ROMANCE: THREESOME : Billionaire Brothers' Party (MFM Menage Romance) (New Adult Contemporary Threesome Short Stories) (45 page)

“God, I miss you so much,” she whispered into the phone as she plopped down onto her bed. “How much longer do you think you’ll be staying?”

“I don’t know - Mama says she's never going to leave. The shrimp and grits down here are delicious, and I’m afraid she’s going to bring a pound of it home in her purse with us on the plane. We’re going to smell like a rotten seafood buffet,” Ethan whispered back. She could hear the sound of his mother snoring in the other room and giggled as she wondered if he was in the bathroom again.

Ethan didn’t want to disturb his mother while she slept and for good reason. The woman could turn into a mountain lion when disturbed.

“It’s not funny,” he whispered with mock anger. “I’m serious.”

“I wish I was there.” The words left her mouth before she could think about what she had just said, and she felt her cheeks heat up again. There was a two second hesitation on the other end of the line and then a deep breath.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that. I wish you were here, too.” Ethan told her quietly. It was one step closer to the words that Elaine had been terrified he was going to whisper to her in the dead of night after a bout of lovemaking.

Those three words would scare her away quicker than a rabbit that’d spotted a fox.

“You’re getting that southern drawl again,” she told him as she leaned back onto her pillows and stared at the ceiling.

“Yeah, it happens. Every time I come back here I sound like I’ve been here for seventeen years again.” He actually sounded disappointed in himself for picking up a southern accent.

“Ethan, it’s hot,” she told him into the receiver as she twirled a lock her blonde hair around her finger. “So how was the service? Was it nice?” Her tone had taken on a serious note.

“It was nice. Uncle Richard would’ve loved the music, and the shrimp and grits,” he added at the end with the hint of a smile in his voice. Elaine loved how she could tell what his face would look like just by hearing his voice.

They had been calling each other for the past four days, ever since Ethan had hopped on a plane with his mother to visit her ailing brother in the hospital in Louisiana. Their phone calls had started out serious and short, but when Richard had passed away, Ethan had talked to her on the phone for two hours. He’d told her about how his uncle had taught him all about being a fireman, and how he had taught Ethan how to ride a bike. The man had been more of a father to him than anyone else in his life.

“So a few more days then?” she prodded. It was well past ten on her end and knew it was past nine at night on Ethan’s end. He’d have to get to bed soon.

“Two days, tops,” he told her quietly. She could hear the amusement in his tone and smiled. He sounded good when she spoke to him, but the time he had called her to let her know his uncle had passed, he had sounded like he needed a friend. She had been flattered and a little scared he’d called her first.

“I’ll see you in two days then. Tomorrow night, same time?” she asked as she yawned.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be keeping you up like this. You have work tomorrow.” He didn’t sound the least bit sorry.

“You’re not sorry, and neither am I. I miss you. I’ll see you soon,” she told him as a way of goodbye.

“I miss you, too.”

She listened to the sound of his breathing on the other end of the line for a moment before she pulled the phone away from hear ear and hung up. Then she lay back on her pillows and looked up at her popcorn ceiling. The sound of her mother still bustling around in the kitchen downstairs alerted her, but it was a soothing sound. Tomorrow was Tuesday and she was getting ready for some readings. Some of the molasses cookies had been saved and she had made some special rum balls for her adult guests.

All was right in the world, but the emotion she had felt rage into her while she was sitting on Jacob’s porch earlier in the day haunted her. She hadn’t told Ethan exactly how or why her husband had died, but just that he had died. She didn’t tell him that she knew his fire department was the one who had been called that day, and that she was growing more and more suspicious each day when her mother didn’t ask to meet the man she was dating.

Priscilla, her mother, was a nosy woman. She had been kind to Ethan when he had been there with his mother, but she never commented on Elaine’s late night dates after their meeting in the park. She never pushed Elaine to bring Ethan over for milk and cookies in the afternoon or to even have an adult dinner with the three of them.

There was something going on, and that anger was dangerous. It was the kind of anger that would eat a person alive, Elaine was sure of it. She took a deep breath and puffed out her cheeks before she let the air past her lips. Then she pulled off her shoes and climbed underneath the covers to give her ever-spinning mind a rest.

There was time to worry about it tomorrow.

“I’m coming home tomorrow.” Elaine never thought she’d hear those four words or any variation for that matter, from Ethan.

“And your mother packed enough shrimp and grits?” She joked as she plopped another glass into the dishwasher. Ethan didn’t seem to mind her joshing around about his mother as he laughed on the other end of the line. It was a deep sound that reverberated through her body and gave her chills down her spine - the good kind of chills.

“She did. I think the hotelier’s starting to get a little suspicious.” They had shared a few snorts and giggles before Elaine straightened up when she heard the door open and close. Her mother was home from picking up Thomas at his play date and she was fifteen minutes early.

“I’ve got to go,” she told him hurriedly before she hung up the phone and made herself look busy as she put more dishes into the top rack of the dishwasher. It was starting to get full, but she wasn’t paying any attention to that. She was listening for the sounds of Thomas giggling or the sound of her mother making a joke or taking off his outdoor clothes, but there weren’t any.

“Priscilla?” a familiar voice called out. Elaine felt her heart jump into her throat and wished she could just creep up the stairs and pretend she wasn’t home, but the dishwasher was open. If she left it that way, it would be suspicious, and if she tried to close it, it would make too much noise.

“Shit,” she whispered as she continued to load glasses. She hoped the woman would go away, but her fears were turned into reality when that familiar voice sounded almost directly behind her again.

“Didn’t you hear me calling?” Jody asked innocently.

“Oh, Jody! You scared me,” Elaine accused in a friendly manner as she turned around and pretended to be startled. “I must have been off in my own little world. Mom’s not home yet. She’s picking up Thomas from a play date and they’ll be home any minute now.” She had meant it in a friendly way, but Jody turned her nose up in the air and sat down at the kitchen table as if she’d been born in the place.

“You don’t have to worry about being alone with me, Elaine. I know you’ve been seeing Ethan Mack for the past few months. Hell, the entire town knows about it. You do what you want with him, but I wouldn’t stick with him for long. He has a mean streak, that man.” Jody studied her lacquered red nails and puffed up her chest. She was wearing a V-neck t-shirt that seemed to be a size too small for her poor breasts, crammed in there like sardines.

“Well, I haven’t seen it yet.” Elaine hadn’t wanted to poke the hornet’s nest, but the words flew from her mouth before she could stop them.

“You will eventually. All men have them, you know. Why, my father was the nicest man until my mother broke one of his whiskey glasses one night. And Ethan was the nicest man until I told him no.” Elaine had heard the story about the supposed attempted assault and she didn’t believe a word of it.

Ethan had never pushed her for anything, and he was more patient than a doctor with a waiting line of a thousand people.

“Well, that’s between you and Ethan. I have nothing to do with that,” Elaine informed the woman as she turned around to continue loading the dishwasher.

“I mean - I just don’t understand how a woman like you could get involved with a man like that-”

“A man like that?”

“Especially when I told all the women around this town about how much of a jerk he was to me that night, and after I told you myself, straight from the horse’s mouth-”

Straight from the horse’s ass is more like it, Elaine thought with a tiny smile. She still had her back to Jody and wasn’t the least bit riled yet. She’d heard all of this from Ethan and knew his side of the story, and she was more inclined to believe him over Jody any day.

“That he had assaulted me! And you’re still seeing him. I mean - someone might start to think that you don’t care about what they have to say if you keep ignoring them. And some might start to think that you don’t care about what kind of man you bring around your son.” Jody poked at the sore spot in Elaine’s soul and she felt her teeth grit.

She hadn’t brought Ethan around her son because she didn’t want this to turn out to be a fling and have her boy get hurt. She also didn’t want Ethan to die in a fire like her late husband had and leave them all alone and desolate again. But to say that she hadn’t brought Ethan around her son because she was afraid of what he might do to her little boy, well, that insinuation was preposterous.

“Jody-” Elaine started, but she heard the door open and close, and the familiar sound of her mother making Thomas giggle as she unbuttoned his winter coat and helped him from it stopped her.

“I’m just saying,” Jody whispered. Her eyebrows were raised accusingly, but they smoothed and her face returned to its serene, angelic look as Thomas ran through the doorway with a clay dinosaur in hand.

“Look at what we made at Jack’s!” He yelled excitedly. Elaine didn’t have the heart to tell him to simmer down and listened to him talk about how they had molded and painted the clay dinosaurs, and Jack’s mother had baked them in the oven so that they would stay solid.

She didn’t look back at Jody as she led her son from the room and smiled at her mother as a greeting before they ascended the stairs.

She’d deal with the rumors on her own time, but now was her time with her son. She knew all too well that it would be too short and he’d be off with his friends more often in a few months’ time.

The sun had come out that morning and melted some of the snow off the road; at least enough that she felt safe getting behind the wheel of her mother’s sedan and driving to the airport. Now she sat behind the wheel of that sedan as she waited patiently for Ethan to text her that they had landed. She’d bought the cell phone only a month before and was still sending short, tiny texts when she could, but it wasn’t the same as hearing his voice.

Hearing his voice isn’t the same as feeling his arms around me, either, she thought as she tried to wait patiently. She was drumming her thumb and forefinger on her thigh to the beat of a song playing on the radio when she felt the familiar buzz in her pocket. Without looking to see who it was, she sat up straight in the seat and turned the key so that the car was off. Then she bolted from it and tried to look professional and calm as she walked toward the airport.

Her demeanor broke when she swung open the glass doors and saw that Ethan and his mother were standing by the luggage retrieval. It was a tiny airport and there was barely any security, but she still had to wait off to one side as they found their suitcases. When he was over the threshold, Elaine bit her bottom lip and mentally tried to hold it together. It had been almost a week since she’d seen him last, and she didn’t know if she could handle not throwing herself at him in public. If his mother weren’t there…

“Elaine, it’s so good to see you,” Mrs. Mack said as she smiled up with her strikingly youthful face.

“Mrs. Mack, I’m so sorry for you loss,” Elaine said kindly as she pulled the older woman into her arms.

“Don’t be. He was a wretched old soul and I was just there for the shrimp and grits. It was good to have some good old fashioned home cooking again.”

“Mama, it was a buffet,” Ethan said as he smiled down at his mother. He didn’t seem too upset by his mother remark at his uncle being wretched, and figured it was something that he was used to. Family feuds seemed to occur in every family unit.

“It was still better than the shrimp and grits up here. Come on, let’s get home so I can rest by poor feet.” The old woman took off as if she was hurrying to another buffet line and Ethan smiled after her.

“She doesn’t know where the car is,” Elaine said as she furrowed her brows. Ethan surprised her by slipping his arm around her shoulders and walking her out the double glass doors. He had his hand on the handle of the suitcase on wheels. “You only packed one bag?”

“I’m a man, and my mother is getting old enough to be considered an old woman. And she has tiny clothes. We put everything in one suitcase. Now, tell me about your week.”

Elaine told him as they walked to the car and ended with the story about Jody coming over to her mother’s house. He stiffened at the accusation brought to light again and she swore she could hear his teeth grinding in his head when she told him about the suggestion that he may hurt her son. Elaine didn’t want to upset him, but they had been honest with each other up to that point and she didn’t want to break that streak. He deserved to know what he was up against.

“There’s Mom. We’ll talk about this later, okay?” Elaine had expected something completely different, but his calm demeanor and the way he held open the door for his mother and sat in the passenger seat, all with controlled precision, told her that what she had said really disturbed him. A little confused that he hadn’t given her reassurances, Elaine sat behind the wheel and cleared her throat as she started the car.

Then she directed her attention back to Mrs. Mack for the remainder of the trip home. She listened idly as Ethan’s mother talked about the buffets, the dancing and music at the funeral, and how she was appalled that there hadn’t been a viewing. Elaine agreed with her despite preferring closed-casket funerals herself, but then again, she’d been forced to do one with her husband.

Ethan seemed to understand the negative vibe that was emanating from her and gently reached his hand across the center console. His mother grew quiet in the back seat, but he didn’t seem to pay any mind to her shocked silence when he put his hand on Elaine’s thigh. The heat from his palm made her feel calm, but her heart still pounded as she thought about what he was doing. People knew they were dating, but people weren’t his mother.

Shouldn’t they have told her in some way?

“Elaine, would you like to come over for dinner tonight?” he asked quietly as if he had read her mind.

What is he doing? She thought as she turned on the left turn signal and merged onto the highway.

“We’re having shrimp and grits,” Mrs. Hawk piped up from the backseat. Elaine had a picture of her pulling out a plastic bag full of the said meal and a smile stretched across her face. She started to chuckle silently as her shoulders rose and fell. Ethan wasn’t as stealthy when he began to laugh in that deep tone that sent shivers down her spine.

“What’s so funny?” His mother chimed from the back seat.