Chapter Five #2
Em nodded and swallowed. “I don’t know if Hannah and I are a couple or not, but we like hanging out together and stuff.”
Yes, Alex had almost gotten an up close and personal view of what the stuff entailed. And she was never thinking about that again.
“Okay,” she said, nodding. That was good. Em was too young to be getting into anything too serious. “But…” She elongated the vowel sound for a few extra beats.
Em raised her eyebrows.
“Did it somehow slip your mind that you’re still grounded?”
Em rubbed the back of her neck, the tips of her ears turning pink. Her daughter had inherited that tell from her. “Sorry.”
“Not good enough.”
Em sucked in a surprised breath. “What?”
“You know the rules. When you’re grounded, it means no friends over, especially when I’m not here. And then, given the fact that Hannah’s your girlfriend—” Em made a noise in the back of her throat “—that makes it even worse.”
Em’s shoulders slumped and she crossed her arms over her chest. Defeated and defiant. What was Alex going to do with her? How was she going to survive the teen years? They said the twos were terrible, but they had nothing on the teens.
“You’re grounding is being extended for two more weeks.”
“But, Mom—”
Alex held up a finger. The whining stopped. “And, when you’re no longer grounded, and Hannah comes over, you’re not allowed to be in your room with your door closed.”
Em’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, like she had something to say, but had forgotten how to form words.
“The rule would be the same if you brought a boyfriend home.”
Em continued to flounder for words, Alex’s explanation seeming to not make a difference. “But… but… but…”
“No buts about it. You break the rules, you get punished.” A sliver of doubt slid through her, which was quickly followed by a huge dump of worry. This was all new to her. Was she being too hard on Em? Was Em going to resent her?
Em rolled her eyes, which seemed to be her go to reaction for everything these days. A bunch of Alex’s worry slipped away. “Fine, Mother.” Em got up and marched toward the stairs. At the bottom she spun back around. “But, what about Nick and the Market? I’m supposed to meet him there tomorrow.”
The mention of Nick made her heart pound for an entirely different reason, one that had nothing to do with almost walking in on her daughter making out with her girlfriend.
And nope, she was still not thinking about that, because the idea of her daughter making out with anyone was still too… yeah, it was just a no all around.
Although, it looked like she didn’t need to have that particularly awkward how-about-I-date-Nick conversation with Em. She was taking it as a win.
“You’re just going to have to call and tell him that you can’t make it.” Alex rested her hip against the counter, trying for nonchalant. She was grateful Em couldn’t see the way talking about Nick made her all jittery and warm.
“But, Mom?” The serious whine in Em’s tone was back, the one that rubbed Alex’s nerves like they were being scraped by a cheese grater. But she couldn’t be too annoyed. She was just happy to see Em more like her old self. “That’s not fair.”
“Neither is life, sweet pea.” She walked over and placed a kiss on Em’s forehead.
“But I’ll do my best to make sure we get through it with as few bumps and bruises as possible.
” She swatted Em on the bum. Suddenly, she was starving.
She walked over to the fridge to see about finding something for dinner.
Em stomped up the stairs. Alex held her breath, waiting for the slam of her bedroom door. A second later, the wham echoed down the stairs.
Alex sighed and pulled out the chicken breast she’d grilled earlier in the week. Normally, she’d be speaking to Em about the stomping and the slamming, but she was too tired today. Em had also had a rough one, so Alex was giving her a pass. This time.
She rummaged through the crisper drawer. The romaine lettuce was at the point where it was either use it today, or chuck it tomorrow. Caesar salad with grilled chicken breast it was then. She grabbed the loaf of garlic bread out of the freezer and snapped on the oven.
She’d just started tearing the lettuce when Em stomped back down the stairs.
“Nick wants to talk to you.” She thrust her phone at Alex. The phone she wasn’t supposed to be using because she was still grounded. Something else Alex was too tired to fight with her about right now.
She took the phone, her palms suddenly sweaty. “Hi, Nick.” Her voice was all breathy and ridiculous, but it was too late to do anything about it now.
“Hey, Alex.” His deep, raspy voice made her insides quiver. She resisted the urge to squirm, aware Em was watching. “I just wanted to make sure the reason Em won’t be able to make it tomorrow isn’t because of something I did or said.”
The hint of uncertainty in his voice made her stomach tighten.
She wiped her hand on her pants. “No, no, of course not. You didn’t do anything.
” She glanced at Em, who was giving her an if-looks-could-kill-Alex-would-need-a-chalk-outline glare.
“Emily was caught in a… well, let’s just say that her grounding has been extended. ”
Em crossed her arms. If her eyebrows were any more scrunched, they’d be on her chin.
“Oh, okay. Well, that’s too bad.” The disappointment buried in his words made an answering throb squeeze her chest. Which didn’t make any sense. Why did it matter? It was a silly trip to The Market at Pike Place. One he was only doing to indulge a fourteen-year-old girl and her hero-worship crush.
“How about I meet you there instead?” The offer was out of her mouth before she even realized she was thinking of making it. Her entire body tensed, the breath caught in her lungs.
“Umm, sure.” He didn’t sound sure. She didn’t know what to make of that. Or the weird butterflies doing the tango in her belly.
“If you don’t want to—”
“No, I’d love to meet you there.” This time, there was no unsureness. Just a hint of something she couldn’t quite define. Anticipation, maybe? A bit of heat?
The thought made the butterflies in her belly pick up the beat, the fluttering feeling more like a hurried, frantic salsa now than a methodical, precise tango. She leaned against the counter. Resisted the urge to fan herself. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. She glanced over at Em.
Em’s head was cocked, hands on her hips. Her expression was thoughtful, almost calculating. What was she thinking? And why did it scare the bejeesus out of Alex?
“Great. It’s a date.” Her voice came out way too breathy. And then the words registered and she felt her eyes widen. She opened her mouth to snatch the words back, or laugh them off, but nothing came out.
“Sounds good. See you around ten thirty? Em and I planned to meet under the sign. She said I can’t miss it.
” There was definitely amusement, a hint of anticipation, in his deep voice now.
And still that underlying heat. The kind of heat that sent goosebumps skittering across her skin.
Made her toes want to curl inside her socks.
“Okay.” It was more of a squeak than a word. Another quick glance at Em showed a cheeky smirk on her face. Alex was glad she was enjoying her mother’s discomfort so much.
“See you tomorrow then.”
“Okay.” Another squeak.
“Bye.”
He disconnected the call. She slid the phone onto the counter like it was about to explode. Wiped her drenched palms on her pants and stared at the evil phone. What on Earth had just happened?
“So, you and Nick are going on a date, huh?”
Em’s question popped the bubble of numbness surrounding her. “Of course not.” She ducked her head and busied herself with tearing the lettuce. The ripping felt good, like she was putting the jittery energy zipping through her system to good use.
She’d used the word date and he hadn’t corrected her. Did he actually think this was a date? Did she want it to be a date? Did he?
“Umm, that lettuce is going to be nothing but crumbs if you don’t stop.”
She glanced at Em, who’d moved over to stand next to her, and then into the bowl. The pieces of lettuce were looking awfully small and sad. She dumped the contents of the bowl into the salad spinner and gave Em a bump with her shoulder. “Go and get washed up for dinner. It’ll be ready in a minute.”
Em nodded and walked over to the stairs.
“Oh, and Mom?” She spun around to face Alex.
“On your date tomorrow, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
” The sing-songy words were followed up with a pathetic looking eyebrow wag.
Em bounded up the stairs, a rather maniacal sounding laugh drifting back down into the kitchen.