Broken Fairytales (41 page)

We didn’t linger in the living room long before Zack
pulled me toward the loud laughter I could hear on the back porch.
Outside
I could see three women sitting around a table drinking wine, laughing and talking.
I was instantly able to pick out Zack’s mom out of the three women, as she was the one wearing a bright pink head wrap
and was thinner than I’d expected, almost fragile looking
, but she also had the widest smile on her face. She seemed truly happy whi
ch was strange to think about.
If I knew I only had a short time to live, I was pretty sure I’d be
full-on
depressed
, but she wasn’t
. I noticed that she and Zack had the same eyes
and the same smile
.

The women stopped talking when we
stepped through the screen door and let
it bang behind us. 

“Ah, t
he famous Emily,” M
s.
Easton
said from her seat.

“Oh, she’s so pretty
,” the woman to her left said.
I could hear a slight British accent, so I instantly kn
ew she
was Molly’s mom.

“They’re so cute together,” said the other woman, Leo and
Reagan
’s mother.
“Zacky, you d
idn’t tell us Emily was so pretty
!”

Zacky?!
I had to fight back the giggles at that one
as I could tell Zack was embarrassed by his nickname. I looked over at him and squeezed his hand,
not sure what to say
in response
. These were three women who weren’
t afraid to speak their minds
, and I wondered what other embarrassing things I might learn about him that night
.

“Hi, I’
m Emily Cole.
It’s a pleasure to meet you, M
s.
Easton
,” I said, in my most formal, confident tone
that I usually reserved for interviews or intera
ctions with professors, as
I stuck my
hand out to Zack’s mother
.

She took it
but laughed at me.
“Oh, honey, we’re not formal around here,” she said
, and I could hear her deep southern accent.
“It’s
wonderful to meet you, though.
I’ll tell you, I haven’t see
n Zack this happy in years
.
Of course, you’re
the first girl he’s brought home since that Jennifer girl, and that was what, two years ago?
”

“Oh, it was longer than that,” Leo’s mother said. “Zacky hasn’t let us meet one of his girlfriends in years. This one must be special.”

I looked back a Zack who was shooting a look at his mother
and aunt
that he instantly tried to
hide when he saw me turn around
.
He switched to a sm
ile, but I’d already caught him
.

“Ah, she caught you, h
oney,” his mother said to him.
“Now stop loitering by the door and sit down.” She extended her arm and waved him forward. 

I watched as he tentatively moved forward, taking the seat next to mine. I reached for his hand under the table when he sat down
,
trying to let him know that it was okay if he
was happy to with me.
I felt the same way.

“
Emily, please call me
Lynne
,” M
s.
Easton
said.  “This
is Jane.” She gestured to Leo’s mother
,
“
and this is Maggie.
”

I smiled at them both.

“Would you like a glass of wine, Emily,” Jane asked me, reaching behind her for a glass.

I nodded. “Please.”

She handed
me a full glass of white wine. “Zack, I assume you want one too
.
No driving that bike
of yours
tonight, right?
”

He shook his head as his aunt poured him an equally full glass. “No ma’am.”

She nodded in approval as she handed him the glass which he took and gulped
down half of
in a few seconds. He honestly looked a little green which was completely out of character for him. I was used to the tough,
confident
front he projected whenever we were around other people. To see the sensitive guy I knew come out was unexpected. Fortunately, after a few glasses of wine, Zack settled down and started to enjoy himself.

“Mom, we’re heading out,” Reagan said, sticking her head out the screen door. Jared was behind her.

“Okay, have fun,” Jane said. “No driving if you’ve been drinking, okay?”

“We won’t,”
Reagan
said
and started to close the door.

“Condoms,” Maggie said loudly, and my head shot up. “Jared, you
particularly
–
I’m not ready to be a grandmother.
Got it?
”

I blanched sligh
tly as I watched Jared nod
before his glance darted to me and his face flushed red.
He was seeing my sister, albeit casually, but were they sleeping together?

Zack put his arm around me and whispered, “They say that to all of us whenever we leave the house. Don’t overthink it.”

He kept his arm around me as the
three women pepp
ered
me with questions while
we d
rank win
e
. Eventually
their husbands joined us
for game night, and we got into several rousing games of S
crabble and Trivial Pursuit
. The only time I saw
Zack
tense up
again
was when his mom said she was exhausted and going to bed. It was like his ears perked up at the
word, and he
immediately started to stand.

Lynne immediately put her hand on his shoulder
, keeping him in his seat.
She rested
her hand on his cheek, looked down
at him, and said, “I’m fine, baby. I’m just tired
.
”
Then s
he looked over at me. “I love my son, but sometimes he just needs to let loose and not worry so much about things he can’t control.”

She gave him a pointed look that made Zack nod,
giving in
to her
request to not worry, although we both knew he’d do the exact opposite. Then she leaned down and kis
s
ed his
cheek as she sa
id
goodnight
, but I
also
saw
her whisper somethin
g
to him
t
hat I couldn’t hear.
Whatever it was made
him smile and look over at me
, and I made a mental note to ask him about it
later.

“Emily,” she
said, leaning down to hug me.
I could feel the bones of her shoulder blades under my hands.
“It was so nice meetin
g you.
Please come back soon
.”

“I will,” I said, smiling at her, thinking what an amazing, strong woman she was.

“And please take Zack somewhere tonight and force him to have
some
fun.”

I laughed. “I will,” I said, smiling widely at her.

Zack and I said our goodnights soon after
before exiting out the back
so he could walk me home on the beach.

“They liked you,” he said, as we walked, swi
nging our joined hands
.

“I like them,” I
said, looking up at him. “Your
mom is
incredible
.”

“She is, isn’t she,” he said, getting that far away look in his eyes that he always did when he thought about her
, but I could see his pride swelling just a little
.

“What did she whisper to you right before she went to bed?” I asked, dying to know.

Zack stopped walking and turned to face
me.
“A
re you sure you want to know?”

“Um, yeah.
” Now, I definitely wanted to know.

“I
t might freak you out
.
”

“I
think I’ll be okay
.”

“Okay,”
he said, taking a deep breath.
“She just said that she couldn’t be happier that I met you, and you seem like someone who will m
ake me happy for a long time.”
He paused, and I could see he was bracing himself for my response.

“Oh yeah?
” I teased. 

“I know, it’s silly.
She’s just sentimental right now, because, well, you know.
I just really liked seeing how much she was smiling.
”

I shrugged.
“I think it’s sweet, and
don’t worry, I’m not
that
freaked out
– Zacky
.”

“Oh, you did not just call me that,” he said, laughing as he put me
in a headlock
.

When he finally released me, he put his arm around me and pulled me against his side.

“
Listen,
” I said, my arms hugging him around his waist, “
you don’t have to tell her that we’re just having fun
this summer
. I’m okay with pretending if it makes her happy
.”

He leaned down
and pressed his lips to mine
. “No, I’m not going to lie to her. I wouldn’t do that. Just keep being you when you’re around her, and that’ll be enough.
”

I fell
a little
farther that night, and just when I was about to obsess about what that might mean in a few weeks, I dismissed the thought, not wanting dwell on the future.

***

A week later, after a fe
w particularly bad days with his
mom
,
when she’d b
een battling a
nother
cold, Zack and I sat under the stars at his spot.
He leaned
against the rock
s
by the mouth of the cave, and I sat in front of him, l
eaning back against his chest.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and put his head next to mine.

“Thank you for be
ing here,” he said softly
.

“You’re welcome,” I murmured.

“No, really,” he said.
“Not just tonight, bu
t this summer.
I
needed this more than I knew.
You don’t know how much it means to me to be here with you.
It’s taken my mind off of so much that I don’t want to think about.
”

I smiled
to myself
, thinking how nic
e it was to hear him say that.
I felt calm for the first time in months, and I owed it all to him
, but it was nice to know that I was helping him as much as he was helping me
. 

“I like you, Emily – a lot,” he whispered, as if he was almost afraid to admit it aloud. “Probably a lot more than I should.”

“I like you too, Zack,” I said, leaning my head against his shoulder, so I could look up at him. “You’ve sort of had me  . . . enamored, I guess is the right word . . .  since we met.”

He laughed. “You were enamored with me?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I was. It’s sad, but I was completely enamored with you. I blame your eyes, and your stupid guita
r playing. I’
m a sucker for a guy with a guitar.”

“Don’t forget my kissable lips,” he said, as he kissed my neck, trailing his lips down
to
my collarbone.

I sighed, a long
,
deep, satisfied sigh.

“
You know
Daphne was right,” he said
then
.

“About what?”
I asked, not paying as much attention as I should. His lips were kissing a path along the back of my neck, and it was pulling at my concentration.

“I never really answered you, but the truth is, I don’t date. I
actually haven’t dated in a while
.”