**
The rest of the day had passed quickly enough, and I was able to get out of the office before seven. The thought of a long, empty evening alone had filled me with dread. So when my mother called and invited me over for dinner at the last minute, I jumped at the chance.
Something was healing about being with family when you were at your lowest. I needed the normalcy of food and conversation that only my parents and sister could provide.
“Mom, I brought those cheese rolls you like,” I called out, walking into my parents’ kitchen. I quickly looked around, hoping there would be some unexpected guests, just like the last time I had dinner at their house.
Lena was standing at the stove over a wok that was steaming wildly. She looked frazzled as she tried to contain the flames that had started to lick the side of the pan. Dad was chopping up onions and carrots at the counter. He waved over his shoulder. There was no one else around. It seemed it was a Ducate family affair only. I squelched my disappointment fast and hard.
“Need a fire extinguisher?” I asked my sister, who glared at me.
Mom breezed into the room on a cloud of perfume and hairspray. She kissed my cheek and put a beer in my hand. “Lena’s cooking stir fry tonight, so sit down at the table and stay out of the way.”
“Lena’s cooking? Is that safe?” I asked, inwardly cringing. My sister wasn’t renowned for her cooking prowess.
“I heard that, asshole,” Lena said.
“Don’t be rude, Adam. Now go and sit down, drink your beer.” She steered me toward the chair closest to the window. She leaned down and spoke quietly so my sister couldn’t hear. “We’re going to pretend that this is the best food we’ve ever eaten, okay?”
“Fine, but if we all get food poisoning, I’ll be the first to say I told you so,” I whispered, glad the sizzle of the wok drowned out our conversation.
“Lena, you need to turn back the gas a bit. You’ll burn the vegetables,” Dad instructed, looking nervous at the smoke coming off the food.
“I cooked this dish in my culinary class last week; I know what I’m doing,” Lena retorted.
“Culinary class?” I asked.
“Lena’s been taking cooking classes for months now,” Mom informed me.
“Way to pay attention, doofus.” Lena stuck out her tongue.
“Children, children, be civil,” Dad deadpanned.
“I’m glad to see you’ve taken the giant stick out of your ass—I mean butt. Sorry Mom,” Lena apologized.
“Why does your brother have a stick in his bum?” Mom asked, getting cutlery out of the drawer to set the table.
“I suspect it’s Meg Galloway related,” Lena answered before I could tell her to shut up.
I drank some of my beer, wishing I could throttle my nosy sister.
“Now why would Meg put a stick up Adam’s bum?” Mom asked, and Lena and I both snorted.
“Because I’ve been seeing her for the last month.” I figured it was best to come out and admit it. Otherwise, Lena would do it for me. Considering most of the town was seemingly aware of our relationship.
Dad whooped and pumped a fist into the air. “I knew it!” He held out his palm to my mother. “You owe me fifty bucks, Marion.”
“Fine,” my mother snapped, opening her purse and pulling out a fifty-dollar bill and shoving it into my dad’s outstretched hand.
“Wait a minute. Did the two of you wage a bet about Meg and me?” I asked.
Dad tucked the money into his pocket. “I told your mother I thought there was something going on between the two of you. Leslie Blankenship said she saw you together at the movie theater last month.”
Oh shit.
“I didn’t see Leslie.” My voice was pitched a little too high. Lena raised an eyebrow, but I wouldn’t look at her.
“She saw the two of you in the lobby. She was taking her grandson to see a movie and said the two you looked awfully close,” Dad remarked smugly.
Phew. The last thing I needed was for the whole town to hear about our tryst in the middle of the movie theater.
“And I said that if you and Meg were dating, then you would, of course, have said something to your mother.” Mom narrowed her eyes at me, and I felt ten years old again.
“And I said that sometimes young people like to keep things to themselves instead of announcing it to the world,” Dad piped up.
“I’m not the rest of the world, Tom. I’m his mother. And if he is spending time romantically with someone who is like a daughter to me, I would have thought he’d at least tell us—”
“It wasn’t romantic, Mom. At least not in the beginning,” I broke in, interrupting her tirade.
Mom put her hand on her hip. “Then what was it?”
Crap. I walked right into that one. I was pretty sure I looked like a deer in headlights.
“It was just sex, Mom. They weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, ”Lena answered gleefully, obviously enjoying my discomfort. “They were boinking buddies,”
Mom gasped. “What an awful thing to say, Lena. Meg isn’t that kind of girl. And our Adam wouldn’t be so crass.”Mom was such a prude.
“Marion, things are different these days. There’s nothing wrong with having a purely sexual relationship. It’s not like we waited until marriage.” Dad winked at my mom, and I wanted to crawl under the table.
Lena was laughing her ass off, the little traitor.
“Can we stop talking about this?” I groaned, wondering if I’d get away with running out the door and not stopping until I was miles away.
“No, we cannot. I’ve just learned my boy was dating, sorry, boinking, my best friend’s daughter, and it seems I was the last to know,” Mom huffed. Fucking hell, my mother just used the term ‘boinking.’ I had officially entered an alternate reality.
“We didn’t tell anyone, Mom.” Why was I having to assure my mother about my secret relationship? Damn Lena to hell.
“Your dad knew,” Mom sniffed.
“It doesn’t matter; it’s over with. Done. Finished. There’s nothing to talk about. So let’s move on.” I gripped my beer hard enough to break the glass.
“And he’s been a royal jerk for days. I’m guessing it didn’t end very well,” Lena said. I really wished she’d shut up already.
Mom’s irritation gave way to maternal concern. She sat down beside me at the table and put her hand on my arm. “What happened, sweetheart?”
I sighed. Avoiding the topic was clearly not going to work. Might as well unload everything. So I told my family, in abbreviated terms, what happened with Chelsea and Meg.
“Dude, that chick needs a muzzle,” Lena snarked.
Mom tutted sternly. “I never liked Chelsea. She always seemed so disingenuous.”
That was one way to put it.
“She’s not a problem anymore. I got a call from her attorney this morning, and she’s agreed to the terms of the divorce.”It was the one good thing that had come out of the shitty situation.
“Well, that’s good,” Mom said, patting my hand like I was still a kid.
“Then what’s the problem? It was all a mistake. Meg has to see that.” Lena took the food off the stove and started dumping it unceremoniously into bowls.