Chapter Thirty-eight

LOGAN

Sunday morning, rays of sunlight warmed my face. I blinked my eyes open and then turned on my side away from the window.

I patted the space beside me on the bed. Cold and empty. Disappointment filled me.

I knew she wouldn’t be there, but that didn’t help. I clearly remembered Emily leaving the night before, but some small part of me was hoping by a miracle that I’d been wrong and that she’d come back.

The idea of waking up next to Emily, not for one day but for the rest of our lives, really appealed to me. Emily and Juniper were my future. I knew that now in my mind, heart, and soul.

The memory of Emily’s lips on mine and her riding me almost overwhelmed me. It was far from the first time we’d had sex, but the previous night’s fun seemed deeper, more intimate somehow. It was like I’d remember it for the rest of my life, no matter what else happened.

The reason was obvious upon reflection. What we shared last night was glorious, not because of the lovemaking along but because of how we bared our souls. I knew now without a doubt, Emily loved me as much as I loved her. Whatever else she said or whatever she wanted to call what we had, I didn’t care. We’d get there in the end now that we’d both admitted our feelings. It was a matter of time before I would be waking up next to her every day.

I let out a long yawn and glanced over at my clock, reading 7:30 a.m. Church was at nine, and I needed to pick my mother up before heading over there.

It was time to get in the shower and get cleaned up. Everything else with Emily, I could figure out later.

 

* * *

 

After church, my mother and I ended up at one of her preferred “post-sermon” restaurants as she called them. She’d always told me growing up that a little brunch after hearing about God would help both the food and the Word go down more smoothly.

I’d never been sure about that, but I’d skipped breakfast, so I was more than looking forward to something, anything really, to eat. My stomach rumbled as our waitress seated us.

“I’ll have some coffee,” I said.

“Sweet tea for me, please,” my mother said.

The waitress smiled. “I’ll be right back with those.” She headed out.

“Interesting sermon,” I said, trying to make conversation as I looked through my menu. Though we’d been at the restaurant many times, I did like to mix it up.

After a few seconds, I realized my mother hadn’t responded. I glanced over at her.

My mother was watching the entrance, an almost pensive expression on her face.

“Is something wrong, Mother?” I looked over at the entrance. Nothing more than a few more customers.

I wondered if she was worried about things getting a bit too loud for her tastes, but the place wasn’t even all that crowded. They’d need a major rush of customers before it’d get rowdier than one of my mother’s fundraisers, even without the alcohol.

“No, no,” my mother said. “Nothing’s wrong. I thought I saw someone I knew. You never know at a place. I didn’t want to be rude and ignore them.” She let out a nervous titter.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” I said carefully.

Something was strange. My mother was acting nervous as if she were hiding something.

Our waitress returned with our drinks.

“One coffee,” she said, placing the cup in front of me, along with the carafe. “And one sweet tea,” she said, placing the glass in front of my mother.

We offered our thanks.

“Are you ready to order yet?” the waitress asked.

My mother shook her head. “Not quite.”

I arched a brow but decided to not say anything. My mother obviously needed to concentrate on her order. Any delay meant I’d be hungrier for longer.

The waitress returned a few minutes later, and I was about to order when my mother spoke.

“We’ll need a few more minutes, dear. I’m so sorry.”

The waitress smiled brightly. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I eyed my mother. She almost never needed a lot of time ordering. Certainly not that long. After all, she’d had a long life to decide what she liked to eat. Culinary adventure had died as a possibility for her a couple of decades ago. Her delay made me suspect she was stalling for some reason, especially combined with the suspicious behavior before.

The waitress returned again, and my mother again pushed her off. I could tell the waitress was starting to get annoyed, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it until I knew what was going on.

I sipped my coffee. After the last time my mother waved off the waitress, my concern had turned into something more concrete. She was definitely stalling. But why? It wasn’t exactly like post-church brunch at a restaurant lent itself to a lot of different schemes.

“What’s the problem, Mother?” There was no reason not to get right to the point.

“Problem?” She lowered her menu to look at me. “Who says there’s a problem?”

I considered my words carefully. “Do you not want to eat here?”

“Of course I do.” She gave me a funny look. “I’m the one who picked this place. Why wouldn’t I want to eat here?”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying not to get frustrated. “It’s not a big deal if you’ve changed your mind. We can go somewhere else. I’m hungry, but I can wait. You obviously have some sort of issue though.”

My mother smiled. “Well, I haven’t changed my mind. We’re eating here. I don’t understand what’s even bringing this on.”

“You’ve sent the waitress away three times already.” I shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”

“So?” Her tone made it sound like my confusion was the most ridiculous thing she’d heard all week.

I gestured around. “We’ve been to this place tons of times, and you know their menu better than you know my childhood, so why are you having trouble deciding?”

“Maybe I want something new.” My mother tapped the menu. “And they add new things all the time, you know. So, it’s important to check to make sure I’m not missing out a good opportunity.”

“Uh-huh.” I narrowed my eyes, wondering what her scheme was. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you order typically one of three things, no matter what they add.” I laughed. “You said their new syrup flavor was too exotic for your tastes. And that was last month.”

“I wouldn’t have thought you would object to me expanding my horizons. Isn’t a woman allowed to ever change her mind?”

I nodded. “Sure, you are, but you don’t. I know you too well. What’s your game, Mother?”

“Game?” she said, her tone suggesting forced innocence. “What on Earth are you talking about, Logan? I’m not playing any sort of game. I’m trying to figure out what to have for brunch.”

“Why are you stalling?”

My mother looked past me, a smile appearing on her face. My stomach knotted. Something was about to happen, and I wasn’t sure if I’d like it.

“Logan,” squealed a familiar young girl’s voice from behind me.

I spun around and found Emily, Juniper, and Sally standing there. I burst out laughing, the tension leaving my body with my laughs. All those worries and it turned out that my mother’s scheme wasn’t so bad after all. Welcome, even.

Emily frowned at her mother, and I fought back a smile. I suspected I wasn’t the only one who had been misled that Sunday morning.

“This is why you wanted me to come here, Mama?” Emily asked, her hands on her hips. She stared directly at Sally. “To have lunch with Logan and Amelia?”

“I think it’s more a brunch thing,” Sally said. “Besides, I’ve heard a lot of good things about this place from Amelia.” She shrugged and helped herself to a chair at our table. “Now, I’m not saying that I wasn’t aware that Amelia might be here with Logan this Sunday, but I don’t see why that’s such a big deal. A meal with good company is a tastier meal, dear.”

Juniper hopped into my lap, and I patted her on the head.

Emily sat down beside me, rolling her eyes. “If you wanted to eat with Logan and Amelia, you could have just said so, Mama.” She made a circular motion with her hand. “You didn’t have to trick me. I don’t see why you think I’d say no.” She shot me an apologetic look, and I shrugged back with a smile.

“I don’t know what I have to do with you,” Sally said. “You get so lost in that head of yours that sometimes I do have to trick you. Besides, surprises can be fun.” She smiled at Juniper. “Don’t you think so, Juniper?”

“Surprises are fun,” Juniper declared.

“Don’t turn my own daughter against me, Mama.”

Everyone laughed except Emily.

Emily sighed and gave me a pained smile. “I’m so sorry to intrude, Logan.”

“I don’t mind at all,” I said. “Whatever wicked plan our mothers put together, I’m still happy to see you.”

I only barely didn’t add a comment about the night before. There were some things our mothers didn’t need to know about.

Amelia beamed a smile at Juniper and patted the seat next to her. “Juniper, dear, why don’t you come over here and sit by me, so Logan will be able to eat his meal?”

“Okay,” Juniper said. She wriggled down and hurried over to sit by my mother.

The waitress reappeared, and then blinked, surprised, I assumed, by the sudden addition of more customers at our table.

“Did you need more time?” she said, now looking a bit panicked.

“Yes,” my mother said. “Just five more minutes, dear, and this time we’ll be ready. I promise you. I apologize for all the inconvenience.”

“And do you need more drinks?”

“Some sweet tea for me and my little girl,” Emily said.

“I’ll have some lemonade,” Sally said.

The waitress wrote the orders down, offered a curt nod, and wandered to another table.

Emily’s frown was starting to fade, but I thought it important that I prove whose side I’d take when it came to family squabbles, however minor. The last thing I wanted Emily to think was that I was some sort of mama’s boy.

I was close to my mother, but in the end, all men had to move on from their mothers. Maybe we weren’t that far along in our relationship yet, but it was still important to make it clear.

“I agree with Emily,” I said. “Even if I’m pleased with the results.”

The women all looked at me, confused looks on their face.

“The tricks weren’t necessary,” I clarified, staring at my mother and then Sally. “I don’t understand why you didn’t ask us. Did you really think we’d say no?”

My mother smirked and exchanged a glance with Sally. “It’s like Sally said. Sometimes surprises are fun.”

“Fun for you,” Emily murmured.

“Fun for everyone,” Juniper said.

All of us adults laughed, including Emily.

The talk died down as the new arrivals took their turns with the menus to figure out what they wanted.

The waitress returned with the new drinks, and we all placed our orders. The waitress also gave Juniper some crayons and a children’s activity sheet.

“I’ll help you with the games if you need it, Juniper,” my mother said.

“Thank you, Mrs. Hawkins,” Juniper said.

“You can call me Grandma Amelia if you want.”

“Okay.” Juniper smiled.

Emily choked on her drink. I shot my mother a look. It was a tad bit too early to be asking Juniper to call her grandma.

I glanced over at Sally. The smile on her face suggested she didn’t think it was too early at all.