Chapter 20 The McCormicks
TWENTY
THE MCCORMICKS
CONNOR
“Mom, have you seen my red heels?” I yelled from inside my overstuffed closet.
“Should be in your room,” Mom shouted from the kitchen, where she was making Sunday dinner.
Where the hell did they go?
“Looking for these?” Jamie said from the door, tossing two huge heels at me.
I caught one, and the other hit me square between the eyes. “Fucker.”
Jamie smiled, but it was weird. “Con, I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sarah just pulled up,” Mom said, passing by the doorway.
Jamie’s shoulders slumped, and he shuffled away.
As much as I wanted to figure out what was going on with him, I had enough on my plate.
When Mom asked me to bring Sarah to dinner, my lack of apprehension freaked me out. I mean, we’d only been together for couple of weeks, most of which we’d spent apart. I shouldn’t have been so cool with the idea of her coming to family dinner.
Too bad the night before, her best friend came back to town, and they had partied like they hadn’t seen each other in years instead of just weeks. I’d offered to raincheck, but Sarah was determined to keep the dinner plans.
The closer it got to six thirty, the more nervous I felt.
I knew my mom would love Sarah, and Jamie already worshiped the ground she walked on, but I’d been burned in the past. My childhood home wasn’t as nice as hers—I’d seen pictures on social media.
And my mom’s cooking was good, but definitely of the down-home variety.
So, while Sarah had given me no reason to believe she would suddenly go all snob on me, my Laura baggage had me waiting for the other shoe to drop.
All I could think about was my disastrous senior year prom. Laura’s parents invited us to their mini-mansion for pictures as an afterthought. When Mom showed up in scrubs after working a twelve-hour shift, Laura’s parents were weird when she wanted a picture with me and Laura.
“Wouldn’t you like to change into something else?”
Mom waved them off and jumped in between us. She didn’t give a shit about their prissy attitude, but I was pissed.
I wouldn’t be able to handle it if Sarah ended up being the same way.
I jogged out to her little car to meet her.
When she stepped out of the driver’s side, I was taken aback by how beautiful she looked despite being in the throes of a serious hangover.
Her shiny blonde hair was woven into an intricate braid, and her rosy complexion was flawless. But her eyes gave away her sorry state.
“Right on time.”
She nodded and started to walk past me, but I caught her hand and brought her into a hug. “You look beautiful.”
She let out a pitiful laugh. “I look like hot trash, but thank you.”
“Let‘s get you a glass of water.”
Sighing, she let me go. “Bless you.” She walked to the house stiffly, like one wrong move would shatter the delicate illusion she’d created. On the porch, she stopped and sat on the bench with a groan.
“It’s not too late for you to go home. I was serious when I said we could do this next week.”
“No. I put on makeup and real clothes. We’re doing this.”
As I opened my mouth to argue, Jamie bounded through the screen door. “Why are you guys sitting out here?” He saw Sarah and started laughing. “You look like shit.”
She raised the hand not holding her purse and slowly gave him the least passionate middle finger I’d ever seen.
A slow-mo fuck you.
I love this girl.
Shit. I do, don’t I?
Jamie pulled a small bottle of eyedrops from his pocket and tossed it to Sarah. “Use these. Your eyes are so pink, Mom might think you’re high.”
Her bloodshot eyes widened. “They’re that bad?”
“It wouldn’t hurt to use the drops,” I said.
She carefully leaned back and put them in.
I smiled at Jamie. “Good call.”
He shrugged and watched Sarah’s sad little movements. “I had a feeling she’d be in bad shape. I left the party before she did.”
She blinked a few times. “Better?”
“Much. Ready to go?” I took her hand.
“Yup.”
Ms. Perfectionist was dragging her sorry ass to dinner, worried she wouldn’t make a good impression—all for me.
I bent down and kissed her. My lips grazed hers as I said, “Thank you for doing this. I’m excited for my mom to properly meet you.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she gave my nose a lick. “Let’s go.”
I opened the door and led Sarah to the kitchen, where Jamie and Mom were talking.
When my mom caught sight of us, her face broke into a big smile.
“Well, hey there!” She circled the island with her arms out wide.
Before Sarah could do anything, Mom was hugging the life out of her.
“I’m so happy to see you again.” She took a step back and gave Sarah a once-over. “You look gorgeous.”
Sarah’s cheeks flamed. “Thank you. You have a beautiful home.”
“Thank you, sweetie. Would you like a drink?”
“Water would be great.”
Mom went to the cabinet next to the sink and took out a glass, while Sarah looked around. “I love your kitchen. Did you recently renovate it?”
“Last summer. Con and Jamie tore the sucker out, and my brother gave me discounted materials.” Mom poured water from the pitcher and handed Sarah a glass.
Looking around like she’d never seen the kitchen before, she said, “They did a pretty good job, huh?” Mom nudged me, the skin around her eyes wrinkling when she smiled.
“I’d say so!” Sarah peeked out the window at the backyard. “Are those planter boxes?”
“Sure are. You like to garden?” Mom went back to mashing potatoes.
Sarah shook her head. “I’ve never tried it. My parents had a landscaping service to take care of the lawn, and my mom isn’t interested in a food garden.”
“You’ll have to come help plant this spring.”
Sarah looked at me, lifting an eyebrow in question, and I nodded with an encouraging smile.
If I have my way, Sarah’s not going anywhere.
“I’d love that.”
Mom tasted the potatoes and nodded. “Great, now why don’t you come over here and uncork this wine? Connor get the glasses.”
Sarah easily opened the wine and poured us four proper glasses. “Is there anything else I can help with?”
“Nope. You three go to the table, and I’ll start bringing the food out.”
In no time, the table was lined with mashed potatoes, green beans, and a huge pot roast.
“Planning to feed the neighborhood, Mom?” I joked, pushing her chair in.
“Hush, you’ll have leftovers, and Sarah can take some home.”
“With how good everything looks, I’m going to have to hide them from my roommates.”
We piled our plates high, despite my nerves, Jamie’s weird mood, and Sarah’s queasy stomach.
“How many girls do you live with?” Mom asked, passing the rolls.
“Six.”
“Oh my. That’s a lot.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“I think I want to try living in a frat house next year,” Jamie said, finally looking a little more at ease.
“As long as you keep up those grades, I’m happy if you’re happy.”
“I know, Mom.” Jamie rolled his eyes and shoved a forkful of a little bit of everything into his mouth. “Ohmygod,” he mumbled.
“Jamie. Manners. We have company.” Mom smiled at Sarah. “So, Sarah, what are you studying?”
Mom knew. Between Jamie and me, we’d told her everything we knew about Sarah. But Colleen McCormick was all about manners and conversation.
Sarah covered her mouth as she chewed and swallowed. “I’m finishing an English and Art History double major. I’ve already been accepted into the MAE program, so I’ll start that next year. The dream is teaching kindergarten or early elementary.”
“Wow.” My mom nodded, clearly impressed.
“Finding a good job will be hard, but I figure someone’s going to need a kindergarten teacher.”
“Your parents must be very proud of you.”
Jamie and I made eye contact across the table. Apparently, neither of us had filled Mom in on her parents’ attitude toward her chosen profession.
“They’d prefer if I were pre-law like my brother, or going for an MBA, but we’re working through that,” Sarah said in an unnaturally chipper voice. It was the mask she put on for everyone else. The performance was pretty amazing, but judging by the look on Mom’s face, she wasn’t buying it.
“It’s a good thing we get to live our lives for ourselves, isn’t it?” Mom took a bite while carefully watching Sarah.
A twitch of the lips was all she got. Sarah was a tough cookie. She wasn’t going to break so easily. “Sure, but back home it’s hard to shake familial responsibility. I’m learning, but some days I wonder if I’m doing the right thing.” Sarah took a big bite, clearly not wanting to talk anymore.
“That’s understandable. I don’t know if Connor told you, but last year I finally got certified to be a nurse practitioner.
That whole process was hard on the boys.
Connor even put off college to help out around here until I finished school.
I felt guilty every day, but in the end, I did what I thought was best for me and my family. ”
“And we wouldn’t do it any differently,” I said, squeezing my mom’s hand. “You deserved to go to grad school. I couldn’t give you med school, but we swung you getting that master’s okay.”
Mom laughed. “Maybe I’ll tackle med school in my fifties.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Sarah politely smiled, and I tried to figure out what was going on in her big brain. She’d told me a little bit about her family, but I was realizing I didn’t know enough.
“It’s all about balance. You have to take care of your wants and needs, while supporting your family as best you can,” Mom sagely said.
“I have a confession to make,” Jamie all but shouted.
“Okay?” Mom dabbed the corner of her mouth and placed her napkin next to her plate.
“I found Dad.”
All the air vanished from the room. My mom blanched as she stared at Jamie and reached for my hand.