Twenty-Six

Hunter got his promised reward, which I somehow muddled my way through to his satisfaction. We continued our lovemaking education every night for the next week until all he had to do was breathe on me and I’d be thinking of ripping his clothes off and having my way with him.

Every day he mentioned the apartment, and every day I said no. He tried every which way to convince me, but I refused. He always asked at the most inopportune times, usually when my mind and body were busy with something else that I had the feeling he was doing it on purpose. Ambush me in a moment when I was otherwise occupied and spring it on me, hoping I’d be too distracted to say no. Nice try, dude.

Mom kept calling me with little questions, asking what Hunter would like to eat, if we wanted to stay over, etc. I took her up on her offer to have us stay over because it would be kind of fun to show him around Waterville and my old haunts, especially the library.

Saturday morning we got up late, both of us a little sore after we’d tried something slightly ridiculous in the bedroom department that had led to more giggling than anything else.

“I think we can cross that off our list,” Hunter said, getting slowly out of bed.

“You have a list?”

“Well, there is a Periodic Table of Sex. And there’s always the Kama Sutra.”

“You’d have to have no spine to do most of those things,” I said, stretching my arms up as he ticked my stomach.

“You never know until you try.”

“True.”

“Breakfast?”

“I heard Paul out there rustling around. Maybe he made something?”

“I hope so.”

Paul had made French toast, and luckily, he’d made enough for all of us.

“Morning,” he said, wearing just a set of pj pants and a rumpled hairdo. I grinned at Renee, knowing what caused it. She winked and gave me a huge smile. I gave it back to her.

“So you’re meeting the parents today. You ready?” Paul asked Hunter.

“I’m hoping the apple didn’t fall far from the tree in this case,” Hunter said, passing me the syrup.

“My mom isn’t as angry as I am. She’s much nicer.”

“How could anyone be nicer than you?”

“I’m thinking of two words to describe you, and they are ass and kisser.”

“I love kissing your ass.” This was true. He’d done it the night before.

“Ugh, I’m eating here,” Renee said. I wrinkled my nose at her. “I think I liked you two better when you weren’t having sex.”

“But we weren’t as much fun,” I said.

“You mean you weren’t having as much fun.”

“What do you think? More fun now?” Hunter asked me, putting his arms around me and rocking side to side.

“Definitely.”

We finished breakfast and it was Renee’s turn for the dishes, so Paul did most of them.

“Okay, what to wear?” Hunter said as we were getting dressed.

“You never have a wardrobe crisis. That’s all me.”

“It’s not every day that you meet the mother of the girl you adore.”

“True. What are your options?”

He had a dark blue shirt and khaki combo, a black t-shirt and jeans combo and a white button-up with brown pants.

“This one says, ‘I’m a nice boy who would never hurt your daughter,’” I said, pointing to the first. “This says, ‘I’m casual and probably own a motorcycle that I drive too fast.’” I pointed to the second. “And this says, ‘Hey, I look amazing in this shirt and I’m reliable.’ So it all depends on what you want to go for.”

“Reliable it is,” he said, taking the white shirt and putting it on over his white tank.

“Let me,” I said, reaching for his buttons. Dressing him wasn’t nearly as fun as undressing, but I still liked treating him like a human Ken doll every now and then.

“What are you wearing?”

“That,” I said, pointing to my bed. I’d chosen a plum sweater and dark brown skirt along with black boots.

“It says, ‘I’m a nice girl who would never, ever do anything bad.’”

“It does?”

“I hope it does. Your mom doesn’t own a gun, does she?”

“Ah, no. That would be a negative.”

“Good.”

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll protect you,” I said.

“I’m not scared.”

“Liar.”

“Sex goddess.”

“Wuss.”

“Beautiful.”

I sighed. “You’re going to make my head gigantic.”

“I’d love you even with a giant head.” He kissed the top of my head as I pulled my skirt on.

“So sweet.”

“Don’t tell anyone. I didn’t get these tattoos for people to think I was sweet. Speaking of that, your mom isn’t one of those people who thinks guys with tattoos are thugs, is she? I can cover up most of them and just keep my hand on this side of my head,” he said, putting his hand over his ear to cover the tattoo behind it.

“I don’t really know. This is going to be another first.”

“Did he have tattoos?”

I knew who he was. Travis. Hunter was sensitive about saying his name.

“Nope.”

“Good. The more different I am from him, the better.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. She’s really excited to meet you. I think her hope for grandchildren has been rekindled. She’ll probably try to talk you into proposing.”

“I wouldn’t need much convincing.”

“Yeah, right.” I went to the mirror and started brushing my hair. He put his hands on my shoulders.

“I’m serious,” he said.

“I thought you weren’t the marrying kind.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve never told a girl I loved them either.”

My eyes met his in the mirror. “Never?”

“No. I never loved anyone before you.”

“Ditto.”

“I can’t imagine not wanting to marry you.”

“Even though I make a mess?”

“The mess is part of you. I get you; I get the mess. We can hire people to clean.”

“No way. No one is cleaning up after me. That’s just way too weird.”

“Okay, I’ll be the maid. As long as I get you.”

“What if you get sick of me? What if we have a huge fight?”

“Missy, we fight all the time.”

“Not like that.”

“We’ll get through it. We’ve already gotten through more than most couples our age.”

“We’re too young.”

“Age is just a number.”

“We’ll change our minds.”

“Not a chance.”

“It’s crazy.”

“Not any crazier than me tattooing good luck charms all over my body. Those are permanent. I want you to be permanent.”

God, he was stubborn.

“I’m not marrying you.”

“Maybe not right now.”

“I’m not doing this with you, okay?” I pulled my hair into a loose bun so it would be out of my way.

“Missy,” he said, drawing it out so it somehow turned into two words. “Forget I said it. I want this to be a good day, okay?” He kissed my shoulder and tugged a lock of my hair.

“Fine.” He was too irresistible. I turned and handed him my keys. “We are not taking your car, and I know you won’t let me drive, so here you go. Be careful with her, and I will be careful with you.” I gave a certain part of his body a little squeeze so he’d understand.

“Got it.”

It was the strangest sensation to sit in the passenger seat of my own car. It did mean I got to pick the music, and I settled on a mixed CD I’d made last summer.

“Since you didn’t tell me much about your family, I’ll be nice and tell you about mine. You already know Tawny, which is good. Other than Mom and one sister and a few cousins, that’s it. Grandparents are already long gone. Lots of heart attacks and cancer and stuff. So, my house isn’t even half the size of Hope and John’s. There are only three bedrooms, and we’re going to be bunking on a twin that I think is made up with Disney princess sheets right now because I brought all the ones I used with me to school. Um, what else? Oh, Mom’s really into family photos. She’ll probably make us pose for a few while you’re here, so get your picture smile ready.”

“How’s this?” He turned his head and gave me a huge fake grin that did nothing but make me laugh.

“Tone it down, dude.”

“Anything else?”

“I hope you like potato salad.”

“Maybe I do, and maybe I do.”

He started humming along with the CD, and I sat back and watched the highway blur by.

I got more nervous the closer we got to my house. When we got off at the Waterville exit, it all sort of crashed down on me. Hunter and I were together. He was meeting my mother. I’d met his family. We’d talked about marriage. This was really happening.

“Turn here,” I said, pointing to our street, Blackbird Lane. 

“And here,” I said, pointing to our driveway.

 He stopped the car and looked around. Tawny wasn’t here yet.

“This is nice. From the way you were talking I thought it was going to be a shack in the middle of nowhere. Not that I would have had a problem with that, but this isn’t as bad as you were describing.”

“We don’t have a chandelier,” I said.

“Not many people do.”

“Did your parents?”

“Several,” he said, getting out and grabbing his overnight bag from the back. “They paid people to clean them,” he said as he opened my door and took my hand. I got my bag, and we walked across the porch and to the front door.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he said, adjusting his bag. He’d also brought his guitar, but had left it in the car.

“Mom?”

“Hey, Kid!” She flew out from the kitchen and pulled me into a hug. “It’s been way too long since you were home. But I see you’ve been occupied. Hello, I’m Blaire Caldwell.” My mom and I were the same height and shared our brown hair. Her face was more oval than mine, and she looked much more sophisticated than I could ever hope to, but that was mostly due to her job.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Caldwell.”

“I’m divorced, so that title no longer applies. I will, however, let you call me Blaire.”

 Hunter grinned. 

“Nice to meet you, Blaire.” He shook her hand, and she gave him the once over. I remembered how I’d felt when Hope had done the same thing.

“Come on in. You can go put your things in Taylor’s room. I’m going to pretend like you’re going to sleep on the floor like a gentleman while Taylor takes the bed, but I’m not naïve.”

“Yes, ma’am.” All of a sudden the Texas accent and manners had come out. He should have tipped his hat as he left the room to take our stuff away.

“He’s cute, Taylor. Well done.” She put her arm around me and led me to the kitchen. “We need to have a little chat, you and I, but not right now.”

“Okay,” I said. There was probably a look of horror on my face, which made her laugh.

“It’s not a sex talk, I swear. It is just surprising, that’s all. Seeing you with a boy.”

“He’s not just a boy.”

“I can tell already. You wouldn’t take up with just anyone. I hope he’s worthy of you,” she said, patting my cheek.

“He is.”

“I hope so.”

Hunter made sure he walked noisily enough that we knew he was coming back in the room.

“Well, Hunter. Tell me about yourself. I’ve heard next to nothing from my daughter.”

There was a bang from the porch and seconds later Tawny barged in. She never entered a room quietly.

“Hey, Kid! Boyfriend. Mom!” She hugged me and Mom and held her fist up for a fist bump from Hunter. He reciprocated.

“So, what’s new in W town?” Tawny said.

“They’re repaving the road next week. I’m going to have to add a ton of time on to my commute,” Mom said.

“Wow, big doings,” Tawny said, rolling her eyes. “I’m starved. Is there anything ready?”

“There’s fruit salad and potato salad and chips. I wasn’t sure what you’d like, Hunter.”

“That all sounds wonderful.”

“Good. Why don’t we go sit down?”

It was a mirror image of meeting Hunter’s family, only it was a shorter walk to the living room and the furniture wasn’t as nice. We also had lemonade instead of iced tea, but at least this time Hunter was under the microscope. I had to put my hand on his knee and hold his hand in an iron grip so he wouldn’t fidget too much. Pretty soon his eye was going to start twitching.

Hunter talked about his major, his family and so forth. The normal stuff. So far, so good, except for calling her ma’am. It was kind of adorable.

“So you’re going to be a lawyer?”

“Yes, ma’am. I plan on having my own practice and working on family cases. Specifically with children.”

“That’s a very good goal for someone your age. What made you choose that?”

I’d had to clamp my teeth down on my tongue so I wouldn’t answer for him and tell her that he was awesome and I loved him and he was awesome.

“Because I think anyone who hurts a child should be brought to justice. Someone has to do it. Why not me?” His voice rang with so much sincerity and passion, I wanted to make out with him right there on the sofa.

“Up top,” Tawny said, holding her hand up for a high five. He slapped her hand and then looked at Mom, to make sure she didn’t think it was weird. She was studying him. Uh oh. I’d had that look before.

“You’re a very interesting young man.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

I pinched him so he’d stop calling her ma’am. She hated it. I should have mentioned that in the car.

“Well, are you ready to eat?” Mom said.

“Sure.”

“Taylor, can you and Tawny get the plates?” She purposefully left Hunter out. Damn, she was testing him to see if he’d take the plates from me.

“I’ll do that,” Hunter said, slipping in front of me and going to the cabinet. “Which ones?”

“The ones with the blue flowers.” They were my grandmother’s, and we only used them for special occasions. The real plates we used didn’t match and were mostly from yard sales. Tawny made sure to grab the good cups and not the Disney Collector’s Edition glasses.

Hunter set our small dining table, which was covered with a tablecloth I was sure Mom had bought yesterday, since it still had creases from being folded in the package.

“Good call on the plates,” I said.

“I figured that was an opening for me to be a gentleman.”

“Exactly. Just a little note, don’t call her ma’am. She hates it.”

“Was I?” He seemed to genuinely not know.

I laughed and put my arm around his waist. “Yes, Mr. Zaccadelli. Just keep the Texas in check, okay? You’re in Yankee country.”

“I’ll try.”

I touched his arm. “Hey, you’re doing great.”

“If you say so.” He put a plate down and it clanged a little. God, he was nervous.

“Be careful, that’s my Gram’s china.”

“I’ll try.”

He set the places more carefully, and I followed behind him with the silverware and napkins. Tawny and Mom brought in the meal, which consisted of a spinach, walnut and strawberry salad for me, grilled chicken for everyone else, potato salad, and fruit salad and a cheesecake for desert.

Hunter loaded up on the non-meat things, which Mom noticed.

“Are you a vegetarian?”

“Not really, but I’ve been cutting back on meat since I met Taylor.”

I passed him the balsamic dressing, and he poured it over his salad. He always used way too much dressing.

“You’re not just doing that to impress her, are you?”

“Everything I do is to impress her. It’s my mission in life,” he said with a completely serious face, while he squeezed my knee under the table.

Mom burst out laughing. 

“I like him,” she said.

“Me too. I think I’ll keep him,” I said, taking his hand and twisting my fingers with his.

“Good,” he said, giving my hand a squeeze.

*****

The tension eased a little as we sat in the living room making small talk. Hunter seemed a lot more comfortable and stopped twitching so much. He even laughed, albeit nervously. Tawny was being so mean to him, and I had to keep shooting her dirty looks.

I thought Hunter was going to die when Mom grilled him about the ring, which I’d forgotten to take off. My hand didn’t look like my hand without it anymore.

“What did you do, rob a bank?” Tawny said, as she gaped at it.

“It was my mother’s. I inherited it and I thought, what better place to keep it safe?” Okay, so he didn’t inherit the ring, but he inherited the money for it, so I figured it was close enough.

“Your mother had really good taste,” Mom said, holding my hand so she could get a better look at it.

“She did.”

“You’re awfully young to have lost both parents.”

“I was eleven when they died, but my mother’s sister and husband took me in.”

“I’m sorry about your family.”

“Thank you.”

“Mom? I think I’m going to show Hunter around town.”

“Be sure you show him the telephone pole you crashed into during your driving test.”

“What?” Hunter said, looking at me.

“We’re leaving now,” I said, getting up and yanking Hunter to his feet. Any moment the naked baby pictures were going to come out, and there were a lot. I’d had a no-clothes phase for several months, and there was plenty of evidence. Not that Hunter hadn’t seen everything there was to see, but still. 

“You crashed into a telephone pole? Missy, why don’t you let me drive?” Hunter said.

“Shut up,” I said as I got in the driver’s side. “You don’t know this town like I do. So I’m in charge.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, tipping an imaginary hat. 

“Do you own a cowboy hat?”

“I have one in my closet at Hope and John’s. Why?”

“Oh, no reason.” I turned on the car, picturing Hunter in a cowboy hat and nothing else. Yum.

“So, where to?”

“The library. Duh.”

“Of course.” He turned on my CD, skipping to a song he liked. “By the way, you need to bring that little red dress back to school with you.”

“Was that what took you so long in my room?”

“I was just checking things out,” he said.

“Sure you were. You were looking for skeletons. Or at least embarrassing photos of me with braces.”

“I bet you were cute with braces.”

“Yeah, cute was the word for it.”

We drove around Waterville, and I showed Hunter my school, the library and all the places I used to go when I was younger and needed a place to go other than home.

“I didn’t have a lot of friends, if you can believe that. I did my own thing a lot.”

“Nothing wrong with that. Most girls that age are bitches.”

“Ain’t that the truth? I didn’t really make any until college.”

“So do you want to come back here?”

“Ah, hell no. This isn’t where I want to be.”

“Where do you want to be?”

“Anywhere else. When Travis gets out, I don’t want to be where he can find me.”

“What made you stay in Maine? You could have gone overseas to school.”

I sighed as I drove past the elementary school. I had a silly idea and pulled into the parking lot. I hopped out, and Hunter followed me. I stopped walking until he was right beside me.

“Tag!” I screamed, slapping his chest and running as fast as I could before he could realize what I’d done.

“I don’t think so, Missy,” he said, growling and chasing me toward the playground. He caught me, mostly due to the fact that his legs were much longer. 

He scooped me into his arms and ran with me onto the grass, throwing me down and tickling me without mercy. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. When I couldn’t take anymore, he kissed me and we rolled on the grass.

“You little cheater,” he said, giving my shoulder a little love bite. “You also deflected my question. Quite effectively, I might add.”

 I rolled onto my back and stared at the semi-cloudy sky. 

“Because I got a better scholarship. I got in to other schools, but they were too expensive. They were also too far away. I know that doesn’t make sense, but I feel safer here, because Tawny and my mom are here. I couldn’t leave them.”

“You should do what you want, and not be obligated to stay here for them.”

“Why didn’t you go somewhere else? I’m sure you could have gotten into any school you wanted with John’s help.”

“Because I didn’t want a hand-out. I also got a better financial aid package here and I figured, why not? My dad was always harping on me about the evils of state colleges. He wanted me to go to Yale.”

“Did you get in?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He took my hand and kissed it.

“Shit, you totally got in to Yale. Damn, I’m in love with a genius.” Who knew?

“Joe wrote a letter of recommendation that probably helped a little.”

“When do I get to meet Joe?”

“He’s not coming up until Christmas, but you’ll meet him then. Hope is as nuts about Christmas as she is about pie. So, be prepared. You’re part of the family now, so you’re invited.”

“God, I can’t imagine how that house looks decorated for Christmas.”

“It’s pretty epic.”

“I bet.”

“Race you to the swings?”

We both got up and ran as fast as we could. He totally let me win. We played on the swings and chased each other down the slide until the sky opened up and it started raining.

“We should get back. Your mother probably thinks we’ve driven somewhere and parked by now.”

“Because I’m totally that kind of girl.”

“Don’t knock quickies in cars. If we didn’t have to go back and see your mom, I would totally be up for that.”

“It sounds uncomfortable.”

“It’s an art.”

“Which I’m sure you’ve mastered.”

 He shrugged and mussed my hair. 

“Told you, Miss. Everything before you doesn’t matter.”