Chapter Twenty-One: Nana Stone Is Going on About the Merits of Early Motherhood
“You keep an eye on Cole; I’ve got Beth,” Travis whispers conspiratorially in my ear, and my eyes dart around the room to look for our significant others.
It’s Thanksgiving Day and it hasn’t gotten off to the best start, especially considering the fact that Beth’s locked herself in my room, and Cole is destroying the flowers my father placed a special order for by mushing them in his hands. It wasn’t my best idea to let him set the table.
“I don’t get it; why are they so mad?”
“Gee, well, I don’t know!” He slaps his hand on the kitchen counter. “Maybe it’s because you invited someone whose face was pinned onto Beth’s dartboard for a solid six months.”
“Beth has a dartboard?”
“Why do you think she asked for our family photos before slamming the door on your face?”
“Huh.”
“And then, because this family’s idiocy doesn’t stop there, Dad thought it was a brilliant idea to invite the guy you were obsessed with for a decade? And sit him next to the guy you’re currently dating and the two just happen to be stepbrothers? You literally couldn’t make this shit up.”
“I can’t tell Nicole not to come now; that’ll be horrible!” I’m being trampled by my conscience, which surely isn’t the size of a cricket, much more an elephant at this point.
“And Jay the giant Va-jay-jay?”
I imagine spitting out the drink in my mouth, were I drinking one.
“Make that Jay the unwaxed vajayjay,” Cole grumbles, entering the kitchen, dragging his feet behind him. It’s very cute, actually, to see him acting like a petulant child, as much as I hate seeing him like this. I’d tell Dad to call off his plans, but apparently there’s going to be some press present later, and they want to do a piece on the mayor and his family being close with the sheriff’s, thus painting the perfect picture of a tightknit community.
If only they knew…
Cole’s still grumbling under his breath as he rests his forehead on my shoulder, coming up from behind me. “I feel your pain, man. Beth and I ran into my ex, Jenny, the other day, and I literally had to stop Beth from emptying a frying pan full of boiling hot oil onto her face.”
Cole’s chuckling into my shoulder and I gasp. “How did that even happen?”
“Beth’s tight with the crew from Rusty’s, she just waltzed into the back of the kitchen, and, the next thing I know, I’m throwing myself in front of Jenny to prevent a lawsuit.”
I whistle lowly. “She must’ve been pissed.”
“Let’s just say I’m glad you’re on the dartboard now.”
“It’s really nice to know my older brother’s got my back.” I scowl at him and Cole lifts his head.
“Don’t worry, Tessie, I’ve got you.”
“Kids! The rest of the Stones are here and look, they brought Nana Stone!” my dad shouts from the living room.
I whirl around to face Cole. “You did not tell me she was coming!”
He shrugs. “You didn’t tell me Jay would be here, and you invited Nicole.”
Travis scratches the back of his neck. “I thought you loved Nana Stone.”
My face is quickly turning an alarming shade of red. “I do, but…”
Cole slings his arm across my shoulder. “Tessie adores my grandma; what she doesn’t adore is the number of hints she drops about the next generation of Stones.”
Travis bursts out laughing and I smack his shoulder. “Don’t! She might be old. but the woman’s got the hearing of a bat.”
He continues laughing and soon Cole joins him. I leave them to be and go and greet the sheriff, Cassandra, and Jay, who surprisingly has brought a date. After an awkward introduction to both of them, we go sit at the table, and I excuse myself to go get my homicidal best friend.
A glance at my watch tells me that it’s still quite a while to go before Megan and Alex get here after eating with their own families. I really need Megan on my side to go and confront Beth, but I also can’t let her sit in my room and sulk all day. It’s her first Thanksgiving without her mom and not in her old home; I don’t want it to have bad memories for her.
I knock on the door.
“Go away, Brutus.”
“What?”
“I’m reading Julius Caesar for one of my online classes. Now go away; I’m not having dinner with that soul-sucking succubus.”
“Impressive use of alliteration there, now unlock the door, this is stupid.”
“Oh, I’m stupid now? And what planet were you on when you asked the backstabbing bitch to share our pie?”
“If it makes things any better, Nicole doesn’t eat carbs.”
I hear her growling from the other side before the door flies open.
“She’s bad news, whether in another state or not, any kind of interaction with that girl isn’t good for you. How are you ever going to know any different from being bullied if you’re hanging out with the one person who made your life miserable for years!”
I take a deep, calming breath; this is quickly getting out of control. If I don’t get downstairs soon, they’ll be sending up a search party. We have reporters coming soon, Jay’s there with a date, and Nicole could arrive any moment.
Plus, I’m pretty sure Nana Stone is going on about the merits of early motherhood.
“Listen,” something about my defeated voice makes her expression soften, “I really need you to come with me and be my best friend right now. This isn’t going according to plan, and I’ve had a really shitty week. All I wanted was to come home and just have some peace of mind, but, clearly, that isn’t happening. So, I’d really appreciate it if I have one person downstairs who is on my side.”
She blinks a couple of times, and I’m more than prepared to give up, but Beth surprises me by throwing her arms around me and hugging me close.
“You’re an idiot.”
“Yup, that’d be me.”
“But since I’m stuck with you,” she sniffs, “let’s go do this.”
***
Nicole shows up sometime later, and, between the two of us, there’s enough awkwardness and cringeworthy moments to last a lifetime. I’m sure it’s not any more pleasant for her to be back in my house than it is for me to see her. There are a lot of memories for us that have been lived here, as is the case with best friends who literally used to live at each other’s houses like Nicole used to live at mine.
“Hey,” she says in a shaky voice, her eyes darting nervously around the room like she’s waiting for something out of our past to come and attack her.
“How long did you sit in your car and think about going back home?”
She laughs nervously. “About an hour.”
“Well, you’re here now, so you might as well join us for dinner. My dad can’t stop talking about his gourmet turkey.”
“Isn’t it weird?” she suddenly asks, and I wince at the thought of her bringing up the past. “This is your first Thanksgiving without your mom?”
Right, my mom’s not here, and I hadn’t given it a second thought until she brought it up.
“Not really, I think it’s all about perspective. On one hand, you have someone like Beth, who can never have that with her mom again, and then there’s me. I’m not going to feel sorry for myself; if anything, it’s my mom’s loss for giving up on her family.”
“Wow, that sounded oddly mature coming from you.”
“I’ve grown up, Nicole. You wouldn’t be here if that weren’t the case.”
We’re about to enter the dining room when I stop Nicole by placing a hand on her tanned arm. “Just a warning, Jay’s here, and he’s brought a date.”
A perfectly shaped eyebrow goes up. “And I should care why?”
“Precisely.” I grin.
Everyone goes deathly silent when we enter the room, well, everyone except Nana Stone, who’s hitting Travis with her spoon and asking him to pass the gravy.
Nicole raises her hand and gives the room a meek wave. “Hey.”
No one responds; in fact, the unreturned greeting makes things even more awkward. But then, god bless him, Cole gets up and pulls out a seat for her.
“Hey.” He smiles and winks at me, but I swear Nicole blushes under his attention.
Control the bitch face, Tessa, control it.
As Nicole sits down, I feel a lot of eyes boring a hole into the side of my head, and when I look around the table, I notice Jay’s date scowling at me. Oops? Maybe she knows Nicole’s Jay’s ex.
Things just keep getting better and better today.
“So, Tessa, Cole tells me you still haven’t gotten off the pill. What did I tell you about the side effects?” Nana Stone cries out, and I almost contemplate face-planting into my plate of food.
On either side of me, Beth and Cole shake in silent laughter, and my dad starts coughing. Cassandra bites her lip to keep herself from laughing, and the sheriff clears his throat repeatedly.
“They’re kids, Mother; I don’t think now’s the time to discuss these things,” the sheriff chides her, and Nana Stone waves her fork in the air.
“I want to see my great-grandbabies before I go and that’s it, damn it!”
My face continues to burn. “Well, there’s time for both of those things to happen yet, so let’s be patient.”
She continues to mutter under her breath as we eat and keeps shooting me suggestive looks. I love Nana Stone, Nana Stone rocks my world, but right now I just really wish she’d choke on her turkey.
“Nicole,” Cassandra says after some time, and Nicole’s head shoots up so fast, it’s almost funny. These two haven’t had the best relationship in the past, so it’s strange to see them interact. “You look well,” she smiles gently, “I see New York’s been good to you.”
“It has; new beginnings always are.” The corner of Nicole’s mouth lifts in a small smile. “You were right.”
There’s a lull in conversation after that, and even though this dinner hasn’t gone as smoothly as planned, I’m happy to be with the people I care about. Nana Stone continues to crack jokes about things that should definitely not be mentioned while my dad and brother are eating, Jay’s date, Rose, continues scowling and twitching her nose at everything, and Cole’s right there next to me, constantly telling me that everything will be okay.
***
After dinner, I take a few photographs with my family and Cole’s. Later the adults go to the back of the house for coffee and drinks, leaving the rest of us in the living room watching mindless television after stuffing our stomachs.
“Let me get this straight; those girls actually put out an ad…” Megan has joined us, and there’s enough rage on her face to match her flaming red hair.
“And two dicks actually approached you? What the hell!” Beth shouts, and I catch a glimpse of Travis’s face, which is dark with anger. Cole’s jaw is locked, he’s fisting his hands and I can see him playing the events of the night in his head, seething with anger.
“It’s done and over with; Cole’s just overreacting.” I try to make things a little less morbid, but that’s tough to do when everyone’s hell-bent on rehashing the past.
“I’m overreacting? You have nightmares, and I’m overreacting?”
I cringe at the hurt in his voice, at the hurt on everyone’s faces. I didn’t mean to bring up the night in the club, but Cole did anyway; apparently, I’m an open book, and the lack of a stellar college experience is very visible on my face.
“This was your dream school; I went because I wanted to be with you, not because I wanted you to continue living in high school.”
At this everyone glares at Nicole, who’s awkwardly sitting in a corner, holding on to her coffee cup for dear life.
“Knock it off,” I tell him. I’m glad Jay’s date forced him to leave because that just would’ve made the situation a hundred times worse.
“But he has a point,” Alex chirps in from where he’s holding a visibly upset Megan. “You didn’t go to college to have to relive high school all over again, and Cole’s only going to get more popular. The girls aren’t going to go away; the real issue is how you are going to deal with it.”
Travis has yet to speak, and his silence is scaring me. Because he was mentally absent during the worst phase of bullying I faced, he feels incredibly guilty. In turn, that makes him all the more protective now; add that to having an overly protective boyfriend and it’s lucky that I get to step foot out of the house.
“Well, you could…” Nicole begins, and the way everyone looks at her makes her freeze. She raises her hands defensively. “What? If anything, the only person who knows what to do in these situations should be me, right?”
“Because of course you’ve only got her best interests at heart?” Beth says snidely, and Travis wraps an arm around her to hold her back.
“Suppose we were to actually listen to you, what would you say?”
“I’d say there’s no way to get those girls off Tessa’s back, not when they’re so convinced that they’re so much better for Cole than she is.”
“That’s reasonably stupid coming from your mouth. I expected something more diabolical and vile.” Megan nearly snarls.
“Calm down, I’m getting there. What I’m trying to say is that nothing’s going to convince them unless they convince themselves.”
“I’m slightly confused…” I really am.
“What I think you should do is to fake a breakup. Not for long, just enough for the girls to realize that even single, Cole wouldn’t be interested.” She shrugs.
At her suggestion, everyone breaks out in protests quite vocally, especially Cole, before I can even process any of what she’s said.
“No.” Cole bites out, “That’s not even an option.”
Nicole rolls her eyes. “Jesus, you guys take everything way too seriously. It’s only a pretend breakup, just until these girls get you out of their system.”
“Would that have worked for you?” Travis asks.
She shrugs. “I wouldn’t have wasted my time wondering about the what ifs if I knew for sure that he wouldn’t be interested in me, even if he wasn’t with anyone else.”
I’m still processing and trying to understand how all of this makes sense, and the rest of them are weighing the pros and cons of the situation.
Well, everyone but Cole, who shoots up from his seat and storms out of the room. Nicole’s looking a bit overwhelmed, so she quickly grabs her things and heads for the door, so I follow her.
“I shouldn’t have interfered,” she says to me quietly.
“We asked you to, so it’s fine. I’m sorry they freaked out on you like that.”
“You have a bunch of people that love you and care about you; that’s not something to be sorry for.”
“Still, you were only trying to help.”
“I was, and I really think you might want to consider it.”
She leaves quickly, and I have no idea when I’ll see her again.
Next, I go to find my boyfriend, who’s sitting alone in one of the deck chairs near the pool. I go and sit down next to him, placing my head on his shoulder.
“What’re you thinking?”
“That Nicole’s completely full of shit.” He scoffs, muttering the word breakup under his breath.
“I know; I hate the idea as much as you do.”
“But…” he begins, and my heart stops. That word is never good; if there’s a but, then he might possibly see the merits of breaking up, fake or not. I can’t even contemplate if there might be such a thing.
“Please don’t tell me you’re actually considering it.” My voice is so low, I doubt he hears me, but he does. Cole frames my face and leans in close.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy, even if that means…”
“We’re not some star-crossed lovers in a romance film, Cole; don’t play games with me. This is a real problem; we’re real people. I don’t need to hear these mindless plans and schemes; we work things out like normal people.”
“Are you scared?” His expression is so tender, it’s breaking my heart.
“Of what?”
“Of going back, of being seen with me, of what someone else might do, of what might happen if I’m not there?”
“The last part sounded the scariest.”
He gives me a sad smile and kisses the top of my head. “Baby, I’m not going anywhere.”
“But?”
“But I am going to protect you.” He leans in and kisses me deeply.
“I’m not scared of those sorority psychopaths, trust me.”
He laughs against my lips. “Who’s to say that’s what you need protection from?”
“Then what are we even talking about?”
He distracts me then, kissing me slowly, deeply, languidly until I forget my own name.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you never regret for a second that I chose to spend these four years of our life together. I don’t want you to wake up one day and hate me for ruining everything you worked so hard for. I didn’t follow you because I was scared of what a long-distance relationship could do to us, I followed you because I wanted to get a head start on the rest of our lives and because I love you too much to be that selfless.”
“Cole,” I breathe, running a hand through his hair. “I’d never hate you, never regret my time with you, or even think about a future that you’re not a part of. You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
He shakes his head, the sadness in his eyes is piercing me, and I’m terrified of what’s to come.
“But I do, Shortcake, I do.