess Melissa.”
“Of the McCarthy Islands,” I retorted, and we shared a smile.
After we’d laughed our way through the movie, Mom stood. “I’m going to hit the sack. It’s been a long day.”
“Mom, I put some earplugs in the bathroom for you. It’s much noisier in the city, and it took me a couple months after moving here to be able to sleep well.”
“Thanks, honey,” she said, kissing me on the top of my head before doing the same to Cruz. “It was so nice meeting you, Cruz. Thank you for dinner.”
“Any time, Tabby,” he replied, and we watched her head down the short hall and into my bedroom, closing the door behind her. “Your mom is awesome.”
“She’s the best,” I agreed.
He moved closer, eating up the space between us, and took my hand. “Can we talk for a minute, Tink?”
My heart did an entire gymnastics routine in my chest at his proximity, but I nodded. “Sure.”
“About last weekend…”
“When I molested you in the hot tub?”
He chuckled. “The way I remember it, it was pretty damn mutual.”
“Seemed that way to me too.”
“I just want you to know I don’t regret it at all.”
“Why do I feel a but coming?”
His smile was soft as he tucked one of my curls behind my ear. “ But I think we need to take a step back. Not because I want to,” he added quickly, “but because I think it’s what’s best for you.”
“You don’t want to see me anymore?” I asked, trying not to let the hurt bleed into my words.
Cruz’s head shook side to side. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Tink.” His sweet smile soothed my ruffled feathers. “I still want us to hang out and be… friends. I just think we need to take the sex stuff off the table for a while.”
“So friends without benefits?”
He laughed and cradled my chin with his hand. “Yes, and I can’t tell you how hard it is to say that to you.” He leaned forward until his mouth was at my ear, his voice a growling whisper. “Because I really enjoyed your benefits.”
A shiver ran through my body, but he warmed me by pulling me close until my cheek rested against his shoulder. “I found you quite… beneficial as well,” I told him and felt the rumble inside his chest.
“This is an important thing to me, Lehra. I can’t lose you, and I don’t want to muck things up because you’re still trying to heal.”
“Cruz…” I started to protest, but he hushed me with a kiss to my temple.
“I know you’re feeling relieved right now, but you have to admit that Dwight betrayed your trust with the way he treated you. You have the kindest heart, Tink, and I know deep down inside, there’s some hurt there. You need to get that out before you can truly move on.”
I literally felt his words inside me, found where the pain was buried, and I knew he was right. “It’s not easy to feel second best,” I admitted, and he squeezed me tighter.
“You’ll never come second with me, Lehra. Never.”
I crawled into bed, trying not to wake my mom, but her maternal radar kicked in and she rolled over.
“Good night, Mom.”
“What?” she yelled before realizing she had her earplugs in and popped one out. “Sorry, what did you say?”
Stifling my laughter, I kissed her cheek, which smelled like the moisturizer she’d been putting on her face for as long as I could remember. It smelled like comfort and sweet memories.
“I said good night.”
“Oh, g’night, honey. Did you have a nice talk with Cruz?”
“I did.”
“He likes you, you know.”
It was hard to describe how warm those words made me feel inside. “I like him too, but we decided to take things slow since I just broke an engagement.”
“That’s very smart and mature, Lehra.”
She rolled back over and adjusted her pillow before adding, “Though I will say, if he’s good with your pipes, I’d be happy to call him my son-in-law.”
I managed to sigh and laugh at the same time. Ladies and gentlemen… meet Tabitha Kincaid, my mother.