"No, I mean, I was in the hospital last night, so I don't know what happened. He didn't show up, but I wasn't exactly expecting him to, you know?" Leaning on the counter beside her pancake batter, Melissa frowned under brows furrowed with trouble. "I'm not surprised, though. At least he paid you before skipping town."
"Mom— stop crying." Honestly, I was kinda pissed. Actually, that was an understatement. I was extremely pissed. I was angry that my mom had the fucking gal to call me crying over this douchebag. I was surprised Augustus had the balls to do whatever slimy shit he did so soon. He probably took advantage of my mom in the confusion last night, but at what point was it still his fault?
Laurie and I had told Mom over and over again that Augustus was no good, and she ignored us. What did she expect to happen? He made her think getting married was her idea, and while that didn't take any wild hoop-jumping...
"Did your new husband disappear in the night with all your jewelry and stuff?" He's probably been planning this since meeting her. Memories of Mel and me at the tea shop, when she first learned of her dad's shenanigans, flashed behind my shuttered eyelids. Reaching to pinch the bridge of my nose when my mom let out a strangled sound, I blew out a hot breath as a dreadful laugh flooded my chest. "Are you kidding me right now? What do you honestly think I'm gonna do about it?"
"I need your h- help!"
Barking out a curt laugh, I covered my mouth with my fist as my mom blubbered a little over the line. She married a man she'd known for less than two months, and she wanted my help? How? I was a doctor. Laurie wasn't a lawyer yet, and she wouldn't help anyway. "H- he stole everything— Carl, he stole everything."
"Well, you'd better call the police, not me. The fact that I told you he was trouble aside— Mom, I'm a doctor. What do you honestly think I'm going to be able to do, here? You need to call the police and get a divorce lawyer. I can't do anything for you, and I'm not going to coddle you. What do you want me to say? That I'm so sorry, and you're a victim? You're not. You did this to yourself." I was a little harsh, judging by my mom's shuddering gasp, but... "I'm hanging up, now. I hope you get this all sorted out."
Really, I couldn't find a shred of empathy for my mom or the fact that her newly minted, scam artist husband had cleaned house. What did she expect? Even I thought the guy would drain her, just slower and less noticeably. Hanging up on my mom in her shocked silence, I pursed my lips thinly as I stood up.
Melissa frowned, glaring at the grout between the kitchen tiles, and she blinked hard when she saw me wander over.
"S-so... you want strawberries in your pancakes?" She wiggled her slender shoulders and pulled back her hair to tie it in a high bun, and I wrapped my arms around her slim waist when she turned back to the stove. "Apparently, my dad sold his business before they got married, paid his bookie— surprisingly— and disappeared."
"That about lines up with him ransacking my mom's place. I'd like strawberries, yeah. Thank you." As sad as it was, the situation was preventable, and I kissed Mel's shoulder as she bopped her head in a nod. "I was so stressed over them, but at least everything worked out for you and me."
"You're saying that like you doubted it." Smirking slightly at her teasing tone, I kissed up her neck as Mel tilted her head to catch my eye. Cupping her chin to turn her to me, I captured her soft lips and tightened my arm around her. Her plump ass cushioned my cock, and she sighed softly as she sank into my chest. "I don't think we should go on a date date until my allergies go down."
"Are you offering to let me sleep over?" I don't know what I was expecting— some flirt reply— but Melissa tensed and pulled away. Focusing on the stove, she grabbed the large measuring cup of pancake mix and refused to look at me. "What? If you don't want to, you're more than welcome to say so, Mel. Considering everything, I completely understand wanting to take things slow."
"That's not it." Shuffling to lean against the marble counter, I frowned at how red Mel's cheeks became. A light breeze could turn her the same color as a tomato, though. "It's just... you know— um... wearing a CPAP isn't... exactly the sexiest."
"Oh." I almost said it doesn't matter. I nearly slipped and explained that I couldn't care less about the CPAP machine. "Well, if it makes you uncomfortable, I don't have to sleep over."
She smiled small at me, relief unclogging her shoulders from her ears, and my lips quirked up. Mel worried about the weirdest ways people could possibly judge her. Last night was a perfect example of how concerned she was with people's perceptions of her.
"Y-yeah. I think that's for the best right now." These past few months, we'd gotten closer and closer but never close enough, and I reached to caress Mel's soft jaw line. "So, you're really gonna just leave your mom hanging?"
"It's less maliciously, but I really just don't know what to do. I mean, I have no sympathy that this happened because it's exactly what I knew would happen, but... what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to help, and should I even help at all? When everyone around you is telling you the same thing, especially your adult children, you should at least take it into consideration. Am I surprised? No. Am I upset? Not much. If it makes me out to be an asshole, so be it."
Melissa pulled a face but didn't comment on my explanation as she poured out the pancakes into perfect circles. Laurie and I had both warned our mom that this guy was trouble, and she ignored us. This was the consequence, and as much as it sucked... My mom wasn't a teenager and had already been married twice. She was almost fifty-five years old and could make her own decisions, which, by default, also meant dealing with the fallout.
While Mom was going to have a Hell of a time trying to get divorced, I was going to enjoy my relationship with Mel. We were going to move slow and actually get to know each other, and I had never been so optimistic about a relationship. Ever since I saw her confusedly staring at the directory at my building, I'd wanted her, and no family drama was going to get in the way.
Chapter 21
Melissa
Terry tied up the balloons we'd bought loosely to the passenger side headrest in my car, and I shut the trunk with a firm thump.
"Thank you for doing this with me, Terry." His head popped up over the roof of my car, and I twirled my keys absently as I opened the driver's side door. "You sure I'm not putting you out?"
"Of course not. At least you had the decency to ask about it a month in advance. I may not be a chef, but I'm a damn good cook, and I'm honored you thought of me."
Smiling as flames licked up my neck, I nodded before we both slid into the car, and Terry raked his hands through his hair.
"I'm always down for a party. I think it's really nice of you to celebrate your boyfriend's sister passing the Bar."
"I really like her, yeah. She worked hard. Being a lawyer isn't easy. Carl's idea of a party isn't that exciting, to be honest." My smile widened, and I turned on my car to jostle the gear into Reverse and twist around. My back seat was filled with stuff, and I carefully backed out of my parking spot as satisfaction gripped my chest.