My Favorite Mistake (36 page)

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.”

Not fooling around with Hunter in my mom’s house wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be. Her room was right down the hall, and Tawny’s across the hall, and my bed was old and creaky.

“Not even a little?” Hunter whispered as we climbed under my Disney princess sheets.

“It’s too weird. I can’t have sex on a princess’ face with my mom down the hall sleeping. I just have to draw the line.”

“Okay, okay. Can I still sleep naked?”

“You can. I’m keeping my clothes on.”

“Why?”

“In case there’s a fire in the middle of the night and we have to leave the house in a hurry.”

“You think of everything,” he said, keeping his boxers on, but removing his shirt. “Fine, fine.” If I didn’t know better, I would have said he was pouting.

“You’re not upset, are you?”

“About the hay rolling? It would be nice, but I’d settle for just being naked with you. That’s the best. Nothing between us. Just you and me.”

“Tomorrow night, I swear.”

“And then I’m out of luck starting Tuesday.”

“Why, what’s happening on Tuesday?”

“You start your period,” he said, completely matter-of-fact.

“I hate that you know that.”

“What? I’ve known that for a while.”

I buried my head in the pillow.

“I thought I was the one who was supposed to be embarrassed about that,” he said.

“You’re not embarrassed about anything.”

He moved the pillow away from my face. 

“Not really. Until tomorrow, goodnight, Princess.” He kissed my nose, and I popped in my retainer and snuggled into him.

“Missy?”

“Yeah?”

“Your mom is kind of awesome, but she looks like she wants to shoot me most of the time.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been on the receiving end of that look more than once.”

“So it’s not just me?”

“Nope.”

“Good to know. I thought she was going to be all sweetness and light from the way you were talking.”

“She is sweet. Sweeter than I am anyway.”

“How could anyone be sweeter than you?”

“Oh, it’s possible.”

“No way,” he said with a yawn.

I yawned and didn’t argue. Too tired.

*****

Hunter and I didn’t beat Mom to the kitchen the next morning, because the coffee was already on when we got up after a night of platonic cuddling.

“I didn’t hear anything I didn’t want to hear, so I’m going to assume I don’t need to have a chat with anyone.”

“Mom!” Seriously?

“She’s not trying to give you a sex talk, is she?” Tawny said, scrubbing her face with her hands and stumbling toward the coffee.

“Ugh, can we not do this right now? I just woke up.”

“Eggs anyone?” Mom said, holding up a frying pan. She’d mixed the eggs with cream cheese, just like she did when I was younger.

“Plates?” Hunter said, going for the cabinet.

“Top shelf,” I said, grabbing silverware out of the dishwasher.

Tawny shuffled to the table, crashing into her seat. Tawny didn’t do mornings well.

We had breakfast and after Tawny had consumed three cups of coffee, she grabbed Hunter and made him show her how to play the guitar as a ruse so Mom could grill me. 

“Are you being safe?” was the first thing she asked.

“God, Mom. Yes. You know I’m on the pill.”

“But that doesn’t protect you from everything.”

“Mom, just trust me. I’m not a moron.” I was helping her do the dishes and contemplating trying to drown myself in the soapy water to avoid the rest of this conversation.

“It’s just, unexpected, that’s all. You’ve never expressed an interest in anyone, so it was shocking to hear that you had.”

“He’s different.”

“I saw the tattoos. How many does he have?”

“Um,” I said, both stalling and counting. “Five.”

She held onto the sink. “Dear Lord. Please don’t tell me he has a motorcycle.”

“He doesn’t.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

“Why? What difference would it make if he had a motorcycle?”

“Kid, when you’re a mother with daughters, you’ll understand.”

“Is the interrogation over?” I asked.

“Taylor, I’m just kind of in shock. He’s not the kind of guy I would have picked for you.”

I closed my eyes and told myself that she wasn’t saying anything bad about him. It was true. He wasn’t the kind of guy I would have seen myself with.

“After everything that… happened, and when you couldn’t seem to get over it, I just thought you were never going to take the plunge. I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing; I’m just saying be careful.”

“I will.”

“Okay. I can see that he makes you happy.”

We both smiled.

“He does. Happier than I knew was possible.”

“That’s great, Kid. Really great.” She gave me a soapy hug that made the back of my shirt damp, but I didn’t mind.

“Speaking of love lives. Anything new to report?”

“No, and that is none of your business, young lady.”

“Have you talked to Dad?”

“Last week. He’s seeing someone new.”

“What happened to Michelle?”

“No idea. We didn’t talk long. He asked about you, and I said you had a boyfriend. He wasn’t very happy.”

“He doesn’t get a say in my life.”

“Kid, he is your father, even if he isn’t in your life. You should call him. He’d want to know about the hearing.” We’d managed to make it this far into the weekend without talking about it. I was hoping we’d make it all the way, but we didn’t.

“I don’t want to talk about that.”

“You’re going to have to deal with it. He’s not this monster you’ve built him up to be in your mind. Granted, he’s one sick fuck, but he’s just human.” Mom didn’t swear often, and when she did, I paid attention.

“I know, I know.”

“You need to take care of your past before you can move on to your future. If you want a future with Hunter, you’re going to have to deal with your past.”

“Well, nearly eight years of therapy hasn’t helped, so I’m not sure there’s much hope,” I said, snapping a little.

“Well, when therapy fails, there’s love. You love him, don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Love heals all wounds.”

“When did you get so philosophical?”

“I just started taking a poetry class at the library.”

“Really?”

Mom wasn’t one to try new things, so that was huge. We talked about that while Hunter and Tawny sang drinking songs. Apparently, he knew a lot of them.

“I have many talents you are not even aware of, Missy girl,” he said.

“What is with the nickname? I’ve been meaning to ask,” Mom said.

“Oh, it’s not a very interesting story,” I said. For some reason, I didn’t want him to tell it.

“That means that it is. Spill, Hunter,” Tawny said. 

“It’s nothing special. Just a little mistake I made when we first met.”

“Lame,” Tawny said.

“Your father used to call me Sharon,” Mom said.

“What?” Tawny and I said at the same time.

“It’s an equally dumb story. We met at a party and for some reason he was convinced my name was Sharon. It wasn’t until our third date when I set him straight.”

Tawny and I laughed after a stunned silence.

“What? I was nervous. He was my first boyfriend.”

I looked at Hunter. You just never knew.

Mom made us take a few pictures, mostly of Hunter pretending to teach me to play guitar. She liked action shots. None of those lame posed things where people smiled like they were in pain. Hunter kept whispering innuendos in my ear, so every smile and laugh was genuine.

“Okay, well we have to get back. We both have tests to study for,” I said after the millionth flash. I’d been slacking lately, because canoodling was much more fun than anything my textbooks had to offer. I needed to get my ass in gear if I wanted to keep my GPA high enough to get into Phi Beta Kappa. 

“I should probably shove off, too,” Tawny said, getting up to give Mom a hug.

“It was so nice of you to have me, Blaire,” Hunter said.

“I hope to see you again, Hunter. Please be careful with my baby girl,” she said as I hugged her. Ugh.

“I will treasure her.”

“You’d better,” Mom said, sort of puffing herself up. She didn’t mess around. Hunter leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

“Yes, ma’am.”

*****

On Wednesday, it was my turn to be nervous and jittery. It seemed that whenever Hunter and I were together, at least one of us was trying to help the other not freak out. At least we were balanced that way.