Bad Girlfriend (First & Last #4) (22 page)

We crossed the driveway and went into Brooke’s house through the back door.  She stopped short, causing me to run into the back of her.  When I put my hands on her shoulders to steady
both of us, I felt the tension and strain there.

Looking over the top of her head, I saw what must be the source of her unease.  A woman sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and the newspaper.  This had to be Brooke’s mother
, given the strong resemblance.

“Good morning,” she said pleasantly, her eyes looking from Brooke to me.

An awkward moment passed, and when it was clear Brooke wasn’t going to introduce us, I stepped around her and held out my hand.

“I’m Adam
Branigan, Brooke’s boyfriend.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Adam.  I’m Naomi…Brooke’s mother.”

The room must have cooled ten degrees at those words.  Brooke snapped out of her daze and rushed through the room.

“I have to get ready for work.”

She disappeared through the doorway to the dining room, and I followed.

“It was nice to meet you, Naomi.”

Brooke was already in the bathroom with the door closed and the shower running when I found her room.  I hadn’t been upstairs before, but it wasn’t hard to tell which room was hers.  Making myself comfortable, I lay on the bed and started flipping through the latest issue of Cosmo.

After what had to be the quickest shower in the history of all females, Brooke emerged from the bathroom with one towel wrapped around her body and another around her head.  She raised her eyebrows when she saw my reading material.

“I’m going to have to get a subscription to this magazine.  I thought I understood women, but now I see there’s still a lot to learn.”

My joke, half-joke actually, earned a smile from Brooke.

“Your mom seems nice.”

Brooke turned around, but I caught her eye roll in the mirror as she started brushing through her hair.  “Yes, I’m sure you were able to tell that from the four words she spoke.”

“How long is she staying?”

“I don’t know.  But the sooner she leaves the better.”

A shuffling noise in the hallway caught my attention.  Brooke’s door was open just a crack, and I saw Naomi turning away toward the stairs.  Her shoulders were slumped, and I was sure she had heard that.  The pair clearly had a lot of issues to work through.

I watched while Brooke swept her wet hair into some kind of complicated side braid and applied her makeup with sure quick strokes of her hand.  When that was done she disappeared into her closet and reappeared dressed in black jeans, high heeled
black boots and a black shirt that dipped low in the front.  Low enough to make my mouth water.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she scolded.

I gave her my best innocent look.  We didn’t run into Naomi again as we left the house.  Standing next to her car, I pulled her close and gave her a kiss to last all day until I could see her again.

Back in my apartment
, I flopped onto the bed and switched on the TV to ESPN.  Football season was in full swing, and that kept my attention until my stomach started to growl.

Seeing that it was almost noon, I went in search of food.  There was leftover Chinese from the night before, but that didn’t really sound good.  What sounded good was a burger and fries.

After a quick shower I grabbed my keys and wallet and walked the few blocks to Main Street.  The Last Call served great burgers, and I knew the TVs would all be turned to college football.  The only thing that could make this a better Saturday was to have Brooke with me.

The place was packed.  Every other guy in town must have had the same idea. 
Fortunately there was a seat open at the end of the bar, right below one of the big screen TVs that hung over the bar.  Perfect.

Ford was working today, and he caught my eye as I sat down, holding his hand up in greeting.

“What can I get for you?” an older blond woman asked me, setting a cocktail napkin down on the bar in front of me and leaning over just enough to give a straight shot down her shirt.

“I got this one, Shelly,” Ford said, coming up next to her.

She winked at me as she sauntered away.

“You’re welcome,” Ford said, and I knew my feeling that he had just saved me was accurate.

“What are you having today?”

I pushed the menu away.  “I’ll have the BBQ Cheddar Bacon Burger, extra fries and a beer.”

“Coming right up.”

The beer was served almost immediately, and the food didn’t take much longer.  Ford was busy, but I hoped to get the chance to pick his brain about the game that was on.  As a former college football star, I wanted to get his opinion on the new coach at Alabama.

My cell phone rang when I was halfway through my burger.  The screen flashed Thomas’ name, and I considered letting it go to voicemail.  But in the end, I answered it.

“Hello?”

“Adam.  It’s Thomas.  I need to see you.  Where are you?”

“Uh…I’m at the pub downtown.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes.”

I started to ask what this was all about, and why it couldn’t wait until Monday, but he had already hung up.

Sure enough, five minutes later, Thomas Cole walked through the door and strode with a purpose to where I was sitting.  He hefted himself on the bar stool next to me and waved off Shelly when she came over to take his order.

“What’s going on, Thomas?  Is everything alright?”  My mind was sifting through the possibilities - from a teacher strike to, god forbid, an emergency with one of the students.  What came out of his mouth was the last thing I expected.

“Mrs. Larkin has filed a complaint against you, Adam.  She’s calling for your immediate dismissal.”

“What?  Why?”

Thomas dragged his hand down his face.  “She claims she found you in a compromising situation this morning and that you are not upholding the moral and ethical code of the school district.”

When I remained silent, still trying to wrap my brain around the ridiculousness of the situation, Thomas said, “Please tell me this isn’t true, Adam.”

My confusion started to turn to anger and annoyance.

“She said when she came by your place, there was a naked woman in your bed, and it was clear what had been going on.”

“Uh, yeah.  That was my girlfriend, and she was covered up…sort of.   Mrs. Larkin came to my apartment,
unannounced
, at 7:30 on a Saturday morning.  If she doesn’t want to put herself and her son in that situation, then she should call first.”

I realized my voice was raised when a few heads swiveled in our direction.  Lowering my voice, I leaned toward Thomas.

“This is ridiculous, Thomas.  You know that.  I’m an adult, in a monogamous relationship with another adult.  Mrs. Larkin overstepped her bounds by showing up at my place.”

Thomas sighed, his large belly expanding with the effort.  “I didn’t say I agree with her.  And as much as I would rather see you back with my niece, your personal business is just that…personal.  But this is a small town, Adam.  Not everyone sees things that way.  Mrs. Larkin is a force to be reckoned with, and she’s on the war path with this one.  I have to take this to the Board and see where it goes from there.”

When Thomas left, I pushed my plate away.  My appetite had suddenly disappeared.

“Everything okay, man?”
  Ford asked.

I dropped my head in my hands and shook it back and forth.  “I don’t know.  God, I thought I was leaving the drama behind when I came here from the city.”

Ford smirked and clapped his hand on my shoulder.  “Oh, dude.  Drama is born in small towns.”

Yeah, I was just figuring that out.

When I left the pub, I scrapped my original plan to stop by and see Brooke at the salon.  My mood wasn’t exactly social at the moment, and I didn’t want her to know about this.  She didn’t need one more thing to stress about.  Hopefully, the Board would dismiss Mrs. Larkin’s complaint as unfounded and by Monday the whole thing will have blown over.

Chapter Twenty Three

Brooke

“Ouch!”

“Sorry, Hannah,” I mumbled.  My fingers were working on autopilot, twisting the teenager’s long blonde hair into a French braid.  She was here for a practice run of how she wanted her hair done for the Homecoming dance the following weekend.  Or something like that…I hadn’t really been paying attention.

My mind was elsewhere today.  Adam had been avoiding me like the plague since Saturday morning.  I had hoped for a repeat of Friday night, but he said he wasn’t feeling well when I got off work on Saturday evening.  Then yesterday he claimed he had work to do, though his car didn
’t leave the driveway all day.

His excuses were perfectly logical, but the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach remained.  My heart knew that Adam was different from all the other guys I’d been with, but there was a niggling thought at the back of mind wondering if he hadn’t gotten what he wanted and was done with me
now.

The girl’s mother was across the aisle in Loraine’s chair, getting her roots touched up.  I had successfully tuned out her annoying chatter until I heard something that interested me.  My ears perked up at the mention of the elementary school’s principal.

She was motioning with her hands while she talked.  “Apparently he was caught in a compromising position, if you know what I mean.”  She gave Loraine a pointed look.

Knowing who I was dating, Loraine glanced over at me.  I shook my head slightly, not wanting to tip her off.  I wanted to hear what else this woman had to say about my boyfriend.

“So, Mrs. Larkin immediately went to the Superintendant and filed a formal complaint, which I fully support.  After what happened with Prinicipal Edwards, this district can’t handle another scandal.  I think hiring a young single guy from New York City was their first mistake.”  She emphasized “New York City” like it was someplace bordering on hell.

“Ouch!” t
he girl squealed again, and I realized I was pulling her hair too tightly.

“Ke
ep your head still,” I snapped.

What kind of compromising situation was she talking about?  And is that why Adam had been avoiding me?

“What kind of compromising situation?” Loraine asked, keeping her eyes on me.  She probably wanted to make sure I didn’t scalp a paying customer.

“I don’t know, though I’m dying to find out.  Apparently Mrs.
Larkin had her son with her when they walked in on whatever it was.”

My heart started beating faster, and I felt shaky.  Whatever Adam had been doing, it hadn’t been with me.  I would have noticed a woman and her son walking in on us.  Oh, God. 
Had it happened at the school?  Was he cheating on me with one of the teachers?  He said Angela wasn’t an issue, but what if that was a lie?

Fortunately I was done with the braid, so the poor girl’s hair was out of danger.  I turned her around and handed her the small mirror so she could see the back.

“Oh, it’s perfect.  Mom!  What do you think?”

The other woman swiveled around, and the
y both started gushing about the hairdo.  Seeing I was on the verge of a breakdown of epic proportions, Loraine said, “I’ll ring them up, Brooke.  Why don’t you go ahead and take off?”

That was my last appointment of the day, so at least my breakdown was timed well.  In the privacy of the back room, I slumped into a chair and buried my face in my hands.  Why did this shit always happen to me?  Because I let it, that’s why.  I was pathetic and so desperate for someone to love me that I overlooked glaring character faults.  Apparently I never really knew Adam at all.

With trembling hands I wiped my eyes, careful not to smudge my mascara, and gathered up my jacket and purse.  I had grudgingly agreed to meet my mother for dinner, which I was now seriously regretting.  But if I cancelled, she would just corner me at home.  So, I might as well go and get it over with.  Even she couldn’t make my mood any worse right now.

I picked a diner on the edge of town, because I didn’t want to run the risk of seeing my friends at the pub and having to introduce her.  My mom could be very charming and friendly, and I didn’t want her weaseling her way into my life anymore than she already had.

She was already there when I arrived, in a booth near the door with her back to me.  I took a deep breath before sliding in across from her.

“Hi!” s
he said enthusiastically, like she was actually looking forward to this.

“Hi.”

“I ordered you an ice water, but get something else if you prefer.”

“No, water is fine…thanks.”

I picked up the menu and studied it much longer than necessary, considering I always ordered the same thing here.

When the waitress came for our orders, I reluctantly handed her my menu.  Now that I didn’t have that to hide behind, it was just me and my mom.

“Your boyfriend seems nice.”