ready, I had fifteen minutes left before I had to meet Coll. Having been taught never to show up empty handed, I preheated the oven and popped in a sheet of cookies for a store-bought dessert, which was better than nothing. My mother would be so proud.
I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my stomach now that I was ready and waiting on the timer to ding. It was tight and uncomfortable, the way I would have imagined meeting any guy’s mother would make it feel. Out of all the guys I’d dated, I’d never been taken home to meet the family, so I really wouldn’t know. Maybe it was just because it was so sudden and I wasn’t expecting it. Coll and I weren’t even dating. Were we?
The cookies had just finished when there was a knock on the door. I quickly piled them onto a plate and wrapped them up before heading outside to find my neighbor freshly showered and clean-shaven.
“Well, lookie there. I do know you.”
Rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger, he smirked. I had to fight the urge to feel for myself while my eyes traveled over his snug white thermal.
Like a gentleman, he took the plate from my hands, and I followed him to his truck. The door squeaked when I opened it, and I had a flashback to that night he didn’t come home alone. I shook it off before climbing into the cab beside him.
“Sorry ‘bout the mess.”
Aside from the thin layer of dirt under my feet, there was no mess I could see.
“Oh, this is nothing. You should see my car.” It was filled with empty, snack-size Dorito bags and crumpled up receipts. The dirt covering my floorboard couldn’t even be seen.
He shifted into reverse, stretching his arm out over the back of the seat so he could better turn and see. Once he shifted into drive, he stretched it back out, resting his hand directly behind me.
“Does your mom live very far?”
“Not too far. About ten minutes outside of town in the opposite direction as us. Maybe twenty minutes altogether.”
I nodded and looked out the window, relieved to have a little bit of time to collect myself.
“So, your trip was good, yeah? You missed the storm? Caught a lot of crabs?” I realized how it sounded as soon as I said it. His laugh was silent, and I smiled at his profile before looking back out the window.
“I’m not sure a trip is ever good. It’s somewhat enjoyable in the summer when the water’s calm. But other than that …” He shrugged.
“I’ve never been out on the ocean in a boat. A lake, but never the ocean. Sounds wonderful.”
“Can be. But the storms are actually worse in the summer. There’s more of them. More lightning.”
I’d never thought about the lightning. Big waves and ice cold rain, yeah. But I’d never considered the lightning before. Now that I had, there was a whole other thing I had to worry about while he was away.
“You ever been struck?”
“No.”
“You know anybody who has?”
I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye.
“They still alive?”
We stopped at a stop sign, and he slowly rolled through before answering. “No.”
I got the feeling I shouldn’t have asked seeing as the rest of the way was paved with heavy silence until we pulled into an unmarked driveway.
“Here we are.”
We drove down a ways under a bowing line of naked branches when a small brick house with a green tin roof came into view.
“This is where you grew up?”
“Yep.”
And with all those boys. His poor mother. I imagined them all running around the open field that surrounded the house. Out and about at all hours. Playing cops and robbers during the day. Catching fireflies by night. Or whatever it was little boys did. It was such a small house. The size of the land surrounding it was probably her only saving grace.
The door swung open as soon as we parked, and a short little woman came running out to meet us. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a braid, a few gray hairs streaking the sides. Wearing a shawl and a big smile, she pulled Coll
I couldn’t ignore the feeling in my stomach now that I was ready and waiting on the timer to ding. It was tight and uncomfortable, the way I would have imagined meeting any guy’s mother would make it feel. Out of all the guys I’d dated, I’d never been taken home to meet the family, so I really wouldn’t know. Maybe it was just because it was so sudden and I wasn’t expecting it. Coll and I weren’t even dating. Were we?
The cookies had just finished when there was a knock on the door. I quickly piled them onto a plate and wrapped them up before heading outside to find my neighbor freshly showered and clean-shaven.
“Well, lookie there. I do know you.”
Rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger, he smirked. I had to fight the urge to feel for myself while my eyes traveled over his snug white thermal.
Like a gentleman, he took the plate from my hands, and I followed him to his truck. The door squeaked when I opened it, and I had a flashback to that night he didn’t come home alone. I shook it off before climbing into the cab beside him.
“Sorry ‘bout the mess.”
Aside from the thin layer of dirt under my feet, there was no mess I could see.
“Oh, this is nothing. You should see my car.” It was filled with empty, snack-size Dorito bags and crumpled up receipts. The dirt covering my floorboard couldn’t even be seen.
He shifted into reverse, stretching his arm out over the back of the seat so he could better turn and see. Once he shifted into drive, he stretched it back out, resting his hand directly behind me.
“Does your mom live very far?”
“Not too far. About ten minutes outside of town in the opposite direction as us. Maybe twenty minutes altogether.”
I nodded and looked out the window, relieved to have a little bit of time to collect myself.
“So, your trip was good, yeah? You missed the storm? Caught a lot of crabs?” I realized how it sounded as soon as I said it. His laugh was silent, and I smiled at his profile before looking back out the window.
“I’m not sure a trip is ever good. It’s somewhat enjoyable in the summer when the water’s calm. But other than that …” He shrugged.
“I’ve never been out on the ocean in a boat. A lake, but never the ocean. Sounds wonderful.”
“Can be. But the storms are actually worse in the summer. There’s more of them. More lightning.”
I’d never thought about the lightning. Big waves and ice cold rain, yeah. But I’d never considered the lightning before. Now that I had, there was a whole other thing I had to worry about while he was away.
“You ever been struck?”
“No.”
“You know anybody who has?”
I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye.
“They still alive?”
We stopped at a stop sign, and he slowly rolled through before answering. “No.”
I got the feeling I shouldn’t have asked seeing as the rest of the way was paved with heavy silence until we pulled into an unmarked driveway.
“Here we are.”
We drove down a ways under a bowing line of naked branches when a small brick house with a green tin roof came into view.
“This is where you grew up?”
“Yep.”
And with all those boys. His poor mother. I imagined them all running around the open field that surrounded the house. Out and about at all hours. Playing cops and robbers during the day. Catching fireflies by night. Or whatever it was little boys did. It was such a small house. The size of the land surrounding it was probably her only saving grace.
The door swung open as soon as we parked, and a short little woman came running out to meet us. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a braid, a few gray hairs streaking the sides. Wearing a shawl and a big smile, she pulled Coll
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